The Relationship between Neurobiological Function and Inflammation in Depressed Children and Adolescents: A Scoping Review.

INTRODUCTION: Neurobiological dysfunction is associated with depression in children and adolescents. While research in adult depression suggests that inflammation may underlie the association between depression and brain alterations, it is unclear if altered levels of inflammatory markers provoke neurobiological dysfunction in early-onset depression. The aim of this scoping review was to provide an overview of existing literature investigating the potential interaction between neurobiological function and inflammation in depressed children and adolescents. METHODS: Systematic searches were conducted in six databases. Primary research studies that included measures of both neurobiological functioning and inflammation among children (≤18 years) with a diagnosis of depression were included. RESULTS: Four studies (240 participants; mean age 16.0 ± 0.6 years, 62% female) meeting inclusion criteria were identified. Studies primarily examined the inflammatory markers interleukin 6, tumor necrosis factor alpha, C-reactive protein, and interleukin 1 beta. Exploratory whole brain imaging and analysis as well as region of interest approaches focused on the anterior cingulate cortex, basal ganglia, and white matter tracts were conducted. Most studies found correlations between neurobiological function and inflammatory markers; however, depressive symptoms were not observed to moderate these effects. CONCLUSIONS: A small number of highly heterogeneous studies indicate that depression may not modulate the association between altered inflammation and neurobiological dysfunction in children and adolescents. Replication in larger samples using consistent methodological approaches (focus on specific inflammatory markers, examine certain brain areas) is needed to advance the knowledge of potential neuro-immune interactions early in the course of depression.

Medication self-management interventions for persons with stroke: A scoping review.

The use of multiple medications is common following a stroke for secondary prevention and management of co-occurring chronic conditions. Given the use of multiple medications post-stroke, optimizing medication self-management for this population is important. The objective of this scoping review was to identify and summarize what has been reported in the literature on interventions related to medication self-management for adults (aged 18+) with stroke. Electronic databases (Ovid Medline, Ovid Embase, EBSCO CINAHL, Ovid PsycINFO, Web of Science) and grey literature were searched to identify relevant articles. For inclusion, articles were required to include an adult population with stroke undergoing an intervention aimed at modifying or improving medication management that incorporated a component of self-management. Two independent reviewers screened the articles for inclusion. Data were extracted and summarized using descriptive content analysis. Of the 56 articles that met the inclusion criteria, the focus of most interventions was on improvement of secondary stroke prevention through risk factor management and lifestyle modifications. The majority of studies included medication self-management as a component of a broader intervention. Most interventions used both face-to-face interactions and technology for delivery. Behavioural outcomes, specifically medication adherence, were the most commonly targeted outcomes across the interventions. However, the majority of interventions did not specifically or holistically target medication self-management. There is an opportunity to better support medication self-management post-stroke by ensuring interventions are delivered across sectors or in the community, developing an understanding of the optimal frequency and duration of delivery, and qualitatively exploring experiences with the interventions to ensure ongoing improvement.

A scoping review of medication self-management intervention tools to support persons with traumatic spinal cord injury.

BACKGROUND: Persons with traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) use multiple medications (polypharmacy) to manage the high number of secondary complications and concurrent conditions. Despite the prevalence of polypharmacy and challenges associated with managing medications, there are few tools to support medication self-management for persons with SCI. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this scoping review was to identify and summarize what is reported in the literature on medication self-management interventions for adults with traumatic SCI. METHODS: Electronic databases and grey literature were searched for articles that included an adult population with a traumatic SCI and an intervention targeting medication management. The intervention was required to incorporate a component of self-management. Articles were double screened and data were extracted and synthesized using descriptive approaches. RESULTS: Three studies were included in this review, all of which were quantitative. A mobile app and two education-based interventions to address self-management of SCI, medication management, and pain management, respectively, were included. Only one of the interventions was co-developed with patients, caregivers, and clinicians. There was minimal overlap in the outcomes measured across the studies, but learning outcomes (e.g., perceived knowledge and confidence), behavioural outcomes (e.g., management strategies, data entry), and clinical outcomes (e.g., number of medications, pain scores, functional outcomes) were evaluated. Results of the interventions varied, but some positive outcomes were noted. CONCLUSIONS: There is an opportunity to better support medication self-management for persons with SCI by co-designing an intervention with end-users that comprehensively addresses self-management. This will aid in understanding why interventions work, for whom, in what setting, and under what circumstances.

Accuracy of self-assessment in gastrointestinal endoscopy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Assessment is necessary to ensure both attainment and maintenance of competency in gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy, and this can be accomplished through self-assessment. We conducted a systematic review with meta-analysis to evaluate the accuracy of self-assessment among GI endoscopists. METHODS: This was an individual participant data meta-analysis of studies that investigated self-assessment of endoscopic competency. We performed a systematic search of the following databases: Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid EMBASE, Wiley Cochrane CENTRAL, and ProQuest Education Resources Information Center. We included studies if they were primary investigations of self-assessment accuracy in GI endoscopy that used statistical analyses to determine accuracy. We conducted a meta-analysis of studies using a limits of agreement (LoA) approach to meta-analysis of Bland-Altman studies. RESULTS: After removing duplicate entries, we screened 7138 records. After full-text review, we included 16 studies for qualitative analysis and three for meta-analysis. In the meta-analysis, we found that the LoA were wide (-41.0 % to 34.0 %) and beyond the clinically acceptable difference. Subgroup analyses found that both novice and intermediate endoscopists had wide LoA (-45.0 % to 35.1 % and -54.7 % to 46.5 %, respectively) and expert endoscopists had narrow LoA (-14.2 % to 21.4 %). CONCLUSIONS: GI endoscopists are inaccurate in self-assessment of their endoscopic competency. Subgroup analyses demonstrated that novice and intermediate endoscopists were inaccurate, while expert endoscopists have accurate self-assessment. While we advise against the sole use of self-assessment among novice and intermediate endoscopists, expert endoscopists may wish to integrate it into their practice.

Medication Supports at Transitions Between Hospital and Other Care Settings: A Rapid Scoping Review.

PURPOSE: Transitions in care (TiC) often involves managing medication changes and can be vulnerable moments for patients. Medication support, where medication changes are reviewed with patients and caregivers to increase knowledge and confidence about taking medications, is key to successful transitions. Little is known about the optimal tools and processes for providing medication support. This study aimed to identify describe patient or caregiver-centered medication support processes or tools that have been studied within 3 months following TiC between hospitals and other care settings. METHODS: Rapid scoping review; English-language publications from OVID MEDLINE, OVID EMBASE, Cochrane Library and EBSCO CINAHL (2004-July 2019) that assessed medication support interventions delivered within 3 months following discharge were included. A subset of titles and abstracts were assessed by two reviewers to evaluate agreement and once reasonable agreement was achieved, the remainder were assessed by one reviewer. Eligibility assessment for full-text articles and data charting were completed by an experienced reviewer. RESULTS: A total of 7671 unique citations were assessed; 60 studies were included. Half of the studies (n = 30/60) were randomized controlled trials. Most studies (n = 45/60) did not discuss intervention development, particularly whether end users were involved in intervention design. Many studies (n = 37/60) assessed multi-component interventions with written/print and verbal education components. Few studies (n = 5/60) included an electronic component. Very few studies (n = 4/60) included study populations at high risk of adverse events at TiC (eg, people with physical or intellectual disabilities, low literacy or language barriers). CONCLUSION: The majority of studies were randomized controlled trials involving verbal counselling and/or physical document delivered to the patient before discharge. Few studies involved electronic components or considered patients at high-risk of adverse events. Future studies would benefit from improved reporting on development, consideration for electronic interventions, and improved reporting on patients with higher medication-related needs.

UpToDate versus DynaMed: a cross-sectional study comparing the speed and accuracy of two point-of-care information tools.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the accuracy, time to answer, user confidence, and user satisfaction between UpToDate and DynaMed (formerly DynaMed Plus), which are two popular point-of-care information tools. METHODS: A crossover study was conducted with medical residents in obstetrics and gynecology and family medicine at the University of Toronto in order to compare the speed and accuracy with which they retrieved answers to clinical questions using UpToDate and DynaMed. Experiments took place between February 2017 and December 2019. Following a short tutorial on how to use each tool and completion of a background survey, participants attempted to find answers to two clinical questions in each tool. Time to answer each question, the chosen answer, confidence score, and satisfaction score were recorded for each clinical question. RESULTS: A total of 57 residents took part in the experiment, including 32 from family medicine and 25 from obstetrics and gynecology. Accuracy in clinical answers was equal between UpToDate (average 1.35 out of 2) and DynaMed (average 1.36 out of 2). However, time to answer was 2.5 minutes faster in UpToDate compared to DynaMed. Participants were also more confident and satisfied with their answers in UpToDate compared to DynaMed. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a preference for UpToDate and a higher confidence in responses, the accuracy of clinical answers in UpToDate was equal to those in DynaMed. Previous exposure to UpToDate likely played a major role in participants' preferences. More research in this area is recommended.

Do Healthy Dietary Interventions Improve Pediatric Depressive Symptoms? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Dietary recommendations have been proposed as a way of impacting current and future mental health. There exists a limited body of conflicting literature related to pediatric nutritional interventions and depression. This meta-analysis aims to determine the efficacy of child and adolescent dietary interventions on depression. Systematic searches in electronic databases and gray literature were conducted. After screening 6725 citations, 17 studies were included in this systematic review. Quality assessment was performed using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool and the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Tool for Quasi-Experimental Studies. A meta-analysis of Hedges g values was calculated using the Hartung-Knapp-Sidik-Jonkman method. Publication bias was assessed with funnel plots and the Egger test. The results of the meta-analysis of the RCTs (k = 7) demonstrated a nonsignificant effect of dietary intervention (g = 0.05; 95% CI: -0.25, 0.35; P = 0.70) whereas the results of the pre-post intervention studies (k = 9) demonstrated a significant small-to-medium effect favoring dietary intervention for reducing depression (g = -0.45; 95% CI: -0.64, -0.27; P = 0.001). Publication bias was not detected by the Egger test or by funnel plot asymmetry. The current meta-analysis demonstrates that "healthy" dietary interventions for children or adolescents in the community have little impact on nonclinical depression. Confusion will persist until better-designed studies in pediatric nutritional psychiatry research focusing on adolescents with depressive illness are conducted.

How pharmacists perceive their professional identity: a scoping review and discursive analysis.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this scoping review were to (a) explore how pharmacists perceive their professional roles and identities and (b) describe factors impacting which professional roles or identities pharmacists embody in different pharmacy practice settings. METHODS: A scoping review using a deductive approach was undertaken for this study. Systematic searches were conducted in five databases: Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid EMBASE, Ovid PsycINFO, EBSCO Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health and Scopus (Elsevier). Key words searched included pharmacist, identity, professional role and one variations of these. Results were double-blind screened for relevance by two authors. Data extraction was facilitated by the web-based software platform COVIDENCE. Foucauldian critical discourse analysis was used to deconstruct how pharmacists perceive their professional roles and identities. KEY FINDINGS: In total, 21 701 articles were retrieved in the search. Following de-duplication and screening, 23 studies from 11 different countries were included. Five major identity themes were identified: Clinician, Dispenser, Business Person, Patient Counsellor and Physician Supporter. The dispenser identity was the most widespread, but it was viewed by many pharmacists as undesirable. The clinician identity also had a strong presence but was viewed as an identity that pharmacists aspire to embody. CONCLUSIONS: This scoping review illustrates that pharmacists do not uniformly perceive themselves to be clinicians. A significant gap exists between the profession's desired identity and that embodied by practicing pharmacists. The resulting dissonance may be a contributing factor to the lack of wide-scale practice change that the profession has been seeking for decades.

Flipping it online: re-imagining teaching search skills for knowledge syntheses.

Introduction: This program description outlines our approach to re-developing our three-part series for graduate students on comprehensive searching for knowledge syntheses from in-person to online delivery using a flipped classroom model. The re-development coincided with our library's response to COVID-19. Description: This series followed a flipped classroom model where participants completed asynchronous modules built on Articulate Rise 360 before attending a synchronous session. Each week of content covered unique learning objectives. Pre- and post-class self-assessments were used to examine students' understanding of the materials. Outcomes: 152 unique participants registered for the series across two offerings in summer 2020. We observed high engagement with pre-work modules and active participation during synchronous sessions. Discussion: We found the flipped classroom approach to work well for our users in an online environment. Moving forward, we intend to continue with our re-developed online workshop series with minor modifications, in addition to in-person instruction.

Assessing the Evidence of Micronutrients on Depression among Children and Adolescents: An Evidence Gap Map.

There is some evidence indicating that nutrition may have the ability to prevent, treat, and/or influence the severity of depression. The aims of this evidence gap map (EGM) are to provide an overview and to determine evidence gaps in the existing research on micronutrients and their impact on depression among children and adolescents. We conducted a comprehensive search in multiple databases of primary and secondary literature assessing the impact of micronutrients on depression-related outcomes such as unipolar depression, major depressive disorders, dysthymia, acute depression, and mood disorders. Abstracts and full-text articles were dual-screened based on predefined eligibility criteria. A total of 30 primary research publications were included in the EGM. About 47% of included studies focused on late adolescents (15-19 y), ∼40% on early adolescents (10-14 y), and ∼13% on children aged 6-9 y. Among the included studies, 8 studies examined a single micronutrient intervention and 22 studies examined micronutrient concentrations (either intake or serum), and their impact on depression. The most frequently studied micronutrients were vitamin D (n = 8), zinc (n = 8), iron (n = 6), folate (n = 7), and vitamin B-12 (n = 5). More longitudinal studies and trials are needed to determine the role of micronutrients in the etiology and treatment of depression among children and adolescents.