Evaluation of YouTube videos for patients’ education on periradicular surgery

The aim of this study was to evaluate the content of periradicular surgery-related YouTube videos available for patients’ education. YouTube search was made for videos related to periradicular surgery using specific terms. After exclusions, 42 videos were selected, viewed and assessed by two independent observers. The videos were assessed in terms of duration, days since upload, country of upload, number of views, likes and dislikes, authorship source, viewing rate and interaction index. To grade the content of videos about periradicular surgery, a usefulness score was created with 10 elements based mainly on the American Association of Endodontists guidelines. Each element was given a score of 0 or 1. SPSS software (SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL, USA) was used to analyze data at a 95% confidence level. An inter-evaluator reliability analysis for the scoring system was performed using the Kappa statistic. The videos received an average of 35103.9 views (range: 9–652378) with an average duration of 338.71 seconds (range: 42–2081), respectively. Most videos were provided by individuals (57%). Half of the videos were posted by authors from the United States. The inter-evaluator reliability for usefulness scoring was 94.5%. No video covered the 10 scoring elements completely, presenting very low usefulness scores (mean: 3.2; range: 1–7). The most discussed elements were supporting media (100%) and steps of the procedure (90.5%) followed by indications and contraindications (45.2%) and symptoms (31%). None of the included videos discussed the procedure’s cost or prognosis. In terms of usefulness score, no significant difference was detected between different sources of upload (chi-square test, P > 0.05). Information on periradicular surgery in YouTube videos is not comprehensive and patients should not rely on YouTube as the only source of information. Dental professionals should enrich the content of YouTube with good quality videos by providing full and evidence-based information that will positively affect patients’ attitudes and satisfaction.

Learning Foreign Languages in a Digital Environment: Learners’ Perception of the Sudden Transition to e-Learning During COVID-19 Lockdown

The research is devoted to the study of the forced and accelerated transition of education to an online environment on the example of learning a foreign language. Despite a large number of studies on e-learning, this study is one of the newest investigating recent education transformation trends. The ultimate goal of this paper was to study changes in students’ assessments of the e-learning process, participation in online-based education, and academic success during the transition to virtual training. The study involved 600 students from 5 private specialized educational institutions located in Moscow (Russian Federation) who were forced to switch to e-learning during the lockdown. The examination was conducted by means of a survey assessing the usefulness, comfort, and acceptability of e-learning in three isolated questions formulated by the authors and measured on a five-point Likert scale. The comparison of its outcomes with the results of objective knowledge tests at the beginning and at the end of the three-month e-learning period revealed the following outcomes. First of all, a decrease in the assessment of the acceptability of continuing e-learning for both genders was noted. According to female respondents, the assessment of the comfort of e-learning decreased significantly (from 3.70 to 3.14 points). In the meantime, the usefulness score dropped notably for both male and female research participants (from 4.10 to 2.98 and from 3.80 to 2.26, respectively). Similar changes were found in four age categories ranging from 20 to 42 years old. Thus, the participants over 30 demonstrated lower final scores. Academic success also decreased in the group of men compared to the group of women. The findings of this study can be practically applied for the further transformation of educational programs and additional preparation of educators with the aim of facilitating learning transition to an online mode. Future research on the topic can be conducted in other regions of the world to obtain more comparative data and investigate different learners’ perceptions.

Assesment of the quality of information patients on treatment of keratoconus on YouTube

Purpose To evaluate the reliability, quality and effectiveness of YouTube videos adressing treatment of keratoconus. Methods This is a retrospective, cross-sectional and register-based study. A YouTube search was performed using the keyword treatment of keratoconus and the first 100 videos that came out were included in the study. The numbers of views, likes, dislikes, comments, daily viewing rate (number of views per day), uploaded source (physicians, public or private institution, health channel or patients), country of origin, video type (patient experience, scholarly information), and describe treatment technique (contact lens, corneal crosslinking, intrastromal corneal ring, topography guided-photorefractive keratectomy, keratoplasty) were evaluated for all videos. They were also evaluated regarding their DISCERN, Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), global quality (GQS) and usefulness scores by two independent ophthalmologists. Results Of the top 100 videos, 83 videos met the criteria. The mean DISCERN, JAMA, GQS and usefulness score were 42.92 ± 18.14, 2.7 ± 0.73,3.07 ± 1.25 and 2.99 ± 1.44, respectively. Of the 83 videos, 35(42.2%) had been uploaded by physicians, 19(22.9%) by patients, 15(18.1%) by health channel and 14(16.9%) by institutions/private health institutions. In the correlation analysis, the four scoring systems showed a statistically significant and strong positive correlation with each other (p < 0.001). In addition, viewing rate DISCERN, GQS, usefulness scores, number of likes, dislikes and comments showed a statistically significant positive correlation. Conclusion The content of YouTube videos regarding treatment of keratoconus is of generally good quality and is educational for patients. Increasing the number of videos uploaded by healthcare professionals will increase the quality, reliability and informative features of the videos.

YouTube as a source of information on space maintainers for parents and patients

Objective In recent years the social media offers a handy platform for patients who want to receive medical information. The aim of this study is to assess the content of YouTube as an information source on space maintainers and to evaluate the efficiency of videos by parents and patients. Methods and findings YouTube was searched for information using two keywords ‘space maintainer’ and ‘space maintainers in pediatric dentistry’. Two dentists reviewed the first 200 videos for each search term. After exclusions, 52 videos were included for analysis. Demographics of videos, including the type of source, date of upload, length, viewers’ interaction and viewing rate were evaluated. The overall usefulness of videos was scored according to the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry Guideline based on 9-point scales. The mean usefulness score of evaluated videos was 4,4 ± 1,5 (range 1–8). There was a significant correlation between usefulness and video length (p<0,05). But there was no significant correlation between usefulness and other demographics. Most videos were uploaded by healthcare professionals (51.9%). Videos uploaded by individual users were less useful compared with videos uploaded by healthcare professionals or organizations. Most of the videos (88,5%) used representative images for visualizing. Conclusions YouTube videos about space maintainers are useful for parents only to understand and visualize their function. However, it does not provide sufficient information about adverse effects and types of them. Dentists should warn their patients that videos on the internet may contain incorrect and limited information.

Evaluation of Rotavirus Surveillance System, Yemen 2018: Surveillance Evaluation (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Rotavirus kills over 185,000 children under 5 every year and responsible for over one-third of all child diarrheal deaths worldwide. The Rotavirus Surveillance System (RVSS) in Yemen was launched in 2007 in five sentinel sites to monitor the impact of vaccine on rotavirus morbidity and mortality. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to determine the level of usefulness of the RVSS, assess its performance, and identify the strengths and weaknesses of the surveillance system implementation. METHODS The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated guidelines on evaluation of a public health surveillance system was used to evaluate RVSS. In this assessment, qualitative indicators of usefulness and other attributes of the system including flexibility, stability, simplicity and acceptability were assessed through in-depth interviews with the stakeholders at central level and semi-structured questionnaires with sentinel sites coordinators. Furthermore, indicators for quantitative attributes including sensitivity, Positive Predictive Value (PPV), completeness and timeliness were assessed through reviewing results of laboratory samples and a random sample of case report forms. Scores for the indicators were expressed as following: poor: <60%, average: 60 - <80%, and good: ≥ 80%. RESULTS The overall usefulness score percent of the RVSS was 73%, which indicates an average rank. The RVSS was rated as good on flexibility (score percent = 91%) and stability (score percent = 81%) attributes and was rated as an average on simplicity (score percent = 77%) and acceptability (score percent = 76%) attributes. Regarding the quantitative attributes, the system was rated as poor for sensitivity (score percent = 91%), average for PPV (score percent = 73%) and good for completeness and timeliness (score percent = 100%). CONCLUSIONS The overall RVSS performance was an average. Although the system attributes demonstrated a good flexibility, stability, data quality and timeliness, some attributes still need enhancements. The system was rated “average” on the usefulness, simplicity, and acceptability and poor for the sensitivity. To ensure sustainability, there is a need for planning gradual replacement of donor’s fund with government’s funds. Gradual scaling up of the RVSS through increasing the number of sites and governorates, and enhancement of the sensitivity of the RVSS are strongly recommended.

Evaluation of Neonatal Tetanus Surveillance System in Sana'a city, Yemen (Preprint)

BACKGROUND The Neonatal Tetanus Surveillance System (NTSS) in Yemen was established in 2009 to identify high-risk areas, determine trends, and evaluate elimination activities. Since its launch, the NTSS had never been evaluated. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to assess the performance of NTSS and determine its strength and weaknesses to recommend improvements. METHODS The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines were used for evaluating the NTSS. The centrals' stakeholders, districts' surveillance coordinators, and facilities' focal points were interviewed to rate the attributes of the NTSS. The percent scores for attributes were ranked as poor (<60%), average (≥ 60- <80%) and good (≥ 80%. RESULTS The overall usefulness score percent was 38%, which indicates a poor performance. The performance of the NTSS was rated as an average on the flexibility (Score percent: 68%) and acceptability (Score percent: 64%) attributes and was rated as poor on stability (Score percent: 33%), simplicity (Score percent: 57%), and representativeness (Score percent: 39%) attributes. About 65% of investigation forms were filled within 48 hours of notification date. The data quality was poor as 41% of the core variables were missing. CONCLUSIONS The overall performance of the NTSS was poor. Most of the system attributes require improvement such as stability, simplicity, quality of data and completeness of investigation. To improve the performance of NTSS, the followings are recommended: Capacity building of staff (focal points), strengthening NTSS through technical support and government funding to ensure its sustainability, establishing an electronic investigation forms for improving the system data quality, and expansion of the NTSS coverage to include all private healthcare facilities.

Availability of information for dosing commonly used medications in special ICU populations

Purpose Medication product labeling was reviewed to determine if sufficient information is available to appropriately calculate dosing regimens for special intensive care unit (ICU) populations, including patients at extremes of body habitus and patients receiving hemodialysis, continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT), or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Methods The labeling of the 100 most commonly used injectable medications in the adult ICUs of an academic medical center in Arizona were evaluated. Any information related to adult weight-based dosing, weight descriptors, dosing of patients at extremes of weight (body mass index of &lt;18.5 or &gt;40 kg/m2), and dosing of patients receiving hemodialysis, CRRT, or ECMO was extracted from Food and Drug Administration–approved product labeling. Information was ranked for dosing usefulness on a scale of 0 to 3; an information usefulness score of 2 or greater was considered minimally adequate for dosing special ICU populations. Results Among the 100 medications evaluated, the labeling of 47 provided information on weight-based dosing, with the labeling of 30% referring to a specific weight descriptor. The labeling of 15 medications had information on dosing for patients at extremes of body habitus: underweight (3 medications), obesity (12 medications), and extreme obesity (2 medications), with the labeling of 8 medications receiving an information usefulness score of ≥2 (2, 6, and 1 medication in the respective categories). Among the 42 medications whose labeling provided hemodialysis-related dosing information, the labeled information of 52% was assigned a usefulness score of ≥2; among the 3 medications with CRRT-related dosing information, the labeling of 1 received a score of ≥2. ECMO-related dosing information was available for 2 medications, with 1 score of ≥2 assigned. Conclusion Information in the product labeling of injectable medications commonly used in the ICU is limited and generally inadequate for calculating an appropriate dose for special ICU populations.

Development and assessment of competency-based neurotrauma course curriculum for international neurosurgery residents and neurosurgeons

OBJECTIVETraumatic brain injuries (TBIs) are a significant disease burden worldwide. It is imperative to improve neurosurgeons’ training during and after their medical residency with appropriate neurotrauma competencies. Unfortunately, the development of these competencies during neurosurgeons’ careers and in daily practice is very heterogeneous. This article aimed to describe the development and evaluation of a competency-based international course curriculum designed to address a broad spectrum of needs for taking care of patients with neurotrauma with basic and advanced interventions in different scenarios around the world.METHODSA committee of 5 academic neurosurgeons was involved in the task of building this course curriculum. The process started with the identification of the problems to be addressed and the subsequent performance needed. After this, competencies were defined. In the final phase, educational activities were designed to achieve the intended learning outcomes. In the end, the entire process resulted in competency and outcomes-based education strategy, including a definition of all learning activities and learning outcomes (curriculum), that can be integrated with a faculty development process, including training. Further development was completed by 4 additional academic neurosurgeons supported by a curriculum developer specialist and a project manager. After the development of the course curriculum, template programs were developed with core and optional content defined for implementation and evaluation.RESULTSThe content of the course curriculum is divided into essentials and advanced concepts and interventions in neurotrauma care. A mixed sample of 1583 neurosurgeons and neurosurgery residents attending 36 continuing medical education activities in 30 different cities around the world evaluated the course. The average satisfaction was 97%. The average usefulness score was 4.2, according to the Likert scale.CONCLUSIONSAn international competency-based course curriculum is an option for creating a well-accepted neurotrauma educational process designed to address a broad spectrum of needs that a neurotrauma practitioner faces during the basic and advanced care of patients in different regions of the world. This process may also be applied to other areas of the neurosurgical knowledge spectrum. Moreover, this process allows worldwide standardization of knowledge requirements and competencies, such that training may be better benchmarked between countries regardless of their income level.

Perceived Usefulness of Multimodal Voice Assistant Technology

Smart speaker devices are appealing to consumers, but the perceived usefulness of the multimodal voice experience is not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent to which cognitive load, the relevance of visual information, and personality influence the perceived usefulness of multimodal voice assistant technology in a within-subjects repeated measures design. A multimodal voice prototype was created to answer the question, “What are some extreme weather conditions?” Nine variants, including 3, 5 and 7 system responses with relevant, irrelevant or no information presented on a screen were included. Three tasks were embedded within each condition (Stroop task, sort M&Ms and no task). Perceived usefulness score, recall, personality score, and fluctuations in galvanic skin response (GSR) values were the subjective and objective measures. The findings suggest that when there’s a smaller number of responses/words for the participant to attend to, and subsequently recall, in addition to relevant visual feedback to aid in that recall, they perceive the voice assistant experience to be more useful, while task conducted exhibits marginal significance in determining PU. Scores of conscientiousness, openness to experience, agreeableness, and neuroticism were successful in predicting some variation in the PU responses, while GSR data was not. It is highly recommended that UX designers of the multimodal interface create succinct voice responses with relevant visual feedback to accompany it, and to keep the main use cases of these products in mind to increase the experience’s PU and subsequent behavioral intention to use the product.

WED 017 Call on me: expanding the consultant advice line for gps

BackgroundThe Consultant Advice Line (CAL) is a service developed to provide telephone advice for GPs within our catchment. The hours of this service were extended in early 2017 to increase its capacity for GPs seeking guidance on neurological issues as part our Neuro Network Vanguard project.MethodologyData was routinely collected from calls received between 1 st March and 30th June 2017, and a sample of GPs completed an online survey after the call.ResultsVolume of calls has more than doubled since expansion, with calls spread evenly through the week and from all CCG’s in our region. Feedback from GP’s was overwhelmingly positive with an average ‘call usefulness’ score of 9.2/10, and 100% saying they would use the service again. 40% reported the advice had avoided an outpatient referral.DiscussionThe provision of equitable neurology services is challenging in the current climate. New models of care such as this help to break down barriers between primary and specialist care, reducing undesirable variation in access to acute neurology input and reducing unnecessary referrals to secondary and tertiary care.