Development of a questionnaire to assess student behavioral confidence to undertake interprofessional education activities.

Measurement of the impact of interprofessional education (IPE) is the golden chalice educationalists chase. We undertook the development of a scale to measure IPE Academic Behavioral Confidence (IPE-ABC) in allied health, nursing, and social work pre-registration students. This work formed part of the evaluation of a large IPE framework embedded across two Scottish universities. General ABC has been shown to influence student perceptions of study experiences and it is thus reasonable to postulate that ABC could influence student perceptions of IPE. This research developed a questionnaire to ascertain health and social care students' confidence to engage in IPE, utilizing a mixed method approach. Fifteen different professional groups of pre-registration students (n = 565) participated in the assessment of the 38 item questionnaire. Exploratory factor analysis identified three factors: 1/interprofessional teamwork, 2/behaviors underpinning collaboration, and 3/interprofessional communication collectively accounting for 38.2% of the variance. Internal consistency of the overall scale (Cronbach's α = .93) was very good with subscales demonstrating very good internal consistency, 1 (α = .89), or respectable consistency 2 (α = .78) and 3 (α = .79). We conclude the IPE-ABC questionnaire could be utilized to enhance and assess the success of IPE related activities.

An online module evaluation of the role and effectiveness of wikis in fostering collaborative practice skills in interprofessional education: a short report.

This short report focuses on student feedback relating to the use of online group wikis as a means of a summative assessment intended to foster skills in collaborative practice for a large interprofessional education (IPE) module. Electronic feedback from 112 (72.2% response rate) students suggested wikis were a key area of the module. Open text comments relating to the wikis were extracted and categorized initially as positive or negative, with sub-themes then identified within these two broad categories. Findings showed that students valued the experience of a novel type of assessment but felt the amount of work required was too great. We concluded that digital capabilities need to be part of the developmental skill set of students. This raises important issues for further research to consider whether wikis themselves as a computer supported collaborative learning tool are appropriate for large scale IPE delivery.

A systematic review to evaluate the evidence base for the World Health Organization's adopted hand hygiene technique for reducing the microbial load on the hands of healthcare workers.

BACKGROUND: Effective hand hygiene prevents healthcare-associated infections. This systematic review evaluates the evidence for the World Health Organization's (WHO) technique in reducing the microbial load on the hands of healthcare workers (HCWs). METHODS: This study was conducted in accordance with Joanna Briggs Protocol 531. Index and free-text terms for technique, HCW, and microbial load were searched in CINAHL, Medline, Web of Science, Mednar, Proquest, and Google Scholar. Inclusion criteria were articles in English that evaluated the WHO 6-step hand hygiene technique for healthcare staff. Two reviewers independently performed quality assessment and data extraction. RESULTS: All 7 studies found that the WHO technique reduced bacterial load on HCW hands, but the strongest evidence came from 3 randomized controlled trials, which reported conflicting evidence. One study found no difference in the effectiveness of the WHO 6-step technique compared to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 3-step technique (P = .08); another study found the WHO 6-step technique to be more effective (P = .02); and the third study found that a modified 3-step technique was more effective than the 6-step technique (P = .021). CONCLUSIONS: This review provides evidence of the effectiveness of the WHO technique but does not identify the most effective hand hygiene technique. Questions to be addressed by further research are identified. Meanwhile, current practices should continue.

Cost-effectiveness of cryotherapy versus salicylic acid for the treatment of plantar warts: economic evaluation alongside a randomised controlled trial (EVerT trial).

BACKGROUND: Plantar warts (verrucae) are extremely common. Although many will spontaneously disappear without treatment, treatment may be sought for a variety of reasons such as discomfort. There are a number of different treatments for cutaneous warts, with salicylic acid and cryotherapy using liquid nitrogen being two of the most common forms of treatment. To date, no full economic evaluation of either salicylic acid or cryotherapy has been conducted based on the use of primary data in a pragmatic setting. This paper describes the cost-effectiveness analysis which was conducted alongside a pragmatic multicentre, randomised trial evaluating the clinical effectiveness of cryotherapy versus 50% salicylic acid of the treatment of plantar warts. METHODS: A cost-effectiveness analysis was undertaken alongside a pragmatic multicentre, randomised controlled trial assessing the clinical effectiveness of 50% salicylic acid and cryotherapy using liquid nitrogen at 12 weeks after randomisation of patients. Cost-effectiveness outcomes were expressed as the additional cost required to completely cure the plantar warts of one additional patient. A NHS perspective was taken for the analysis. RESULTS: Cryotherapy costs on average £101.17 (bias corrected and accelerated (BCA) 95% CI: 85.09-117.26) more per participant over the 12 week time-frame, while there is no additional benefit, in terms of proportion of patients healed compared with salicylic acid. CONCLUSIONS: Cryotherapy is more costly and no more effective than salicylic acid. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN18994246 [controlled-trials.com] and National Research Register N0484189151.

Cryotherapy versus salicylic acid for the treatment of plantar warts (verrucae): a randomised controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical effectiveness of cryotherapy versus salicylic acid for the treatment of plantar warts. DESIGN: A multicentre, open, two arm randomised controlled trial. SETTING: University podiatry school clinics, NHS podiatry clinics, and primary care in England, Scotland, and Ireland. PARTICIPANTS: 240 patients aged 12 years and over, with a plantar wart that in the opinion of the healthcare professional was suitable for treatment with both cryotherapy and salicylic acid. INTERVENTIONS: Cryotherapy with liquid nitrogen delivered by a healthcare professional, up to four treatments two to three weeks apart. Patient self treatment with 50% salicylic acid (Verrugon) daily up to a maximum of eight weeks. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Complete clearance of all plantar warts at 12 weeks. Secondary outcomes were (a) complete clearance of all plantar warts at 12 weeks controlling for age, whether the wart had been treated previously, and type of wart, (b) patient self reported clearance of plantar warts at six months, (c) time to clearance of plantar wart, (d) number of plantar warts at 12 weeks, and (e) patient satisfaction with the treatment. RESULTS: There was no evidence of a difference between the salicylic acid and cryotherapy groups in the proportions of participants with complete clearance of all plantar warts at 12 weeks (17/119 (14%) v 15/110 (14%), difference 0.65% (95% CI -8.33 to 9.63), P=0.89). The results did not change when the analysis was repeated but with adjustment for age, whether the wart had been treated previously, and type of plantar wart or for patients' preferences at baseline. There was no evidence of a difference between the salicylic acid and cryotherapy groups in self reported clearance of plantar warts at six months (29/95 (31%) v 33/98 (34%), difference -3.15% (-16.31 to 10.02), P=0.64) or in time to clearance (hazard ratio 0.80 (95% CI 0.51 to 1.25), P=0.33). There was also no evidence of a difference in the number of plantar warts at 12 weeks (incident rate ratio 1.08 (0.81 to 1.43), P=0.62). CONCLUSIONS: Salicylic acid and the cryotherapy were equally effective for clearance of plantar warts. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN18994246, National Research Register N0484189151.

The use of an air filtration system in podiatry clinics.

A small-scale study was conducted to ascertain the efficiency and effectiveness of an air filtration system for use in podiatry/chiropody clinics (Electromedia Model 35F (A), Clean Air Ltd, Scotland, UK). Three clinics were identified, enabling comparison of data between podiatry clinics in the West of Scotland. The sampling was conducted using a portable Surface Air Sampler (Cherwell Laboratories, Bicester, UK). Samples were taken on two days at three different times before and after installation of the filtration units. The global results of the study indicate the filter has a statistically significant effect on microbial counts, with an average percentage decrease of 65%. This study is the first time, to the authors' knowledge, such a system has been tested within podiatric practice.