Fish consumption by children in Canada: Review of evidence,challenges and future goals

Fish consumption is of great importance to children’s health and is essential for neurodevelopment, which begins in pregnancy and continues throughout early childhood and into adolescence. However, fish consumption presents conflicting health outcomes associated with its nutritional benefits and its adverse contaminant risks, because both avoiding fish as well as the consumption of contaminated fish can potentially harm children. This may be challenging to communicate. The present review was performed to assess the current knowledge and recommendations around ‘smart’ fish-consumption decisions. Health Canada advises, as well as other advisories and guides, that fish should be consumed for its health benefits, while also informing consumers, especially women and children, to limit certain fish consumption. The current literature must attempt to handle the challenges inherent in communicating the dilemmas of children’s fish consumption. Incorporation of new knowledge translation strategies are proposed as a means to raise the level of knowledge about optimal fish consumption practices.     

多潘立酮片门诊用药评价及智能化知识库的作用

背景　多潘立酮为胃肠促动力药，自2012年起连续载入《国家基本药物》。鉴于2012-2014年加拿大、美国、英国等指出多潘立酮有导致心源性猝死及突发室性心律失常的风险，特别是年龄超过60岁、每天用药超过30 mg的患者。2016年9月，我国原国家食品药品监督管理总局（CFDA）发布了《关于修订多潘立酮制剂说明书的公告》，提出对多潘立酮说明书内容进行重新修订的要求。此后，多潘立酮生产厂家对多潘立酮说明书“不良反应、禁忌、注意事项、用法用量”等项进行修订，更新后的药品说明书载入了相关警示及风险提示内容。目的　了解多潘立酮片门诊治疗各种疾病的情况，为临床安全、合理用药提供参考。方法　选取2019年3-8月上海市闵行区吴泾社区卫生服务中心门诊医师开具的单一诊断，使用多潘立酮片的处方515张，统计患者的性别、年龄、临床诊断、用法用量等。构建契合社区医疗卫生机构用药特点的知识库智能管理系统。结果　515例使用多潘立酮片患者中，男197例（38.3%），女318例（61.7%）；年龄26~98岁，平均年龄（72.0±12.4）岁，以60 岁及以上的老年患者为主〔86.0%（443/515）〕。单一诊断涉及的疾病有19种，其中消化不良、消化性溃疡、慢性胃炎、胃食管反流病居前4位，占81.4%（419/515）。所有患者的每日剂量符合药品说明书规定。结论　门诊多潘立酮片使用基本合理。借助知识库利用信息技术能为患者用药“保驾护航”。     

基于知识图谱和模型融合的医疗问答系统的构建

基于语义解析和规则匹配融合的模型，利用少量的语义训练语料，以中文医疗知识图谱为知识基础，构建中文医疗问答系统，解决医疗领域中文语料缺乏且标注难度大的问题。该系统由语义解析模块（SPM）和答案查询模块（AQM）组成。其中，SPM由意图识别和命名实体识别组成，它们分别以BERT-TextCNN和BiLSTM-CRF模型为基础，融合了规则校正，其准确率较非融合模型分别提升9%和11%。实验结果表明，该系统回答准确率达到82%，具有较强的问题解答能力和一定的实用价值。     

Feasibility,acceptability, and effectiveness of a decision aid versus an informational website to promote clinical trial decision-making among cancer patients: A pilot randomized controlled trial

ObjectiveTo assess intervention feasibility and acceptability, and compare the effectiveness of the CHOICES Decision Aid (DA) versus the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Cancer Clinical Trials (CCT) website to improve knowledge about CCTs and preparedness to make an informed decision.MethodsOncology patients (n = 101) with a scheduled clinic visit were enrolled and randomized. Decision-making variables were collected at two timepoints. Post-intervention scores were examined via paired t-tests and multivariate regression analyses. Predictors of the magnitudes of the change in scores were examined in multivariable regression analyses.ResultsThe interventions were feasible to implement and acceptable to participants. Both interventions increased objective and subjective knowledge, improved clarity of opinions, and reduced decisional conflict (p-values < 0.01). Improvements in the belief that one could find out about CCTs were observed in the CHOICES DA arm (p < 0.001). Multivariable analyses controlling for educational attainment showed no significant differences in the magnitude of change in outcome variables between intervention arms, but did find that improvements in some variables in the NCI arm – but not CHOICES DA arm – were associated with previous educational attainment.ConclusionsInterventions were feasible to implement and acceptable. Improvements in knowledge and decision-making outcomes were observed in both arms, supporting the view that interventions to improve CCT decision making are effective and feasible. Our results suggest that the CHOICES DA may be more effective than an informational website in improving decision-making outcomes regardless of participants’ educational attainment.Practice implicationsCCT resources should support informed decision-making among all cancer survivors, regardless of educational attainment.     

Thalassemia and Premarital Screening: Potential for Implementation of a Screening Program Among Young People in Pakistan

Pakistan has a high prevalence of β-thalassemia (β-thal) but lacks a screening program for its prevention. This questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was conducted in six randomly chosen non medical universities to assess the students’ knowledge of β-thal and premarital screening, and their attitude towards such a program. Comparison was made between the respondents’ attitude towards premarital screening before and after providing them some information regarding the disease. Only 54.5% (207) of 380 students had heard of β-thal, with a mean knowledge score of 13.0 ± 4.4 out of 27 questions. Most respondents were aware of the concept of premarital screening. Out of 207 students, 60.4% wanted to know if they were carriers, 69.1% wanted to know their spouse’s carrier status and 59.4% wanted premarital screening to be made mandatory in Pakistan. These figures increased to 72.5, 78.3 and 67.6%, respectively after provision of written information (p values: 0.03, 0.02, and 0.01, respectively). The positive attitude towards premarital screening with low background knowledge of the disease highlights the need of a mass awareness campaign and subsequent implementation of a premarital screening program.