Efficacy of the cognitive orientation to daily occupational performance with Brazilian children with developmental coordination disorder

Background: Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) have difficulties performing daily activities which reflects negatively on participation, impacting their lives.

Objectives: To examine the effects of the cognitive orientation to daily occupational performance Approach (CO-OP Approach) protocol on occupational performance and satisfaction of Brazilian children who have DCD; to examine whether children could transfer strategies and skills learned during CO-OP to untrained goals.

Methods: A pre-post group comparison design with eight boys aged 6–10 years old. Children participated in 12 CO-OP sessions with their parents twice a week, with an extra session added to the protocol for parents´ orientation. The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure and the Performance Quality Rating Scale were used as outcome measures. The study was registered by the United States Institutes of Health at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03112746).

Results: Intervention resulted in higher, clinically and statistically significant, occupational performance measures according to parents, children’s, and external evaluators’ perspectives. All children improved occupational performance on their selected goals and five children could transfer the ability to use cognitive strategies to tasks not addressed in therapy.

Conclusions: This study provides initial directions for future research to investigate the applicability and to implement CO-OP approach on pediatric settings in Brazil.     

What makes a biostatistician?

Biostatisticians play an important role in medical research. They are co-responsible for an appropriate and efficient study design, they are involved in monitoring the study conduct, they plan and perform the data analysis, and they are involved in interpreting and publishing the results. However, how are the biostatisticians prepared for their tasks and responsibilities? Graduate programs in biostatistics are being offered, but some practicing biostatisticians completed their studies in a mathematical or epidemiological program, or obtained their degree in subject-specific fields (such as medicine or biology). Therefore, the expertise and the competencies can vary widely between the individual biostatisticians, also depending on the application field. In this article, focusing on European and US practices, we discuss the required professional expertise for the main areas of applications in the medical field as well as the necessary soft skill competencies of a biostatistician.     

African-American Adolescents’ Weight Loss Skills Utilization: Effects on Weight Change in a Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomized Trial

Objective

Successful weight loss interventions for African-Americans adolescents are lacking. Cognitive-behavioral interventions seek to develop weight loss skills (e.g., counting calories, goal setting, managing one's environment). Little is known about how well adolescents implement such skills in their daily lives. Study aims were to (1) examine weight loss skills utilization at midpoint and end of a 6-month cognitive-behavioral/motivational interviewing weight loss sequential multiple assignment randomized trial (SMART), and (2) determine if greater skill utilization predicted weight loss at treatment end and 3 months post-treatment.

Social adaptive skills and psychopathology in adults with intellectual disabilities of non-specific origin and those with Down syndrome

The present study aimed to assess the psychometric proprieties of a new social adaptive skills questionnaire and examine the impact of maladaptive behaviour on social functioning in adults with ID of non-specific aetiology and those with Down syndrome.The results of an exploratory factor analysis led to the exclusion of 20 items out of 48 and yielded a four-factor structure. The Confirmatory Factor Analysis conducted on 28 remaining items confirmed a four-factor structure explaining 43% of the total variance. The results computed on the global sample (n = 567) showed a “very good” internal consistency for the global score (.89) for all four factors with a very good fit (.97). Thus, this new assessment tool presented a good conceptual validity for assessing social-adaptive skills in adults with ID. The results also showed that participants with DS (no = 92) exhibited a higher global score of social adaptive skills on three subscales (sociability, social relating and respect for social rules) compared to adults with ID of non-specific aetiology (no = 328), and presented a lower level of psychopathology problems. Although aetiology was significantly related to these group differences even after controlling for level of ID and chronological age, the general level of psychopathology fully mediated these relations.In conclusion, the regression coefficient analyses showed that the general level of psychopathology fully mediated the relationship between aetiology and social adaptive skills. A combined assessment of these dimensions should provide information about their predictive value for social functioning in ID adults and target specific remediation goals.     

医院临床技能培训中心在应对疫情专项技能培训中的作用——以南通大学第五附属医院临床技能培训中心为例

2019 年底新型冠状病毒肺炎（以下简称新冠肺炎）疫情发生后，为抗击疫情和保障医护人员自身安全，开展了传染病防护技能专项培训。在本医院的临床技能培训中心，按“三区两通道”设置模拟隔离病区、开发传染病防控专项培训课程，对全体医护人员（特别是一线医护人员）进行传染病防护技能、进出隔离病区等项目实景培训及实战练习。以期迅速有效地提升医护人员传染病防护技能和防护下临床操作的熟练度、精准度，在更好地治疗患者的同时，实现了医护人员“零感染”的目标。同时也说明在医院临床技能培训中心设置模拟隔离病区、开设传染病防护技能课程，并纳入常态化培训考核的必要性和重要性。     

The role of online videos in teaching procedural skills to post-graduate medical learners: A systematic narrative review

Abstract

Objective: Online videos are commonly used in medical education. The aim of this review was to investigate the role of online instructional videos in teaching procedural skills to postgraduate medical learners.

Methods: This systematic narrative review was conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines. MEDLINE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, EMBASE, ERIC and Google Scholar were searched. Full texts that applied to online videos, postgraduate medical learners and procedural skills were included without language restrictions. The methodological quality of the studies was evaluated using a validated tool. A thematic analysis of the studies was carried out using a general inductive approach.

Results: A total of 785 articles were retrieved and the full text was reviewed for 66 articles that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the study. Twenty papers that were relevant to the role of online videos in postgraduate medical education of procedural skills were used for this review. They were heterogenous in the outcomes collected and the evidence was of variable quality. There was strong evidence for the use of online videos for procedural skill knowledge acquisition and retention. Online videos were used for various purposes, such as supervision, assessment, postoperative debriefing, providing feedback, and promoting reflection.

Conclusion: Online videos are a valuable educational tool especially for procedural skill knowledge acquisition and retention. Future research needs to be carried out on the appropriate use of platforms in disseminating and using online videos, identifying the factors surrounding the learners, video characteristics, and data protection.     

目标教学在前列腺超声诊断技术带教中的应用价值研究

目的探讨目标教学在前列腺超声诊断技术带教中的应用效果。方法选择2017年1月-2018年12月于我院进行前列腺超声诊断技术培训的影像学专业学生80例,根据入院时间先后顺序分为研究组与对照组,每组40例。对照组医学生采用常规教学法带教,研究组医学生采用目标教学法带教,比较两组带教效果。结果研究组医学生的超声诊断仪使用(94.12±2.73)分、超声扫查技巧(92.81±5.06)分、操作技能(90.83±5.11)分、超声图像表现掌握(91.96±3.67)分均高于对照组(P<0.05)。研究组医学生的总体满意度CEQ评分(8.22±0.24)分高于对照组的(5.25±0.30)分,两组比较差异具有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论目标教学在前列腺超声诊断技术带教中的应用效果良好,可有效提高医学生的操作能力,提高医学生对带教模式的肯定度。