The translation of scientific evidence into guidelines and advice is a fundamental aspect of scientific communication within nutrition and dietetics. For communication to be effective for all patients, health literacy (H...The translation of scientific evidence into guidelines and advice is a fundamental aspect of scientific communication within nutrition and dietetics. For communication to be effective for all patients, health literacy (HL) must be considered, i.e. an individual's capacity to obtain, comprehend and utilise information to empower decision-making and promote their own health. HL levels are varied and difficult to judge on an individual basis and have not been quantified, thus not giving a population mean HL competency indication. It has been evidenced that most of the working age population in England cannot comprehend healthcare materials due to complexity, thereby promoting a need for agreed readability thresholds for written healthcare information. A wide range of modalities within dietetics are used to communicate to a varied audience with the primary form written, e.g. journal articles, plain language summaries and leaflets. Audio/visual and digital communications are increasing in dietetic care and welcomed by patients; however, the effectiveness of such approaches has not been studied thoroughly and digital exclusion remains a concern. Communication considering a patient's HL level leads to empowerment which is key to effective management of chronic diseases with a high treatment burden. Therefore; this review will focus on the importance of modalities used to communicate science in nutrition to ensure they are appropriate in relation to Health Literacy.
McIlwaine S, Haynes M, Morgan N
… +2 more, Shah R, Doyle J
Ulster Med J
· 2022 May · PMID 35722215
A female in her 80's presented to our Emergency Department following a fall. She reported general malaise, weight loss and raised inflammatory markers. Background included renal cell carcinoma 21 years previous, managed...A female in her 80's presented to our Emergency Department following a fall. She reported general malaise, weight loss and raised inflammatory markers. Background included renal cell carcinoma 21 years previous, managed with radical nephrectomy. During her inpatient stay she had an episode of haematemesis. Upper GI endoscopy revealed a 3cm polypoidal lesion on the greater curve of the upper stomach. This had an irregular pit pattern endoscopically and was friable. Multiple biopsies revealed metastatic clear cell carcinoma of renal origin; the same sub-type as her previous renal tumour. This is a rare manifestation of metastatic renal cell carcinoma and from literature review, is only the 2 case we can find with a lag time of >20 years from the initial diagnosis to presenting with metastatic gastric disease.
Small S, Coulson R, Spence R
… +1 more, McAllister I
Ulster Med J
· 2022 May · PMID 35722213
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic is an evolving healthcare challenge causing secondary disruption of cancer services. Quantitative Faecal Immunochemical Testing (qFIT) has been established as a screening method in asymp...BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic is an evolving healthcare challenge causing secondary disruption of cancer services. Quantitative Faecal Immunochemical Testing (qFIT) has been established as a screening method in asymptomatic patients. We aim to assess its utility as a triage tool to prioritise investigations in symptomatic patients with suspected colorectal cancer. METHODS: At the commencement of the COVID-19 pandemic a database was established to include patients awaiting red flag outpatient consultation or colonic investigations and new red flag referrals from March to June 2020. Patients were supplied with qFIT kits and returned results categorised into 3 priority groups according to the qFIT value. Group 1 >150µg Hb/g, Group 2 ≥10 to ≤150µg Hb/g and Group 3 <10µg Hb/g. Subsequent colonic evaluation was offered by colonoscopy or cross-sectional imaging with urgency determined by qFIT priority group. When identified colorectal cancer, inflammatory bowel disease or high-risk polyps were recorded as "significant colorectal pathology." FINDINGS: Three hundred and seventeen patients were identified with data analysed on 290 patients. Colorectal malignancy was identified in 17 patients; 94% of these patients were in Group 1. A qFIT result >150 µg Hb/g had a sensitivity and specificity for colorectal cancer of 94.12% (95% CI 71.31-99.85) and 91.21% (95% CI 87.20-94.29) respectively. No malignancy was detected in Priority Group 3; negative predictive value of 100% (95% CI 98.06-100). CONCLUSIONS: In symptomatic, suspect lower GI cancer patients qFIT is a useful adjunct for prioritising patients and can be used to determine the urgency of colorectal investigations.
Gamble N, Blair R, Gray S
… +2 more, Hunter M, Harkin D
Ulster Med J
· 2022 May · PMID 35722210
We report a patient who presented with a rapidly expanding symptomatic tuberculous aortitis and mycotic pseudo-aneurysm of the infra-renal aorta, after intra-vesical BCG chemotherapy for bladder cancer, treated by requir...We report a patient who presented with a rapidly expanding symptomatic tuberculous aortitis and mycotic pseudo-aneurysm of the infra-renal aorta, after intra-vesical BCG chemotherapy for bladder cancer, treated by required emergency open aneurysm repair. His case highlights this rare complication of intravesical BCG treatment, haematological seeding causing tuberculous aortitis and mycotic pseudo-aneurysm formation of the infra-renal aorta. It also illustrates successful treatment with emergency open surgery, local debridement of mycotic pseudoaneurysm, in-situ surgical reconstruction using a custom bovine-wrap interposition graft to create a neo-aorta and multi-agent anti-tuberculous chemotherapy.
Medical research within the UK has continued to grow, most notably during the COVID-19 pandemic over the last two years, which highlights the importance of disseminating relevant research findings. For all researchers in...Medical research within the UK has continued to grow, most notably during the COVID-19 pandemic over the last two years, which highlights the importance of disseminating relevant research findings. For all researchers involved in clinical trials and scientific research, the end goal of success is not completed following the publication of the research findings, but ultimately true impact and significance is achieved when such research has a role in developing clinical practice. Each year between 2.5 - 3 million scientific papers are published and the number continues to rise, therefore it is becoming increasingly difficult to ensure that published research has such a targeted impact as it must first get noticed. Increasing time commitments result in difficulties for clinicians keeping up-to-date with the current literature and in order to address this, journals and researchers have developed approaches to share peer-reviewed research with the wider research community in an effective and efficient manner. One such approach has been the introduction of the visual abstract which comprises of an infographic style format, coupled with a shortened, limited word summary of the research abstract detailing the key question, methodology, findings and take home message of the research study. The visual abstract has characteristics which enable it to be shared on social media platforms and in turn increase the interest and impact within the research community. Visual abstracts are being increasingly introduced within medical journals and organisations to help disseminate valuable research findings. This review focuses on visual abstracts, what they are, their history, structure and role within research dissemination and medical education.