Review article: Telecare in gastroenterology-Within the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

BACKGROUND: Telehealth is a growing model of care, greatly accelerated with the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic. Telecare is a synchronous audio-visual or audio-only format of health delivery. AIMS: To evaluate the existing literature on telecare within adult gastroenterology subspecialties to determine if outcomes are comparable to traditional in-person consultations and to highlight the Pokapu Network, a local initiative in the Lakes Region of New Zealand, amongst these international findings. METHODS: We completed an OVID MEDLINE search using the terms gastroenterology, endoscopy, digestive system, inflammatory bowel disease, functional, hepatology, liver, telemedicine, telehealth, videoconferencing, remote consultation, video clinic and telephone clinic. RESULTS: Patients showed positive attitudes towards telecare and, in several reports, would elect to have telecare consults in the future. Telecare reduces travel time and out-of-pocket costs for patients and the need for patients to take time off work. Generally, patients engaging with telecare show equivalent health outcomes to patients engaging with traditional models of care. Patients from ethnic minority groups or lower socio-economic backgrounds, or who are older, are less likely to complete a 'successful' telecare consult. CONCLUSION: Telecare is a useful model of care to allow gastroenterology centres to function within the context of COVID-19 isolation and beyond. It has significant benefits for patients who face geographical and financial barriers to accessing healthcare. Telecare models such as the Pokapu Network hold promise in reducing inequities for gastroenterology patients. Such models must be introduced with consideration of digital disparities that exist amongst patients to avoid worsening the digital divide.

Low but increasing rates of inflammatory bowel disease in Maori: a report from Lakes District Health Board IBD.

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are chronic, inflammatory diseases that are increasingly prevalent in New Zealand. Previous regional studies describe significantly lower rates of IBD in Maori compared to non-Maori. This article reports the prevalence and incidence of IBD at Lakes District Health Board, and discusses potential contributing factors to the observed increasing incidence rates in Maori. Although the rates are still less than non-Maori, colonisation with increased urbanisation and changes in diet and hygiene suggest that IBD rates may continue to increase in Maori.

Impact of High-Dose-Rate and Low-Dose-Rate Brachytherapy Boost on Toxicity, Functional and Cancer Outcomes in Patients Receiving External Beam Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer: A National Population-Based Study.

PURPOSE: External beam radiation therapy (EBRT) with brachytherapy boost reduces cancer recurrence in patients with prostate cancer compared with EBRT monotherapy. However, randomized controlled trials or large-scale observational studies have not compared brachytherapy boost types directly. METHODS AND MATERIALS: This observational cohort study used linked national cancer registry data, radiation therapy data, administrative hospital data, and mortality records of 54,642 patients with intermediate-risk, high-risk, and locally advanced prostate cancer in England. The records of 11,676 patients were also linked to results from a national patient survey collected at least 18 months after diagnosis. Competing risk regression analyses were used to compare gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity, genitourinary (GU) toxicity, skeletal-related events (SRE), and prostate cancer-specific mortality (PCSM) at 5 years with adjustment for patient and tumor characteristics. Linear regression was used to compare Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite 26-item version domain scores (scale, 0-100, with higher scores indicating better function). RESULTS: Five-year GI toxicity was significantly increased after low-dose-rate brachytherapy boost (LDR-BB) (32.3%) compared with high-dose-rate brachytherapy boost (HDR-BB) (16.7%) or EBRT monotherapy (18.7%). Five-year GU toxicity was significantly increased after both LDR-BB (15.8%) and HDR-BB (16.6%), compared with EBRT monotherapy (10.4%). These toxicity patterns were matched by the mean patient-reported bowel function scores (LDR-BB, 77.3; HDR-BB, 85.8; EBRT monotherapy, 84.4) and the mean patient-reported urinary obstruction/irritation function scores (LDR-BB, 72.2; HDR-BB, 78.9; EBRT monotherapy, 83.8). Five-year incidences of SREs and PCSM were significantly lower after HDR-BB (2.4% and 2.7%, respectively) compared with EBRT monotherapy (2.8% and 3.5%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Compared with EBRT monotherapy, LDR-BB has worse GI and GU toxicity and HDR-BB has worse GU toxicity. HDR-BB has a lower incidence of SREs and PCSM than EBRT monotherapy.

An Indian national survey of therapeutic drug monitoring with anti-tumor necrosis (TNF) medications in inflammatory bowel disease.

BACKGROUND: Evidence supports therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) in improving efficacy and cost-effectiveness of anti-TNF therapy in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Data on perceptions and barriers to TDM use are limited and no data are available from India. Our objective was to assess clinicians' attitudes and barriers to TDM use in IBD. METHODS: A 16-question survey was distributed to members of the Indian Society of Gastroenterology. Information on clinician characteristics, demographics, use and barriers towards TDM with anti-TNFs was collected. Logistic regression was used to predict factors influencing TDM use. RESULTS: Two hundred and forty-two respondents participated (92.5% male); 83% were consultant gastroenterologists. Of 104 respondents meeting inclusion criteria (treating > 5 IBD patients and at least 1 with an anti-TNF per month), complete responses were available for 101 participants. TDM was utilized by 20% (n = 20) of respondents. Of them, 89.5% (n = 17) used TDM for secondary loss of response; 73.7% (n = 14) for primary non-response and 5.3% (n = 1) proactively. Barriers to TDM use were cost (71.2%), availability (67.8%), time lag in results (58.7%) and the perception that TDM is time-consuming (45.7%). Clinicians treating > 30 IBD patients were more likely to check TDM (OR = 4.9, p = 0.02). Of 81 respondents not using TDM, 97.5% (n = 79) would do so if all the barriers were removed. CONCLUSION: Significant barriers to TDM use were availability, cost and time lag for results. If these barriers were removed, almost all the clinicians would use TDM at least reactively and 25% would use proactively. There is an urgent need to address these barriers and optimize anti-TNF therapy for optimal outcomes.