A touchy topic: tactile assessment among pediatric therapists

Purpose: Tactile impairments affect over 77% of children with unilateral cerebral palsy (CP). This study aimed to examine the current practices of pediatric therapists in relation to tactile assessment and the barriers to carrying out tactile assessment in children with CP.

Method: The study was in two parts. In part one, pediatric therapists (n?=?35) completed a questionnaire detailing their current knowledge and the use of tactile assessments in children. In part two, therapists (n?=?12) completed a questionnaire based on the Theoretical Domains Framework examining the barriers and facilitators to completing tactile assessments in clinical practice.

Results: Most therapists (over 90%) carry out tactile assessments in the minority (less than 25%) of children with CP that they treat. Therapists reported the need for improved knowledge/skills (n?=?24) and confidence (n?=?19) in carrying out tactile assessments, alongside the provision of necessary equipment (n?=?17). Qualitative reports also suggested that organizational assessment guidelines and templates may facilitate the implementation of tactile assessment.

Conclusions: A multi-faceted knowledge translation strategy to address the barriers to tactile assessment among pediatric therapists needs to be developed.

• Implications for rehabilitation

• Pediatric occupational therapists and physiotherapists may not be completing tactile assessments according to current evidence-based recommendations.

• Therapists identified five main barriers, including a lack of knowledge, skills, belief in their capabilities (confidence), behavioral regulation (organizational procedures), and environmental context (e.g., equipment).

• Therapists recommended several potential facilitators, including access to necessary equipment, procedures, record sheets, training in tactile assessments, and research supporting related interventions.

• Service providers are encouraged to develop multi-faceted knowledge translation strategies that address these barriers and maximize facilitators.

     

Use of gas liquid chromatography in the clinical diagnosis of anaerobic pleuropulmonary infection

Evidence of anaerobic infection was sought in 83 patients with pulmonary disease with anaerobic culture and gas liquid chromatography (GLC) of mucopurulent sputum, or pleural fluid where appropriate. Saliva samples from nine healthy controls and 14 patients with cystic fibrosis were examined by the same methods to assess anaerobic content. Clinically significant anaerobic pleuropulmonary infection was not found in our patients with bronchitis, bronchiectasis and cystic fibrosis and occurred in only some of our patients with empyema and lung abscess. GLC of pleural fluid (empyema) or sputum (lung abscess) was helpful in identifying these cases, when a strongly positive reading was obtained. The gas liquid chromatogram was negative or only weakly positive in those patients where the presence of anaerobes was clinically insignificant, most probably resulting from contamination of the sputum samples by saliva. Results were rapidly available and the need for transtracheal aspiration to obtain specimens of bronchial secretion uncontaminated by mouth flora was avoided. The semiquantitative GLC would therefore appear to be a useful method for investigating specimens from patients with suspected anaerobic pleuropulmonary infection.     

Evaluation of susceptibility testing methods for Burkholderia cepacia complex: a comparison of broth microdilution,agar dilution,gradient strip and EUCAST disc diffusion

ObjectivesTo evaluate the accuracy and reproducibility of antimicrobial susceptibility testing methods in Burkholderia cepacia complex (BCC).MethodsMinocycline, ciprofloxacin, trimethoprim/sulphamethoxazole, meropenem, ceftazidime and chloramphenicol were tested against 155 BCC strains using broth microdilution at 35 ± 1°C (BMD₃₅) in triplicate, then BMD at 30 ± 1°C (BMD₃₀), agar dilution at 30°C and 35°C (AD₃₀ and AD₃₅), gradient strip (GS) and EUCAST standardized disc diffusion (DD) testing methods once.ResultsBMD₃₅ reproducibility ranged from 70% to 84.5% for all agents. Correlations of MICs from BMD₃₅ with BMD₃₀ ranged from 63% to 85%, with AD₃₅ from 32.9% to 87% and with GS methods from 36% to 83.9%. Essential agreement (EA) of MICs by GS with BMD₃₅ ranged from 62.6% (trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole) to 83.9% (minocycline). EA of EUCAST DD zone diameters using CLSI breakpoint criteria was between 85.8% and 97.4%, however Very Major Errors (VME) for trimethoprim/sulphamethoxazole were 31%.ConclusionsBMD at 35 ± 1°C was poorly reproducible for most agents and no method showed acceptable performance. Of particular concern were the GS results. Although this is the most commonly used method for determining MICs in laboratories, there was poor correlation with BMD₃₅ for meropenem and trimethoprim/sulphamethoxazole. EUCAST DD correlated poorly with BMD₃₅ MICs. This study confirms that no susceptibility method is capable of providing reproducible and accurate MICs when testing BCC.     

Cognitive Theories of Delusion Formation: The Contribution of Visual Scanpath Research

Recent findings from visual scanpath research are considered in relation to cognitive theories of delusion formation. Contemporary theories converge in proposing that both perceptual and cognitive aberrations are crucial to the development of delusional beliefs (Garety & Freeman, 1999). Deluded individuals have reliably demonstrated attributional and probabilistic reasoning biases, manifesting as hasty decision making and an inclination to blame other people for negative experiences (Bentall, Kinderman, & Kaney, 1994; Garety & Hemsley, 1994). Deluded people have also displayed attentional preference for threat-related material and a ''negative'' world view (Kaney, Wolfenden, Dewey, & Bentall, 1992; Kaney, Bowen-Jones, Dewey, & Bentall, 1997). In combination, these biases might reflect a general tendency for deluded individuals to ''jump to conclusions'' when evaluating others' intentions (Garety & Freeman, 1999), influenced by the perception of threat and persecution everywhere (Kaney et al., 1997). This thesis would be consistent with reports of an inability of paranoid patients to correctly infer the intentions of others during ''theory of mind'' tasks but would not predict a total lack of mentalising ability as proposed by Frith (1992). In visual scanpath paradigms, deluded schizophrenics tend to display excessive staring behaviour and to avoid gazing at facial features when viewing human faces (Phillips & David, 1997, 1998; Streit, Wolwer, & Gaebel, 1997; Williams et al., 1999). These abnormal scanpath strategies could underlie aberrations in social reasoning (including misinterpretation of others' intentions) and data gathering exhibited by deluded individuals. Exploration of the relationship between visual scanpaths and biases in social cognition is therefore warranted.     

Preferred Functions of Personal Health Records in Rural Primary Health Clinics in Canada: Health Care Team Perspectives

Background  Personal health records (PHR) provide opportunities for improved patient engagement, collection of patient-generated data, and overcome health-system inefficiencies. While PHR use is increasing, uptake in rural populations is lower than in urban areas. Objectives  The study aimed to identify priorities for PHR functionality and gain insights into meaning, value, and use of patient-generated data for rural primary care providers. Methods  We performed PHR preimplementation focus groups with rural providers and their health care teams from five primary care clinics in a sparsely populated mountainous region of British Columbia, Canada to obtain their understanding of PHR functionality, needs, and perceived challenges. Results  Eight general practitioners (GP), five medical office assistants, two nurse practitioners (NP), and two registered nurses (14 females and 3 males) participated in focus groups held at their respective clinics. Providers (GPs, NPs, and RNs) had been practicing for a median of 9.5 (range = 1–38) years and had used an electronic medical record for 7.0 (1–20) years. Participants expressed interest in incorporating functionality around two-way communication and appointment scheduling, previsit data gathering, patient and provider data sharing, virtual care including visits using videoconferencing tools, and postvisit sharing of educational materials. Three further themes emerged from the focus groups: (1) the context in which the providers'' practice matters, (2) the need for providing patients and providers with choice (e.g., which data to share, who gets to initiate/respond in communications, and processes around virtual care visits), and (3) perceived risks of system use (e.g., increased complexity for older patients and workload barriers for the health care team). Conclusion  Rural primary care teams perceived PHR opportunities for increased patient engagement and access to patient-generated data, while worries about changes in workflow were the biggest perceived risk. Recommendations for PHR adoption in a rural primary health network include setting provider-patient expectations about response times, ability to share notes selectively, and automatically augmented note-taking from virtual-care visits.     

The prevalence and burden of recurrent headache in Australian adolescents: findings from the longitudinal study of Australian children

BackgroundHeadache disorders are highly prevalent worldwide, but not well investigated in adolescents. Few studies have included representative nationwide samples. This study aimed to present the prevalence and burden of recurrent headache in Australian adolescents.MethodsThe prevalence of recurrent headache, headache characteristics (severity and frequency) and burden on health-related quality of life in Australian children aged 10–17 years were presented, using nationally representative data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian children (LSAC). The LSAC, commencing in 2004, collects data every 2 years from a sample of Australian children of two different age cohorts: B ‘baby’ cohort, aged 0–1 years and K ‘kindergarten’ cohort, aged 4–5 years at the commencement of the study. Face-to-face interviews and self-complete questionnaires have been conducted with the study child and parents of the study child (carer-reported data) at each data collection wave, with seven waves of data available at the time of the current study. Wave 7 of the LSAC was conducted in 2016, with B cohort children aged 12–13 years and K cohort children aged 16–17 years. For the current study, data were accessed for four out of seven waves of available data (Wave 4–7) and presented cross-sectionally for the two cohorts of Australian children, for the included age groups (10–11 years, 12–13 years, 14–15 years and 16–17 years). All available carer-reported questionnaire data pertaining to headache prevalence, severity and frequency, general health and health-related quality of life, for the two cohorts, were included in the study, and presented for male and female adolescents. Carer-reported general health status of the study child and health-related quality of life scores, using the parent proxy-report of the Paediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ 4.0, were compared for male and female adolescents with recurrent headache and compared with a healthy group. Finally, health-related quality of life scores were compared based on headache frequency and severity.ResultsThe LSAC study initially recruited 10,090 Australian children (B cohort n = 5107, K cohort n = 4983), and 64.1% of the initial sample responded at wave 7. Attrition rates across the included waves ranged from 26.3% to 33.8% (wave 6 and 7) for the B cohort, and 16.3% to 38.0% (wave 4–7) for the K cohort. Recurrent headache was more common in females, increasing from 6.6% in 10–11 years old females to 13.2% in 16–17 years old females. The prevalence of headache in males ranged from 4.3% to 6.4% across the age groups. Health-related quality of life scores were lower for all functional domains in adolescents with recurrent headache, for both sexes. Headache frequency, but not severity, was significantly associated with lower health-related quality of life scores, in both males and females.ConclusionsRecurrent headache was common among Australian adolescents and increased in prevalence for females, across the age groups. Frequent recurrent headache is burdensome for both male and female adolescents. This study provides information regarding the prevalence and burden of recurrent headache in the adolescent population based on findings from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children.