scholarly journals Clinical audit in the Pediatric primary care office and overweight prevention in toddlers.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raffaele Limauro ◽  
Patrizia Gallo ◽  
Luigi Cioffi ◽  
Angelo Antignani ◽  
Valentina Cioffi ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Clinical audit is a process by which physicians or other health care professionals perform a regular and systematic review of their clinical practice and amend it, when necessary. An internal audit allows to review the activities carried out by professionals, in order to assess the appropriateness, effectiveness, efficiency and safety of the services provided. Aim of this study was to apply the process of clinical audit to the obesity/overweight care in toddlers. After the correction of the nutritional errors that were considered potentially responsible for the excess weight gain, the effect of the changes of dietary advice s on the frequency of overweight/obesity was assessed in a cohort of children aged 24-36 months. Methods: Three Italian primary care pediatricians set up the audit strategy by recognizing the high prevalence of overweight and obesity in the entire cohort of toddlers born in 2005, 2006 and 2007 (Pre-Audit group, age 24-36 months old) under their care. By reviewing their clinical practice, they changed the protocol of weaning and feeding up to 36 months, mainly reducing protein and sugar excess. The change involved the cohorts of toddlers born in the years 2010, 2011 and 2012 (Post-Audit group). Results: Change in the approach of pediatricians to children’s diet yielded a reduction of the frequency of overweight/obesity in children between 24 and 36 months of life from 26.3% in the Pre-Audit group to 13.9% in the Post-Audit group (p<0.0001). Conclusion: Clinical audit revealed high rates of obesity/overweight among toddlers. The practice developed a new strategy for nutritional counseling, which was effective in reducing the frequency of overweight/obesity in young children.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raffaele Limauro ◽  
Patrizia Gallo ◽  
Luigi Cioffi ◽  
Angelo Antignani ◽  
Valentina Cioffi ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Clinical audit is a process by which physicians or other health care professionals perform a regular and systematic review of their clinical practice and amend it, when necessary. An internal audit allows to review the activities carried out by professionals, in order to assess the appropriateness, effectiveness, efficiency and safety of the services provided. Aim of this study was to apply the process of clinical audit to the obesity/overweight care in toddlers. After the correction of the nutritional errors that were considered potentially responsible for the excess weight gain, the effect of the changes of dietary advice s on the frequency of overweight/obesity was assessed in a cohort of children aged 24-36 months. Methods: Three Italian primary care pediatricians set up the audit strategy by recognizing the high prevalence of overweight and obesity in the entire cohort of toddlers born in 2005, 2006 and 2007 (Pre-Audit group, age 24-36 months old) under their care. By reviewing their clinical practice, they changed the protocol of weaning and feeding up to 36 months, mainly reducing protein and sugar excess. The change involved the cohorts of toddlers born in the years 2010, 2011 and 2012 (Post-Audit group). Results: Change in the approach of pediatricians to children’s diet yielded a reduction of the frequency of overweight/obesity in children between 24 and 36 months of life from 26.3% in the Pre-Audit group to 13.9% in the Post-Audit group (p<0.0001). Conclusion: Clinical audit revealed high rates of obesity/overweight among toddlers. The practice developed a new strategy for nutritional counseling, which was effective in reducing the frequency of overweight/obesity in young children. Keywords: Children; Clinical audit; Feeding; Overweight, Weaning.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raffaele Limauro ◽  
Patrizia Gallo ◽  
Luigi Cioffi ◽  
Angelo Antignani ◽  
Valentina Cioffi ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Clinical audit is a process by which physicians or other health care professionals perform a regular and systematic review of their clinical practice and amend it, when necessary. An internal audit allows to review the activities carried out by professionals, in order to assess the appropriateness, effectiveness, efficiency and safety of the services provided. Aim of this study was to apply the process of clinical audit to the obesity/overweight care in young children. After the correction of the nutritional errors that were considered potentially responsible for the excess weight gain, the effect of the changes of dietary advices on the frequency of overweight/obesity was assessed in a cohort of children aged 24-36 months. Methods: Three Italian primary care pediatricians have applied the audit strategy by recognizing the high prevalence of overweight and obesity in the entire cohort of children born in 2005, 2006 and 2007 (Pre-Audit group, age 24-36 months old) under their care. By reviewing their clinical practice, they changed the protocol of weaning and feeding up to 36 months, mainly reducing the protein intake. The change involved the cohorts of children born in the years 2010, 2011 and 2012 (Post-Audit group). Results: Changes in children’s diet yielded a reduction of the frequency of overweight and obesity between 24 and 36 months of life in the Post-Audit group. Conclusion: Clinical audit can be an effective tool in identifying inaccuracies in medical procedures and helpful in revising them.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
Trude Backer Mortensen

<b>Background &amp; aims:</b> Malnutrition or undernutrition, arising from a deficiency of energy and protein intake, occurs commonly among community-dwelling individuals in developed countries. Once identified, malnutrition can be effectively treated in the majority of cases with dietary advice and the prescription of oral nutritional supplements (ONS) for patients who can eat and drink orally. However, previous research has reported inadequate screening and treatment of malnutrition in the community. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore general practitioners’ (GPs) experiences and opinions on the management of malnutrition and the prescription of ONS in the primary care/community setting in Ireland. <b>Methods:</b> Sixteen semi-structured interviews including chart stimulated recalls (CSR) were conducted with GPs. The interviews and CSRs explored, among others, the following domains; barriers and facilitators in the management of malnutrition, ONS prescribing in the primary care/community setting, and future directions in the management of malnutrition and ONS prescribing. Recorded interviews were transcribed and analysed following a generic qualitative approach with inductive thematic analysis using NVIVO 12 to facilitate data management. <b>Results:</b> Three main themes were identified. Theme 1: ‘Malnutrition is a secondary concern’, encapsulating the idea that the identification of malnutrition is usually secondary to other clinical issues or disease rather than an independent clinical outcome. This theme also includes the idea that obesity is viewed as a dominant nutritional issue for GPs. Theme 2: ‘Responsibility for malnutrition and ONS management in the community’, highlighting that GPs feel they do not know who is responsible for the management of malnutrition in the community setting and expressed their need for more support from other healthcare professionals (HCPs) to effectively monitor and treat malnutrition. Theme 3: ‘Reluctance to prescribe ONS’, emerging from the GPs reported lack of knowledge to prescribe the appropriate ONS, their concern that ONS will replace the patient’s meals and the costs associated with the prescription of ONS. <b>Conclusions:</b> GPs in Ireland do not routinely screen for malnutrition in their clinics as they feel unsupported in treating and managing malnutrition in the community due to limited or no dietetic service availability and time constraints. GPs also view malnutrition as a secondary concern to disease management and prioritise referral to dietetic services for patients with overweight and obesity. GPs reported that they have insufficient knowledge to change or discontinue ONS prescriptions. This study demonstrates that there is a clear need for primary care training in malnutrition identification, treatment and management and more community dietetic services are needed in order to support GPs and deliver high quality care to patients.


Author(s):  
Sukhpreet Kaur

In India, there is 62% out-of-pocket health expenditure per capita and only 15% are covered by health insurance. The use of generics can save a lot of money which can be used for other health issues. But lack of knowledge about cost effectiveness of generic medicines among various health-care professionals had led to a low rate of generic medicine prescription in India. This review aims to identify the barriers in adoption of generic prescribing in clinical practice in India. A systematic literature review was conducted using various healthcare databases such as PubMed and google scholar. The literature search using various combination of keywords retrieved 2360 articles. After excluding duplicates, articles in languages other than English and based on relevance to subject only 15 articles were selected. The barriers to generic prescribing identified from reported literature can be broadly classified based on stakeholders of healthcare setting such as physicians, patients, pharmacist and government policies. The major barriers to generic prescribing identified were negative perception of various stakeholders, lack of awareness of regulatory standards, maturity of health care system, vulnerability of patients, lack of standard guidelines in brand substitution, incentives and influence of drug advertisements. In Indian set up, studies on impact evaluation of generic prescription, emphasizing the quality and cost saving by their use in clinical practice should be conducted. This evidence will help to build the confidence of various stakeholders towards implementing generic prescribing in clinical practice.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bhone Myint Kyaw ◽  
Lorainne Tudor Car ◽  
Louise Sandra van Galen ◽  
Michiel A van Agtmael ◽  
Céire E Costelloe ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Inappropriate antibiotic prescription is one of the key contributors to antibiotic resistance, which is managed with a range of interventions including education. OBJECTIVE We aimed to summarize evidence on the effectiveness of digital education of antibiotic management compared to traditional education for improving health care professionals’ knowledge, skills, attitudes, and clinical practice. METHODS Seven electronic databases and two trial registries were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cluster RCTs published between January 1, 1990, and September 20, 2018. There were no language restrictions. We also searched the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform Search Portal and metaRegister of Controlled Trials to identify unpublished trials and checked the reference lists of included studies and relevant systematic reviews for study eligibility. We followed Cochrane methods to select studies, extract data, and appraise and synthesize eligible studies. We used random-effect models for the pooled analysis and assessed statistical heterogeneity by visual inspection of a forest plot and calculation of the I2 statistic. RESULTS Six cluster RCTs and two RCTs with 655 primary care practices, 1392 primary care physicians, and 485,632 patients were included. The interventions included personal digital assistants; short text messages; online digital education including emails and websites; and online blended education, which used a combination of online digital education and traditional education materials. The control groups received traditional education. Six studies assessed postintervention change in clinical practice. The majority of the studies (4/6) reported greater reduction in antibiotic prescription or dispensing rate with digital education than with traditional education. Two studies showed significant differences in postintervention knowledge scores in favor of mobile education over traditional education (standardized mean difference=1.09, 95% CI 0.90-1.28; I2=0%; large effect size; 491 participants [2 studies]). The findings for health care professionals’ attitudes and patient-related outcomes were mixed or inconclusive. Three studies found digital education to be more cost-effective than traditional education. None of the included studies reported on skills, satisfaction, or potential adverse effects. CONCLUSIONS Findings from studies deploying mobile or online modalities of digital education on antibiotic management were complementary and found to be more cost-effective than traditional education in improving clinical practice and postintervention knowledge, particularly in postregistration settings. There is a lack of evidence on the effectiveness of other digital education modalities such as virtual reality or serious games. Future studies should also include health care professionals working in settings other than primary care and low- and middle-income countries. CLINICALTRIAL PROSPERO CRD42018109742; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=109742


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne Reeve

Person-centred primary care is a priority for patients, healthcare practitioners and health policy. Despite this, data suggest person-centred care is still not consistently achieved – and indeed, that in some areas, care may be worsening. Whole-person care is the expertise of the medical generalist – an area of clinical practice that has been neglected by health policy for some time. It is internationally recognised that there is a need to rebalance specialist and generalist primary care. Drawing on 15 years of scholarship within the science of medical generalism (the expertise of whole-person medical care), this discussion paper outlines a three-tiered approach to primary care redesign; describing changes needed at the level of the consultation, practice set up and strategic planning. The changing needs of patients living with complex chronic illness has already started a revolution in our understanding of healthcare systems. This paper outlines work to support that paradigm shift from disease-focused to person-focused primary healthcare.


10.2196/14984 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. e14984 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bhone Myint Kyaw ◽  
Lorainne Tudor Car ◽  
Louise Sandra van Galen ◽  
Michiel A van Agtmael ◽  
Céire E Costelloe ◽  
...  

Background Inappropriate antibiotic prescription is one of the key contributors to antibiotic resistance, which is managed with a range of interventions including education. Objective We aimed to summarize evidence on the effectiveness of digital education of antibiotic management compared to traditional education for improving health care professionals’ knowledge, skills, attitudes, and clinical practice. Methods Seven electronic databases and two trial registries were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cluster RCTs published between January 1, 1990, and September 20, 2018. There were no language restrictions. We also searched the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform Search Portal and metaRegister of Controlled Trials to identify unpublished trials and checked the reference lists of included studies and relevant systematic reviews for study eligibility. We followed Cochrane methods to select studies, extract data, and appraise and synthesize eligible studies. We used random-effect models for the pooled analysis and assessed statistical heterogeneity by visual inspection of a forest plot and calculation of the I2 statistic. Results Six cluster RCTs and two RCTs with 655 primary care practices, 1392 primary care physicians, and 485,632 patients were included. The interventions included personal digital assistants; short text messages; online digital education including emails and websites; and online blended education, which used a combination of online digital education and traditional education materials. The control groups received traditional education. Six studies assessed postintervention change in clinical practice. The majority of the studies (4/6) reported greater reduction in antibiotic prescription or dispensing rate with digital education than with traditional education. Two studies showed significant differences in postintervention knowledge scores in favor of mobile education over traditional education (standardized mean difference=1.09, 95% CI 0.90-1.28; I2=0%; large effect size; 491 participants [2 studies]). The findings for health care professionals’ attitudes and patient-related outcomes were mixed or inconclusive. Three studies found digital education to be more cost-effective than traditional education. None of the included studies reported on skills, satisfaction, or potential adverse effects. Conclusions Findings from studies deploying mobile or online modalities of digital education on antibiotic management were complementary and found to be more cost-effective than traditional education in improving clinical practice and postintervention knowledge, particularly in postregistration settings. There is a lack of evidence on the effectiveness of other digital education modalities such as virtual reality or serious games. Future studies should also include health care professionals working in settings other than primary care and low- and middle-income countries. Clinical Trial PROSPERO CRD42018109742; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=109742


2007 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 36
Author(s):  
M. L. Russell ◽  
L. McIntyre

We compared the work settings and “community-oriented clinical practice” of Community Medicine (CM) specialists and family physicians/general practitioners (FP). We conducted secondary data analysis of the 2004 National Physician Survey (NPS) to examine main work setting and clinical activity reported by 154 CM (40% of eligible CM in Canada) and 11,041 FP (36% of eligible FP in Canada). Text data from the specialist questionnaire related to “most common conditions that you treat” were extracted from the Master database for CM specialists, and subjected to thematic analysis and coded. CM specialists were more likely than FP to engage in “community medicine/public health” (59.7% vs 15.3%); while the opposite was found for primary care (13% vs. 78.2%). CM specialists were less likely to indicate a main work setting of private office/clinic/community health centre/community hospital than were FP (13.6% vs. 75.6%). Forty-five percent of CM provided a response to “most common conditions treated” with the remainder either leaving the item blank or indicating that they did not treat individual patients. The most frequently named conditions in rank order were: psychiatric disorders; public health program/activity; respiratory problems; hypertension; and metabolic disorders (diabetes). There is some overlap in the professional activities and work settings of CM specialists and FP. The “most commonly treated conditions” suggest that some CM specialists may be practicing primary care as part of the Royal College career path of “community-oriented clinical practice.” However the “most commonly treated conditions” do not specifically indicate an orientation of that practice towards “an emphasis on health promotion and disease prevention” as also specified by the Royal College for that CM career path. This raises questions about the appropriateness of the current training requirements and career paths as delineated for CM specialists by the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada. Bhopal R. Public health medicine and primary health care: convergent, divergent, or parallel paths? J Epidemiol Community Health 1995; 49:113-6. Pettersen BJ, Johnsen R. More physicians in public health: less public health work? Scan J Public Health 2005; 33:91-8. Stanwell-Smith R. Public health medicine in transition. J Royal Society of Medicine 2001; 94(7):319-21.


2018 ◽  
Vol 68 (suppl 1) ◽  
pp. bjgp18X697085
Author(s):  
Trudy Bekkering ◽  
Bert Aertgeerts ◽  
Ton Kuijpers ◽  
Mieke Vermandere ◽  
Jako Burgers ◽  
...  

BackgroundThe WikiRecs evidence summaries and recommendations for clinical practice are developed using trustworthy methods. The process is triggered by studies that may potentially change practice, aiming at implementing new evidence into practice fast.AimTo share our first experiences developing WikiRecs for primary care and to reflect on the possibilities and pitfalls of this method.MethodIn March 2017, we started developing WikiRecs for primary health care to speed up the process of making potentially practice-changing evidence in clinical practice. Based on a well-structured question a systematic review team summarises the evidence using the GRADE approach. Subsequently, an international panel of primary care physicians, methodological experts and patients formulates recommendations for clinical practice. The patient representatives are involved as full guideline panel members. The final recommendations and supporting evidence are disseminated using various platforms, including MAGICapp and scientific journals.ResultsWe are developing WikiRecs on two topics: alpha-blockers for urinary stones and supervised exercise therapy for intermittent claudication. We did not face major problems but will reflect on issues we had to solve so far. We anticipate having the first WikiRecs for primary care available at the end of 2017.ConclusionThe WikiRecs process is a promising method — that is still evolving — to rapidly synthesise and bring new evidence into primary care practice, while adhering to high quality standards.


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