GRAPPA Patient Research Partner Network: Update to the GRAPPA 2020 Annual Meeting

Eleven Patient Research Partners (PRPs) attended the virtual Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA) 2020 Annual Meeting. PRPs fully participated in the panel discussion at the 2020 GRAPPA Annual Meeting on the topic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19; caused by SARS-CoV-2). The members of the PRP group have been involved in many GRAPPA projects over the last year, including work on the GRAPPA–Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) Core Set, GRAPPA’s 2020 Treatment Guidelines update project, and GRAPPA’s Collaborative Research Network project.

Evaluation Of Laryngeal Vascular Changes With Image1 S Enhancement System In Reference To The European Laryngological Society Guideline

Objectives: To assess the feasibility of using Image1 S™ endoscopic enhancement system for discrimination of the vascular patterns in laryngeal lesions. Design: Forty patients presenting with benign, dysplastic and malign laryngeal lesions were examined with Image1 S system. The vascular patterns were classified by a group of the authors/ according to the ELS guideline, as perpendicular or longitudinal, in all lesions. Endoscopic images of the vascular patterns are evaluated through an online survey by a group of otolaryngologists with different levels of clinical expertise. The qualitative evaluation of the vascular patterns in two groups were compared to investigate the consistency. The relationship between the vascular patterns and the pathological results was statistically analyzed. Results: Eleven patient presented with benign, 13 patients with dysplastic and 16 patients with malignant pathology. The vascular patterns were longitudinal in 9 lesions, perpendicular in 28 lesions and undetectable in 3 lesions. The relevance between the vascularization pattern and the pathological diagnosis was found to be significant (χ2= 20.30, p < 0,001). The qualitative evaluation of the vascular patterns by the two groups of observers was significantly close to each other (=0.63). The survey also showed that spectral modes producing high contrast images were preferred by 81,9% of the participants over white light images. Conclusion: This study demonstrated the usefulness and feasibility of Image1 S endoscopic enhancement system to predict the diagnosis from vascular changes in laryngeal lesions.

Characteristics of teams, staff and patients: associations with outcomes of patients in assertive outreach

BackgroundLittle is known about what characteristics of teams, staff and patients are associated with a favourable outcome of severe mental illness managed by assertive outreach.AimsTo identify predictors of voluntary and compulsory admissions in routine assertive outreach services in the UK.MethodNine features of team organisation and policy, five variables assessing staff satisfaction and burn-out and eleven patient characteristics taken from the baseline data of the Pan-London Assertive Outreach Study were tested as predictors of voluntary and compulsory admissions within a 9-month follow-up period.ResultsWeekend working, staff burn-out and lack of contact of the patient with other services were associated independently with a higher probability of both voluntary and compulsory admission. In addition, admissions in the past predicted further voluntary and compulsory admissions, and teams not working extended hours predicted compulsory admissions in the follow-up period.ConclusionsCharacteristics of team working practice, staff burn-out and patients' history are associated independently with outcome. Patient contact with other services is a positive prognostic factor.