Publications

IMPORTANCE

New dissemination methods are needed to engage physicians in evidence-based continuing medical education (CME).

OBJECTIVE

To examine the effectiveness of social media in engaging physicians in non-industry-sponsored CME.

DESIGN

We tested the effect of different media platforms (e-mail, Facebook, paid Facebook and Twitter), CME topics, and different "hooks" (e.g., Q&A, clinical pearl and best evidence) on driving clicks to a landing site featuring non-industry sponsored CME. We modelled the effects of social media platform, CME topic, and hook using negative binomial regression on clicks to a single landing site. We used clicks to landing site adjusted for exposure and message number to calculate rate ratios. To understand how physicians interact with CME content on social media, we also conducted interviews with 10 physicians.

SETTING

The National Physicians Alliance (NPA) membership.

PARTICIPANTS

NPA e-mail recipients, Facebook followers and friends, and Twitter followers.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Clicks to the NPA's CME landing site.

RESULTS

On average, 4,544 recipients received each message. Messages generated a total of 592 clicks to the landing site, for a rate of 5.4 clicks per 1000 recipients exposed. There were 5.4 clicks from e-mail, 11.9 clicks from Facebook, 5.5 clicks from paid Facebook, and 6.9 clicks from Twitter to the landing site for 1000 physicians exposed to each of 4 selected CME modules. A Facebook post generated 2.3x as many clicks to the landing site as did an e-mail after controlling for participant exposure, hook type and CME topic (p<0.001). Twitter posts (p = 0.13) and paid Facebook posts (p = 0.06) were not statistically different from e-mail in generating clicks to the landing site. Use of different hooks to engage physicians had no impact on clicks to the landing site. Interviews with physicians suggested that social media might not be a preferred vehicle for disseminating CME.

CONCLUSIONS

Social media has a modest impact on driving traffic to evidence-based CME options. Facebook had a superior effect on driving physician web traffic to evidence-based CME compared to other social media platforms and email.

The statins have been used for 30 years to prevent coronary artery disease and stroke. Their primary mechanism of action is the lowering of serum cholesterol through inhibiting hepatic cholesterol biosynthesis thereby upregulating the hepatic low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptors and increasing the clearance of LDL-cholesterol. Statins may exert cardiovascular protective effects that are independent of LDL-cholesterol lowering called pleiotropic effects. Because statins inhibit the production of isoprenoid intermediates in the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway, the post-translational prenylation of small GTP-binding proteins such as Rho and Rac, and their downstream effectors such as Rho kinase and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidases are also inhibited. In cell culture and animal studies, these effects alter the expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase, the stability of atherosclerotic plaques, the production of proinflammatory cytokines and reactive oxygen species, the reactivity of platelets, and the development of cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis. The relative contributions of statin pleiotropy to clinical outcomes, however, remain a matter of debate and are hard to quantify because the degree of isoprenoid inhibition by statins correlates to some extent with the amount of LDL-cholesterol reduction. This review examines some of the currently proposed molecular mechanisms for statin pleiotropy and discusses whether they could have any clinical relevance in cardiovascular disease.

BACKGROUND

Total IgE is a therapeutic target in patients with allergic diseases. DNA methylation in white blood cells (WBCs) was associated with total IgE levels in an epigenome-wide association study of white subjects. Whether DNA methylation of eosinophils explains these findings is insufficiently understood.

METHODS

We tested for association between genome-wide DNA methylation in WBCs and total IgE levels in 2 studies of Hispanic children: the Puerto Rico Genetics of Asthma and Lifestyle Study (PR-GOAL; n = 306) and the Genes-environments and Admixture in Latino Americans (GALA II) study (n = 573). Whole-genome methylation of DNA from WBCs was measured by using the Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip. Total IgE levels were measured by using the UniCAP 100 system. In PR-GOAL WBC types (ie, neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, lymphocytes, and monocytes) in peripheral blood were measured by using Coulter Counter techniques. In the GALA II study WBC types were imputed. Multivariable linear regression was used for the analysis of DNA methylation and total IgE levels, which was first conducted separately for each cohort, and then results from the 2 cohorts were combined in a meta-analysis.

RESULTS

CpG sites in multiple genes, including novel findings and results previously reported in white subjects, were significantly associated with total IgE levels. However, adjustment for WBC types resulted in markedly fewer significant sites. Top findings from this adjusted meta-analysis were in the genes ZFPM1 (P = 1.5 × 10), ACOT7 (P = 2.5 × 10), and MND1 (P = 1.4 × 10).

CONCLUSIONS

In an epigenome-wide association study adjusted for WBC types (including eosinophils), methylation changes in genes enriched in pathways relevant to asthma and immune responses were associated with total IgE levels among Hispanic children.

BACKGROUND

Significant racial/ethnic disparities in unintended pregnancy persist in the United States, with the highest rates observed among low-income black and Hispanic women. Differences in contraceptive preferences, beliefs, and self-efficacy may be instrumental in understanding contraceptive behaviors that underlie higher rates of unintended pregnancy among racial/ethnic minorities.

OBJECTIVES

Our objective was to understand how contraceptive preferences, beliefs, and self-efficacy vary by race and ethnicity among women veterans.

STUDY DESIGN

We analyzed data from the Examining Contraceptive Use and Unmet Need Study, a national telephone survey of women veterans aged 18-44 years who had received primary care at the Veterans Administration in the prior 12 months. Participants rated the importance of various contraceptive characteristics and described their level of agreement with contraceptive beliefs using Likert scales. Contraceptive self-efficacy was assessed by asking participants to rate their certainty that they could use contraception consistently and as indicated over time using a Likert scale. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine associations between race/ethnicity and contraceptive attitudes, controlling for age, marital status, education, income, religion, parity, deployment history, and history of medical and mental health conditions.

RESULTS

Among the 2302 women veterans who completed a survey, 52% were non-Hispanic white, 29% were non-Hispanic black, and 12% were Hispanic. In adjusted analyses, compared with whites, blacks had lower odds of considering contraceptive effectiveness extremely important (adjusted odds ratio; 0.55, 95% confidence interval, 0.40-0.74) and higher odds of considering the categories of does not contain any hormones and prevents sexually transmitted infections extremely important (adjusted odds ratio, 1.94, 95% confidence interval, 1.56-2.41, and adjusted odds ratio; 1.99, 95% confidence interval, 1.57-2.51, respectively). Hispanics also had higher odds than whites of considering the category of does not contain any hormones and prevents sexually transmitted infections extremely important (adjusted odds ratio, 1.72, 95% confidence interval, 1.29-2.28, and adjusted odds ratio, 1.63; 95% confidence interval, 1.21-2.19, respectively). Compared with whites, blacks and Hispanics had higher odds of expressing fatalistic beliefs about pregnancy (adjusted odds ratio, 1.79, 95% confidence interval, 1.35-2.39, and adjusted odds ratio, 1.48, 95% confidence interval, 1.01-2.17, respectively); higher odds of viewing contraception as primarily a woman's responsibility (adjusted odds ratio, 1.92, 95% confidence interval, 1.45-2.55, and adjusted odds ratio, 1.77; 95% confidence interval, 1.23-2.54, respectively); and lower odds of being very sure that they could use a contraceptive method as indicated over the course of a year (adjusted odds ratio, 0.73, 95% confidence interval, 0.54-0.98, and adjusted odds ratio, 0.66, 95% confidence interval, 0.46-0.96, respectively).

CONCLUSION

Women veterans' contraceptive preferences, beliefs, and self-efficacy varied by race/ethnicity, which may help explain observed racial/ethnic disparities in contraceptive use and unintended pregnancy. These differences underscore the need to elicit women's individual values and preferences when providing patient-centered contraceptive counseling.

PURPOSE

To enhance pediatric trainees' and students' knowledge of the psychosocial and medical issues facing transgender youth through a comprehensive curriculum.

METHODS

During the 2015-2016 academic year, we administered a transgender youth curriculum to fourth-year medical students, pediatric interns, psychiatry interns, and nurse practitioner students on their 1-month adolescent and young adult medicine rotation. The curriculum included six interactive, online modules and an observational experience in a multidisciplinary pediatric gender clinic. The online modules had a primary care focus with topics of general transgender terminology, taking a gender history, taking a psychosocial history, performing a sensitive physical examination, and formulating an assessment, psychosocial plan, and medical plan. At the completion of the curriculum, learners completed an evaluation that assessed change in perceived awareness and knowledge of transgender-related issues and learner satisfaction with the curriculum.

RESULTS

Twenty learners participated in the curriculum with 100% completing the curriculum evaluations, 100% reporting completing all six online modules, and 90% attending the gender clinic. Learners demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in all pre-post knowledge/awareness measures. On a Likert scale where 5 indicated very satisfied, learners' mean rating of the quality of the curriculum was 4.5 ± .7; quality of the modules was 4.4 ± .7; and satisfaction with the observational experience was 4.5 ± .8.

CONCLUSIONS

A comprehensive curriculum comprised interactive online modules and an observational experience in a pediatric gender clinic was effective at improving pediatric learners' perceived knowledge of the medical and psychosocial issues facing transgender youth. Learners also highly valued the curriculum.

BACKGROUND

Patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-related oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) have improved survival when compared with those with HPV-negative OPC. Unfortunately, the American Joint Committee on Cancer seventh edition (AJCC-7ed) staging system does not account for the prognostic advantage observed with HPV-positive OPC. The purpose of the current study was to validate and compare 2 recently proposed staging systems for HPV-positive OPC.

METHODS

Patients treated for HPV-positive OPC from 2005 to 2015 at Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) were included for analysis. The International Collaboration on Oropharyngeal cancer Network for Staging (ICON-S) and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) staging systems were applied and survival was calculated using Kaplan-Meier methods. Cox proportional hazard regression was used to determine the relationship between stage of disease and survival. Models were compared using the Akaike information criterion (AIC).

RESULTS

A total of 435 patients were eligible for analysis. There was a dramatic shift in lymph node category and overall stage of disease when ICON-S and MDACC stage were applied to the JHH cohort. There was superior stratification of overall survival and progression-free survival by ICON-S stage. Both proposed models had an improved fit based on AIC scores (P<.001 for both) over the AJCC-7ed. The ICON-S staging system had the lowest AIC score, and thus a better fit within the JHH population.

CONCLUSIONS

The current analysis provides external validation for both staging systems in an independent and heterogeneously treated patient population. Although the MDACC staging system is an improvement over the AJCC-7ed, the ICON-S stage provides superior stratification of overall and progression-free survival, thereby supporting its use as the updated AJCC staging system for OPC. Cancer 2017;123:1768-1777. © 2017 American Cancer Society.