Patient Engagement Research Articles

Examining trauma, anxiety, and depression as predictors of dropout from residential treatment for substance use disorders.

Substance use disorders (SUDs) are highly prevalent and have deleterious effects on one's health and well-being. Inpatient treatment for SUDs reduces patient relapse, which subsequently ameliorates these negative effects on the individual and society. Additionally, those who complete treatment are less likely to relapse compared to those who do not complete treatment. Thus, maintaining patient engagement in treatment and reducing the rates of those leaving against medical advice (AMA) is particularly important. Examining the factors and comorbidities that may contribute to treatment dropout has the potential to identify at-risk patients in need of additional individualized intervention. The current study aimed to examine comorbid anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms as predictors of dropout AMA in a residential substance use treatment population. Results showed that patients with social anxiety were more likely to leave treatment AMA, while those with PTSD were more likely to complete treatment. Findings suggest that PTSD-specific treatment, as offered in this facility, may help with patient retention, while group focused therapy may be distressing to those with social anxiety. Clinical implications of this research may include incorporating evidence-based practice for social anxiety early during inpatient treatment to reduce anxiety such that patients may better engage with SUDs treatment.

P097 Launching the Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis VIP Research Panel - an innovative and unique way to engage with the Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis community

Abstract Background/Aims The volume of survey-based research targeting families affected by Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) has been increasing, leading to respondent fatigue, reduced response rates, repetitive data collection, and consequential reduced robustness of data. In addition, poor quality surveys with no anticipated research outcomes of benefit to the community have further added to the burden on families. There is also increased interest in recruiting patient representatives to help shape and steer research through appropriate Patient and Public Engagement and Involvement (PPIE), but without a robust structure in place the numbers of families involved has been small and their representativeness questioned. This project improves research quality, accessibility for researchers to access motivated survey respondents, reduces the burden on participants, and provides a central solution for accessing JIA research participants. Methods Juvenile Arthritis Research is a charity in the UK, with considerable experience of developing research projects and engaging in PPIE activities, and a highly-engaged network of families affected by JIA. The charity launched the JIA VIP Research Panel in September 2023, inviting members of their network to join. Participants give fully informed consent upon sign-up, and provide demographic details. These are held securely and anonymously. New research, developed in-house or with academic, clinical or industry partners, is shared with the JIA VIP Research Panel. Participants are invited to complete surveys, knowing they have been quality assured and verified, and without the need to re-submit the same demographic data repeatedly over time. The Panel is also available for PPIE activities, with researchers able to access members of the Panel based on diagnosis, demographic or other criteria. Results Within 3 days of launch, over 100 families joined the JIA VIP Research Panel, with a representative spread of participants; recruitment is an ongoing and continuous process. Conclusion The JIA VIP Research Panel (www.jarproject.org/vip) is an innovative resource enabling faster, more flexible, and more efficient access to families with JIA in the UK both for survey-based research and involvement in PPIE. The Panel has begun to improve the quality of research, building upon previous success and continuing to develop high levels of engagement with participants. Disclosure R.P. Beesley: None. R.M. Beesley: None.

P092 Empowering Parents: Navigating the Healthcare Journey as Nurses, Pharmacists, Therapists, Educators, Psychologists and Partners

Abstract Background/Aims The role of a parent changes when children and young people get diagnosed with a chronic health condition. Understanding these new responsibilities in terms of roles can be helpful. Nurse (daily assessment), pharmacist (administering many routes of treatments), dietician (monitoring, preparing, administering diet), physiotherapist (therapy interventions), teacher (disease education, adherence), advocate (school conversations, disability benefits), taxi driver (attending appointments) and psychologist (support, counselling). Embedding these roles successfully with their own health needs, employment and family life, can be challenging. Methods Inviting parents and carers to help design a study to improve our support of parents has led to some powerful insights. The NIHR funded IMPACT study aims to design, develop and test an intervention to support parents of children and young people with rheumatological conditions. Parents and carers were invited to join a group through discussions during clinical care. A group of 30 parents, carers and young people initially met together virtually as a Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement Group for the IMPACT study (PPIE). Meeting parents and carers separately to the children and young people soon became important to enable parents to talk about their experiences of being a caregiver with open and honest discussion, importantly without feeling guilty. Results Parents experienced ‘guilt’ from many perspectives, but predominantly, guilty for talking about their own feelings when it is their child’s illness and guilt for putting their child through painful interventions. Parents talked about how because they were not the ones with the illness, they often did not feel able to ask questions that they had of health care professionals. For example, when a parent accompanies a young person to an appointment, they cannot often ask about whether this medication would work this time, about the possibility of certain side effects or about the risk of malignancy, as asking about these in front of their adolescent could plant worries and concerns that they might not currently have. Whilst the multidisciplinary nature of paediatric rheumatology is often celebrated, this means that parents naturally adopt these roles themselves between appointments. Parents described how their role changed and they “weren’t just a parent anymore”. For example, as parents they want to administer therapies to children at home for many reasons (keeping them out of hospital, taking control), but this means they take on new roles and responsibilities and then cause pain and suffering to their child, the child that they should be protecting from pain and suffering. This then causes guilt. Conclusion This work explores some of these factors in further detail and offers to all health-care professionals an insight into the multifaceted role of a parent of a chronically ill child and offers suggestions to improve upon some of these. Disclosure P. Livermore: Grants/research support; NIHR Fellowship.

OA41 Exploring patterns of patient engagement with electronic patient reported outcome measures in inflammatory arthritis using latent class growth modelling

Abstract Background/Aims Routine collection of electronic patient reported outcome measures (ePROMs) can facilitate dynamic disease activity monitoring in patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA). In a real-world cohort of patients with IA, we describe patient characteristics associated with ever engaging with ePROMs, evaluate whether there are distinct groups of patients with similar engagement trajectories over time and identify patient characteristics associated with these groups. Methods We conducted a prospective observational study based on routinely collected data from a remote monitoring platform (RMP) at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London, UK, between 18 December 2018 and 15 August 2022. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and axial spondyloarthritis (AxSpA) were sent text message requests to complete 4-weekly disease specific PROMs. A patient was defined as an engager if they completed at least one PROM episode during the study period of 68 weeks. Logistic regression (LR) was used to identify associations between baseline characteristics and any PROM engagement. Latent class growth modelling (LCGM) was used to determine PROM engagement trajectories, with multinomial LR exploring baseline characteristic associations with latent trajectory class membership. Results Of 1,203 patients on RMP in the study period, 1,129 met the inclusion criteria, of which 91.5% (95% CI 89.7% - 93.0%) completed at least one PROM. Mean age was 49 years and 64% were female. 60% had RA, 24.4% had PsA and 15.7% had AxSpA. Overall engagement was relatively high throughout, with continued engagement >60% over the remaining 68 weeks. Older patients (adj OR 0.98, 95% CI 0.96 - 0.99), those from more deprived areas (adj OR 0.80, 95% CI 0.68 - 0.96) and those who attended <80% of their outpatient visits in the preceding 3 years (adj OR 0.48, 95% CI 0.26 - 0.89) were less likely to complete a PROM. Four latent trajectory classes were identified: consistent engagers (38.1%), high-variable engagers (24.3%), low-variable engagers (19.5%) and never & dis-engagers (18.1%), with a mean (SD) overall response rate per class of 96.5% (7.1), 74.1% (12.1), 35.6% (13.8) and 7.5% (12.0) respectively. Compared to the consistent engager class, the two variable engager classes were significantly more likely to be younger at baseline, whilst the never & dis-engager class was more likely to be from a deprived area. Having an IA type of PsA and previous clinic non-attendance was associated with membership of the three lower engaging classes. Conclusion We have described key patient characteristics that influence engagement with ePROMs in a real-world cohort of patients with IA, and patterns of engagement over time. Overall engagement was very high with >90% of patients enrolled engaging with PROM completion. There is still scepticism among clinicians about remote monitoring’s ability to work, and our findings should be reassuring: patients do engage with ePROMs over time. Disclosure N. Arumalla: None. Z. Yang: None. S. Norton: None. M. Crooks: None. A. Khan: None. R. Fitzgerald: None. R. Gilligan: None. E. Lindberg: None. T. Tabibi: None. Y.L. Man: None. S. Subesinghe: None. J.B. Galloway: Consultancies; Abbvie, Biovitrum, BMS, Celgene, Chugai, Galapagos, Gilead, Janssen, Lilly, Pfizer, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi, Sobi, UCB. Honoraria; Abbvie, Biovitrum, BMS, Celgene, Chugai, Galapagos, Gilead, Janssen, Lilly, Pfizer, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi, Sobi, UCB. T. Garrood: Shareholder/stock ownership; Serac healthcare. Honoraria; Abbvie, UCB. Grants/research support; Versus Arthritis, Pfizer, Gilead, Guy's and St Thomas' Charity, NHSX. Other; Fresnius-Kabi.

Effectiveness of a hybrid approach in integrating GLP-1 agonists and lifestyle guidance for obesity and pre-diabetes management: RWE retrospective study

AimEmerging anti-obesity pharmacotherapy provides an option to correct maladaptive physiological and hormonal changes associated with obesity. One of the widely used medications in this context is glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) agonists. However, the misuse of these medications without any guidance and monitoring of lifestyle modifications can lead to unfavorable outcomes. The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a hybrid care model, incorporating GLP-1 and GLP-1/GIP agonist therapies, in managing obese patients with/without pre-diabetes. This study showcases the midway results of a 6-month program, which includes a multidisciplinary care team and digital technology for continuous engagement and monitoring of patients, both in-clinic and remotely. MethodsIn a retrospective observational study, 115 participants were treated with GLP-1s (semaglutide, tirzepatide, and liraglutide). Physicians, dietitians, and coaches worked together to support behavioral changes using a dedicated app provided to patients. At the care team end, an integrated portal enabled continuous data flow allowing for the care team to provide personalized care via chat at regular intervals. Data collected included food logs, continuous glucose monitoring (CGM), and digital biomarkers such as sleep and activity. ResultsAt the midpoint of the program, participants exhibited statistically significant improvements in various metabolic parameters. Mean weight reduction was 8 %, with significant reductions in BMI, fat mass, and cholesterol levels. 24 (20.9 %) of patients lost ≥5 % of body weight, 55 (47.8 %) patients lost ≥10 % weight, and 36 (31.3 %) patients lost ≥15 % weight. Sub-analysis of pre-diabetic patients (n=36) demonstrated substantial improvements, including control of pre-diabetes in 80.6 % of cases and reduced HbA1c levels back to normoglycemia (5.39 ± 0.27). ConclusionThe Zone.Health's program, which combines pharmacotherapy with continuous engagement and monitoring to enable sustainable lifestyle modifications, demonstrated significant improvements in weight, body composition, and metabolic markers. Pre-diabetes was also effectively addressed. It is necessary to conduct further research to assess the long-term sustainability and optimal adoption of such care models into clinical practice.

A dynamic, multilevel process evaluation of a produce prescription program at a federally qualified health center: 2017-2021 description, implementation, and infrastructure.

The "Food as Medicine" (FAM) movement encourages public health and medical professionals to recognize the importance of dietary patterns and food access. The purpose of this work wasto describe patient and physician engagement with a produce prescription (PRx) program to improve access to fresh vegetables in a healthcare setting. A Federally Qualified Health Center, regenerative farm, and academic institution partnered for the PRx program (2017-21). During harvest seasons, patients redeemed "prescriptions" for initial and "refill" produce boxes. Baseline food insecurity surveys were embedded in electronic medical records. Refill surveys assessed satisfaction and confidence. Electronic surveys to prescribing physicians assessed program knowledge, expectations, and motivations. Across 8 biannual harvests generating 9986 produce boxes, 8046 patients received prescriptions, 6227 redeemed prescriptions for ≥1 box, and 720 redeemed for ≥2 boxes. Seasonally, initial redemption rates ranged from 64.5% to 82.7%; refill rates ranged from 6.8% to 16.7%. Among participants, 70.8% sometimes/often worried food would run out and 66.7% sometimes/often ran out of food. Among those with refills, there was high satisfaction with food quality (95.8%) and variety (97.2%), and 94.2% were confident preparing meals from produce. Among physicians (n = 22), 100% self-reported adequate knowledge about PRx for patient recommendations, and 100% believed PRx had benefit for patients. Chronic conditions (77%), low socioeconomic status (64%), and food insecurity (59%) were common motivating factors for prescriptions. We demonstrated the feasibility of implementing a cross-sector, seasonal PRx program within a multisite healthcare system. More research is needed to refine implementation toward greater patient refill rates.

"Should I Prioritize My Cancer or My Diabetes?": Patient-Perceived Barriers to Co-Managing Cancer and Diabetes Mellitus.

Among patients with cancer, diabetes mellitus (DM) is a prevalent comorbid condition. With an aging population and an increase in the prevalence of cancer and DM, the number of cancer patients with DM will rise. To date, studies have largely focused on understanding the context of cancer and DM co-management from the perspectives of oncology and primary care providers. To better understand the potential barriers to optimal cancer and DM co-management, we conducted 17 semi-structured interviews with DM patients receiving cancer care at New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center outpatient oncology clinics in New York, NY. In total, 53% patients were female, 35% were non-White, and the mean age was 64.75 (SD 11.10) years. We qualitatively analyzed our data and identified the following nine themes: (1) patients develop DM during or after cancer treatment; (2) patients do not know about the possible interactions between DM and cancer treatment; (3) cancer care is prioritized over DM management; (4) severity of DM symptoms drive patients' DM self-management during cancer care; (5) impact of cancer treatment on quality of life; (6) demands from cancer care make DM management more difficult; (7) patients want individualized treatment plans that integrate DM and cancer co-management; (8) need for greater patient activation; (9) lack of patient-centered educational resources on DM management during cancer care. Owing to these results, our findings highlight the need to increase patient engagement by developing and disseminating patient-centered educational resources on cancer and DM to improve self-management practices and patient outcomes.

The feasibility and acceptability of integrating dogs into inpatient rehabilitation therapy with children with acquired brain injury.

Children with acquired brain injury (ABI) are at risk for poor therapeutic engagement due to cognitive impairment, affect lability, pain, and fatigue. Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) has the potential to improve patient engagement in rehabilitation therapies; however, the feasibility of integrating AAT into the rigorous therapy schedule of inpatient clinical care or its reception by patients, families, and staff is unknown. To examine the feasibility and acceptability of incorporating dogs into physical therapy and occupational therapy sessions with pediatric patients being treated on an inpatient rehabilitation unit for acquired brain injury. A feasibility study of AAT within the context of a within-subjects crossover study. Pediatric inpatient rehabilitation unit. Sixteen patients, aged 7-28 years (mean = 13.6 years, standard deviation [SD] = 5.2 years; 50% male), being treated on the inpatient rehabilitation unit following ABI. AAT - the integration of dogs into inpatient physical therapy and occupational therapy sessions. Feasibility measures: enrollment rate, the proportion of AAT sessions a dog attended, adverse events, instances where therapist or handler ended session early, patient animal closeness, and utilization of dog in session. Satisfaction measures: parent satisfaction questionnaires and therapist feedback. Feasibility was supported by high enrollment rate (88.9%) and dog attendance rate of 93%-95%; 84.3% of sessions used the dog in multiple ways and patients reported a high level of closeness with the dog in session, indicating that the dogs were integrated in meaningful ways. No adverse events were noted, therapists reported that intervention was convenient, and clinical care was not negatively impacted. A high level of satisfaction was reported by families and therapists. Findings suggest that AAT is feasible and acceptable, and it may be a valuable tool for therapists working with patients with ABI on an inpatient rehabilitation unit.

Navigating the Landscape of Medical Device Advisories: A Special Report from the Canadian Heart Rhythm Society Device Advisory Committee

Cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIED) are often important for regulating cardiac rate and rhythm. Pacemakers and defibrillators are among the top 10 most-implanted medical devices, with >1.5 million devices implanted annually. While millions of patients have benefited with improved quality of life and survival, CIED-systems are increasingly complex and do not always perform according to expectations. Advisory notices communicate important information about the safety and performance of a medical device to healthcare providers and patients. Medical device recalls are common, with >35 unique device recalls in the past five years. From an ethical standpoint, CIED recalls highlight a range of considerations including the consent process, duty to report, how best to promote autonomous decision-making, trust in the healthcare system, as well as disproportionate impact of these considerations on equity-deserving groups. The purpose of the current article is to review and advise regarding the process around medical device advisory and recall, with a specific focus on clinicians caring for patients affected by these devices. We have sought the input of a lawyer, a patient advocacy group, and an ethicist to guide the clinical management of, and communications regarding, device recalls and advisories. Diligent surveillance and a clear, transparent patient consent process regarding these small but potentially serious device-anomalies is paramount in ensuring patients feel safe and informed. Meaningful patient engagement helps to ensure optimal communication and disclosure mechanisms before implant and throughout follow-up, accessibility of information both in the initial implant and recall action process, and trust in healthcare systems and providers.

The impact of patient engagement on service quality and customer well-being: an introspective analysis from the healthcare providers’ perspective

The impact of patient engagement on service quality and customer well-being: an introspective analysis from the healthcare providers’ perspective

Women's Knowledge of Genomic Testing and Precision Medicine in Breast Cancer Treatment Decision-Making.

To understand awareness of genetic and genomic testing, as well as decision-making, in women diagnosed with breast cancer. 29 African American/Black and Latina/Hispanic women diagnosed with breast cancer. A semistructured interview guide was used in focus groups conducted via videoconference. Transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis. Many of the women understood the concept of genetic testing to identify the BRCA1/BRCA2 variant, but none of them were aware of genomic testing and its implications for personalized medicine. Participants discussed provider and patient roles in treatment decision-making, identifying roles that the physician might play in treatment planning, from primary decision-maker to collaborator. As the number of precision cancer treatments expands, patients must be able to comprehend the information provided to make informed decisions about their treatment. Providers should do a better job of explaining potential treatments so that patients feel they are part of the decision-making process. Addressing gaps in treatment access and uptake requires providers to prioritize patient engagement and understanding.

Designing a primary care pharmacist-led review for people treated with opioids for persistent pain: a multi-method qualitative study.

Opioids are frequently prescribed for persistent non-cancer pain despite limited evidence of long-term effectiveness and risk of harm. Evidence-based interventions to address inappropriate opioid prescribing are lacking. To explore perspectives of people living with persistent pain to understand barriers and facilitators in reducing opioids in the context of a pharmacist-led primary care review, and identify review components and features for optimal delivery. Primary care multi-method qualitative study. Adults with experience of persistent pain and taking opioids participated in semi-structured interviews (n=15, 73% female) and an online discussion forum (n=31). The Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) provided a framework for data collection and thematic analysis, involving deductive analysis to TDF domains, inductive analysis within-domains to generate subthemes, and subtheme comparison to form across-domain overarching themes. The behaviour change technique taxonomy v.1 and motivational behaviour change technique classification system were used to systematically map themes to behaviour change techniques to identify potential review components and delivery features. 32 facilitator and barrier subthemes for patients reducing opioids were identified across 13 TDF domains. These combined into six overarching themes: learning to live with pain, opioid reduction expectations, assuming a medical model, pharmacist-delivered reviews, pharmacist-patient relationship and patient engagement. Subthemes mapped to 21 unique behaviour change techniques, yielding 17 components and five delivery features for the proposed PROMPPT review. This study generated theoretically-informed evidence for design of a practice pharmacist-led PROMPPT review. Future research will test the feasibility and acceptability of the PROMPPT review and pharmacist training.

Missed Opportunities for Human-Centered AI Research: Understanding Stakeholder Collaboration in Mental Health AI Research

In the mental health domain, patient engagement is key to designing human-centered technologies. CSCW and HCI researchers have delved into various facets of collaboration in AI research; however, previous research neglects the individuals who both produce the data and will be most impacted by the resulting technologies, such as patients. This study examines how interdisciplinary researchers and mental health patients who donate their data for AI research collaborate and how we can improve human-centeredness in mental health AI research. We interviewed patient participants, AI researchers, and clinical researchers in a federally funded mental health AI research project. We used the concept of boundary objects to understand stakeholder collaboration. Our findings reveal that the social media data provided by patient participants functioned as boundary objects that facilitated stakeholder collaboration. Although the collaboration appeared to be successful, we argue that building consensus, or understanding each other's perspectives, can improve the human-centeredness of mental health AI research. Based on the findings, we provide suggestions for human-centered mental health AI research, working with data donors as domain experts, making invisible work visible, and privacy implications.

Health data social licence: An inclusive process to learn more about the perspectives of experienced public and patient advisors

The term "social licence" has been used to describe which uses and users of health data the public supports - and under what conditions. From November 2022 to January 2023, Health Data Research Network Canada was funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada to explore whether there was consensus among experienced public and patient advisors on: (i) uses of health data that all members supported or opposed and (ii) what constitutes an essential requirement for a health data use or user to be within social licence. The project was conducted in English and French in collaboration with the Interdisciplinary Research Group in Health Informatics (GRIIS) at the University of Sherbrooke. It involved 20 public/patient advisor "participants" and an additional 13 public/patient advisors who served as peer-reviewers, all of whom had prior experience working in a health-related field and/or with health data. The process followed inclusive design principles in that it captured views held by the majority and minority of participants, including views expressed by only one or two participants. After two 2-hour facilitated sessions, participants agreed that it is within social licence for health data to be used (i) by healthcare practitioners to improve patient care, (ii) by governments and administrators to improve the health system, and (iii) by university-based researchers to understand disease and well-being. There was consensus opposition to (i) an individual or organisation selling someone else's identified health data and (ii) health data being used for a purpose that has no public or societal benefit. There was no consensus about what constitutes an essential requirement for a use or users of health data to be with social licence. The results of the process have been published in a non-peer-reviewed report co-authored with participants. This paper has been co-authored with a subset of the participants and peer-reviewers to present a high-level summary of the findings, methodological details, and templates to enable other groups to adapt the process to their own settings. It also presents the results of an anonymous evaluation of the process using the Public and Patient Engagement Evaluation Tool (PPEET), which were mostly positive and identified some areas for improvement.

Empowering adult patients with diabetes for health educators' role within their family members: A cross-sectional study.

Patient engagement as partners in diabetes prevention for family members/close relatives is a novel and underexplored approach. This paper aims to assess patients' willingness and confidence in their ability to succeed as health educators for their family members and investigate the influencing factors. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted between January 2023 and April 2023. A newly developed and validated self-reported questionnaire, based on the Health Belief Model (HBM) and previous research, was administered to a convenient sample of 134 adult participants diagnosed with diabetes. These participants sought care at primary healthcare clinics at King Abdul-Aziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs in Riyadh and Jeddah (MNGHA). The data was examined using statistical methods including descriptive analysis, ANOVA, Tukey's HSD (Honestly Significant Difference) Post Hoc tests, and Pearson's correlation coefficients. The majority of participants expressed a willingness to assume the role of health educators for their family members (n = 117, 87.31%) and reported a high level of willingness and confidence, as indicated by self-efficacy scores ranging from 12.00 to 25.00, with a mean of 21.12 (SD = 2.76). Participants' willingness to be health educators exhibited positive correlations with their perceptions of diabetes severity and susceptibility (r = .433, p < .01), perceived benefits and barriers (r = .451, p < .01), cues to action (r = .520, p < .01), self-efficacy (r = .789, p < .01), and the total score of the questionnaire (r = .640, p < .01). The majority of participants expressed their willingness to assume the role of health educators for their family members, and a significant portion reported confidence in their capacity to accomplish this objective. Healthcare providers should emphasize the importance of equipping patients with the skills and knowledge necessary to effectively convey health messages and serve as health educators within their communities. This expansion of the approach holds the potential to have a significant impact on public health strategies for diabetes prevention.

Biomedical text readability after hypernym substitution with fine-tuned large language models.

The advent of patient access to complex medical information online has highlighted the need for simplification of biomedical text to improve patient understanding and engagement in taking ownership of their health. However, comprehension of biomedical text remains a difficult task due to the need for domain-specific expertise. We aimed to study the simplification of biomedical text via large language models (LLMs) commonly used for general natural language processing tasks involve text comprehension, summarization, generation, and prediction of new text from prompts. Specifically, we finetuned three variants of large language models to perform substitutions of complex words and word phrases in biomedical text with a related hypernym. The output of the text substitution process using LLMs was evaluated by comparing the pre- and post-substitution texts using four readability metrics and two measures of sentence complexity. A sample of 1,000 biomedical definitions in the National Library of Medicine's Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) was processed with three LLM approaches, and each showed an improvement in readability and sentence complexity after hypernym substitution. Readability scores were translated from a pre-processed collegiate reading level to a post-processed US high-school level. Comparison between the three LLMs showed that the GPT-J-6b approach had the best improvement in measures of sentence complexity. This study demonstrates the merit of hypernym substitution to improve readability of complex biomedical text for the public and highlights the use case for fine-tuning open-access large language models for biomedical natural language processing.

Engagement in GI Behavioral Health Is Associated with Reduced Portal Messages, Phone Calls, and ED Visits.

Chronic digestive disorders are associated with increased costs for healthcare systems and often require provision of both urgent care and non-face-to-face (non-F2F) care, such as responding to patient messages. Numerous benefits of integrated gastroenterology (GI) behavioral health have been identified; however, it is unclear if integrated care impacts healthcare utilization, including urgent care and non-F2F contact. We sought to investigate the association between patient engagement with GI behavioral health and healthcare utilization. We performed a retrospective chart review study of adult patients who were referred for and completed at least one behavioral health appointment between January 1, 2019 and December 21, 2021 in the Gastroenterology and Hepatology department of a large academic medical center. Data on electronic medical record (EMR) messages, phone calls, and Emergency Department utilization were collected 6months before and 9months after patient engagement with GI behavioral health. 466 adult patients completed at least one behavioral health visit from 2019 to 2021. Overall, messages, phone calls, and ED visits all decreased significantly from the 6months before behavioral health treatment to 6months after (all P values < 0.001). Engagement with integrated GI behavioral health is associated with reduced non-F2F care and emergency department utilization in patients with chronic digestive disorders. Increasing access to GI behavioral health may result in reduced provider workload and healthcare system costs.

Reducing waiting time among pregnant women attending antenatal care clinic at Alexandria University Hospital, Egypt: quality improvement project

ABSTRACT Introduction Antenatal Care (ANC) is crucial for preventing maternal morbidity and death. WHO guidelines published in 2016 recommended that women should attend eight ANC visits as a minimum throughout pregnancy. This research aims at boosting pregnant women satisfaction with the ANC in a public health care facility and thus their willingness to comply with treatment and care. Objectives of this study were to assess the current state of ANC visits system inside Alexandria Main University Hospital (AMUH) and to examine the outcome of appointment scheduling approach on waiting time and utilization of ANC. Methods A prospective survey with pre & post intervention (quasi-experimental study). The study took place between Jan 2023 and April 2023. All expectant mothers who showed up for their regularly scheduled antenatal appointment were advised and invited to take part in the study. The study enrolled pregnant females who were eligible and gave their verbal consent. Pregnant women seeking emergency medical attention and pregnant women who refused to participate in the study were among the exclusion criteria. A purposive sampling technique was used to enroll pregnant women. When they arrived at the clinic, pregnant women who were eligible for the study were recognized and given counseling regarding the study’s goals and the extent of their participation. Prior to enrollment in the study, oral informed permission was obtained from each participant. Results The findings of the study imply that patient experience is a crucial factor in and of itself, and that it may significantly influence utilization patterns. Discussion By practically applying QI tools a sound effective outcomes can be reached. However, patient engagement & effective communication with stakeholders are cornerstones for sustainability of any project and to ensure continuous commitment and leadership support.

Chronic pain healthcare workers’ challenges in pain management and receptiveness towards VR as an adjunct management tool: a qualitative study

Abstract Background Chronic pain is often a debilitating condition that affects individuals physically and mentally. Reliance on pharmacotherapy for pain management comes with risks of analgesic misuse and dependence. Hence, non-pharmacologic treatment plays a crucial role in pain management. Virtual reality is a novel method in chronic pain management. However, there is little understanding about healthcare providers’ perspectives on the use of virtual reality technology in managing chronic pain. This study aims to explore the current management challenges faced by chronic pain healthcare providers and their perspectives on using virtual reality as adjunctive therapy in managing chronic pain. Method Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted among all chronic pain healthcare providers in a tertiary hospital. The interviews were analysed using qualitative thematic analysis. Results Eight chronic pain healthcare providers participated in this study. Financial issues were cited as one of the biggest barriers to utilisation of non-pharmacological treatment. Participants highlighted the importance of psychosocial support from family and healthcare providers. Challenges identified included absence of patient engagement and lack of awareness about pain management among healthcare providers as well as the lack of an integrated multidisciplinary approach in our healthcare system. Participants were receptive towards the use of virtual reality in chronic pain management and offered ample opinions and suggestions for its application in chronic pain management. Conclusions A multilevel, multifaceted approach is needed to improve chronic pain management. Virtual reality technology could be considered as an adjunct therapy to address some of the challenges and limitations identified in this study.

Factors affecting the effectiveness of ‘ruqyah’ treatment among Muslim community in Malaysia

ABSTRACT This study investigates the factors affecting the effectiveness of Ruqyah (Islamic healing) treatments in Malaysia’s Darussyifa’ Islamic Treatment Center, focusing on the roles of Symptoms of Illness, Patient Management, Daily Patient Follow-up Practice, and Illness Disorder Assessment. The research aims to understand how these factors contribute to the effectiveness of treatments provided by Ruqyah practitioners. A conceptual model was developed to outline the expected relationships between these predictors and treatment outcomes. Utilizing a cross-sectional, quantitative approach to examine cause-and-effect relationships, data from 272 respondents were collected through surveys and analyzed using the PLS-SEM method. The findings reveal that, except for the Illness Disorder Assessment’s role as a moderating factor, which showed no significant impact, all other relationships in the model were significant. Daily Patient Follow-up Practice emerged as the most critical factor for improving treatment effectiveness, followed by Patient Management. Additionally, the identification of symptoms plays a crucial role in enhancing patient management practices at the Darussyifa’ Malaysia center. This research highlights the importance of continuous patient engagement and effective management in optimizing Ruqyah treatment outcomes, while suggesting areas for further investigation regarding the unanticipated insignificance of Illness Disorder Assessment.