Pediatric Academic Productivity: Pediatric Benchmarks for the h- and g-Indices.

OBJECTIVE: To describe h- and g-indices benchmarks in pediatric subspecialties and general academic pediatrics. Academic productivity is measured increasingly through bibliometrics that derive a statistical enumeration of academic output and impact. The h- and g-indices incorporate the number of publications and citations. Benchmarks for pediatrics have not been reported. STUDY DESIGN: Thirty programs were selected randomly from pediatric residency programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. The h- and g-indices of department chairs were calculated. For general academic pediatrics, pediatric gastroenterology, and pediatric nephrology, a random sample of 30 programs with fellowships were selected. Within each program, an MD faculty member from each academic rank was selected randomly. Google Scholar via Harzing's Publish or Perish was used to calculate the h-index, g-index, and total manuscripts. Only peer-reviewed and English language publications were included. For Chairs, calculations from Google Scholar were compared with Scopus. RESULTS: For all specialties, the mean h- and g-indices significantly increased with academic rank (all P < .05) with the greatest h-indices among Chairs. The h- and g-indices were not statistically different between specialty groups of the same rank; however, mean rank h-indices had large SDs. The h-index calculation using different bibliographic databases only differed by ±1. CONCLUSION: Mean h-indices increased with academic rank and were not significantly different across the pediatric specialties. Benchmarks for h- and g-indices in pediatrics are provided and may be one measure of academic productivity and impact.

Medication adherence in HIV-positive patients with diabetes or hypertension: a focus group study.

BACKGROUND: People with HIV are living longer with potent antiretroviral therapy (ART), and HIV is increasingly complicated by other chronic medical comorbidities. The objective of this study was to explore HIV-positive patients' perspectives on living with HIV and diabetes mellitus (DM) or hypertension (HTN) and factors affecting medication adherence. METHODS: We conducted six focus groups. Two investigators independently coded transcripts for thematic content using editing style analysis. Codes were grouped into conceptual themes using consensus process. RESULTS: Thirty-five HIV-positive patients with diabetes or hypertension participated. Four major themes emerged: (1) Comorbidities are a source of concern and frustration, sometimes eclipsing concern regarding HIV (2) Understanding of health conditions and medications promotes adherence, (3) Simpler regimens with fewer side effects promote adherence, and (4) Untreated substance abuse and mental health issues hinder adherence. CONCLUSIONS: HIV-positive patients in this study voiced concern regarding medical comorbidities and highlighted patient understanding, regimen factors, and substance abuse/mental health issues as barriers to adherence. Addressing these issues may improve outcomes in the aging HIV-positive population. Adherence to medications among HIV-positive patients with DM or HTN may be influenced by providing targeted disease-specific education, simplifying regimens, and treatment of substance abuse/mental health issues.