Recent Publications by CFE Educators

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BACKGROUND

Night float rotations, where residents admit patients to the hospital, are opportunities for practice-based learning. However, night float residents receive little feedback on their diagnostic and management reasoning, which limits learning.

AIM

Improve night float residents' practice-based learning skills through feedback solicitation and chart review with guided reflection.

SETTING/PARTICIPANTS

Second- and third-year internal medicine residents on a 1-month night float rotation between January and August 2017.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Residents performed chart review of a subset of patients they admitted during a night float rotation and completed reflection worksheets detailing patients' clinical courses. Residents solicited feedback regarding their initial management from day team attending physicians and senior residents.

PROGRAM EVALUATION

Sixty-eight of 82 (83%) eligible residents participated in this intervention. We evaluated 248 reflection worksheets using content analysis. Major themes that emerged from chart review included residents' identification of future clinical practice changes, evolution of differential diagnoses, recognition of clinical reasoning gaps, and evaluation of resident-provider interactions.

DISCUSSION

Structured reflection and feedback during night float rotations is an opportunity to improve practice-based learning through lessons on disease progression, clinical reasoning, and communication.

OBJECTIVES

Patient recollection of their trial vocal fold injection outcomes is crucial in determining future treatment. This study aims to assess a new clinical tool, the UCSF Laryngeal Symptom Diary, for its ease of use, clinical value in patient symptom tracking, and utility for long-term decision-making following trial vocal fold injection.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this prospective cohort study, consecutive patients undergoing trial vocal fold injection between June 2019 and January 2020 completed the UCSF Laryngeal Symptom Diary. Patients rated standardized and customized laryngeal symptoms weekly. Upon follow-up, a survey pertaining to the diary was completed by both the patient and treating laryngologist.

RESULTS

A total of 29 patients opted to participate and were provided with the UCSF Laryngeal Symptom Diary. The diary was returned by 82.3% (n = 24/29) of patients. Mean time to follow up was 5.98 weeks. Survey participation rate was 93.1% (n = 27/29). From the patients' perspective, 66.7% (n = 18/27) found the diary useful in following their symptom evolution. Treating laryngeal surgeon noted excellent concordance between diary entries and patient's overall injection benefit (91.7%, n = 22/24). The diary was useful in clinician-recommendation of subsequent treatment options in 70.8% (n = 17/24) of patients.

CONCLUSION

The UCSF Laryngeal Symptom Diary is a patient friendly clinical tool for trial vocal fold injection that facilitates patient tracking of symptom evolution and helps guide treating clinicians in subsequent treatment planning.

We propose a dyadic Item Response Theory (dIRT) model for measuring interactions of pairs of individuals when the responses to items represent the actions (or behaviors, perceptions, etc.) of each individual (actor) made within the context of a dyad formed with another individual (partner). Examples of its use include the assessment of collaborative problem solving or the evaluation of intra-team dynamics. The dIRT model generalizes both Item Response Theory models for measurement and the Social Relations Model for dyadic data. The responses of an actor when paired with a partner are modeled as a function of not only the actor's inclination to act and the partner's tendency to elicit that action, but also the unique relationship of the pair, represented by two directional, possibly correlated, interaction latent variables. Generalizations are discussed, such as accommodating triads or larger groups. Estimation is performed using Markov-chain Monte Carlo implemented in Stan, making it straightforward to extend the dIRT model in various ways. Specifically, we show how the basic dIRT model can be extended to accommodate latent regressions, multilevel settings with cluster-level random effects, as well as joint modeling of dyadic data and a distal outcome. A simulation study demonstrates that estimation performs well. We apply our proposed approach to speed-dating data and find new evidence of pairwise interactions between participants, describing a mutual attraction that is inadequately characterized by individual properties alone.

BACKGROUND

Drug allergy is frequently reported, but uncommonly confirmed with diagnostic testing. Although drug allergy assessments can improve clinical care, patient concerns may impact the optimal diagnostic approach and/or the clinical effectiveness of diagnostic testing.

OBJECTIVE

To assess drug allergy patient concerns.

METHODS

Using data from a multisite, prospective longitudinal cohort study, the United States Drug Allergy Registry (January 16, 2019, to January 24, 2020), we determined patient self-reported characteristics and qualitatively coded free-text patient concerns about their drug allergy/allergies. We assessed associations between patient characteristics and drug allergy concerns using multinomial logistic regression models.

RESULTS

Of 592 patients (mean age, 49 [standard deviation, 17] years, 74% female, 88% white), the most commonly reported drug allergies were penicillins (78%), cephalosporins (12%), and sulfonamides (12%) with common reactions of rash (62%), hives (54%), itching (48%), flushing or facial redness (28%), and swelling or angioedema (24%). Patient concerns, coded from free text, were optimal medication use (41%), no concern (17%), allergic reaction (14%), diagnosis (12%), and severe allergic reaction (12%). Using multinomial regression, the presence of drug allergy concerns increased with greater age, higher number of reported drug reactions, more antibiotic use, and certain reaction symptoms, most notably mouth or palate itching. Female sex was associated with increased severe allergic reaction concern. Poorer general and mental health was associated with increased allergic reaction concern.

CONCLUSION

Patients with drug allergy were concerned about their options for medical treatment, having an allergic reaction, and receiving clarity about their diagnosis. Capturing and addressing patient concerns may improve the approach to patients with drug allergy and/or the effectiveness of drug allergy testing.