Measuring educational needs among patients with rheumatoid arthritis using the Dutch version of the Educational Needs Assessment Tool (DENAT)

The Educational Needs Assessment Tool (ENAT) was developed in the United Kingdom (UK) to systematically assess the educational needs of patients with arthritis. The aim of the present study was to describe the educational needs of Dutch patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by using the Dutch version of the ENAT (DENAT). The original UK version of the ENAT, comprising 39 items grouped into seven domains, was translated into Dutch according to international guidelines for cross-cultural translation and adaptation. The DENAT was then sent to a random sample of 319 RA patients registered at the outpatient clinic of a university hospital. For each domain (score range 1–5, equalling low–high educational needs), a median score with the inter-quartile range was computed. The Kruskal–Wallis test was used to determine possible associations between educational needs and age, disease duration, gender and educational background. The response rate was 165 out of 319 (52%). The median educational needs scores were 2.5 for “managing pain”, 3.0 for “movement”, 2.0 for “feelings”, 4.0 for “arthritis process”, 4.0 for “treatments from health professionals”, 3.5 for “self-help measures” and 2.5 for “support systems”. Lower age and shorter disease duration were associated with more educational needs in the domain “support systems”. In addition, younger patients had more educational needs regarding managing pain and feelings than older patients. There were no associations between gender or educational background and educational needs. The DENAT has demonstrated its ability to identify individual educational needs of Dutch patients with RA. The lower age and shorter disease duration were associated with more educational needs. The practical applicability of the DENAT needs further research

Cross-cultural validation of the Educational Needs Assessment Tool in RA in 7 European countries

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Educational Needs Assessment Tool (the ENAT) is a 39-item patient questionnaire originally developed in the UK to assess educational needs of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The objective of this study was to assess the cross-cultural validity of the ENAT in 7 European countries.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The ENAT was translated into Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish versions by using Beaton's cross-cultural adaptation process, and was completed by a convenience sample of patients with RA in each country. The generated country-specific data were assessed for construct validity and were then pooled and assessed for cross-cultural invariance using Rasch analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Individual country-specific analysis showed adequate fit to the Rasch model after adjustment for local dependency within domains. When data from the different countries were pooled, the 39 items deviated significantly from Rasch model's expectations (X²= 977.055, DF = 351, p = 0.000, PSI = 0.976). Again, most items within domains were found to be locally dependent, significantly affecting the fit. Consequently each domain was treated as a unit (i.e. testlet) and the ENAT was re-analysed as a seven-testlet scale resulting into a good fit to the Rasch model (X²= 71.909; DF = 63; p = 0.207, PSI = 0.951). A test of strict unidimensionality confirmed that all domains contributed to measuring a single construct. Cross-cultural non-invariance was discounted by splitting domains for DIF maintaining an excellent fit to the Rasch model. This allowed calibration of the ENAT into an interval scale.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The ENAT is a simple tool, which is a valid measure of educational needs of people with RA. Adjustment for cross-cultural non-invariance is available if data from the 7 European countries are to be pooled or compared.</p

Educational readiness among health professionals in rheumatology: low awareness of EULAR offerings and unfamiliarity with the course content as major barriers: results of a EULAR-funded European survey

Background: Ongoing education of health professionals in rheumatology (HPR) is critical for high-quality care. An essential factor is education readiness and a high quality of educational offerings. We explored which factors contributed to education readiness and investigated currently offered postgraduate education, including the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) offerings. Methods and participants: We developed an online questionnaire, translated it into 24 languages and distributed it in 30 European countries. We used natural language processing and the Latent Dirichlet Allocation to analyse the qualitative experiences of the participants as well as descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression to determine factors influencing postgraduate educational readiness. Reporting followed the Checklist for Reporting Results of Internet E-Surveys guideline. Results: The questionnaire was accessed 3589 times, and 667 complete responses from 34 European countries were recorded. The highest educational needs were 'professional development', 'prevention and lifestyle intervention'. Older age, more working experience in rheumatology and higher education levels were positively associated with higher postgraduate educational readiness. While more than half of the HPR were familiar with EULAR as an association and the respondents reported an increased interest in the content of the educational offerings, the courses and the annual congress were poorly attended due to a lack of awareness, comparatively high costs and language barriers. Conclusions: To promote the uptake of EULAR educational offerings, attention is needed to increase awareness among national organisations, offer accessible participation costs, and address language barriers.Orthopaedics, Trauma Surgery and Rehabilitatio

Educational readiness among health professionals in rheumatology: Low awareness of EULAR offerings and unfamiliarity with the course content as major barriers—results of a EULAR-funded European survey

Background Ongoing education of health professionals in rheumatology (HPR) is critical for high-quality care. An essential factor is education readiness and a high quality of educational offerings. We explored which factors contributed to education readiness and investigated currently offered postgraduate education, including the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) offerings.Methods and participants We developed an online questionnaire, translated it into 24 languages and distributed it in 30 European countries. We used natural language processing and the Latent Dirichlet Allocation to analyse the qualitative experiences of the participants as well as descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression to determine factors influencing postgraduate educational readiness. Reporting followed the Checklist for Reporting Results of Internet E-Surveys guideline.Results The questionnaire was accessed 3589 times, and 667 complete responses from 34 European countries were recorded. The highest educational needs were ‘professional development’, ‘prevention and lifestyle intervention’. Older age, more working experience in rheumatology and higher education levels were positively associated with higher postgraduate educational readiness. While more than half of the HPR were familiar with EULAR as an association and the respondents reported an increased interest in the content of the educational offerings, the courses and the annual congress were poorly attended due to a lack of awareness, comparatively high costs and language barriers.Conclusions To promote the uptake of EULAR educational offerings, attention is needed to increase awareness among national organisations, offer accessible participation costs, and address language barriers

Les eaux de ruissellement à Abomey et Bohicon, nuisances ou opportunités. Premiers résultats de concertations entre acteurs locaux

Les eaux de ruissellement constituent un problème sérieux dans la zone intra et périurbaine d’Abomey et de Bohicon. Erosions et inondations provoquent des dégâts importants sur les voies et les maisons, freinent la circulation, tandis que la rareté des eaux de surface est un handicap pourles activités agricoles. Pour mieux repérer le chemin des eaux et les actions de lutte actuelle et discuter des modalités avec les riverains, les élus et les services techniques d’actions potentielles,un outil de visualisation, la maquette en terre de barre a été développé pour les deux communesd’Abomey et de Bohicon et utilisé lors des réunions de concertation qui ont permis d’élaborer leSchéma de Dévelopement Sectoriel dans le domaine de l’assainissement d’une part, le Plan Communal de Développement d’autre part. Diverses actions ont été planifiées par les acteurs concernés pour mieux canaliser et valoriser les eaux de ruissellement mais la prévention propre-ment dite de l’érosion n’est pas encore prévue

Synthesis and Characterization of Metal Complex of an Azo Dye Based on Acid Orange 7

Authors: B. Myek, M. L. Batari, J. O. Orijajogun and M. A. Aboki Received 20 May 2020/Accepted 29 June 2020 Azo dye which serve as a ligand was prepared by diazotization of primary aromatic amine to form the diazonium salt. The relatively unstable diazonium salt thus formed was reacted with a coupling component. Complex of this ligand has been synthesized and characterized by IR spectroscopy and UV- Visible absorption spectroscopy. The absorption maximum of the ligand was at 483.50nm. Upon binding with the Fe(II) the band shifted to 479.50nm,&nbsp; indicates an interaction of the Fe(II)&nbsp; with the ligand. The ligand synthesized is soluble in water as well as its metal complex. The colour of the ligand is orange while that of the complex is brown. The prepared complex is stable at room temperature

Modelling and simulation of twin-roll casting of bulk metallic glasses

As an economic and direct route to continuous thin strip production from the melt, twin roll casting (TRC) has been established as an effective process for aluminium alloys. Its adaptation to casting of bulk amorphous alloy strip necessitates matching of the thermal and mechanical behaviour of the cooling multi-component melt to the requirements (especially cooling rate, and strip exit temperature and thermal gradient) of vitrification. Using a dedicated control volume numerical model of TRC, simulation of the casting of 2 mm thick Vit 1 (Zr41.2Ti13.8Cu12.5Ni10Be22.5) alloy strip shows that the acceptable casting speeds are in the range 2.5 to 3.5 cm/s. The effects of varying strip thickness and strip-roll heat transfer coefficient (HTC) on this casting window are assessed. The differences between modelling of conventional alloy solidification and metallic glass formation are presented.Deposited by bulk importAM