Capacity to Provide Geriatric Specialty Care for Older Adults in Community Oncology Practices

BackgroundAmerican Society of Clinical Oncology guidelines recommend that patients ≥65 years of age starting chemotherapy undergo a geriatric assessment (GA) to inform and guide management; however, little is known about resources available in community oncology practices to implement these guidelines and to facilitate geriatric oncology research.Materials and MethodsOncology practices within the National Cancer Institute Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) were electronically surveyed in 2017 regarding the availability of specialty providers, supportive services, and practice characteristics, as part of a larger survey of cancer care delivery research capacity.ResultsOf the 943 NCORP practices, 504 (54%) responded to the survey, representing 210 practice groups. The median new cancer cases per year ≥65 years of age was 457 (interquartile range 227–939). Of respondents, only 2.0% of practices had a fellowship‐trained geriatric oncologist on staff. Geriatricians were available for consultation or comanagement at 37% of sites, and of those, only 13% had availability within the oncology clinic (5% of overall). Practice size of ≥1,000 new adult cancer cases (ages ≥18) per year was associated with higher odds (1.81, confidence interval 1.02–3.23) of geriatrician availability. Other multidisciplinary care professionals that could support GA were variably available onsite: social worker (84%), nurse navigator (81%), pharmacist (77%), dietician (71%), rehabilitative medicine (57%), psychologist (42%), and psychiatrist (37%).ConclusionOnly a third of community oncology practices have access to a geriatrician within their group and only 5% of community sites have access within the oncology clinic. Use of primarily self‐administered GA tools that direct referrals to available services may be an effective implementation strategy for guideline‐based care.Implications for PracticeOnly a minority of community oncology practices in the U.S. have access to geriatric specialty care. Developing models of care that use patient‐reported measures and/or other geriatric screening tools to assess and guide interventions in older adults, rather than geriatric consultations, are likely the most practical methods to improve the care of this vulnerable population.     

An evaluation of a national mass media campaign to raise public awareness of possible lung cancer symptoms in England in 2016 and 2017

Background A two-phase ‘respiratory symptoms’ mass media campaign was conducted in 2016 and 2017 in England raising awareness of cough and worsening shortness of breath as symptoms warranting a general practitioner (GP) visit.Method A prospectively planned pre–post evaluation was done using routinely collected data on 15 metrics, including GP attendance, GP referral, emergency presentations, cancers diagnosed (five metrics), cancer stage, investigations (two metrics), outpatient attendances, inpatient admissions, major lung resections and 1-year survival. The primary analysis compared 2015 with 2017. Trends in metrics over the whole period were also considered. The effects of the campaign on awareness of lung cancer symptoms were evaluated using bespoke surveys.Results There were small favourable statistically significant and clinically important changes over 2 years in 11 of the 15 metrics measured, including a 2.11% (95% confidence interval 1.02–3.20, p < 0.001) improvement in the percentage of lung cancers diagnosed at an early stage. However, these changes were not accompanied by increases in GP attendances. Furthermore, the time trends showed a gradual change in the metrics rather than steep changes occurring during or after the campaigns.Conclusion There were small positive changes in most metrics relating to lung cancer diagnosis after this campaign. However, the pattern over time challenges whether the improvements are wholly attributable to the campaign. Given the importance of education on cancer in its own right, raising awareness of symptoms should remain important. However further research is needed to maximise the effect on health outcomes.Subject terms: Translational research, Epidemiology     

Presence of Recombinant Bat Coronavirus GCCDC1 in Cambodian Bats

Bats have been recognized as an exceptional viral reservoir, especially for coronaviruses. At least three bat zoonotic coronaviruses (SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2) have been shown to cause severe diseases in humans and it is expected more will emerge. One of the major features of CoVs is that they are all highly prone to recombination. An extreme example is the insertion of the P10 gene from reoviruses in the bat CoV GCCDC1, first discovered in Rousettus leschenaultii bats in China. Here, we report the detection of GCCDC1 in four different bat species (Eonycteris spelaea, Cynopterus sphinx, Rhinolophus shameli and Rousettus sp.) in Cambodia. This finding demonstrates a much broader geographic and bat species range for this virus and indicates common cross-species transmission. Interestingly, one of the bat samples showed a co-infection with an Alpha CoV most closely related to RsYN14, a virus recently discovered in the same genus (Rhinolophus) of bat in Yunnan, China, 2020. Taken together, our latest findings highlight the need to conduct active surveillance in bats to assess the risk of emerging CoVs, especially in Southeast Asia.     

Inducing System-1-type diagnostic reasoning in second-year medical students within 15 minutes

Abstract

Purpose: Diagnostic reasoning literature debates the significance of “dual-process theory” and the importance of its constituent types of thinking: System-1and System-2. This experimental study aimed to determine whether novice medical students could be trained to utilize System-1 thinking when making diagnoses based on chest X-rays.

Method: Second-year medical students were recruited and presented with a series of eight online chest X-rays cases. Participants were shown half of the cases repeatedly during a training phase and the other half only twice. During the final test phase, they were shown all eight cases, providing a diagnosis as a free text answer. Dependent variables were diagnostic accuracy and response time.

Results: Thirty-two students participated. During the test phase, students responses were significantly more accurate and faster for cases which had been seen repeatedly during the training phase (mean score?=?3.56/4, mean time?=?2.34?s) compared with cases which had been seen only twice (mean score?=?1.59/4, mean time?=?7.50?s).

Conclusion: This study demonstrates that it is possible to induce in novice students the speed-to-diagnosis and diagnostic accuracy typical of System-1-type reasoning. The full experimental design and the chest X-rays used may provide new opportunities to explore some of the issues surrounding dual-process theory.