CyberEx Internet-Based Group Exercise for Rural Older Adults: A Pilot Study

The purpose of this study was to examine satisfaction with and outcomes of a real-time Internet-based group exercise program for older adults. Men and women age 50 and older (mean = 66.5) were recruited to participate in a 10-week distance group exercise program. Paired sample t-tests revealed that Sit-To-Stand (STS) repetitions increased significantly (p = .009), while Timed Up-and-Go(TUG) time decreased significantly (p = .000). Connectivity, visibility, and communication emerged as themes related to the use of technology; but overall, real-time Internet-based technology was shown to be an effective way to present group exercise programs for older adults in this rural setting.     

Evaluating the use of plerixafor in stem cell mobilisation – an economic analysis of the PHANTASTIC trial

Plerixafor is an effective haematopoietic stem cell mobilising agent in candidates for autologous transplantation, including patients with myeloma and lymphoma. Here we compare 98 plerixafor recipients in the PHANTASTIC trial with 151 historic controls mobilised by conventional chemotherapy (each with granulocyte colony‐stimulating factor, G‐CSF). Seventy (71.4%) plerixafor‐mobilised patients achieved the composite primary endpoint of ≥4 × 10⁶ CD34+ cells kg^?1 in ≤2 aphereses and no clinically significant neutropenia, compared to 48 (31.8%) historic controls (P < 0.001), and this significant advantage was maintained in scenario analyses testing components of this composite endpoint. A patient‐level cost analysis was undertaken for 249 patients, which included the cost of remobilising patients where initial mobilisation had failed. Combined mean treatment cost for plerixafor mobilised patients was £12,679 compared with £11,694 for historical controls. However, plerixafor produces an average saving of £3,828 per lymphoma patient but average cost increase by £5,245 per myeloma patient. The present data demonstrate cost‐effectiveness for plerixafor as a first line mobilisation agent, certainly for lymphoma patients, where substantial resource savings and achievement of the primary endpoint are likely. J. Clin. Apheresis 31:434–442, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The child's choice: An essential component in treatment decisions

Asking children for their opinions about and input into treatment decisions is an idea whose time has come. One way to implement this notion with school—aged children and adolescents is through the Participation in Treatment Decisions Model. This model is based on a child's rights and recognizes the varying levels of cognitive development and competency in children. Health professionals have a responsibility to be advocates for child patients, to protect their interests, values, and rights, and to include them in decisions affecting their health.     

Ontogeny of prosocial behavior across diverse societies

Humans are an exceptionally cooperative species, but there is substantial variation in the extent of cooperation across societies. Understanding the sources of this variability may provide insights about the forces that sustain cooperation. We examined the ontogeny of prosocial behavior by studying 326 children 3–14 y of age and 120 adults from six societies (age distributions varied across societies). These six societies span a wide range of extant human variation in culture, geography, and subsistence strategies, including foragers, herders, horticulturalists, and urban dwellers across the Americas, Oceania, and Africa. When delivering benefits to others was personally costly, rates of prosocial behavior dropped across all six societies as children approached middle childhood and then rates of prosociality diverged as children tracked toward the behavior of adults in their own societies. When prosocial acts did not require personal sacrifice, prosocial responses increased steadily as children matured with little variation in behavior across societies. Our results are consistent with theories emphasizing the importance of acquired cultural norms in shaping costly forms of cooperation and creating cross-cultural diversity.