What Drives Engagement in Professional Associations? A National Survey of Occupational Therapy Students

Exploring the factors that influence occupational therapy (OT) and occupational therapy assistant (OTA) students to join and participate in professional associations is critical to determine how to extend engagement after graduation. Previous research on health care student participation in professional associations has not included OT or OTA students. The researchers conducted an online quantitative national pilot survey to explore the perceptions of OT/OTA students and to identify supports and challenges for membership. The purposive sampling of currently enrolled students took place over three months in 2017, resulting in 251 responses representing all geographic regions in the United States. The researcher-developed survey evaluated student perceptions of professional membership challenges and supports at both the state and national levels. There was a statistically significant relationship between students participating in an organized student association and reporting membership in their state and national associations. Students sought out professional association memberships, even when their academic institutions did not provide support. A majority of students indicated that they planned to be American Occupational Therapy Association members after graduation. Students suggested that more economical membership, conference registration, and academic support could encourage active participation and engagement in their professional associations, extending beyond graduation. This study adds the OT student voice to the discussion about professional membership and engagement to the existing literature

Strategies to Improve the User Experience

Libraries are increasingly embracing user experience (UX) and user-centered design principles to improve the satisfaction and success of library users. Electronic resources management can utilize such principles to better support users as they interact with the library's website and its electronic resources. In this column, four academic librarians discuss strategies libraries can employ to improve the user experience. These strategies include utilizing basic UX principles when designing sites and interfaces; analyzing quantitative data to inform the library on how such sites are being used; recruiting strategies for library user studies; and, finally, a call to move to a more unified user experience and to work more closely with vendors on improvements to help users succeed

Relationships of eating competence, sleep behaviors and quality, and overweight status among college students

Little is known about the relationships between eating competence (intra-individual approach to eating and food-related attitudes and behaviors that entrain positive bio-psychosocial outcomes) and sleep behaviors and quality in college students, a high-risk group for poor eating habits, weight gain, and inadequate sleep. Thus, data from full-time college students (N = 1035; 82% White; 61% female) aged 18–24 years from 5 U.S. universities were obtained from online questionnaires (eating competence (ecSI), Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), physical activity, demographics) and physical assessments (measured height, weight), to explore sleep behavior and quality between eating-competent (EC; ecSI score ≥ 32) and non-EC groups (ecSI \u3c 32). Generalized linear models controlling for gender, body mass index, and physical activity were utilized. A higher proportion of those in the EC group reported adequate sleep quality (67% vs. 57% in non-EC, p = 0.001), sleep duration of ≥ 7 h nightly (58% vs. 50% in non-EC, p = 0.007), and infrequent daytime dysfunction (72% vs. 65% in non-EC, p = 0.02). When ecSI scores were grouped as tertiles, those in the highest tertile reported a higher prevalence of no sleep disturbances (7% vs. 2% in the lowest ecSI tertile, p = 0.006) and lower prevalence of sleep medication use (10% vs. 15% in the lowest ecSI tertile, p = 0.04). Results suggest that competent eaters are more likely to have better overall sleep quality and fewer sleep-related issuescompared to less competent eaters. These findings may inform future longitudinal studies, and health promotion and weight management interventions for young adults

Concordance of Self-Report and Measured Height and Weight of College Students

Objective: This study examined associations between college students\u27 self-report and measured height and weight. Methods: Participants (N = 1,686) were 77% white, 62% female, aged 18–24 years (mean ± SD, 19.1 ± 1.1 years), and enrolled at 8 US universities. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated for self-report (via online survey); trained researchers measured height and weight and categorized them as normal (18.5 to \u3c 25), overweight (25 to \u3c 30), obese (30 to \u3c 35), and morbidly obese (≥ 35). Results: Concordance of self-report vs objectively measured BMI groups using chi-square revealed that 93% were accurate, 4% were underestimated, and 2.7% were overestimated. Pearson correlations and adjusted linear regression revealed significant associations between self-report and measured BMI (r = .97; P \u3c .001) and BMI adjusted for age, gender, and race/ethnicity (R2 = .94). Concordance was also high between BMI categories (kappa = 0.77; P \u3c .001). Conclusions and Implications: Findings provide support for the utility of self-report height and weight for survey research in college students

A Deleterious Mutation in DNAJC6 Encoding the Neuronal-Specific Clathrin-Uncoating Co-Chaperone Auxilin, Is Associated with Juvenile Parkinsonism

Parkinson disease is caused by neuronal loss in the substantia nigra which manifests by abnormality of movement, muscle tone, and postural stability. Several genes have been implicated in the pathogenesis of Parkinson disease, but the underlying molecular basis is still unknown for ∼70% of the patients. Using homozygosity mapping and whole exome sequencing we identified a deleterious mutation in DNAJC6 in two patients with juvenile Parkinsonism. The mutation was associated with abnormal transcripts and marked reduced DNAJC6 mRNA level. DNAJC6 encodes the HSP40 Auxilin, a protein which is selectively expressed in neurons and confers specificity to the ATPase activity of its partner Hcs70 in clathrin uncoating. In Auxilin null mice it was previously shown that the abnormally increased retention of assembled clathrin on vesicles and in empty cages leads to impaired synaptic vesicle recycling and perturbed clathrin mediated endocytosis. Endocytosis function, studied by transferring uptake, was normal in fibroblasts from our patients, likely because of the presence of another J-domain containing partner which co-chaperones Hsc70-mediated uncoating activity in non-neuronal cells. The present report underscores the importance of the endocytic/lysosomal pathway in the pathogenesis of Parkinson disease and other forms of Parkinsonism

Novel therapies for resistant focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FONT) phase II clinical trial: study design

Abstract Background The lack of adequate randomized clinical trials (RCT) has hindered identification of new therapies that are safe and effective for patients with primary focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), especially in patients who fail to respond to corticosteroids and immunosuppressive therapies. Recent basic science advances have led to development of alternative treatments that specifically target aberrant pathways of fibrosis which are relevant to disease progression in FSGS. There is a need for a flexible Phase II study design which will test such novel antifibrotic strategies in order to identify agents suitable for phase III testing. Methods/Design The Novel Therapies for Resistant Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FONT) project is a multicenter Phase I/II RCT designed to investigate the potential efficacy of novel therapies for resistant FSGS. Adalimumab and galactose will be evaluated against conservative therapy consisting of the combination of lisinopril, losartan and atorvastatin. The sample size is defined to assure that if one of the treatments has a superior response rate compared to that of the other treatments, it will be selected with high probability for further evaluation. Comparison of primary and secondary endpoints in each study arm will enable a choice to be made of which treatments are worthy of further study in future Phase III RCT. Discussion This report highlights the key features of the FONT II RCT including the two-step outcome analysis that will expedite achievement of the study objectives. The proposed phase II study design will help to identify promising agents for further testing while excluding ineffective agents. This staged approach can help to prevent large expenditures on unworthy therapeutic agents in the management of serious but rare kidney diseases Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT0081425

Women's intentions to self-collect samples for human papillomavirus testing in an organized cervical cancer screening program

Abstract: Background: Mounting evidence affirms HPV testing as an effective cervical cancer screening tool, and many organized screening programs are considering adopting it as primary testing. HPV self-collection has comparable sensitivity to clinician collected specimens and is considered a feasible option in hard-to-reach women. We explored women's intentions to HPV self-collect for cervical cancer screening from a cohort participating in a Canadian randomized controlled cervical cancer screening trial. Methods: Women aged 25-65 were invited to complete an online survey assessing intentions to be screened with HPV testing instead of the Pap smear. The survey was based in the Theory of Planned Behaviour and questions were included to assess women's intentions to self-collect for HPV. Demographic characteristics of women who intended to self-collect were compared with those who did not. Demographic and scale variables achieving a p-value <0.1 in the univariate and bivariate analyses were included in the stepwise logistic regression model. The final model was created to predict factors associated with women's intentions to self-collect an HPV specimen for cervical cancer. Odds ratios were calculated with 95% confidence intervals to identify variables associated with a woman's intention to self-collect for cervical cancer screening. Results: The overall survey response rate was 63.8% (981/1538) with 447 (45.6%) reporting they intended to self-collect, versus 534 (54.4%) reporting they did not. In the univariate analysis, women with more than high school education were more likely to self-collect. Women who intended to receive HPV testing versus the Pap smear were 1.94 times as likely to be in favour of self-collection and those who intended to self-collect had significantly higher attitudinal scores towards HPV self-collection. The adjusted odds ratio and 95% confidence interval from the multivariate analysis demonstrated attitude towards self-collection was the only significant variable predicting a woman's intention to self-collect (OR 1.25; 95% CI: 1.22, 1.29). Conclusions: The primary predictor of a woman's intention to HPV self-collect for cervical cancer screening was her attitude towards the procedure. From a program planning perspective, these results indicate that education and awareness may be significant contributing factors to improving acceptance of self-collection and subsequently, improving screening attendance rates