The Climate Crisis and Breastfeeding: Opportunities for Resilience.

The climate crisis is an emerging global challenge that poses potential risks to breastfeeding practices and outcomes. There are multifaceted effects of climate change affecting the breastfeeding dyad across environmental, societal, and human health dimensions. Breastfeeding support in the face of climate change will require solutions at the structural level-healthcare, community, and workplace settings-and at the mother-infant dyad level. Breastfeeding can additionally be an adaptive response to crisis situations and can mitigate some of the environmental challenges associated with climate change. Despite the undeniable significance of climate change on breastfeeding (and vice versa), our perspective as experts in the field is that this topic has not been systematically addressed. Although we highlight some of the challenges, potential solutions, and co-benefits of breastfeeding in the context of climate change, there are numerous issues that could be further explored and necessitate additional preparedness planning.

PedsQL™ Cognitive Functioning Scale in youth with epilepsy: Reliability and validity.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to report on the internal consistency reliability and discriminant, concurrent and construct validity of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ (PedsQL™) Cognitive Functioning Scale as a brief generic cognitive functioning measure in youth with epilepsy. METHODS: The 6-item PedsQL™ Cognitive Functioning Scale and 23-item PedsQL™ 4.0 Generic Core Scales were completed by 221 pediatric patients ages 5-18 years with epilepsy and 336 parents of patients ages 2-18 years in a national field test study for the PedsQL™ Epilepsy Module. Parents also completed the 86-item Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF), a widely validated measure of executive functioning. RESULTS: The PedsQL™ Cognitive Functioning Scale evidenced excellent reliability (patient self-report α = 0.88; parent proxy-report α = 0.96), distinguished between youth with epilepsy and an age, gender, and race/ethnicity-matched healthy sample supporting discriminant validity with large effect sizes (~20-30 point score differences, P < 0.001), and demonstrated concurrent and construct validity, respectively, through large effect size intercorrelations with the BRIEF (Behavioral Regulation Index, Metacognition Index, Global Executive Composite Summary Scores rs = 0.43-0.67, P < 0.001) and the PedsQL™ Generic Core Scales (Total Scale Scores rs = 0.67-0.74, P < 0.001). Minimal clinically important difference (MCID) scores ranged from 5.92 to 8.80. CONCLUSIONS: The PedsQL™ Cognitive Functioning Scale demonstrated excellent internal consistency reliability, discriminant, concurrent, and construct validity in youth with epilepsy and may be suitable as a brief generic patient-reported outcome (PRO) measure for clinical research, clinical trials, and routine clinical practice in pediatric epilepsy.

Pre-Health Professional Perceptions: Should a Formal Stress Relief Program Be Implemented in the Workplace?

Stress, depression, and burnout are a burden on employees and the health care system. These adverse mental states are interlinked, with burnout being a medical condition resulting from the unsuccessful management of chronic stress. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of pre-health student self-care mechanisms, stress coping strategies, and preferences for on-the-job stress relief. This was a convenience sample survey of three pre-health programs with a total of 60 subject responses. The primary endpoint was whether the pre-health students felt they wanted a formal stress relief program to be implemented at work in their future career. Secondary outcomes included stress coping strategies, self-care mechanisms, and barriers to good work-life balance. On a 5-point Likert scale (5 being very important), the mean score for a formal stress relief program was 3.6 ± 1.2, with 60% of the students selecting a score ≥4. Students scored "break rooms/relaxation rooms," "time with family and/or friends," and "being on-call too often" the highest in terms of perceived importance for stress coping, self-care, and as a barrier to work-life balance, respectively. Health care employers should consider implementing a formal stress relief program on-site with consideration for specific pre-health student stress coping and self-care strategies. This type of program has the potential to reduce employee stress and the negative consequences on the employee and health care system.

Microsurgical Simulation Exercise for Surgical Training.

OBJECTIVE: Initial training for orthopedic surgical residents (postgraduate years 1-5) in microsurgery using the turkey wing model and evaluation of their proficiency. DESIGN: Residents were given a questionnaire on their comfort level with microsurgery and microsurgical knowledge, followed by a lecture on the subject. They watched a surgical dissection and repair of the turkey wing's neurovasculature. Residents performed the dissection and repairs of the artery, vein, and nerve. A postquestionnaire was administered following the simulation exercise. Their performances on repairs were graded and results compared by academic year. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A total of 21 orthopedic surgery residents were recruited from Stony Brook University Medical Center, Stony Brook, NK. RESULTS: This training activity resulted in significant improvements in both microsurgical knowledge (41%) and comfort (37%). Senior residents scored significantly higher than juniors on 6 microsurgical parameters. The largest effect was in nerve repair showing 4 parameters that differed significantly between groups. CONCLUSION: Microsurgical techniques require extensive training to master. The turkey wing model for repair of the artery, vein, and nerve represents a realistic simulation of a human hand artery, vein, and nerve. It provides an inexpensive method for residents to practice on real tissue for improving microsurgical technique.

Is distal locking necessary? A biomechanical investigation of intramedullary nailing constructs for intertrochanteric fractures.

OBJECTIVES: Unstable intertrochanteric fractures in the elderly occur frequently. Several studies have evaluated the biomechanical impact of distally locking long cephalomedullary nails under axial loading; however, the impact of torsional loading has not been investigated. The purpose of this study is to determine the rotational load to failure of unstable intertrochanteric fractures treated with long cephalomedullary nails, with and without distal interlocking. METHODS: Eleven paired cadaveric femora treated with long cephalomedullary nails were randomized into 2 groups. Group 1 was left unlocked, whereas group 2 was distally locked. Osteotomies were completed to create unstable 4-part fractures. The femora were anatomically fixed proximally and distally and secured to the biomechanical testing machine to undergo internal rotation. Torque and rotational angle were measured until failure. RESULTS: The locked group had a mean maximal torsional load of 57.9 ± 19.0 N·m and a mean rotational stiffness of 119.4 ± 35.7 N·m/rad. The femora treated with unlocked nails had a mean maximal torsional load of 29.1 ± 12.2 N·m and a mean rotational stiffness of 77.2 ± 31.3 N·m/rad. Distal locking resulted in a significant increase in maximal rotational load (P = 0.001) and rotational stiffness (P = 0.004) before failure. No significant difference was found in mean rotational angle at failure between groups (26.0 ± 9.6 degrees, P = 0.263). CONCLUSIONS: Maximal torsional load to failure for the unlocked group is within the functional range of rotational loads experienced at the hip for an average adult. The results show that distal locking significantly increases rotational load to failure. The authors highly recommend routine use of distal interlocking screws during cephalomedullary nail placement in unstable intertrochanteric fractures.