Factors influencing implementation of a patient decision aid in a developing country: an exploratory study

Background: Most studies on barriers and facilitators to implementation of patient decision aids (PDAs) are conducted in the west; hence, the findings may not be transferable to developing countries. This study aims to use a locally developed insulin PDA as an exemplar to explore the barriers and facilitators to implementing PDAs in Malaysia, an upper middle-income country in Asia. Methods: Qualitative methodology was adopted. Nine in-depth interviews (IDIs) and three focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with policymakers (n = 6), medical officers (n = 13), diabetes educators (n = 5) and a nurse, who were involved in insulin initiation management at an academic primary care clinic. The interviews were conducted with the aid of a semi-structured interview guide based on the Theoretical Domains Framework. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed using a thematic approach. Results: Five themes emerged, and they were lack of shared decision-making (SDM) culture, role boundary, lack of continuity of care, impact on consultation time and reminder network. Healthcare providers’ (HCPs) paternalistic attitude, patients’ passivity and patient trust in physicians rendered SDM challenging which affected the implementation of the PDA. Clear role boundaries between the doctors and nurses made collaborative implementation of the PDA challenging, as nurses may not view the use of insulin PDA to be part of their job scope. The lack of continuity of care might cause difficulties for doctors to follow up on insulin PDA use with their patient. While time was the most commonly cited barrier for PDA implementation, use of the PDA might reduce consultation time. A reminder network was suggested to address the issue of forgetfulness as well as to trigger interest in using the PDA. The suggested reminders were peer reminders (i.e. HCPs reminding one another to use the PDA) and system reminders (e.g. incorporating electronic medical record prompts, displaying posters/notices, making the insulin PDA available and visible in the consultation rooms). Conclusions: When implementing PDAs, it is crucial to consider the healthcare culture and system, particularly in developing countries such as Malaysia where concepts of SDM and PDAs are still novel

What will make patients use a patient decision aid? a qualitative study on patients' perspectives on implementation barriers and facilitators

Rationale, aims, and objectives: Few studies focus on patients' views on factors influencing implementation of patient decision aids (PDAs). This study aims to explore patients' views on the factors influencing implementation of an "insulin choice" PDA in a primary care setting. Methods: This study used a descriptive qualitative study design. Interviews were conducted using a semistructured interview guide developed based on the theoretical domains framework. Nine in-depth interviews and three focus group discussions were conducted with patients with type 2 diabetes who have been advised to start insulin or were currently using insulin and those who had been seeking diabetes treatment in the clinic for more than 1 year. Interviews were conducted after the participants were familiarized with the PDA. Data were analysed using a thematic approach. Results: Five themes emerged from the data analysis: (a) trust in the physician (patients preferred physicians to other health care providers in delivering the insulin PDA to them as they trusted physicians more when it comes to making decisions such as starting insulin), (b) physician's attitude (patients were more likely to trust a physician who is friendly and sympathetic hence would be more willing to use the insulin PDA), (c) physician's communication style (patients were more willing to use the insulin PDA if the physicians would take time and guide them in the PDA use), (d) conducive environment (patients preferred to read the PDA at home), and (e) cost (patients would not be willing to pay to use the insulin PDA unless they needed it). Conclusions: Patients want physicians to play a major role in the implementation of the insulin PDA; physicians' communication style and commitment may influence implementation outcomes. Health care authorities need to create a conducive environment and provide patients with free access to PDA to promote effective implementation

Constraints in journal publishing and international research collaboration in the Asia Pacific Region

International research collaboration is when researchers from various nations working together to achieve the common goal of producing new scientific knowledge and internationally co-authored papers are used to measure collaborative international research activity. The benefits of international research collaboration includes sharing of developed scientific knowledge and skills, and improve research quality, while in terms of collaborative journal publishing, it could contribute to publications in high impact journals and, increase the citation and visibility of researchers. International collaborative research activity and publishing is beneficial particularly to low-resources countries such as those in the Asia Pacific region. However, Asia Pacific region holds multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, populous, poor and growing ageing populations and these factors posed limitations to international research collaboration and journal publishing such as: lack of resources in terms of financial, institutional and government support; geographical distance; language barrier; lack of research skills; the challenge of acceptance into international journals; the lack of journals which represent the Asia Pacific region and lastly issues in managing the journals including financial, establishing a peer review and journal management, and operation guidelines. Efforts to address the challenges and promote journal publishing and international research collaboration in the region are warranted.

Use of contraception among college students

BackgroundYoung people’s vulnerability to risky or unwanted sex and other unhealthy behaviors is tied to a host of individual, family, and community factors that influence young people’s behavior and that are closely related to economic and educational opportunities.AimsThis study aims to identify factors determining the sexual activity, knowledge and use of contraception among college students in Malaysia.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among students of aged 17-24 years in 4 colleges in Malaysia in 2010. Data was collected via a self-administered multiple response questionnaire. Data analyses were performed on 552 completed questionnaires.ResultsThe mean knowledge score for this study was 2.86/6 (± standard deviation=1.29), 47.7%. Place of education and living arrangement were significant associated with the mean knowledge score. More than one third of the total respondents have engaged in sexual intercourse. There were significantly higher proportion of respondents who engaged in sexual activity among those from age group 23-24 years, whom were male, and those who study in college with rural exposure. Among those who have engaged in sexual intercourse, more than half did not use any contraception. A significantly higher proportion of respondents who did not use contraception were found among those in the age group of 19-20 years old, whom were female and those who study in colleges with rural exposure. Students studying in colleges with urban exposure were more likely to have better contraceptive knowledge and use of contraception. Male students were more likely to engage in sexual activity and use contraception compared to females.ConclusionThere is a need to impart reproductive health knowledge during the adolescent period so that young people can make informed decisions when it comes to reproductive health matters

p-Cu2O-shell/n-TiO2-nanowire-core heterostucture photodiodes

This study reports the deposition of cuprous oxide [Cu2O] onto titanium dioxide [TiO2] nanowires [NWs] prepared on TiO2/glass templates. The average length and average diameter of these thermally oxidized and evaporated TiO2 NWs are 0.1 to 0.4 μm and 30 to 100 nm, respectively. The deposited Cu2O fills gaps between the TiO2 NWs with good step coverage to form nanoshells surrounding the TiO2 cores. The p-Cu2O/n-TiO2 NW heterostructure exhibits a rectifying behavior with a sharp turn-on at approximately 0.9 V. Furthermore, the fabricated p-Cu2O-shell/n-TiO2-nanowire-core photodiodes exhibit reasonably large photocurrent-to-dark-current contrast ratios and fast responses

Insights into the Ecological Roles and Evolution of Methyl-Coenzyme M Reductase-Containing Hot Spring Archaea

Several recent studies have shown the presence of genes for the key enzyme associated with archaeal methane/alkane metabolism, methyl-coenzyme M reductase (Mcr), in metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) divergent to existing archaeal lineages. Here, we study the mcr-containing archaeal MAGs from several hot springs, which reveal further expansion in the diversity of archaeal organisms performing methane/alkane metabolism. Significantly, an MAG basal to organisms from the phylum Thaumarchaeota that contains mcr genes, but not those for ammonia oxidation or aerobic metabolism, is identified. Together, our phylogenetic analyses and ancestral state reconstructions suggest a mostly vertical evolution of mcrABG genes among methanogens and methanotrophs, along with frequent horizontal gene transfer of mcr genes between alkanotrophs. Analysis of all mcr-containing archaeal MAGs/genomes suggests a hydrothermal origin for these microorganisms based on optimal growth temperature predictions. These results also suggest methane/alkane oxidation or methanogenesis at high temperature likely existed in a common archaeal ancestor

Gut microbiota therapy for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: Evidence from randomized clinical trials

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has a high prevalence worldwide, but there are no medications approved for treatment. Gut microbiota would be a novel and promising therapeutic target based on the concept of the gut–liver axis in liver disease. We reviewed randomized controlled trials on gut microbiota therapy in NAFLD in this study to evaluate its efficacy and plausibility in NAFLD

The value of multimodal ultrasound in diagnosis of cervical lymphadenopathy: can real-time elastography help identify benign and malignant lymph nodes?

AimTo investigate the multimodal ultrasound(MMUS) features of cervical lymphadenopathy and to assess its value in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant cervical lymph nodes.MethodsA retrospective analysis of 169 patients with cervical lymph node enlargement who attended Hangzhou Red Cross Hospital from March 2020 to October 2022. All patients underwent conventional ultrasound (CUS), contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS), and real-time elastography (RTE), and were divided into training set and validation set. Univariate analysis was applied to screen out statistically significant parameters, and CUS model and MMUS model were constructed by multifactorial logistic regression analysis. The receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve was established, and the area under the curve (AUC) was used to compare CUS model with MMUS model to assess the value of MMUS.ResultsOf the cervical 169 lymph nodes in 169 patients included in the study. The 169 enrolled patients were divided into a training set (132 patients) and a validation set (37 patients). In the training set, univariate analysis showed statistically significant differences in long diameter/short diameter(L/S), border, margin, hilus, dermal medulla boundary, blood flow type, enhancement mode, enhancement type, and RTE score (all p< 0.05). Multifactor logistic analysis showed that L/S, blood flow type, enhancement mode and enhancement type were correlates of malignant lymph nodes (all p< 0.05). The comparison of AUC demonstrated that the discriminative ability of the MMUS model was superior to using the CUS model, both in the training set(p = 0.004) and validation set (p<0.001).ConclusionIn this study, MMUS shows higher diagnostic efficiency than CUS. Ultrasound features such as L/S, blood flow type, mode of enhancement, type of enhancement are helpful in distinguishing benign and malignant lymphadenopathy. The addition of CEUS can greatly improve the sensitivity and specificity of ultrasonic diagnosis of malignant cervical lymph nodes. RTE score is of limited value in the diagnosis of malignant cervical lymph nodes