Changing attitudes towards annual influenza vaccination amongst staff in a Tertiary Care Irish University Hospital.

BACKGROUND: Healthcare workers are encouraged annually to get vaccinated against influenza. This year in view of COVID-19 pandemic, attitudes of HCWs towards vaccination are particularly important. A cross-sectional study was completed to understand how to best encourage and facilitate the vaccination of HCWs based on the previous years' findings. METHODS: An online survey was disseminated to all hospital staff via electronic channels. The clinical audit sphinx software was used for data collection and analysis. RESULTS: The total number of responses was n = 728, almost double the rate from 2018 (N = 393). A total of 78% (N = 551) of participants were vaccinated last year. A total of 94% (N = 677) of participants reported their intention to be vaccinated this year. The main barriers listed were being unable to find time (32%, N = 36), side effects (30%, N = 33) and thinking that it does not work (21%, N = 23). The most popular suggestions for how to increase uptake were more mobile immunisation clinics (72%, N = 517) and more information on the vaccine (50%, N = 360). A total of 82% of participants (N = 590) agreed that healthcare workers should be vaccinated, with 56% (N = 405) agreeing that it should be mandatory. Of the participants who were not vaccinated last year (N = 159), 40% (N = 63) agreed that COVID-19 had changed their opinion on influenza immunisation with a further 11% (N = 18) strongly agreeing. DISCUSSION: In light of the increasing number of survey participants, more staff were interested in flu vaccination this year than ever before. The COVID-19 pandemic has had some influence on staff's likelihood to be vaccinated. Feasibility of immunisation and education posed the largest barriers to HCW vaccination.

Diagnostic classification of eating disorders in children and adolescents: how does DSM-IV-TR compare to empirically-derived categories?

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to empirically derive eating disorder phenotypes in a clinical sample of children and adolescents using latent profile analysis (LPA), and to compare these latent profile (LP) groups to the DSM-IV-TR eating disorder categories. METHOD: Eating disorder symptom data collected from 401 youth (aged 7 through 19 years; mean 15.14 +/- 2.35 years) seeking eating disorder treatment were included in LPA; general linear models were used to compare LP groups to DSM-IV-TR eating disorder categories on pretreatment and outcome indices. RESULTS: Three LP groups were identified: LP1 (n = 144), characterized by binge eating and purging ("Binge/purge"); LP2 (n = 126), characterized by excessive exercise and extreme eating disorder cognitions ("Exercise-extreme cognitions"); and LP3 (n = 131), characterized by minimal eating disorder behaviors and cognitions ("Minimal behaviors/cognitions"). Identified LPs imperfectly resembled DSM-IV-TR eating disorders. LP1 resembled bulimia nervosa; LP2 and LP3 broadly resembled anorexia nervosa with a relaxed weight criterion, differentiated by excessive exercise and severity of eating disorder cognitions. The LP groups were more differentiated than the DSM-IV-TR categories across pretreatment eating disorder and general psychopathology indices, as well as weight change at follow-up. Neither LP nor DSM-IV-TR categories predicted change in binge/purge behaviors. Validation analyses suggest these empirically derived groups improve upon the current DSM-IV-TR categories. CONCLUSIONS: In children and adolescents, revisions for DSM-V should consider recognition of patients with minimal cognitive eating disorder symptoms.

Ethical issues in psychiatric research on children and adolescents.

Psychiatric research on children and adolescents is ethically justified by the need to reduce the burden that mental illnesses place on young people, their families, and society. Such research must be conducted with careful attention to the ethical principles of beneficence, justice, and respect for persons. Child and adolescent psychiatrists who collaborate on research trials or advise patients and families about research participation should consider nine domains when evaluating the ethical acceptability of particular protocols. These domains include scientific merit and design; expertise, commitment, and integrity; risks and benefits; confidentiality; participant selection and recruitment; informed consent and decisional capacity; incentives; institution and peer/professional review; and data presentation. Special ethical issues in child and adolescent psychiatry research concern the use of randomized, controlled treatment trials; the informed consent process for research involving adolescents; the therapeutic misconception; and conflicts of interest in physician referrals.