Objective assessment of handwriting in outpatient prescriptions of a tertiary care hospital

Background: Poor physician handwriting may lead to wrong comprehension and dispensing errors. This study was planned to objectively assess the quality of handwriting of doctors and their readability by physician, pharmacist and patient and to explore the impact of experience and familiarity of pharmacist on prescription readability.Methods: A 100 prescriptions were selected and were given to a pharmacist, a doctor and an educated lay person. They rated the readability of prescriptions on a scale of 1-10 and an average readability score was calculated. Prescriptions with average score 4 or less were subjected to analysis by a pharmacist working at the hospital dispensary (P1) and another pharmacist not working at hospital pharmacy (P2).Results: Average score of pharmacist, physician and lay person was 6.14, 5.2 and 3.14 respectively. A total of 28 prescriptions, containing 93 medicines, had an average readability score of 4 or less. P1 was not able to comprehend one medicine while P2 could not comprehend 19 medicines out of these 93. The performance of both pharmacists was compared by diagnostic tests (EPI 6.04D). The sensitivity of P2 was 80% (95% CI 70.6-87.7), specificity and positive predictive value were 100, and negative predictive value was 5.3 (0.3-28.1).Conclusions: Familiarity of the pharmacist with the prescribing physicians’ handwriting is an important factor in comprehension of poorly legible prescriptions. This could limit the patients to pharmacists around the prescribers. Implementation of appropriate steps need to be assured to minimize the prescription errors.

Management practice of academic and discipline leader in research-oriented hospitals / 中华医学科研管理杂志

Objective Promote the development of disciplines and enforce the construction and training of talent echelon through selection and assessment of discipline and academy leaders.Methods Conduct classified management on different disciplines and academy leaders concerning theirworking positions.The specific measurements include setting up selection and evaluation systems separately with different focuses,implementing dynamic management,establishing performance oriented mechanisms of promotion and demotion during the tenure period.Results The construction of talent echelon plays a significant role in capacity building of young talents,team building and development of all disciplines.Conclusions Systematic measurements could promote the development of disciplines and cultivation of reserved talents,including attaching importance on talent echelon establishment,defining suitable function of hospital,strengthening talent team building;establish a well-functioning talent management mechanism and effective incentive mechanisms.

Evaluation of objective structured clinical examination (OSCE): Physiotherapy student’s perception.

This interventional study was done in the Dept of OBGY of Bharati Vidyapeeth medical college, Pune, during Sept to Dec 2013. Context of the study: This educational research project was planned to introduce a formative structured assessment method for residents in OBGY and assess its impact on student learning. Primary Objectives:1) To design and conduct DOPS in Dept of OBGY, for second year postgraduate students.2) To assess impact on learning after 1 week of practice. Methodology: All participants were sensitized about the new assessment method: DOPS. Standard Operative Procedure for the core skill ‘Female Genital Tract Examination’ was prepared. A 5 point scale for DOPS Evaluation was designed, peer reviewed and piloted. DOPS was conducted by senior faculty members over 2 week’s time frame. Students were reassessed using same checklist by same observer after one week. Feedback about the entire experience was taken from all participants. Evaluation: 1) Student DOPS scores before and after feedback and practice 2) Analysis of feedback from all participants. Results and Conclusion: All participating students and faculty members felt that DOPS is 100% relevant to the curriculum and feasible to accept as a regular formative assessment and learning tool for PG students in OBGY. Higher Patient satisfaction expressed during second session suggests that such an intervention will result in better clinical care in long run.

Differences in the Known Cellular Composition of Benign Pigmented Skin Lesions Reflected in Computer-Aided Image Analysis

BACKGROUND: Computer-aided image analysis (CAIA) has been suggested as an effective diagnostic tool for pigmented skin lesions (PSLs), especially melanoma. However, few studies on benign PSLs have been reported. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate benign PSLs with our CAIA software and analyze the differences between the parameters of those lesions. METHODS: By using homegrown CAIA software, we analyzed 3 kinds of PSLs-nevus, lentigo, and seborrheic keratosis. The group of seborrheic keratosis was divided into pigmented seborrheic keratosis, sebolentigine, and hyperkeratotic seborrheic keratosis. The CAIA was used to extract the color, as well as the morphological, textural, and topological features from each image. RESULTS: In line with clinical observations, the objective parameters indicated that nevus was dark and round, lentigo was small and bright, and seborrheic keratosis was large and spiky. The surface of nevus showed the highest contrast and correlation. In topological analysis, the concentricity clearly separated melanocytic lesions from seborrheic keratosis. The parameters of pigmented seborrheic keratosis were between those of typical nevus and seborrheic keratosis. CONCLUSION: We confirmed that definite correlations exist between the subjective differentiation by experts' examination and the objective evaluation by using CAIA. We also found that the morphological differences observed in CAIA were greatly influenced by the composition ratios of keratinocytes and melanocytes, which are already known histopathological characteristics of each PSL.

Objective Scoring Evaluation and Uroflowmetry Assessment of Two-Stage Hypospadias Repair: Single Center Experience.

Background: Hypospadias is a common congenital anomaly affecting the penis, two-stage repair becoming more interesting in era of tubularized –incised urethral plate (TIP). Functional outcome of hypospadias repair either single or two stage is as important as cosmetic outcome. In contemporary series , structured scoring systems (Hypospadias Objective Scoring Evaluation-HOSE and Pediatric Penile Perception Scoring -PPPS), evaluation of photographs and uroflowmetry, were used to assess results of hypospadias repair. Objectives: We have assessed outcomes of two-stage hypospadias repair using Hypospadias Objective Scoring Evaluation(HOSE) and uroflowmetry. Material and Methods: Over a period of eight years, from January 1997 to December 2004, One hundred and twenty six hypospadias patients were treated, ninety of them had two-stage repair and36 single-stage repairs. The HOSE questionnaire and uroflowmetry were obtained to evaluate the long term outcome of two –stage hypospadias repair. Results: The age at time of assessment ranged from 8 to 23 year-old, with mean follow up of 39.78months. Thrifty five patients had proximal hypospadias and 20 had distal varieties of hypospadias. Operations performed were 37 Bracka?s and 18 Byar?s procedures. Of the 55 patients had complete two stage hypospadias repair and agree to participate in the study , Nineteen patients had acceptable HOSE and 36 had non-acceptable score. Uroflow rates of 43 subjects were below the fifth centile in three patients ,equivocal (between 5th and 25th centile ) in four patients and above 25 th centile in 36 subjects. Conclusion: Two –stage repair is a suitable technique for all types of hypospadias with versatile outcomes. HOSE and uroflowmetry are simple, easy, non invasive and non expensive tools to assess long term outcomes objectively.

An Objective Assessment Scale for "Come-to-Sit" Using a Specifically Designed Jacket in Stroke Patients

OBJECTIVE: To compare an objective assessment scale for "come-to-sit" in stroke patients with the previously established subjective assessment scales of "performance-based assessment" and the "ability for basic movement scale". METHOD: A specifically designed jacket was used to determine the objective degree of assistance needed for patients to perform the task. While patients were sitting up, the investigator evaluated the amount of assistance needed in a fully dependent state (A) and with maximal effort (B). Using this measure, we obtained an objective scale, {(A-B)/A} x100. In addition, patients were tested in two starting positions: hemiplegic-side lying and sound-side lying. We then compared the objective scale with subjective scales and other parameters related to functional outcomes. RESULTS: For both starting positions, the objective assessment scale showed high correlation with the previously established subjective scales (p<0.01). Only the hemiplegic-side lying-to-sit objective scale showed a significant correlation with the parameters used to assess functional outcomes (p<0.05). In terms of Brunnstrom stages, only the leg stage showed a significant correlation with the objective "come-to-sit" scale (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: The objective scale was comparable to established subjective assessment scales when used by an expert. The hemiplegic-side lying-to-sit maneuver had a high correlation with patient's functional recovery. Specifically, balance and lower extremity function appear to be important factors in the "come-to-sit" activity.

Objective Assessment of Erythema caused by Metal Patch Testing using an Erythema Index Meter / Oral Science International

The patch test is the most reliable method for diagnosing a metal allergy. However, interpretation of patch test results depends on the experience of the investigator and on the conditions of the individual patient. In the case of patch tests for metal salts, irritant reactions such as pustular or follicular reactions are quite common. Therefore, one must be careful not to interpret irritant reactions as allergic responses, and objective standards to evaluate erythema in patch tests need to be established.In the present study, we attempted to objectively evaluate patch test results for metal salts using an erythema index meter. We used the Erythema Index Difference (EID) (patch test site erythema index (EI) minus the mean EI of healthy skin outside the patch test area and at the unit tape site) rather than the EI itself in order to eliminate the effects of the patch test unit and individual differences. We measured the EID over time in patients with suspected metal allergies to various metals. Significant differences in EID were observed among ++ assessments, + assessments and irritant reactions based on International Contact Dermatitis Research Group (ICDRG) standards. In considering changes in EID over time, allergic and irritant reactions can be discriminated with high sensitivity (73.3%) and specificity (91.2%).These results suggest that the measurement of erythema over time with an erythema index meter is useful for the objective assessment of metal patch test reactions.

Assessment of spermatozoal function.

Different procedures have been developed to assess the functions of spermatozoa in terms of their motility as well as their fertilizing potential. The procedures for assessment of motility are either qualitative or quantitative, subjective or objective, while the procedures for assessment of fertilizing potential are either direct or indirect. In this review, the information available on the procedures are compiled and analysed including the procedures for in vitro penetration of zona-free hamster eggs by human or non-human primate spermatozoa.