Is the Force Awakened? Publication Trends in Oncology Big Data as Phase II CancerLinQ is Launched

Background: The American Society of Clinical Oncology launched CancerLinQ project in 2010 to provide real-time data collection, mining and visualization, clinical decision support, and quality feedback. Creation of a big data software platform is currently underway to power the CancerLinQ in the phase II of the project. This would allow for evidence driven practice and rapid learning for cancer care providers. Additionally, adequate knowledge about the utility of Big Data to encourage provider utilization in high Impact Factor (IF) journals is needed. We aimed to assess trends and quality of Big Data published in Oncology. Methods: Peer-reviewed English papers published between 2011 and 2015 reporting on cancer and Big Data were identified using PubMed. Manual review was conducted. Cohort construction and statistical analyses were performed utilizing SPSS v 21.0 Results: We identified 325 publications, 135 met inclusion criteria in 105 journals, of which 36% (n=38) are considered specialized hematology and/or oncology journals. Specialized journals published 29.62% (40/135). Equal distribution of publications was found in clinical and basic science journals; 54 (37%) and 50 (40%) respectively. There was a trend of increased publications in clinical journals from 2012 to 2015 (16.7% to 42.9%, P = 0.39). Of the available Impact factors (IF) – the median is 3.234 (range 0.00-41.456) with 25/125 (20.0%) of available IF being \u3e 5.00 and 12/125 (9.6%) being \u3e 10.00 with no difference in the proportion of IF \u3e 5.00 in clinical versus basic science journals; 11/51 (21%) versus 11/47 (23) % p = 1.00, respectively. Conclusions: The need for further publication of studies addressing Big Data use in furthering oncology research is being met by the research community in response to the CancerLinQ as demonstrated by the rapid increase in publications. We hypothesize that this will increase the likelihood of cancer providers using CancerLinQ in the future, although an increase in publication in specialized journals and in those with high impact factors is still necessary. Currently, despite the increased trend of publications addressing Big Data in oncology, less than one-third of these publications are in specialized journals

Internal Medicine Resident Perspectives Regarding Broad-Spectrum Antibiotic Usage.

Focus groups held with internal medicine residents discussed their perspectives regarding broad-spectrum antibiotic (BSA) usage. Residents knew of BSA-associated adverse events, but they did not associate such events with increased patient morbidity and mortality, and they were more likely to use BSA in situations with diagnostic uncertainty and sick patients

Paragonimiasis

© 2009 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC. Paragonimus are accidentally consumed by a human host. The adult Paragonimus (or lung fluke) commonly localizes to the bronchioles after ingestion. While pulmonary involvement is the most common clinical complication of infection, the disease is often asymptomatic. When manifested by pleuritic chest pain and hemoptysis, pulmonary paragonimiasis may mimic the clinical presentation of tuberculosis in countries where both diseases are endemic. A careful epidemiologic history and a high clinical suspicion for diagnosis are necessary when considering paragonimiasis in a patient with suspected pulmonary disease

Using a board game to reinforce learning

Experiential gaming strategies offer a variation on traditional learning. A board game was used to present synthesized content of fundamental catheter care concepts and reinforce evidence-based practices relevant to nursing. Board games are innovative educational tools that can enhance active learning. © SLACK Incorporated

Exercise Capacity and Hospitalization Rates in Veterans

Background Cardiorespiratory fitness, or exercise capacity, has been shown in multiple retrospective studies to be inversely correlated with cardiovascular and all-cause mortality, even after adjustment for potentially confounding cardiovascular risk factors. Given the correlation of poor cardiovascular fitness with poorer medical outcomes (including mortality), it is likely that poor exercise tolerance is associated with a higher incidence of medical hospitalizations. In addition, lower exercise tolerance has also been associated with higher perioperative complication rates and prolonged length of stay after major elective surgery. This study evaluates fitness levels of veterans that underwent elective stress testing and assessed whether the highest fitness levels correlated with the lowest hospitalization rates and least severe illnesses in both cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular diagnoses. Factors such as length of hospital and ICU stay and inpatient mortality were used to assess this potential correlation. Methods This study is a retrospective chart review of all Veterans admitted to the general acute medicine, medicine telemetry, PCU or MICU services that underwent a symptom-limited exercise tolerance test at the Washington DC VAMC between January 1, 2000 and January 1, 2010, within a pre-existing database. Patients with an implanted pacemaker, those who failed to achieve at least 80% of predicted maximum heart rate and those who were unstable, developed a left bundle branch block or required emergent intervention during the stress test were excluded. Differences will be evaluated using a Pearson’s chi-square test and a one-way ANOVA. Results The results of this study are pending. Potential Implications Physicians generally understand that regular exercise and cardiorespiratory fitness help protect against cardiovascular diseases, but a correlation between higher fitness and fewer hospitalizations for non-cardiovascular diseases would be an interesting new finding, and one which might help guide physicians’ clinical decisions (placing more emphasis on exercise even in veterans without cardiovascular risk factors) as well as guide future research at the DC VAMC