1,720,963 research outputs found
Is the role of medical consultation in rheumatoid arthritis a timely topic?
No full textBackground: Despite the treat-to-target recommendations and the efforts in dissecting factors that contribute to achieving disease control, the goal of remission in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is accomplished in less than half of patients. Disease activity is assessed using composite indexes which are reliant on patient-reported outcomes, mainly the patient global assessment of disease activity (PGA). The debate on variables that can influence PGA is still open, and different internal and external factors had been taken into account: the origin of pain symptoms, psychosocial and lifestyle factors.
Objectives: To canvass the opinion of RA Italian patients concerning patient-perceived topics that matter most for future research.
Methods: A cross-sectional no-profit on-line anonymous survey was devised to evaluate opinions of the rheumatic diseases patients. In this sub-study we focused only on the data about RA patients. Patients were asked to rate the following topics: food/nutrition, air pollution, smoking, type of work, social participation, physical activity, emotional well-being/stress, alternative medicine, patient-physician relationship. Moreover, patients were inquired about why the topic was considered important (disease prevention, stop disease progression, control symptoms, cure the disease). The survey was disseminated between June and October 2019. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the patient demographic, clinical data and survey results.
Results: 94% (82/87) of RA patients (81 female, median age 50 yrs) rated the patient-physician relationship as the main topic for future research (figure below). Likewise, intriguing results came from the reasons of previous patient rating: the patient-physician relationship was considered important for a better control of RA symptoms (48.8%), to cure the disease (30.5%), to stop disease progression (19.5%), and to prevent the disease (1.2%). These results were similar in all age groups.
Conclusion: These results highlight that the importance of medical consultation to patients and its impact on disease control should not be under-estimated. Administrative duties, time and economic constraints undermine the patient-physician relationship that is central to clinical care. The limited time spent for medical consultation is directly related to patient dissatisfaction, which in turn, may influence the patient’s perception about the absence of disease activity and could be one of motives behind the worse evaluation of PGA.
Acknowledgments: We wish to thank the Lombard Association of Rheumatic Diseases (ALOMAR), Maria Vittoria Ausilio and Patrizia Angiolillo from the IT service of the University of Milan
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Non-pharmacologic topics relevant for clinical research in rheumatic diseases: The patient perspective
No full textBackground: The research approach on Rheumatic diseases (RDs) is challenging and patient involvement as partners in medical research is an emerging force to obtain relevant information and to add unique skills, values and experiences to research. Despite growing interest in non-pharmacologic aspects of clinical research in RDs, the patients’ perspective is currently poorly explored.
Objectives: To identify and rank the priorities for clinical research according to patients’ perspective.
Methods: A structured face-to-face meeting between physicians and a patient representative was convened to list the non-pharmacologic topics relevant to RD patients. A cross-sectional no-profit on-line anonymous survey was devised to evaluate opinions of RD patients. They were asked to rate the following topics: food/nutrition, air pollution, smoking, work activity, social participation, physical activity, emotional well-being/stress, alternative medicine, and patient-physician relationship. Moreover, patients were asked to explain for which reason a topic was considered important (disease prevention, halting disease progression, symptoms control and disease cure). The survey was disseminated by ALOMAR (Lombard Association for Rheumatic Diseases) between June and October 2019.
Results: 200 rheumatic patients completed the survey: 130 inflammatory arthritis, 50 connective tissue diseases/vasculitis, and 20 among osteoarthritis, gout, condrocalcinosis, polymyalgia and primary fibromyalgia. Respondents were 178 female with median age of 50 years and median disease duration of 7 years. Among the nine topics identified, the one most rated by patients was the doctor-patient relationship; 188 (94%) of respondents considered this topic very or extremely important (see table below). In descending order, patients rated very or extremely important: psychological well-being/stress 185 (92.5%), physical activity 155 (77.5%), nutrition, eating habits and alcohol 150 (75%), alternative therapies 144 (72%), work activity 144 (72%), environmental pollution 134 (67%), social life 121 (60.5%) and cigarette smoke 119 (59.5%). The topics considered relevant was perceived to be able to influence disease symptoms. Regarding RD prevention, environmental pollution and cigarette smoking were considered the most important topics, while fewer patients believed that research on other topics could help to stop disease progression or to achieve disease healing.
Conclusion: This survey highlights the relevance of several unmet needs. The holistic approach, in terms of medical consultation and psychological well-being, is considered the most important component able to influence disease perception. By capturing patient opinions on non-pharmacological topics for clinical research, this survey indicates that the active patient involvement is essential to design successful translational studies and improve clinical outcomes.
Acknowledgments: We thank the Lombard Association of Rheumatic Diseases (ALOMAR) for its contribution to plan and disseminate the survey and the group that sustain systemic sclerosis (GILS)
The underworld of depressive symptoms in rheumatic diseases: Overlooked, unrecognized or unperceived?
No full textBackground: The concomitant presence of depressive symptoms and rheumatic diseases (RDs) impose a considerable economic and social burden on the communities as they are associated with numerous deleterious outcomes such as increased mortality, work disability, higher disease activity and worsening physical function, higher pain levels and fatigue. Despite growing interest on depressive symptoms burden in RDs, current patient perception on this topic is unknown.
Objectives: Italian patients with RDs were invited to participate in an online study gauging the presence and the perception of depressive symptoms using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9).
Methods: This was a cross-sectional no-profit online study to screen the presence and the perception of depressive symptoms in RDs patients. All participants gave their consent to complete the PHQ-9 and they were not remunerated. Completion was voluntary and anonymous. The PHQ-9 rates the frequency of symptoms over the past 2 weeks on a 0-3 Likert-type scale. It contains the following items: anhedonia, depressed mood, trouble sleeping, feeling tired, change inappetite, guilt or worthlessness, trouble concentrating, feeling slowed down or restless, and suicidal thoughts. Patients were stratified as: <4 not depressed, 5-9 sub-clinical or mild depression, 10-14 moderate depression, 15-19 moderately severe depression and 20-27 severe depression. The survey was disseminated by ALOMAR (Lombard Association for Rheumatic Diseases) between June and October 2019.
Results: 192 patients took part in the study: 170 female with median age 50 years. Among respondents only 35 (18.2%) were not depressed. Depression was sub-clinical or mild in 68 (35.4%), moderate in 42 (21.9%), moderately severe in 30 (15.6%), and severe in 17 (8.9%). 16 (8.3%) of respondents declared to have depressive symptoms and 7 of 16 were under psychiatric therapy.
Moreover, patients were grouped according to diagnosis.
124 respondents had inflammatory arthritis (rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis). 23 (18.5%) were not depressed. Depression was sub-clinical or mild in 41 (33%), moderate in 26 (21%), moderately severe in 21 (17%), and severe in 13 (10.5%). Among them, 8 (6.5%) declared to have depressive symptoms depressed and 3 of 8 were under psychiatric therapy.
49 respondents had a connective tissue disease or vasculitis. 11 (22.5%) were not depressed. Depression was sub-clinical or mild in 19 (38.8%), moderate in 13 (26.5%), moderately severe in 2 (4%), and severe in 4 (8.2%). Among them, 3 (6%) declared to have depressive symptoms and 1 of 6 were under psychiatric therapy.
19 respondents had other rheumatic diseases. 1 (5.3%) was not depressed. Depression was sub-clinical or mild in 8 (42.1%), moderate in 3 (15.8%), moderately severe in 7 (36.8%). Among them, 5 (26.3%) declared to be depressed and 3 of 5 were under psychiatric therapy
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
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