ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Because tobacco use is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, it is essential to prepare health care providers to assist patients with quitting smoking. Created in 1999, the "Rx for Change" tobacco cessation curriculum was designed to fill an educational gap in cessation training of health professional students. In 2004, a website was launched to host teaching materials and tools to support the efforts of educators and clinicians. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to characterize users and utilization of a website hosting shared teaching materials over a period of 15 years. METHODS: Data from the Rx for Change website have been collected prospectively since its inception. In this study, end-user data were analyzed to determine user characteristics, how they heard about the website, intended use of the materials, and numbers of logins and file downloads over time. RESULTS: Total number of website registrants was 15,576, representing all 50 states in the United States and 94 countries. The most represented discipline was pharmacy (6393/15,505, 41.2%), and nearly half of users were students or residents. The most common source of referral to the website was a faculty member or colleague (33.4%, 2591/7758), and the purpose of enhancing personal knowledge and skills was the most commonly cited intended use of the curricular materials. A total of 259,835 file downloads occurred during the 15-year period, and the most commonly downloaded file type was ancillary handouts. CONCLUSIONS: The Rx for Change website demonstrated sustained use, providing immediate access to tobacco cessation teaching and practice tools for educators and clinicians over the first 15 years of its existence. The website has a broad interprofessional reach, and the consistent utilization over time and large number of downloads provide evidence for the feasibility and utility of a public-access website hosting teaching materials. The shared curriculum approach averts the need for educators to create their own materials for teaching tobacco cessation to students in the health professions.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Infliximab for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is FDA-approved to be administered 2 h or more. We adopted a new protocol to infuse infliximab over 1 h and in this study, we aimed to determine the safety of a 1-h infusion. METHODS: This retrospective cohort included adult IBD patients who received infliximab between June and December 2017 and compared reaction rates of 1-h maintenance infusions to that of 2-h maintenance infusions. RESULTS: A total of 551 infusions were administered to 179 patients. The infusion groups demonstrated no significant differences in reaction rates. CONCLUSIONS: Infliximab infusion over 1 h is well-tolerated.
