An analysis of paediatric diagnostic decision-making: how should students be taught?

This study assesses the relative importance of history, examination and investigations in paediatric diagnosis, in the Paediatric Out-patient Department of the Central Middlesex Hospital, London, by means of a questionnaire-based record of 94 consecutive referrals. A diagnosis identical to the final diagnosis was made in 76% of referrals after taking a history. The general practitioner had proposed a diagnosis in 45% in the referral letter. Clinical examination changed the diagnosis in only 15% but increased diagnostic confidence in 33%. Ninety-one per cent of cases were diagnosed without recourse to investigations. Forty-two per cent of children referred had investigations performed. In the majority of paediatric cases the provisional diagnosis reached after taking a history was identical to that after examination or results of investigations were known. Although examination provided a final diagnosis in only 15% of all cases it played an important role in adding confidence in 33%. More educational effort should therefore be directed at clinical history-taking skills and the subsequent purpose of examination.     

Recall of medication during pregnancy: Validity and accuracy of an adjusted questionnaire

Objective — To study the validity and accuracy of an adjusted questionnaire on medical drug use during pregnancy eight years after the pregnancy. Methods — The ability of a questionnaire on medication during pregnancy to detect actual use (= sensitivity) was tested against information collected 8 years previously (in 1983–1984) from 473 women with high-risk pregnancies who delivered at the University Hospital Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Results — For separate drug groups, the sensitivity varied between 5% and 91%. The timing of use was recalled moderately well. Although specific questions on drug groups did improve the sensitivity as compared to an earlier questionnaire, the improvement was not enough to make the questionnaire valid. High maternal education, low birth weight, low gestational age and a low 5-min Apgar score were related to better recall. The sensitivity of the questionnaire depended on the behavioural score of the child, implying recall bias. Conclusion — Questionnaire data on drug use during pregnancy obtained eight years after delivery are not a valid source of information.     

The Dodo Bird: Less a Verdict Than an Opportunity

I contend that although the Luborsky et al. findings on the Dodo bird verdict are noteworthy, the methodology on which they are based is significantly delimited. Amplifying Luborsky et al.'s moderate recognition of that delimitation, I propose a qualitative complement to the extant research. I call this complement "amalgamated" qualitative research and propose that it will deepen, clarify, and contextualize Luborsky et al.'s enigmatic findings. Until this amalgam is implemented, therapy research will be relegated to impressions rather than fine-grained illuminations.     

临床医学专业学位教育的困境与发展走向

自临床医学研究生、临床医学专业学位教育实施以来，社会评价并不高，甚至存在相当数量的负面评价。究其因，一是源于对临床医学专业学位教育的认识误区，二是源于我国目前临床医学专业学位教育制度本身的缺陷。目前，我国高等医学教育体系尚不完善，专业学位教育、研究生教育及毕业后职业技能基本培训之间关系错综复杂，功能定位不清，形成相互干扰和冲突。建议进一步梳理思路，正确认识专业学位教育、研究生教育和住院医师规范化培训的教育特征与功能定位，建立各自恰当的培养目标与培养模式，最终实现在全国建立先进、科学、完善、与国际接轨的完整的医学教育体系。     

元认知能力在医学生临床实习中的培养

元认知能力在医学生临床实习过程中起着非常重要的作用。培养医学生的元认知能力 ,必须丰富医学生的元认知知识 ,强化医学生的元认知体验 ,促进医学生加强元认知监控 ,从而使他们成为独立自主、有创造力的学习者。     

What methods do stakeholders prefer for feeding back performance data: a qualitative study in palliative care.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the opinions of stakeholders (service commissioners and providers) on how performance data should be presented, in order to develop effective feedback methods to facilitate the use of these data in decision making. DESIGN: A qualitative analysis of semi-structured face-to-face and telephone interviews. League tables and fictional box plots were presented as an illustrative guide. The themes covered in the interviews were the effectiveness of these two feedback formats, their positive and negative characteristics, and ideas for new and improved feedback mechanisms. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-six stakeholders representing a range of clinical and non-clinical roles within palliative care and the wider health care system across a variety of statutory and non-statutory organizations from London and the West Midlands. RESULTS: Box plots were received more positively than league tables, and qualitative information was considered more appropriate than pictorial feedback. Conventional methods such as league tables and box plots were judged to lack essential information on which important decisions could be based, such as additional contextual information and the methodological assumptions of the instrument. Both feedback methods were considered useful as an impetus to further discussion. There was a consensus that feedback should be constructive and able to be adapted to the organizational realities in which UK health services function. CONCLUSION: Qualitative research was viewed as the right evidence for gaining an understanding of the quality of end of life care. Stakeholders highlighted the importance of the lay perspective, which requires approaches that illuminate the subjective meanings of patient experience.     

应用数据挖掘技术获取周围型肺癌临床和CT诊断规则的初步研究

目的探讨数据挖掘技术对周围型肺癌影像诊断规则提取的价值。方法收集58例经过临床病理证实的周围型肺癌病例,对其临床及CT表现属性进行标准化认定,输入数据库,分别采用自主开发的基于关联规则知识发现程序与通用数据分析工具ROSETTA中的粗糙集约简算法和遗传分类算法对58例周围型肺癌临床及影像学数据进行挖掘对比研究。结果由Johnson’s Algorithm粗糙集约简算法产生诊断规则51条,由ROSETTA遗传分类算法所产生的诊断规则有5千多条,基于关联规则的挖掘算法所产生的诊断规则有123条。这3种不同的数据挖掘方法产生的最重要的诊断规则基本上都将性别、年龄、位置、毛刺、形状、毛玻璃样密度等属性作为诊断周围型肺癌的主要依据。结论数据挖掘技术在医学影像诊断和鉴别诊断中具有潜在的应用价值。     

临床护理路径在臀肌挛缩症患者健康教育中的应用

目的 探讨应用临床护理路径对臀肌孪缩症患者健康教育的效果。方法 将60例臀肌挛缩症患者分为对照组（n=30）和实验组（n=30），对照组采用常规教育方法，实验组按制定好的健康教育路径进行教育，将两组患者的健康教育达标率、对护理工作的满意度进行比较。结果 两组患者在健康教育达标率、对护理工作的满意度方面比较，差异有统计学意义（P〈0．01）。结论 对臀肌挛缩症患者运用护理手段进行健康教育后提高了患者的健康教育达标率，提高了护理工作的满意度，效果优于常规教育方法。     

The basis for treatment in multiple sclerosis

Contemporary licensed treatments for multiple sclerosis fail to provide a solution for the disease because their effects are limited to a modest reduction in the frequency of new episodes. They do not reduce disability or materially influence the progressive phase of the disease. A contemporary strategy for management requires a more detailed analysis of the separate contributions to the clinical features and overall course made by inflammation, axonal injury, compensatory mechanisms, and remyelination. From this formulation emerges the need either for early and fully effective suppression of the inflammatory response, limiting the damage to all components of the axon-glial unit; or the development of strategies for axonal and myelin repair that solve the issues of controlled differentiation, delivery and timing of these cell and growth factor-based interventions.