The Scientific Evaluation Standard of Medical Articles for Public: a Delphi Study

Background At present, the quality of articles in the field of medical popularization in China cannot be guaranteed, so it is necessary for experts engaged in scientific popularization to estabish a consensus on scientfic evaluation criteria to improve it.Objective This article aims to improve this by reaching a consensus about the scientificalness of medical articles for public through Delphi method among experts.Method The article type is research article.On the basis of AGREE II method, a set of criteria for evaluating the scientificalness of popular science articles was established, and then three rounds of Delphi expert consultation were conducted in order to achieve the final consensus.Results A total of 31 people took part in all three rounds of research, while 4 people lost their visits. Most metric reaches consensus (agreement>80%) in the final round while there remains argument concerning the “Total number of evidence selected”, “Whether a case is regarded as general situation”, “If new research evidence exists”, “The qualification of the platform for the publication of popular science articles” and “Conflict of interest”.Conclusion This study established a unified scientific evaluation standard for medical popular science articles. The study is of great significance to the establishment of operable scientific evaluation standard of popular science articles. Future research should focus on the diversity in specific aspect.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on migraine management in the United States: insights from migraine tracking app users

Background The nature of COVID-19 pandemic measures has altered the clinical management of migraine, and has also created barriers to evaluate the impact of such measures of migraine patients. Using the Migraine Buddy smartphone application, we assessed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on migraine in users residing in the United States. Methods Migraine Buddy is a smartphone application by individuals to record their migraine headache episodes, characteristics, and coping mechanisms. For this study, anonymized self-reported data from 163,176 adult Migraine Buddy users in the United States between January 2020 and May 2020, were analyzed for migraines associated with stress. A stress-related migraine is defined as one in which stress or anxiety was reported as a trigger or symptom. A questionnaire on the impact of COVID-19 on migraine and its management was also completed by 923 users from the United States in the app between April 2020 and May 2020. Results 88% of the Migraine Buddy database extract and 84% of the respondents are female, with a mean age of 36.2 years. The proportion of stress-related migraine attacks peaked at 53% on March 21 to 23, although the number of migraine attacks decreased. This followed the declaration of the COVID-19 national emergency on March 13 and a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases in the United States. Questionnaire respondents felt that the following added more stress: social isolation (22.6%), information overdose (21.2%), access to essentials (food, medication, etc.) (18.7%), and financial concerns (17.8%). To help manage migraine during COVID-19, respondents suggested stress and diet coaching programs and resources (medical articles, etc.) (34.0%), having the option for home delivery of medication (30.6%) and tele-consulting (25.5%). Conclusion Here, we report the change in the proportion of self-reported stress-related migraine in relation to evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as its impact of migraine management. Our data will help increase the understanding of patients’ needs and help with planning and execution of mitigating strategies.

Conflict of Interest in Research and Publication: Has the Pendulum Swung Too Far?

Traditionally there has been a collaboration between scientists and industry contributing to the development of new drugs, biologics, and medical devices. Conflict-of-interest (COI) may develop amongst surgeons and academic researchers especially during the process of refinement of techniques and the marketing and sale of devices. Dramatic examples of COI occurred over the last fifty years leading to strict regulations designed to reduce COI at research institutions. Action taken by the International Association of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) created COI guidelines to help authors and editors to ensure clear, reproducible, and unbiased medical articles. The Physicians Payments Sunshine Act was designed to increase transparency of financial relationships between physicians and industry. However, there are instances where authors and scientists are not obligated to fully disclose their COI. Only direct payments are required to be reported, not indirect payments to faculty at large academic institutions, allowing some to take advantage of the exceptions to the disclosure requirements while others must disclose payment for their work effort. Based on prominent scandals, regulations aimed at reducing industry influence in research and publication may fail to recognize the potential benefits of collaboration and produce a narrow-minded view of trust. Where should an editorial board or an academic institution draw the line?

Re-Infection by SARS-Cov-2 with in 5 Months: A Case Report

The first reinfection in the world in Hong Kong, later in Europe (Holland, Belgium) and USA, was documented. In Mexico until November 2020 there are no medical articles that tell us about reinfection; in Celaya Guanajuato the case of a female patient presented with symptoms of COVID-19, 2 polymerase chain reaction in real time tests are performed, in the Laboratory of Public Health from Guanajuato State in an interval of time, less than 5 months; the first in June 2020, with a positive result, received symptomatic treatment and isolation at home for 14 days, negative IgG antibodies test 38 days later; the second time, she presented clinical data on COVID-19 in November From 2020. It was not find references about re-infections by SARS-CoV-2 in Mexico; in Celaya Guanajuato was presented the case of female patient who has symptoms of COVID-19, with new positive PCR, required hospitalization and high-flow oxygen therapy when presenting with pneumonia, was performed simple chest Computing tomography, IgG and IgM antibodies.The evolution was good with discharge from hospitalization 72 hours after admission, continuing his outpatient management until discharge.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Migraine in Migraine Buddy Users

Background: The nature of COVID-19 pandemic measures has altered the clinical management of migraine, and has also created barriers to evaluate the impact of such measures of migraine patients. Using the Migraine Buddy smartphone application, we assessed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on migraine in users residing in the United States.Methods: Migraine Buddy is a smartphone application by individuals to record their migraine headache episodes, characteristics, and coping mechanisms. For this study, anonymized self-reported data from 163,176 adult Migraine Buddy users in the United States between January 2020 and May 2020, were analyzed for migraines associated with stress. A stress-related migraine is defined as one in which stress or anxiety was reported as a trigger or symptom. A questionnaire on the impact of COVID-19 on migraine and its management was also completed by 1,322 users in the app between April 2020 and May 2020. Results: 88% of the Migraine Buddy database extract and 83% of the respondents are female, with a mean age of 36.2 years. The proportion of stress-related migraine attacks peaked at 50% on March 17, although the number of migraine attacks decreased. This followed the declaration of the COVID-19 national emergency on March 13 and a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases in the United States. Questionnaire respondents felt that the following added more stress: social isolation (22.6%), information overdose (21.2%), access to essentials (food, medication, etc.) (18.7%), and financial concerns (17.8%). To help manage migraine during COVID-19, respondents suggested stress and diet coaching programs and resources (medical articles, etc.) (34.0%), having the option for home delivery of medication (30.6%) and tele-consulting (25.5%).Conclusion: Here, we report the change in the proportion of self-reported stress-related migraine in relation to evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as its impact of migraine management. Our data will help increase the understanding of patients' needs and help with planning and execution of mitigating strategies.

Variants and Modifications of the Retroauricular Approach Using in Temporomandibular Joint Surgery: A Systematic Review

Introduction: The retroauricular approach (RA) has been developed in order to expose the temporomandibular joint in a way that minimizes the risk of injury to the facial nerve and masks the postoperative scar. One of its characteristics is an excellent posterolateral view of the mandibular head, which allows for the preservation of the lateral temporomandibular joint ligaments in the course of open intracapsular surgery. Aim: The aim of this study is to systematically review the currently used variants and modifications of RA. Materials and Methods: The construction of the following study is based on PICOS and PRISMA protocols. A systematic literature search was performed based on the PubMed and BASE search engines; furthermore the authors performed a more detailed search in the Google Scholar article database as well as a loop search within the references of papers included in the systematic review. Results: Searching medical articles databases, Google Scholar, and references yielded a total of 85 records. First the titles and abstracts were blindly screened which was followed by a full-text eligibility check resulting in eventually including and qualifying 7 articles for detailed analysis. Discussion: All known variants and modifications of RA are characterized by high safety for the facial nerve and an aesthetically hidden scar. There were no reports of auricle necrosis in the collected material. Conclusions: In this systematic review, 2 variants and 2 modifications of RA that allow for open temporomandibular joint surgery have been identified; all of them together cover a large spectrum of indications for joint surgery, including reposition and osteosynthesis of mandibular head fractures, eminoplasty, or eminectomy and treatment of some forms of ankylosis.

Correction: Assessing Public Interest Based on Wikipedia’s Most Visited Medical Articles During the SARS-CoV-2 Outbreak: Search Trends Analysis (Preprint)

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Assessing Public Interest Based on Wikipedia’s Most Visited Medical Articles During the SARS-CoV-2 Outbreak: Search Trends Analysis

Background In the current era of widespread access to the internet, we can monitor public interest in a topic via information-targeted web browsing. We sought to provide direct proof of the global population’s altered use of Wikipedia medical knowledge resulting from the new COVID-19 pandemic and related global restrictions. Objective We aimed to identify temporal search trends and quantify changes in access to Wikipedia Medicine Project articles that were related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of medical articles across nine language versions of Wikipedia and country-specific statistics for registered COVID-19 deaths. The observed patterns were compared to a forecast model of Wikipedia use, which was trained on data from 2015 to 2019. The model comprehensively analyzed specific articles and similarities between access count data from before (ie, several years prior) and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Wikipedia articles that were linked to those directly associated with the pandemic were evaluated in terms of degrees of separation and analyzed to identify similarities in access counts. We assessed the correlation between article access counts and the number of diagnosed COVID-19 cases and deaths to identify factors that drove interest in these articles and shifts in public interest during the subsequent phases of the pandemic. Results We observed a significant (P<.001) increase in the number of entries on Wikipedia medical articles during the pandemic period. The increased interest in COVID-19–related articles temporally correlated with the number of global COVID-19 deaths and consistently correlated with the number of region-specific COVID-19 deaths. Articles with low degrees of separation were significantly similar (P<.001) in terms of access patterns that were indicative of information-seeking patterns. Conclusions The analysis of Wikipedia medical article popularity could be a viable method for epidemiologic surveillance, as it provides important information about the reasons behind public attention and factors that sustain public interest in the long term. Moreover, Wikipedia users can potentially be directed to credible and valuable information sources that are linked with the most prominent articles.

The COVID-19 Pandemic Accelerated Publication of Medical Articles

BackgroundExperimental biological research and clinical trials that relied on the healthcare system, access to public laboratory equipment, and adequate space were particularly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and mobility restrictions. The study is to analyze the influence of COVID-19 on medical research by exploring the clinical trials and articles published by medical researchers worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsRoutinely conducted, deferred, and terminated clinical trial statistics from the Cancer Center of Tongji Hospital were collected during the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of global medical articles published in 2020 and those from the previous five years were analyzed according to the PubMed database. To conduct subgroup analyses, the articles were classified according to type and research field.Results The total number of publications per month in 2020 increased compared to the number of articles published in 2019. However, a decrease in the number of clinical trials was noted. Reviews and research papers increased by 7.28% and 20.60%, respectively. The number of clinical trial published decreased by 62.29%. The proportion of cancer-related publications (38.44% vs. 44.79%) decreased, whereas the proportion of immunology, pulmonology, and emergency publications (19.23% vs. 17.48%) increased. In the Cancer Center of the Tongji Hospital in Wuhan during the COVID-19 pandemic, of the 46 clinical trials analyzed, 37 (80.40%) were delayed, 8 (17.40%) were remote, and 1 (2.20%) was routine. Conclusions The COVID-19 pandemic had promoted the publication of medical research articles especially those related to the immunology, pulmonology, and emergency medicine. It had a pronounced negative impact on the execution and publication of clinical trials.