Understanding Of Medical Information Research Articles

Effect analysis of applying high-quality service model to surgical nursing.

Surgical care of the hand plays a crucial role in the medical field, as problems with the hand can profoundly affect a patient's quality of life and function. In order to meet the needs of patients, improve patient satisfaction and improve treatment outcomes, high-quality service models have been introduced in the field of nursing. To explore the effect analysis of applying high-quality service model to surgical nursing. We conducted a retrospective study of patients who underwent hand surgery at our hospital between 2019 and 2022, using a quality service model that included improved patient education, pain management, care team collaboration, and effective communication. Another group of patients received traditional care as a control group. We compared postoperative recovery, satisfaction, complication rate, and length of hospital stay between the two groups. Inferential statistics were used to compare the difference between the two groups by independent sample t test, Chi-square test and other methods to evaluate the effect of intervention measures. Postoperative recovery time decreased from 17.8 ± 2.3 d to 14.5 ± 2.1 d, pain score decreased from 4.7 ± 1.9 to 3.2 ± 1.4, and hand function score increased from 78.4 ± 7.1 to 88.5 ± 6.2. In terms of patient satisfaction, the quality service model group scored 87.3 ± 5.6 points, which was significantly higher than that of the traditional care group (74.6 ± 6.3 points). At the same time, patients' understanding of medical information also improved from 6.9 ± 1.4 to 8.6 ± 1.2. In terms of postoperative complications, the application of the quality service model reduced the incidence of postoperative complications from 26% to 10%, the incidence of infection from 12% to 5%, and the incidence of bleeding from 10% to 3%. The reduction in these data indicates that the quality service model plays a positive role in reducing the risk of complications. In addition, the average hospital stay of patients in the quality service model group was shortened from 6.8 ± 1.5 d to 5.2 ± 1.3 d, and the hospitalization cost was also reduced from 2800 ± 600 yuan to 2500 ± 500 yuan. Applying a quality service model to hand surgery care can significantly improve patient clinical outcomes, including faster recovery, less pain, greater satisfaction, and reduced complication rates.

The complexity of physician-patient communication and its impact in non-medical fields. A surgical oncology approach.

Physician-patient communication is essential for determining high-quality healthcare, as this may influence patients' satisfaction with care, their understanding of medical information, coping skills specific to a disease, and raise treatment adherence. In the field of surgical oncology, most healthcare communication develops around the disease, treatment, and healthcare planning, overlooking psychological functioning and patients' well-being. To address this issue and avoid unmet patient needs, patient-centered communication requires specific skills designed to enable physicians to identify, acknowledge and respond to patients' thoughts and feelings over an extended period. The aim of this study was to investigate the integration of patient-physician communication in a non-medical system made up of patient-physician communication, perceived healthcare quality, and the image of a physician or a healthcare organization with a specific focus on surgical oncology. The sample comprised 157 breast cancer patients who reported highly satisfactory levels of perceived communication skills of physicians and the quality of services. Moreover, patients expressed their willingness to recommend these physicians to their family and friends, which further contributes to the positive image of physicians. Nevertheless, it is important to emphasize the ongoing need for continuous attention to the communication skills of surgical oncologists, as each cancer patient's experience is unique and necessitates a personalized form of interaction.

Patient satisfaction with televisit in chronic neurologic disorders during Covid-19 pandemic.

Covid-19 pandemic has boosted telemedicine in medical clinical practice. Experience in the management of chronic neurological disorders is limited as well as patient opinion. During Covid-19 pandemic, we evaluated patients' satisfaction and opinion about televisits in a large group of patients with chronic neurological disorders. All patients with chronic neurological disorders who had a virtual visit during the first phase of pandemic were invited to fill an online anonymous questionnaire about their global satisfaction and satisfaction regarding continuity of care, possibility to stay at home, doctor-patient relationship, the future of teleconsultation after pandemic and the possibility of understanding medical information and instructions. We received 123 questionnaires among 232 e-mail (response rate 53%). Almost all (120 out of 121 patients, 99%) were satisfied with the overall experience with video-consultation. Comprehension of medical information was the same for 113 out of 122 patients (93%) and also the doctor-patient relationship was the same for 107 out of 122 respondents (88%) or better for 10 (8%). Ninety-three percent of patients (112 out of 120) were keen to integrate televisits with the traditional modality and only 11 out of 121 patients (9%) judged televisits as an option to discard. As a whole, 114 out of 122 respondents (93%) would suggest this modality to other patients. Our large cohort of patients with chronic neurologic disorders rated experience with televisits satisfactory. Comprehension of medical information and doctor-patient interaction was considered good. Eventually, patients are keen to integrate this modality with traditional follow-up visits.

A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY TO FINDOUT THE LEVEL OF SATISFACTION AMONG PARENTS REGARDING SERVICES RECEIVED DURING HOSPITALIZATION OF CHILDREN IN PEDIATRIC WARD, IGMC SHIMLA, H.P.

Background: Parents satisfaction and involvement are vital for the judgment of health care intervention. Parents were satisfied by participating in their childs health thereby enhancing adherence to the therapeutic regimen and understanding medical information. Parents participation in their childs care is a new approach. An effective communication between parents and health care professionals is vital for parents satisfaction and quality of care. Objectives: The investigator conducted the study with an objective to assess the level of satisfaction among parents regarding services received during hospitalization of children in Pediatric ward, IGMC Shimla, H.P. Conceptual Framework: Donabedian Health Care Quality Model (2003) is used for present research study. Methodology: A descriptive study was conducted in the month of January, 2021 in selected Pediatric ward IGMC Shimla (H.P).The research approach adopted for this study was quantitative. The independent variable is self structured questionnaire and dependent variable is level of satisfaction among parents. 100 parents of admitted children in Pediatric ward were selected as sample of research study on the basis of convenient sampling technique. Results: The study results revealed that level of satisfaction among parents regarding services received during hospitalization of children in Pediatric ward was not satisfactory. 90% parents were dissatisfied with hospital services while only 7% had neutral satisfaction score. Conclusion: The main focus of the study was to assess the level of satisfaction among parents regarding services received during hospitalization of children in pediatric ward. The study findings concluded that there was no significant association between level of satisfaction score with selected demographic variables. Hence, the study findings concluded that most of the parents satisfied with physician services, nursing services but less satisfied with physical facilities and diet services.

Self-efficacy for coping with cancer and quality of life in advanced gastric cancer patients.

Coping is one of the most frequently addressed topics in palliative care. Beliefs and expectations about one's own capacity to cope with cancer will lead to actual coping, which is known to contribute to quality of life (QoL). The current study aimed to describe self-efficacy (SE) for coping with cancer and to evaluate its relationship with QoL in advanced gastric cancer (AGC) patients. A descriptive correlational study was conducted with 202 AGC patients. SE for coping with cancer was measured by the Cancer Behavior Inventory version 3.0 - Korean. QoL was evaluated using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - Gastric (FACT-Ga) and the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy - Spiritual Well-Being (FACIT-Sp) Korean version. Data were analyzed using t-tests, Spearman correlations and multiple regression analyses. SE for seeking and understanding medical information was the highest ranked subscale, while using spiritual coping was the lowest ranked subscale. SE for maintaining activity and independence, accepting cancer/maintaining a positive attitude/making decisions demonstrated a significant contribution to QoL as measured by the FACT-Ga and the FACIT-Sp. SE for using spiritual coping demonstrated a significant contribution to the FACIT-Sp. SE for coping with cancer demonstrated significant contributions to QoL in AGC patients. The assessment of SE for coping with cancer is recommended for practice. Considering its contribution to patients' QoL, interventions to improve SE for coping with cancer need to be pursued in future studies.

VERBAL MOTIVATION: OPTIONS FOR PREVENTING DENTOFACIAL MALOCCLUSIONS AT THE AGE OF GROWTH

Good communication between dentists and patients will create success in the patient care process and help patients to improve their understanding of medical information, perceptions, and expectations. Interpersonal relationships between children, parents, and operators (Dentists), are part of the basic pattern of behavior management or orthodontic treatment in children. Treatment of anterior crossbite in mixed dentition is highly recommended because this malocclusion cannot be corrected with growth or age. Case Report: A 9-year-old child came with a complaint that her right upper front tooth was growing behind her lower front teeth, so she felt insecure when smiling and uncomfortable when biting. The patient's mother and the patient want a treatment that can return the teeth into a good and normal position. The patient had no history of disease either in childhood or at present. Dental history such as normal tooth eruption, premature loss, and dental trauma was denied but the patient stated that the permanent teeth had grown before the baby teeth fell out. The patient has no bad habits. In this case, education was carried out to the patient and his mother regarding the use of a tongue blade to push tooth 11 toward the labial direction to correct the palatoverted tooth 11. Conclusion: Cases of anterior crossbite in permanent teeth are quite common in children who are growing and developing, so early treatment to stimulate growth balance and occlusal development is needed to modify the growth direction to prevent further malocclusion.

Impact of the Text Simplification on Understanding.

The reduction of the linguistic complexity of medical texts to make them more understandable to a larger population is an important task. The simplification of texts involves several steps, among which our study focuses on the definition of complex constructions and on study of the impact of the simplification. For this study, we selected 20 texts from the medical domain on different topics, namely drugs, diseases, substances, and medical institutions. We identified complex linguistic constructions and carried out their manual simplification at syntactic, lexical and semantic levels. We then designed a questionnaire to test comprehension of the texts and conducted a study with 26 participants. The results of this study shows that simplified texts obtained higher number of correct answers than technical texts. This difference is statistically significant. The self-evaluation questionnaire, done at the beginning of the test, indicates that the participants tend to overestimate their understanding of medical information. Besides, there is no correlation between the time taken to complete the interview and the correct answers provided.

Predictors of Uncertainty and Unwillingness to Receive the COVID-19 Vaccine in Men Who Have Sex with Men in France.

The development of vaccines against COVID-19 has given hope to populations. Public acceptability of vaccination is a major driver in containing the disease. However, in marginalized and stigmatized populations, uncertainty and unwillingness may be a challenge. This study aimed to analyze the factors associated with uncertainty and unwillingness to vaccinate against COVID-19 in men who have sex with men (MSM) living in France. The data used came from Rapport au Sexe (ERAS) 2021, a voluntary, cross-sectional, anonymous, self-administered, online survey conducted from 26 February to 11 April 2021. Among the 15,426 respondents included in the analysis, 60.5% were willing to vaccinate (these included persons already vaccinated), 17.5% were not, and 22% were uncertain. Factors independently associated with uncertainty and unwillingness were lower education level, low health literacy level, financial hardship, being under 30 years of age, and living in a rural area. HIV-positive MSM were less likely to report vaccination uncertainty and unwillingness than HIV-negative MSM and those with unknown serostatus. Although more impacted by COVID-19, socioeconomically vulnerable MSM were the sub-group most unwilling to vaccinate. To improve acceptability of COVID-19 vaccination in MSM, policy makers and researchers must increase access to and understanding of medical information by considering the general public’s health literacy when developing information sources. Moreover, a dedicated global care approach, which ensures these populations can be reached, is necessary.

Facilitating Engagement on Family-Centered Rounds for Families With Limited Comfort With English.

Conducting family-centered rounds (FCR) for families with limited comfort with English (LCE) presents communication challenges. The objective of this study was to characterize the preferences of Spanish-speaking parents with LCE around interpretation and communication with the medical team during FCR to promote family engagement during rounds. This qualitative study was conducted at a tertiary care children's hospital in New York, New York. Eighteen Spanish-speaking parents of patients admitted to the hospital medicine service participated. Bilingual investigators conducted semistructured interviews over a secure virtual platform. Interview transcriptions were coded and analyzed by using a grounded theory approach and constant comparative method. Parents were recruited until thematic saturation was achieved. Most participants were mothers (72%) from the Dominican Republic (61%). Responses from participants yielded a conceptual model depicting parents' perspectives on family engagement and bidirectional communication during FCR. Three major themes emerged: (1) importance of interpreter use, (2) understanding of medical information, and (3) participation in FCR. Within each theme, factors that facilitate or impede engagement in FCR were identified. Interpreters facilitated information sharing and parent understanding of medical care, increasing parent appreciation of FCR. Lack of language-concordant care and parents' perceived responsibility for the language barrier limited engagement. Families with LCE value involvement during FCR, but face difficulties due to language barriers. Providers can support these families by empowering families' participation and by consistently using an interpreter. Understanding the preferences of families with LCE for participation in FCR will help providers deliver more equitable family-centered care.

Belonging on Rounds: Translating Research Into Inclusive Practices for Families With Limited English Proficiency to Promote Safety, Equity, and Quality.

Belonging on Rounds: Translating Research Into Inclusive Practices for Families With Limited English Proficiency to Promote Safety, Equity, and Quality.

Hospital social workers’ contributions to increasing health literacy among parents of acutely and critically ill children

ABSTRACT Hospital social workers often engage in health literacy activities to support patients’ and families’ functioning and adjustment to illness, but social work literature has seldom used health literacy terminology. This paper reports on a qualitative study of paediatric hospital social workers’ understanding of the needs of parents with acutely ill children and how their contributions may accommodate these needs to strengthen parental health literacy. Utilising systematic text condensation, the study reveals four themes: (1) understanding of medical information, (2) counselling and service coordination, (3) emotional needs, and (4) timing of information. The findings suggest that hospital social workers make valuable additions to health literacy.

Using an IT-Based Algorithm for Health Promotion in Temporary Settlements to Improve Migrant and Refugee Health.

The application of the electronic algorithm developed by the Mig-Healthcare project was pilot tested in a sample of migrants and refugees in 2 Reception and Identification Centres (RICs), temporary settlements, in Greece using portable devices. The questions relate to health literacy issues, to mental health, to vaccination history, to lifestyle habits such as smoking, alcohol intake, diet, to the presence of diseases such as heart disease or diabetes, to the use of prevention services and to dental care. A total of 82 adults, 50 women and 32 men, participated. Data analysis showed that 67.1% (55) of the respondents had difficulty in understanding medical information and 57.3% (47) did not know where to seek medical help for a specific health problem. Four main areas of health problems were identified and further action is required: (A) mental health concerns, (B) vaccinations, (C) obesity, and (D) dental hygiene. Direct linkage with the “Roadmap and Toolbox” section of the project’s website gave the respondents access to many sources and tools, while through the use of the interactive map, specific referral points of healthcare delivery in their area were identified. IT-based intervention in migrant and refugee populations in Greece are effective in increasing health literacy levels and identifying areas for health promotion interventions in these groups. Through linkage with the project’s database, access to healthcare provision points and action to seek appropriate healthcare when necessary are encouraged. Given the attenuated vulnerability profile of people living in temporary settlements, this algorithm can be easily used in primary care settings to improve migrant and refugee health.

Graphic Narrative Versus Journal Article for Teaching Medical Students About P Values: A Randomized Trial.

Understanding P values is difficult but essential for interpreting the medical literature. Graphic narratives (comics) facilitate scientific communication and may be an enjoyable way for learners to grasp difficult concepts [1], including the meaning of a P value. Previous studies have shown that comics improve student [2], patient [3], and resident [4] understanding of medical information and often outperform traditional instructional methods. Junhasavasdikul et al [2] found better third-year student results on a thoracostomy quiz in students randomized to a comic compared with a text-based handout.

Promoting social capital, self-management and health literacy in older adults through a group-based intervention delivered in low-income urban areas: results of the randomized trial AEQUALIS

BackgroundEvidence is scarce on how to promote health and decrease cumulative inequalities for disadvantaged older people. Downstream complex interventions focusing on intermediate factors (self-management, health literacy and social capital) may have the potential to mitigate the inequitable impacts of social determinants in health. The aim of the AEQUALIS study was to assess the effectiveness of a group-based intervention to improve self-perceived health as indicator of health inequality.MethodsPragmatic randomised clinical trial addressed to older adults (≥ 60 years) living in urban disadvantaged areas with low self-perceived health. The intervention was delivered in primary care settings and community assets between 2015 and 2017 and consisted in 12 weekly sessions. The primary outcome was self-perceived health assessed in two ways: with the first item of the SF-12 questionnaire, and with the EQ-5D visual analog scale. Secondary outcomes were health-related quality of life, social capital, self-management, mental health and use of health services. Outcomes were assessed at baseline, post intervention and follow-up at 9 months after the end of the intervention.Results390 people were allocated to the intervention group (IG) or the control group (CG) and 194 participants and 164 were included in the data analysis, respectively. Self perceived health as primary outcome assessed with SF-12-1 was not specifically affected by the intervention, but with the EQ-5D visual analog scale showed a significant increase at one-year follow-up only in the IG (MD=4.80, 95%CI [1.09, 8.52]). IG group improved health literacy in terms of a better understanding of medical information (− 0.62 [− 1.10, − 0.13]). The mental component of SF-12 improved (3.77 [1.82, 5.73]), and depressive symptoms decreased at post-intervention (− 1.26 [− 1.90, − 0.63]), and at follow-up (− 0.95 [− 1.62, − 0.27]). The use of antidepressants increased in CG at the follow-up (1.59 [0.33, 2.86]), while it remained stable in the IG.ConclusionsThis study indicates that a group intervention with a strong social component, conducted in primary health care and community assets, shows promising effects on mental health and can be used as a strategy for health promotion among older adults in urban disadvantaged areas.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02733523. Registered 11 April 2016 - Retrospectively registered

Subjective and Functional Health Literacy Screening in Geriatric Primary Care

The aim of the current study is to provide comprehensive health care to older adults by assessing physical and mental health in a geriatric primary care setting, including evaluation of both subjective and functional health literacy. Health literacy is vital to understanding medical information and making subsequent decisions based on this information. Knowledge of patient health literacy may be particularly important for care providers, as it can provide guidance on how to best communicate with the patient (Nouri & Rudd, 2015). It may be particularly important to monitor health literacy within older adults, as several studies (e.g., Kobayashi et al., 2015) have shown that health literacy decreases with mild cognitive impairment. Approximately 250 patients (mean age = 76; 74% female; 16% African American) attending an interdisciplinary geriatrics clinic in West Alabama have been recruited to take part in a variety of behavioral health screenings. The current study assessed subjective health literacy using questions developed by Chew, Bradley, and Boyko (2004) and functional health literacy using the Newest Vital Sign (Weiss et al., 2005). While there was a significant correlation between subjective and functional health literacy (r = .43, p < .001), 81% of patients reported adequate subjective health literacy, while only 41% demonstrated adequate health literacy on a functional screening measure. Based on these findings, self-reported health literacy may not necessarily be reflective of performance on more functional measures. Given the potential consequences of overestimating health literacy, this represents a serious barrier to patient care.

Document-Engineering Methodology in Health Care: An Innovative Behavioral Science-Based Approach to Improve Patient Empowerment.

Engaging patients in their treatment and making them experts of their condition has been identified as a high priority across many medical disciplines. Patient empowerment claims to improve compliance, patient safety, and disease outcome. Patient empowerment may help the patient in shared decision making and in becoming an informed partner of the health care professional. We consider patient empowerment to be in jeopardy if written medical information for patients is too complex and confusing. We introduce document-engineering methodology (DEM) as a new tool for the health care industry. DEM tries to implement principles of cognitive science and neuroscience-based concepts of reading and comprehension. It follows the most recent document design techniques. DEM has been used in the aviation, mining, and oil industries. In these very industries, DEM was integrated to improve user performance, prevent harm, and increase safety. We postulate that DEM, applied to written documents in health care, will help patients to quickly navigate through complex written information and thereby enable them to better comprehend the essence of the medical information. DEM aims to empower the patient and help start an informed conversation with their health care professional. The ultimate goals of DEM are to increase adherence and compliance, leading to improved outcomes. Our approach is innovative, as we apply our learning from other industries to health care; we call this cross-industry innovation. In this manuscript, we provide illustrative examples of DEM in three frequent clinical scenarios: (1) explaining a complex diagnosis for the first time, (2) understanding medical leaflet information, and (3) exploring cannabis-based medicine. There is an urgent need to test DEM in larger clinical cohorts and for careful proof-of-concept studies, regarding patient and stakeholder engagement, to be conducted.

Parental understanding of crucial medical jargon used in prenatal prematurity counseling

BackgroundParent-clinician shared decision making is the recommended model for the care of premature infants; thus, clinicians provide prenatal prematurity counseling to parents in the event of a mother’s hospitalization for premature birth. However, parental understanding of medical jargon commonly used during prematurity counseling is unknown.MethodsWithin an overall research agenda to develop and test an educational aid for prenatal prematurity education, we designed the Parental Knowledge of Premature Birth questionnaire. To evaluate parental comprehension of the medical jargon contained within the questionnaire, we conducted cognitive interviews, a formal method for evaluating comprehension and response to questionnaire items. Parents were recruited from a Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit; purposeful recruitment ensured diversity with respect to gender, race, literacy level, and child’s gestational age. Data collection and analysis followed standard qualitative methods for cognitive interviewing. We report on the insights gained from these cognitive interviews regarding parental understanding of crucial medical jargon commonly used during prenatal prematurity counseling.ResultsParticipants included 10 women and 6 men who ranged in age from 23 to 38 years and represented Black/African-American (38%), Asian (6%), and white (56%) backgrounds. Five participants (31%) had less than a high school education or reading level below 9th grade (Wide Range Achievement Test version 4 reading subtest). In the first round of interviews, parents of all education and literacy levels had difficulty with medical jargon commonly used in prematurity counseling. Terms that parents found difficult to understand included “gestational age”, “mild or no developmental problems”, and “neonatologist”. Modified terms tested in a second round of interviews showed improved comprehension.ConclusionCognitive interviews provided empirical testing of parental understanding of crucial medical jargon and highlighted that language commonly used during prenatal prematurity counseling is not understood by many parents. For parents to participate in shared decision making, plain language should be used to maximize their understanding of medical information.

Examining the Interaction Between Medical Information Seeking Online and Understanding: Exploratory Study.

BackgroundOnline information seeking on medical topics by patients can have beneficial effects by helping them decide on treatment options and fostering better relationships with doctors. The quality of websites and processes of seeking information online have mostly been studied, with a focus on the accuracy and reliability of websites; however, few studies have examined the relationship between other aspects of quality and the processes of seeking medical information online.ObjectiveThis exploratory study aimed to shed light on the quality of websites used for information seeking from the perspective of understanding medical information in combination with seeking it online.MethodsThe study participants were 15 Japanese university students with no problem using the internet. A questionnaire survey about health literacy (47 items on a 4-point Likert scale) and information navigation skills on the internet (8 items on a 5-point Likert scale) was conducted before participants engaged in online information seeking and qualitative interviews. The students searched for information on a disease and its treatment. The websites viewed were gathered from search behavior recorded by software and browser logs. Follow-up interviews were conducted to elicit explanations from the participants about the assignments and their views of online information seeking. The explanations were evaluated by 55 health care professionals on a 3-point Likert scale and then assessed based on their comments and the participant interviews.ResultsThe mean age of the participants was 20.6 years (median 21; SD 1.06). All participants were able to access reliable websites with information relevant to the assignments. The mean ratings of the students’ explanations were 108.6 (median 109; range=83-134) for the disease and 105.6 (median 104; range=87-117) for its treatment. The inter-rater reliability were 0.84 (95% CI 0.77-0.90) and 0.95 (95% CI 0.93-0.97), indicating good and excellent, respectively. The mean of the sum of the health literacy skills was 115.1 (median 115; range=80-166) and the mean for information navigation skills was 25.9 (median 26; range=17-36), respectively. Health literacy and information navigation skills were moderately correlated (r=0.54; 95% CI 0.033-0.822; P=.04). Among the four stages of health literacy, understanding and appraising (r=0.53; 95% CI 0.025-0.820; P=.04) were moderately correlated with information navigation skills (r=0.52; 95% CI 0.013-0.816; P=.046). The participants had no difficulties operating and browsing the internet and considered medical and public institution websites to be reliable; however, due to unfamiliarity with medical terms, they had difficulties choosing a site from the results obtained and comparing and synthesizing information provided by different sites. They also looked for sites providing orderly information in plain language but provided explanations from sites that gave inadequate interpretations of information.ConclusionsThis study revealed interactions between searching the internet for, and understanding, medical information by analyzing the processes of information seeking online, physicians’ evaluations and comments about the participants’ explanations, and the participants’ perceptions.

P14.20 Anxiety level in a prospective cohort of newly diagnosed glioblastoma patients: preliminary results from the IMAGE study

Abstract BACKGROUND Quality of life (QoL) is an important area of clinical neuro-oncology, especially in glioblastoma patients. Although previous studies showed an association between QoL and anxiety, few studies have focused on the anxiety level throughout the disease progression (Bunevicius et al., 2017; Kilbride et al., 2007). Underestimating anxiety may have several consequences: a low treatment compliance, exacerbation of somatic symptoms or side effects of treatment, difficulties with understanding medical information and lower cooperation with the medical staff (Spencer, 2010). In the present study, we aimed assessing the current state of anxiety in a prospective cohort of patients treated for glioblastoma. We also investigated potential correlations with other clinical and psychological variables to better understand determinants of anxiety in this population. MATERIAL AND METHODS At the beginning of their cycle of temozolomide cure and after radio-chemotherapy, 30 patients with glioblastoma were included. Inclusion criteria were: Karnofsky index (IK) ≥ 70% and absence of cognitive disorder that could interfere with the completion of questionnaires. The characteristics of patients were as follows: mean age of 56.6 years ± 12.5 (70% were more than 50 years old); 20% were women; 50% had a university degree and IK of 87% ± 5. Anxiety level was assessed using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. This scale consists of 40 items on a self-report basis measuring how patients feel right now (“state”) and how they generally feel (“trait”). We also assessed (i) QoL using the Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire 30 and the Brain Cancer Module-20; (ii) the presence of depressive symptoms using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; (iii) the self-esteem using the Rosenberg self-esteem scale and (iv) memory complains using the Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire. RESULTS The preliminary results showed that - at baseline - 21% of our sample reported high levels of anxiety. Correlation analyses showed that state anxiety was correlated with trait anxiety (rho=0.799, p&lt; .001), QoL (rho=0.678, p&lt; .001), level of self-esteem (rho=-0.514, p=0.004) and memory complains (rho=0.618, p&lt; .001). Any correlation was found with age, education level, lesional lateralization or depressive symptoms. Women had higher state anxiety scores than men (t(27)=-2.4, p=0.02). CONCLUSION These preliminary results suggest that higher current state of anxiety is associated with lower QoL and lower self-esteem, regardless the presence of depressive symptoms, age, education level or lesional lateralization. Anxiety level at the follow-up (4 and 6 months after the baseline) and determinants of its progression will also be presented and might help health professionals to understand patients’ experience and better meet their needs.

Co-Design of a Consultation Audio-Recording Mobile App for People With Cancer: The SecondEars App.

BackgroundMany patients choose to audio-record their medical consultations so that they can relisten to them at home and share them with family. Consultation audio-recordings can improve patients’ recall and understanding of medical information and increase their involvement in decision making. A hospital-endorsed consultation audio-recording mobile app would provide patients with the permission and means to audio-record their consultations. The Theory of Planned Behavior provides a framework for understanding how patients can be encouraged to appropriately audio-record consultations.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to use a co-design process to develop a consultation audio-recording mobile app called SecondEars.MethodsApp development began with stakeholder engagement, followed by a series of 6 co-design workshops and then user acceptance testing. Stakeholder engagement included advice from legal, information technology (IT), clinical and allied health leads; digital strategy; and medical records. he co-design workshops were attended by: patient consumers, members of the research team, IT staff, the app designers, clinicians, and staff from medical records. During workshops 1 to 4, the purpose and scope of the app were refined, possible pitfalls were addressed, and design features were discussed. The app designers then incorporated the results from these workshops to produce a wireframe mock-up of the proposed SecondEars app, which was presented for feedback at workshops 5 and 6.ResultsThe stakeholders identified 6 requirements for the app, including that it be patient driven, secure, clear in terms of legal responsibilities, linked to the patient’s medical record, and that it should require minimal upfront and ongoing resources. These requirements informed the scope of the co-design workshops. The workshops were attended by between 4 and 13 people. The workshop attendees developed a list of required features and suggestions for user interface design. The app developers used these requirements and recommendations to develop a prototype of the SecondEars app in iOS, which was then refined through user acceptance testing.ConclusionsThe SecondEars app allows patients to have control and autonomy over audio-recording and sharing their consultations while maintaining privacy and safety for medical information and legal protection for clinicians. The app has been designed to have low upkeep and minimal impact on clinical processes. The SecondEars prototype is currently being tested with patients in a clinical setting.