Patient Education Materials for Immobilisation Masks in Radiation Therapy for Adult Head and Neck Cancer Patients: A Scoping Review.

Immobilisation masks (IMs) are used for people with head and neck cancer (HNC) undergoing radiation therapy (RT) treatment to ensure accuracy and reproducibility between treatments. Claustrophobia-related mask anxiety in HNC patients is common and can compromise treatment due to patient distress. This scoping review aimed to describe the content of publicly available Patient Education Materials (PEMs) for people with HNC undergoing RT. Three search engines (Bing, Yahoo, and Google) were systematically searched using standard terms. PEMs in audio-visual or written formats were eligible for inclusion if the target readership was adults with HNC and included content on IMs for RT. Content was appraised using the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool for Printable and Audio-Visual Materials to assess understandability and actionability. In total, 304 PEMs were identified of which 20 met the inclusion criteria. Sixteen PEMs were webpages, three were PDF format, and one was a standalone video. The understandability and actionability of PEMs ranged between 47 to 100% and 0 to 80%, respectively. PEMs authored by Foundations/Organisations scored higher in understandability (80-100%) and were more likely to discuss mask anxiety coping strategies. In comparison, News sites and IM manufacturers published PEMs with the lowest understandability scores (20-80%). The significant variations in the quality of IM PEMs identified suggest that some sources may be more effective at informing patients about IMs. Although multiple aspects of the PEMs were consistent across the reviewed materials, many PEMs lacked information, and a stronger focus on understandability and actionability is required.

Proton radiation therapy patient selection and impacts of COVID-19: A scoping review.

This scoping review aimed to determine whether the COVID-19 pandemic influenced any modifications to patient selection methods or prioritisation and services provided by proton therapy (PT) centres. This review was conducted based on the PRISMA methodology and Joanna Briggs Institute scoping review guidelines. A literature search was performed in Medline, Embase, Web of Science and Scopus, as well as grey literature. Keywords such as "COVID-19" and "Proton Therapy" were used. Articles published from 1 January 2020 in English were included. In total, 138 studies were identified of which 11 articles met the inclusion criteria. A scoping review design was chosen to capture the full extent of information published relating to the aim. Six of 11 articles included statements regarding treatment of COVID-19 patients. Three publications recommended deferred or alternative treatment, two indicated to treat urgent/emergency patients and one reported continuous treatment for infectious patients. Recurring impacts on PT provision included more frequent use of unconventional therapies, reduced referrals, delayed treatment starts and CT simulation, change in treatment target volumes and staffing limitations due to pandemic restrictions. Consequently, telehealth consults, remote work, reduction in patient visitors, screening procedures and rigorous cleaning protocols were recommended. Few publications detailed changes to patient selection or workflow methods during the pandemic. Further research is needed to obtain more detailed information regarding current global patient selection methods in PT, collecting this data could aid in future planning for PT in Australia.

Doing today's work today: real-time data recording and rolling audit in an IVF clinic.

The assisted conception unit at Sheffield Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust provides in vitro fertilisation treatment. A team of seven embryologists provides a routine clinical laboratory service, involving culture and storage of embryos. This requires a series of management and statutory data administration and communication tasks.We were aware that these were often done many days after clinical tasks, resulting in delays sending patient correspondence and unavailability of clinical notes for multidisciplinary team (MDT) cycle-review meetings. Embryologists also complained that transcribing data were time-consuming and duplicated across our IDEAS software, spreadsheets and paper.We process-mapped our processes and gathered staff views on problems and potential solutions. The baseline average total cycle time (TCT) for completion of all administrative steps was around 17 days; data administration time (DAT, data 'touch time') was around 30 min per patient.We embarked on this Quality Improvemen (QI) project to reduce waste in TCT and DAT, and to have data available for patient communication and MDT deadlines. Exploration of IDEAS' capabilities led to progressive realisation of how much could be transferred to this single data system, removing a lot of off-putting redundancy. Through this we developed a 'to-be' vision of all data entry being real time, as part of the clinical 'jobs'. We conducted five Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles plus two more to test performance and sustainability as changes bedded-in and an external constraint disappeared.We have cut TCT to 0 or 1 days and DAT to around 18 min. All project metrics are reliably within our targets, and data are now always available for timely patient letters and the MDT. Other benefits include easy access for all staff to patient records and removal of paper and spreadsheets. A further, unanticipated, benefit was a switch from a tedious 2 yearly storage tank audit to a more-agreeable and safer rolling audit.

Relationship of Inhaled Corticosteroid Adherence to Asthma Exacerbations in Patients with Moderate-to-Severe Asthma.

BACKGROUND: Patients with asthma and elevated blood eosinophils are at increased risk of severe exacerbations. Management of these patients should consider nonadherence to inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) therapy as a factor for increased exacerbation risk. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate whether poor adherence to ICS therapy explains the occurrence of asthma exacerbations in patients with elevated blood eosinophil levels. METHODS: This historical cohort study identified patients within the Optimum Patient Care Research Database, aged 18 years or more, at Global Initiative for Asthma step 3 or 4, with 2 or more ICS prescriptions during the year before the clinical review. Patient characteristics and adherence (based on prescription refills and patient self-report) for ICS therapy were analyzed for those with elevated (>400 cells/µL) or normal (≤400 cells/µL) blood eosinophils. RESULTS: We studied 7195 patients (66% female, mean age 60 years) with median eosinophil count of 200 cells/µL and found 81% to be not fully adherent to ICS therapy. A total of 1031 patients (14%) had elevated blood eosinophil counts (58% female, mean age 60 years), 83% of whom were not fully adherent to ICS. An increased proportion of adherent patients in the elevated blood eosinophil group had 2 or more exacerbations (14.0% vs 7.2%; P = .003) and uncontrolled asthma (73% vs 60.8%; P = .004) as compared with non-fully adherent patients. CONCLUSIONS: Approximately 1 in 7 patients had elevated eosinophils. Adherence to ICS therapy was not associated with decreased exacerbations for these patients. Additional therapy should be considered for these patients, such as biologics, which have been previously shown to improve control in severe uncontrolled eosinophilic asthma.

Incidence of oral thrush in patients with COPD prescribed inhaled corticosteroids: Effect of drug, dose, and device.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Little information is available on real-life occurrence of oral thrush in COPD patients treated with ICS. We investigated oral thrush incidence in COPD patients prescribed FDC ICS/LABA therapies and assessed whether it is modulated by the ICS type, dose, and delivery device. METHODS: We conducted a historical, observational, matched cohort study (one baseline year before and one outcome year after initiation of therapy) using data from the UK Optimum Patient Care Research Database. We assessed oral thrush incidence in patients initiating long-acting bronchodilators or FDC ICS/LABA therapy. We then compared different combination therapies (budesonide/formoterol fumarate dihydrate [BUD/FOR] and fluticasone propionate/salmeterol xinafoate [FP/SAL]) and devices (DPI and pMDI). RESULTS: Patients prescribed FDC ICS/LABA had significantly greater odds of experiencing oral thrush than those prescribed long-acting bronchodilators alone (adjusted OR 2.18 [95% CI 1.84-2.59]). Significantly fewer patients prescribed BUD/FOR DPI developed oral thrush compared with FP/SAL DPI (OR 0.77 [0.63-0.94]) when allowing for differences in prescribed doses between the drugs. A significantly smaller proportion of patients developed oral thrush in the FP/SAL pMDI arm than in the FP/SAL DPI arm (OR 0.67 [0.55-0.82]). Additionally, in the FP/SAL cohort (both DPI and pMDI), increased risk of oral thrush was significantly associated with high ICS daily dose (OR 1.97 [1.22-3.17] vs low daily dose). CONCLUSIONS: ICS use increases oral thrush incidence in COPD and this effect is dose-dependent for FP/SAL therapies. Of the therapies assessed, FP/SAL pMDI and BUD/FOR DPI may be more protective against oral thrush.

An interesterified palm olein test meal decreases early-phase postprandial lipemia compared to palm olein: a randomized controlled trial.

Palm oil that has been interesterified to produce a higher proportion of palmitic acid (16:0) in the sn-2 position reduces postprandial lipemia in young, normolipidemic men and women, but effects in older subjects with higher fasting triacylglycerol (TAG) concentrations are unknown. We tested the hypothesis that high-fat meals rich in interesterified palm olein (IPO) decrease lipemia and alter plasma lipoprotein fraction composition compared to native palm olein (NPO) in men aged 40-70 years with fasting TAG concentrations ≥1.2 mmol/L. Postprandial changes in plasma lipids following meals containing 75 g fat (NPO and IPO) were compared using a randomized, double-blind crossover design (n = 11). Although there were no significant differences in plasma TAG concentrations between meals over the total 6-h postprandial measurement period, IPO resulted in a decreased plasma TAG response during the first 4 h of the postprandial period (iAUC 1.65 mmol/L h, 95% CI 1.01-2.29) compared to NPO (iAUC 2.33 mmol/L h, 95% CI 1.58-3.07); meal effect P = 0.024. Chylomicron fraction TAG concentrations at 4-6 h were slightly reduced following IPO compared to NPO [NPO-IPO mean difference 0.29 mmol/L (95% CI -0.01-0.59), P = 0.055]. There were no differences in IDL fraction TAG, cholesterol or apolipoprotein B48 concentrations following IPO compared with NPO. In conclusion, consuming a meal containing palm olein with a higher proportion of 16:0 in the sn-2 position decreases postprandial lipemia compared to native palm olein during the early phase of the postprandial period in men with higher than optimal fasting triacylglycerol concentrations.