Research priorities for children's cancer : a James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership in the UK

OBJECTIVES: To engage children who have experienced cancer, childhood cancer survivors, their families and professionals to systematically identify and prioritise research questions about childhood cancer to inform the future research agenda. DESIGN: James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership. SETTING: UK health service and community. METHODS: A steering group oversaw the initiative. Potential research questions were collected in an online survey, then checked to ensure they were unanswered. Shortlisting via a second online survey identified the highest priority questions. A parallel process with children was undertaken. A final consensus workshop was held to determine the Top 10 priorities. PARTICIPANTS: Children and survivors of childhood cancer, diagnosed before age 16, their families, friends and professionals who work with this population. RESULTS: Four hundred and eighty-eight people submitted 1299 potential questions. These were refined into 108 unique questions; 4 were already answered and 3 were under active study, therefore, removed. Three hundred and twenty-seven respondents completed the shortlisting survey. Seventy-one children submitted questions in the children's surveys, eight children attended a workshop to prioritise these questions. The Top 5 questions from children were taken to the final workshop where 23 questions in total were discussed by 25 participants (young adults, carers and professionals). The top priority was 'can we find effective and kinder (less burdensome, more tolerable, with fewer short and long-term effects) treatments for children with cancer, including relapsed cancer?' CONCLUSIONS: We have identified research priorities for children's cancer from the perspectives of children, survivors, their families and the professionals who care for them. Questions reflect the breadth of the cancer experience, including diagnosis, relapse, hospital experience, support during/after treatment and the long-term impact of cancer. These should inform funding of future research as they are the questions that matter most to the people who could benefit from research

Modelling predictors of UK undergraduates’ attitudes towards smart drugs

Smart drug use is increasing but we have little insight into their use. We hypothesized that use is predicted by attitudes and various factors including incremental morality and entity intelligence beliefs would be associated with positive attitudes, whilst perception of unfairness would be associated with negative attitudes.UK undergraduates completed an online survey to establish attitudes towards smart drugs, previous use and likely future use as well as measures of several factors hypothesized to predict attitudes.Attitudes were found to predict previous and likely future use. Attitudes were more positive in those who believed that smart drugs were harmless and those who felt they knew enough to use them safely. By contrast, perceived unfairness was associated with negative attitudes.Interventions to reduce smart drug use should focus on attitudinal beliefs around potential harm and safety, as well as emphasizing the debate around unfairness

University-Wide Digital Skills Training: A Case Study Evaluation

Digital competencies and confidence are thought to be critical to success in higher education. However, despite learning frequently taking place online through the use of virtual learning environment and tools such as lecture capture, and evidence to counter the idea of digital nativity, these critical skills are often not explicitly taught at university. In the present study, we describe the development and evaluation of our Essential Digital Skills programme, which is a university-wide digital training programme designed and implemented at a large London university, aimed at new students but open to all students at the University. Using Kirkpatrick’s evaluation model, we demonstrate that the programme provided effective training in digital skills for all students but that individual differences exist in the training experience, notably around ethnicity and student status, with Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) students and international students feeling that the training made a greater contribution to their skill levels and resulted in greater behaviour change and impact, as well as intention to undertake further training

Assessment of a Horizontal-Vertical Anisotropy in Utilizing an Aircraft Attitude Symbology

This study examined how visual field performance asymmetries affect visual processing of complex, meaningful visual stimuli, such as the Arc-Segmented Attitude Reference (ASAR). Participants’ performance was collected in their recall and report of attitude information after briefly presented ASAR symbology within the peripheral visual field. Visual processing of the ASAR was assessed when making coordinate and categorical judgments at cardinal display locations for each of several flight contexts (roll left/right, climb, and dive). Primarily in coordinate tasking, performance trends were consistent with the horizontal-vertical anisotropy literature—performance is better on the horizontal meridian over the vertical meridian in the field of view. Such effects should be considered for determining symbology placement, particularly within head-worn displays

Hybrid‐Mobile Stroke Unit: Opening the Indication Spectrum for Stroke Mimics and Beyond

Background Despite proven benefits, the use of single‐purpose mobile stroke units (MSUs) has raised concerns about their effective and cost‐efficient integration into clinical practice, especially when considered for operation in nonurban areas. The MSU concept may benefit from opening the indication spectrum to include frequent stroke mimics and additional emergencies. Methods The current observational study evaluated benefits for the treatment and triage decision‐making of use of an MSU with extended capabilities (Hybrid‐MSU), also including radiography, ultrasonography, extended point‐of‐care laboratory, ECG, electroencephalography, and advanced medications. Apart from patients with a dispatch code for “stroke”, the ambulance was also dispatched to those with codes for “seizures”, “falls with head trauma”, “headache”, “unconsciousness”, “infection and pandemic”, “chest pain”, and “breathing problems”. Results For 250 patients treated by the Hybrid‐MSU, but not for 250 conventionally treated patients, the prehospital diagnostic workup allowed, apart from treatment with stroke thrombolytics (n=15), prehospital administration of specific anticonvulsants (n=15), antibiotics (n=5), early secondary stroke prophylaxis with aspirin (n=49), and the Sepsis Six bundle (n=2). Prehospital diagnosis avoided 215 (86.0%) admissions to the emergency department, either by management at home (n=116, 46.4%) or by directly transferring patients to the required specialized wards (n=99, 39.6%). Conclusion The current study demonstrates the feasibility of the use of a Hybrid‐MSU and indicates its potential benefits for prehospital treatment and triage decision‐making. Opening the indication spectrum, together with an act‐alone ability, could be a key in the future integration of MSUs into routine health care

Research priorities for children’s cancer: a James Lind Alliance priority setting partnership in the United Kingdom

Objectives: to engage children who have experienced cancer, childhood cancer survivors, their families, and professionals to systematically identify and prioritise research questions about childhood cancer to inform the future research agenda.Design: James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership.Setting: UK health service and community.Methods: a steering group oversaw the initiative. Potential research questions were collected in an online survey, then checked to ensure they were unanswered. Shortlisting via a second online survey identified the highest priority questions. A parallel process with children was undertaken. A final consensus workshop was held to determine the Top 10 priorities.Participants: children and survivors of childhood cancer, diagnosed before age 16, their families, friends, and professionals who work with this population.Results: four hundred and eighty-eight people submitted 1299 potential questions. These were refined into 108 unique questions; four were already answered and three were under active study, therefore removed. Three hundred and twenty-seven respondents completed the shortlisting survey. Seventy-one children submitted questions in the children’s surveys, eight children attended a workshop to prioritise these questions. The Top 5 questions from children were taken to the final workshop where 23 questions in total were discussed by 25 participants (young adults, carers and professionals). The top priority was, ‘Can we find effective and kinder (less burdensome, more tolerable, with fewer short- and long-term effects) treatments for children with cancer, including relapsed cancer?’Conclusions: we have identified research priorities for children’s cancer from the perspectives of children, survivors, their families, and the professionals who care for them. Questions reflect the breadth of the cancer experience, including diagnosis, relapse, hospital experience, support during/after treatment and the long-term impact of cancer. These should inform funding of future research as they are the questions that matter most to the people who could benefit from research