Attitudes toward communication skills with learner needs assessment within radiology residency programs in China: a cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: Communication skills (CS) represent a core competency in radiology residency training. However, no structured curriculum exists to train radiology residents in CS in China. The aim of this study was to evaluate the status and prevalence of doctor-patient communication training among radiology residents in nine Chinese accredited radiology residency training programs and to determine whether there is a perceived need for a formalized curriculum in this field. METHODS: We administered a cross-sectional online survey to radiology residents involved in CS training at nine standard residency training programs in China. The questionnaire developed for this study included CS training status, residents' demographics, attitudes toward CS training, communication needs, and barriers. Residents' attitudes toward CS training were measured with the Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) and its subscales, a positive attitude scale (PAS) and negative attitude scale (NAS). RESULTS: A total of 133 (48.36%) residents participated in the survey. The mean total scores on the two dimensions of the CSAS were 47.61 ± 9.35 in the PAS and 36.34 ± 7.75 in the NAS. Factors found to be significantly associated with the PAS included receiving previous training in CS, medical ethics, or humanities and the doctor's attire. We found that first-year residents and poor personal CS were the most influential factors on the NAS. Only 58.65% of participants reported having previously received CS training during medical school, and 72.93% of respondents reported failure in at least one difficult communication during their residency rotation. Most of those surveyed agreed that CS can be learned through courses and were interested in CS training. Some of the most common barriers to implementing formal CS training were a lack of time, no standardized curriculum, and a lack of materials and faculty expertise. CONCLUSIONS: Most residents had a very positive attitude toward CS training and would value further training, despite the limited formal CS training for radiology residents in China. Future efforts should be made to establish and promote a standard and targeted CS curriculum for Chinese radiology residents.

Effect of alcohol on diffuse axonal injury in rat brainstem: diffusion tensor imaging and aquaporin-4 expression study.

The aim of this study is to assess the effects of alcohol on traumatic brain injury by using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and evaluate aquaporin-4(AQP4) expression changes in rat brainstems following acute alcohol intoxication with diffuse axonal injury (DAI). We further investigated the correlation between the AQP4 expression and DTI in the brain edema. Eighty-five rats were imaged before and after injury at various stages. DTI was used to measure brainstem apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA), with immunostaining being used to determine AQP4 expression. After acute alcoholism with DAI, ADC values of the brainstem first decreased within 6 h and then elevated. FA values began to decline by 1 h, reaching a minimum at 24 h after trauma. There was a negative correlation between ADC values and brainstem AQP4 expression at 6 h and positive correlation at 6 h to 24 h. Changes of ADC and FA values in DAI with acute alcoholism indicate the effects of ethanol on brain edema and the severity of axonal injury. The correlations between ADC values and the brainstem AQP4 expression at different time points suggest that AQP4 expression follows an adaptative profile to the severity of brain edema.