What do patients want from their endoscopy experience? The importance of measuring and understanding patient attitudes to their care.

Understanding and addressing patient attitudes to their care facilitates their engagement and attendance, improves the quality of their experience and the appropriate utilisation of resources. Gastrointestinal endoscopy is a commonly performed medical procedure that can be associated with patient anxiety and apprehension. Measuring patient attitudes to endoscopy can be undertaken through a number of approaches with contrasting benefits and limitations. Methodological validation is necessary for accurate interpretation of results and avoiding bias. Retrospective post-procedure questionnaires measuring satisfaction are easily undertaken but have limited value, particularly in directing service improvements. Patient experience questionnaires indicate areas of poor care but may reflect the clinician's not the patient's perspective. Directly assessing patient priorities and expectations identifies what is important to patients in their healthcare experience (patient-reported value) that can also provide a basis for other forms of evaluation. Published studies of patient attitudes to their endoscopy procedure indicate the importance of ensuring that endoscopists and their staff control patient discomfort, have adequate technical skill and effectively communicate with their patient relating to the procedure and results. Environmental factors, including noise, privacy and the single-sex environment, are considered to have less value. There are contrasting views on patient attitudes to waiting times for the procedure. Implementing patient-centred care in endoscopy requires an understanding of what patients want from their healthcare experience. The results from available studies suggest implications for current practice that relate to the training and practice of the endoscopist and their staff.

Evaluation of patients' attitudes to their care during oral and maxillofacial surgical outpatient consultations: the importance of waiting times and quality of interaction between patient and doctor.

Knowing what patients think about their care is fundamental to the provision of an effective, quality service, and it can help to direct change and reduce costs. Much of the work in oral and maxillofacial departments concerns the treatment of outpatients, but as little is known about what they think about their care, we aimed to find out which aspects were associated with satisfaction. Consecutive patients (n=244) who attended the oral and maxillofacial outpatient department at Southampton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust over a 7-day period were given a questionnaire to complete before and after their consultation. It included questions with Likert scale responses on environmental, procedural, and interactive aspects of the visit, and a 16-point scale to rank their priorities. A total of 187 patients (77%) completed the questionnaires. No association was found between expected (p=0.93) or actual (p=0.41) waiting times, and 90% of patients were satisfied with their visit. Seeing the doctor, having confidence in the treatment plan, being listened to, and the ability of the doctor to recognise their personal needs, were ranked as important. Environmental and procedural aspects were considered the least important. These findings may be of value in the development of services to improve patient-centred care.

Individual performance review in hospital practice: the development of a framework and evaluation of doctors' attitudes to its value and implementation.

BACKGROUND: Appraisal, or independent performance review (IPR) is used in human resources management in the commercial and public sectors to evaluate the performance of an employee against agreed local organisational expectations and objectives, and to identify their requirements for development and effective management. IPR for NHS consultants may provide essential information for job planning, contribute towards medical appraisal for revalidation, and facilitate productivity and quality improvement. AIMS: To develop a framework for IPR for consultants, and to determine attitudes on its value, process and content. METHOD: Information from commercial, public and voluntary sector models and published and other literature sources were used to develop an IPR framework. This was assessed through a three-cycle action research methodology involving qualitative interviews with 22 consultants (predominantly with medical management roles). RESULTS: The domains of the IPR framework included: (1) performance against objectives; (2) behaviour and leadership; (3) talent management; (4) agreed future objectives. A number of themes were identified from the consultant interviews including: ineffective current appraisal systems reflecting a lack of valid performance data and allotted time; a lack of empowerment of medical managers to address performance issues; IPR as a more explicit system, offering value in evaluating doctors performance; and the dependence of successful implementation on the engagement of the Trust executive. CONCLUSIONS: IPR may have value for performance evaluation of consultants, contributing toward job planning and complementing medical appraisal. Support by their employing organisation and engagement with medical managers in design and implementation is likely to be essential.

A survey of patients' attitudes to upper gastrointestinal endoscopy identifies the value of endoscopist-patient interactive factors.

OBJECTIVE: To determine patients' self-reported preferences and expectations for outpatient upper gastrointestinal (UGI) endoscopy, including patients' priorities in obtaining a satisfactory healthcare experience, preprocedure anxiety and its causes, and preferred staff roles. DESIGN: A composite, dedicated endoscopy questionnaire was used. This included demographic information, validated Likert scale anxiety-related questions and a 15-point ranking scale of aspects of care (1=most important to satisfaction; 15=least important). SETTING AND PATIENTS: Unselected patients attending for an elective UGI endoscopy at two separate units were surveyed on randomly identified days. RESULTS: A total of 202 out of 254 patients agreed to participate (79.5%). The values identified as most important to patients included technical skill (2.8) and personal manner of the endoscopist (4.9) and the nurses and support staff (5.8), control of discomfort (5.6) and adequacy of the preprocedure explanation (5.8). The factors considered least important included noise levels (12.5), privacy (10.7) and cleanliness (8.7). Moderate to severe anxiety was recorded in half of the patient cohort, predominantly due to anticipation of pain or the results of the procedure. Most patients preferred the endoscopist to discuss the findings of the endoscopy but expressed no preferences regarding the preprocedure explanation. CONCLUSION: Patients undergoing UGI endoscopy appear to highly prioritise aspects of care relating to interaction with the endoscopist and the procedure itself. Environmental factors are considered to have much less value. These findings may assist in service redesign around patient-centred care and the development of patient satisfaction surveys in endoscopy.

Bone turnover and nutritional status in Crohn's disease: relationship to circulating mononuclear cell function and response to fish oil and antioxidants.

Crohn's disease is associated with osteoporosis, malnutrition and altered function of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). The responses of circulating immune cells and extra-intestinal manifestations to increased inflammatory activity and to modulation by dietary supplementation are uncertain. The relationships between disease status, bone turnover and body mass and composition, PBMC function and fatty acid availability have been investigated in patients with Crohn's disease. The availability of n-3 and n-6 PUFA is altered in adult patients and interferon (IFN)-gamma production by PBMC is lower. Increased inflammatory activity is associated with increased bone resorption in adult patients and decreased body mass in paediatric patients. In healthy male subjects there is a proportionate relationship between supplementary intake of EPA and DHA (0.3-2.0 g as fish oil/d) in combination with antioxidants (vitamins A, C and E and Se) and incorporation into plasma phospholipids and PBMC, and a non-linear relationship with PBMC synthesis of TNF-alpha, IL-6 and prostaglandin E2 (decrease) and IFN-gamma (increase). In adults with Crohn's disease high-dose fish oil (2.7 g EPA+DHA/d) in combination with antioxidants (vitamins A, C and E and Se) increases the EPA and DHA content of PBMC and decreases the production of IFN-gamma by PBMC, but is not associated with effects on bone turnover or nutritional status.

Thalidomide in the treatment of cancer cachexia: a randomised placebo controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Proinflammatory cytokines, especially tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), play a prominent role in the pathogenesis of cancer cachexia. Thalidomide, which is an inhibitor of TNF-alpha synthesis, may represent a novel and rational approach to the treatment of cancer cachexia. AIMS: To assess the safety and efficacy of thalidomide in attenuating weight loss in patients with cachexia secondary to advanced pancreatic cancer. METHODS: Fifty patients with advanced pancreatic cancer who had lost at least 10% of their body weight were randomised to receive thalidomide 200 mg daily or placebo for 24 weeks in a single centre, double blind, randomised controlled trial. The primary outcome was change in weight and nutritional status. RESULTS: Thirty three patients (16 control, 17 thalidomide) were evaluated at four weeks, and 20 patients (eight control, 12 thalidomide) at eight weeks. At four weeks, patients who received thalidomide had gained on average 0.37 kg in weight and 1.0 cm(3) in arm muscle mass (AMA) compared with a loss of 2.21 kg (absolute difference -2.59 kg (95% confidence interval (CI) -4.3 to -0.8); p = 0.005) and 4.46 cm(3) (absolute difference -5.6 cm(3) (95% CI -8.9 to -2.2); p = 0.002) in the placebo group. At eight weeks, patients in the thalidomide group had lost 0.06 kg in weight and 0.5 cm(3) in AMA compared with a loss of 3.62 kg (absolute difference -3.57 kg (95% CI -6.8 to -0.3); p = 0.034) and 8.4 cm(3) (absolute difference -7.9 cm(3) (95% CI -14.0 to -1.8); p = 0.014) in the placebo group. Improvement in physical functioning correlated positively with weight gain (r = 0.56, p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Thalidomide was well tolerated and effective at attenuating loss of weight and lean body mass in patients with cachexia due to advanced pancreatic cancer.

Laboratory markers predict bone loss in Crohn's disease: relationship to blood mononuclear cell function and nutritional status.

BACKGROUND: Crohn's disease is associated with reduced bone density. The power of simple markers of systemic inflammation to identify higher rates of bone loss, in Crohn's disease, is uncertain. This relationship and the role of circulating (peripheral blood) mononuclear cells were investigated in a case-control study. METHODS: Urinary deoxypyridinoline/creatinine and serum osteocalcin concentrations were compared in male and premenopausal females with "active" Crohn's disease (C-reactive protein > or = 10 and/or erythrocyte sedimentation rate > or = 20) (n = 22) and controls with "quiescent" Crohn's disease (C-reactive protein < 10 and erythrocyte sedimentation rate < 20) (n = 21). No patients were receiving corticosteroid therapy. Production of tumour necrosis factor-alpha, interferon-gamma and prostaglandin E(2) by peripheral blood mononuclear cells were measured. RESULTS: Active Crohn's disease was associated with a higher deoxypyridinoline/creatinine (P = 0.02) and deoxypyridinoline/creatinine:osteocalcin ratio (P =0.01) compared with quiescent Crohn's disease, but similar osteocalcin (P = 0.24). These were not explained by vitamin D status, dietary intake or nutritional status. However, production of interferon-gamma by concanavalin A-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells was lower in active Crohn's disease (P = 0.02) and correlated negatively with the deoxypyridinoline/creatinine:osteocalcin ratio (r = -0.40, P = 0.004). CONCLUSION: In Crohn's disease, raised C-reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate may indicate higher rates of bone loss and, if persistent, the need to assess bone mass even where disease symptoms are mild. This may be partly explained by altered production of interferon-gamma by peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

Essential fatty acid status in paediatric Crohn's disease: relationship with disease activity and nutritional status.

BACKGROUND: Active paediatric Crohn's disease is associated with nutritional deficiencies and altered nutrient intake. The availability of essential fatty acids (linoleic and alpha-linolenic acids) or their derivatives (arachidonic and eicosapentaenoic acids) may alter in plasma and cell membrane phospholipid in protein-energy malnutrition in children and in Crohn's disease in adults. AIM: To investigate the relationship of fatty acid phospholipid profiles with disease activity and nutritional status in paediatric Crohn's disease. METHODS: The fatty acid (proportionate) composition of plasma and erythrocyte phosphatidylcholine was determined in 30 patients (10.3-17.0 years) stratified into active and quiescent Crohn's disease (paediatric Crohn's disease activity index) and high and low body mass (body mass index centile). RESULTS: In plasma phosphatidylcholine, active disease activity was associated with a lower level of alpha-linolenic acid compared with that in quiescent disease (P < 0.05). A body mass index below the 50th centile was associated with active Crohn's disease, low linoleic and alpha-linolenic acids and high arachidonic acid (P < 0.05) in plasma phosphatidylcholine, and low alpha-linolenic acid in erythrocyte phosphatidylcholine. These findings could not be explained through differences in habitual dietary fat intake. CONCLUSION: In paediatric Crohn's disease, a low body mass index centile and high disease activity are associated with altered profiles of essential fatty acids and their derivatives, which may reflect altered metabolic demand.