Development of a Simulation-Based Mastery Learning Curriculum for Breaking Bad News

Introduction

Physician communication impacts patient outcomes. However, communication skills, especially around difficult conversations, remain suboptimal, and there is no clear way to determine the validity of entrustment decisions. The aims of this study were to 1) describe the development of a simulation-based mastery learning (SBML) curriculum for breaking bad news (BBN) conversation skills and 2) set a defensible minimum passing standard (MPS) to ensure uniform skill acquisition among learners.

Daily skin-to-skin contact in full-term infants and breastfeeding: Secondary outcomes from a randomized controlled trial

This randomized controlled trial evaluated the effect of a 5-week daily skin-to-skin contact (SSC) intervention between mothers and their full-term infants, compared with care-as-usual, on exclusive and continued breastfeeding duration during the first post-natal year. Healthy pregnant women (n = 116) from a community sample were enrolled and randomly allocated to the SSC or care-as-usual condition. SSC mothers were requested to provide one daily hour of SSC for the first five post-natal weeks. Twelve months post-partum, mothers indicated the number of exclusive and continued breastfeeding months. Multiple regression analyses were conducted using intention-to-treat, per-protocol and exploratory dose–response frameworks. In intention-to-treat analyses, exclusive and continued breastfeeding duration was not different between groups (exclusive: 3.61 ± 1.99 vs. 3.16 ± 1.77 months; adjusted mean difference 0.28, 95% confidence interval [CI] ?0.33 to 0.89; p = 0.36; continued: 7.98 ± 4.20 vs. 6.75 ± 4.06 months; adjusted mean difference 0.81, 95% CI ?0.46 to 2.08; p = 0.21). In per-protocol analyses, exclusive and continued breastfeeding duration was longer for SSC than care-as-usual dyads (exclusive: 4.89 ± 1.26 vs. 3.25 ± 1.80 months; adjusted mean difference 1.28, 95% CI 0.31–2.24; p = 0.01; continued: 10.81 ± 1.97 vs. 6.98 ± 4.08 months; adjusted mean difference 2.33, 95% CI 0.13–4.54; p = 0.04). Exploratory dose–response effects indicated that more SSC hours predicted longer exclusive and continued breastfeeding duration. This study demonstrates that for the total group, the 5-week daily SSC intervention did not extend exclusive and continued breastfeeding duration. However, for mothers performing a regular daily hour of SSC, this simple and accessible intervention may extend exclusive and continued breastfeeding duration by months. Future studies are required to confirm these promising findings. Trial registration: Netherlands Trial Register (NTR5697).     

Emergency department patient payer status after implementation of the Affordable Care Act: A nationwide analysis using NHAMCS data

ObjectiveTo evaluate changes in insurance status among emergency department (ED) patients presenting in the two years immediately before and after full implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).MethodsWe evaluated National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) Emergency Department public use data for 2012–2015, categorizing patients as having any insurance (private; Medicare; Medicaid; workers' compensation) or no insurance. We compared the pre- and post-ACA frequency of insurance coverage—overall and within the older (≥65), working-age (18–64) and pediatric (<18) subpopulations—using unadjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals. We also conducted a difference-in-differences analysis comparing the change in insurance coverage among working-age patients with that observed for older Medicare-eligible patients, while controlling for sex, race and underlying temporal trends.ResultsOverall, the proportion of ED patients with any insurance did not significantly change from 2012 to 2013 to 2014–2015 (74.2% vs 77.7%) but the proportion of working-age adult patients with at least one form of insurance increased significantly, from 66.0% to 71.8% (OR 1.31, CI: 1.13–1.52). The difference-in-differences analysis confirmed the change in insurance coverage among working-age adults was greater than that seen in the reference population of Medicare-eligible adults (AOR 1.70, CI: 1.29–2.23). The increase was almost entirely attributable to increased Medicaid coverage.ConclusionIn the first two years following full implementation of the ACA, there was a significant increase in the proportion of working-age adult ED patients who had at least one form of health insurance. The increase appeared primarily associated with expansion of Medicaid.     

Prostaglandin signaling suppresses beneficial microglial function in Alzheimer’s disease models

Microglia, the innate immune cells of the CNS, perform critical inflammatory and noninflammatory functions that maintain normal neural function. For example, microglia clear misfolded proteins, elaborate trophic factors, and regulate and terminate toxic inflammation. In Alzheimer’s disease (AD), however, beneficial microglial functions become impaired, accelerating synaptic and neuronal loss. Better understanding of the molecular mechanisms that contribute to microglial dysfunction is an important objective for identifying potential strategies to delay progression to AD. The inflammatory cyclooxygenase/prostaglandin E2 (COX/PGE₂) pathway has been implicated in preclinical AD development, both in human epidemiology studies and in transgenic rodent models of AD. Here, we evaluated murine models that recapitulate microglial responses to Aβ peptides and determined that microglia-specific deletion of the gene encoding the PGE₂ receptor EP2 restores microglial chemotaxis and Aβ clearance, suppresses toxic inflammation, increases cytoprotective insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) signaling, and prevents synaptic injury and memory deficits. Our findings indicate that EP2 signaling suppresses beneficial microglia functions that falter during AD development and suggest that inhibition of the COX/PGE₂/EP2 immune pathway has potential as a strategy to restore healthy microglial function and prevent progression to AD.