Cancer survivorship challenges of rural older adults: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Although research has advanced the field of oncologic geriatrics with survivors to assess their cancer-related needs and devise patient-centered interventions, most of that research has excluded rural populations. This study aimed to understand the survivorship challenges and recommendations in the perspective of rural older adults. METHODS: This was a qualitative study that explored the survivorship challenges and recommendations of rural older adults who have completed curative intent chemotherapy for a solid tumor malignancy in the 12 months prior to enrollment in the present study. RESULTS: Twenty-seven older adult survivors from rural areas completed open-ended semi-structured interviews. The mean age was 73.4 (SD = 5.0). Most participants were non-Hispanic White (96.3%), female (59.3%), married (63.0%), and had up to a high school education (51.9%). Rural older survivors reported a general lack of awareness of survivorship care plans, communication challenges with healthcare team, transportation challenges, financial toxicity, psychological challenges, and diet and physical challenges. Rural older survivors recommend the provision of nutritional advice referral to exercise programs, and social support groups and for their healthcare providers to discuss their survivorship plan with them. CONCLUSIONS: Although study participants reported similar survivorship challenges as urban older adult survivors, additional challenges reported regarding transportation and consideration of farm animals have not been previously reported. Heightened awareness of the survivorship needs of rural older adults may result in better survivorship care for this population.

Second generation automated anti-CCP test better predicts the clinical diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the most common systemic autoimmune diseases. The presence of antibodies to cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) is better at discriminating RA patients and is also associated with significantly more disease activity compared to serum rheumatoid factor. In this study, we assessed two new automated second generation tests to detect the presence of anti-CCP antibodies in 226 serum samples submitted to the Clinical Immunology Laboratory for anti-CCP antibody testing. We compared CCP antibody results on these samples obtained using the ImmunoCAP 250 (Phadia) and the Architect i2000SR (Abbott Laboratories) instruments to our currently used CCP IgG third generation manual ELISA (Inova Diagnostics). One hundred and fifty-four samples were negative while 52 were positive by all three tests. Eighteen samples were negative by the automated tests but weakly/moderately positive by manual ELISA yielding an overall concordance of 79%. When we compared the discordant test results to patient diagnosis, we observed a better correlation with clinical RA diagnosis for the new automated tests compared to the manual ELISA. These two new anti-CCP antibody tests have the benefit of automation and may have better positive predictive value for the diagnosis of RA than our current manual ELISA.

Mapping the Road to the Future: Training the Next Generation of Clinical Microbiologists, from Technologist to Laboratory Director.

Rapidly changing technology in the clinical microbiology laboratory requires a highly skilled workforce. The current clinical microbiology workforce is aging with a wave of retirements currently unfolding. Key competencies that will be needed for the next generation of microbiologists include strong analytical skills, adaptability, and the willingness to be life-long learners. Experiential learning is a key component of the initial learning environment for medical laboratory scientists and technicians. Continuing education in clinical microbiology must reflect the changes in technology whereby learners are more comfortable in an electronic learning environment, such as TED Talks and YouTube.