Association Between Twitter Mention and Open-Access Status on Article Citation Metrics in the Field of Ophthalmology.

INTRODUCTION: It is possible that social media use can boost not just articles' social impact but the number of citations and academic influence as well. If a positive correlation between Twitter usage and citation metrics exists in the ophthalmology literature, it is important to broadcast this information to the ophthalmology community so they can use Twitter to increase academic engagement with their research. There has also been an increase in the number of articles available as open access. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the presence of an open-access citation advantage in the field of ophthalmology. This study aims to evaluate the relationship between Twitter mention and open access status on citation metrics in the ophthalmology literature. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study comparing article citation metrics to Twitter mentions and open access status. We gathered data on ophthalmology research articles from the six highest-ranked ophthalmology journals published as part of a January 2019 issue. Data were collected in April 2022, 38 months after online publication. Data on citations for each article was based on Google Scholar and Scopus websites. The Altmetric Bookmarklet extension was used to determine the amount of social engagement each article received. The open-access status of each article was based on the status listed in its corresponding journal. Two-tailed t-tests were used to compare social media engagement and open access status with the number of Google Scholar and Scopus citations. RESULTS: A total of 102 original research articles were analyzed. 89 (87.3%) articles received a Twitter mention. Articles tweeted at least once had a significantly higher Google Scholar score (27.2 +/- 4) compared to articles not tweeted (16.4 +/- 1.7; 1.7-fold increase, p<0.05). Likewise, the average Scopus score was significantly higher for tweeted articles (18.6 +/- 2.6) compared to articles not tweeted (11.8 +/- 1.6; 1.6-fold increase, p<0.05). Articles listed as open access had a significantly higher number of Twitter mentions (11.8 +/- 1.8) compared to articles that were not open access (5.6 +/- 0.7; 2.1-fold increase, p<0.05). Open-access articles also had higher citation scores compared to articles that are not open access, but this relationship was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to evaluate the relationship between article Twitter mention and citation score in the field of ophthalmology. It demonstrates a significant positive correlation between the article Twitter mention and citation score and provides further evidence that social media engagement can be beneficial to the dissemination of academic information. Further studies on the relationship between social media engagement and article dissemination are warranted in the field of ophthalmology.

An Analysis of the Readability of Phacoemulsification Online Resources.

INTRODUCTION: Cataract is the leading cause of blindness worldwide. Phacoemulsification is now the gold standard for cataract extraction and is greatly needed in low socioeconomic status (SES) communities, rural and older patient populations, and patients with poor vision. This greatly increases the importance of high readability for online resources on this topic. This study aims to assess the readability of online information about phacoemulsification based on readability scores for each resource.  Methods: We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study. The term "phacoemulsification" was searched online, and each website was categorized by type: academic, physician, non-physician, commercial, social media, and unspecified. The readability scores for each website were calculated using six different readability tests and a composite score that reflects reading grade level was obtained. To evaluate the difference between the categories of websites, analysis of variance (ANOVA) testing was used. All test scores were compared with the 6th grade standard recommendation using a one-sample t-test. RESULTS: A total of 20 websites were analyzed. Three websites (3/20; 15%) had a score which is correlated with a 6th grade reading level or below. Seventeen websites had a score correlated with a college reading level or above (17/20; 85%). None of the readability scores had a mean below a 6th grade reading level. No category had an average readability score at or below a 6th grade reading level. None of the mean readability scores resulted in a statistically significant difference across categories. All readability tests had an average score which was significantly different from a 6th grade reading level (p<0.001).  Conclusions: This is the first study to focus on the accessibility of online English resources on phacoemulsification and implement multiple standardized readability scores with regards to cataract surgery resources. It provides further overwhelming evidence that online resources on phacoemulsification are too complex for the average patient to understand. Interventions should be implemented to improve readability.

Dermatologic manifestations in patients with the Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome types 1 and 3.

BACKGROUND: The Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome (HPS) is a genetically heterogeneous group of diseases characterized by oculocutaneous albinism, bleeding diathesis, and systemic complications. It is the most common genetic disorder in Puerto Rico. These patients are at a significant risk of developing a variety of skin complications and little is known about the prevalence of dermatologic diagnoses in this population. OBJECTIVES: To report dermatologic manifestations in patients with Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome (HPS). Secondary aims include skin concerns, sun protection habits, barriers to dermatologic care, and skin cancer knowledge. METHODS: Cross-sectional study with twenty-nine Puerto Rican patients who carried a clinical diagnosis of HPS type 1 or type 3 through a telephonic questionnaire. RESULTS: Twenty-nine patients participated with a mean (SD) age of 37.3 (16.8) years and the majority were female (69%). The most common diagnoses were skin cancer (34.5%), acne (34.5%), bacterial skin infections (34.5%), warts (24%), urticaria (17.2%), and psoriasis (17.2%). The most common skin concerns were dry skin (62.1%), hair loss (58.9%), redness (34.5%), moles (31%), and rash (31%). The most common sun protection behavior was wearing a shirt that covers the shoulders (93.1%, often or always) and the least common was wearing a hat (24.1%, often or always). Higher income was significantly associated with being more likely to use sunscreen often or always (OR = 3.38, 95% CI 1.02-11.18, p = 0.04). Those in northern urban areas were significantly less likely to report barriers to dermatologic care (OR = 0.13, 95% CI 0.02-0.76, p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides an important overview of the most common self-reported skin manifestations in patients with HPS. Unfortunately, a high prevalence of cutaneous malignancy was reported. The results stress the need for adequate care and potential interventions to promote sun protection behaviors and skin cancer prevention.

Post-traumatic Growth and Resilience among American Medical Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant psychological impact on medical professionals, including medical students, many who have been caring for patients on the frontlines. Understanding how medical students perceive their stressful life experiences is important as the mental health of these future physicians directly impacts their ability to care for patients. We assessed for post-traumatic growth and resilience in the face of traumatic events among a cohort of medical students that attended a medical school located in an early epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. Between October 29, 2020 and December 1, 2020, medical students at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City were surveyed on various stressful life events, including COVID-19. We identified specific resilience behaviors, including establishing a supportive social network, relying on a moral compass, and using cognitive flexibility, that medical students commonly used to cope with traumatic experiences. Compared with students who perceived COVID-19 as their most stressful life event, students who perceived other events, such as family issues or serious illness, as most stressful experienced less COVID-related stress (t = -2.2, p = .03), greater posttraumatic growth (t = 4.3, p < .001), and demonstrated more resilient behaviors including establishing and nurturing a supportive social network (t = 2.2, p = .03), developing brain fitness (t = 2.2, p = .03), and finding meaning and purpose in things (t = 2.9, p = .006). This suggests that stressful experiences prior to or in parallel with COVID-19 encouraged posttraumatic growth and development of resilience behaviors that were protective to COVID-19-related stress.

Effects of severe obesity and sleeve gastrectomy on cortical thickness in adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: Neurocognitive differences in pediatric obesity may be underpinned by cortical structural alterations. Differences in cortical thickness associated with severe obesity were examined, and preliminary evidence was sought for changes following vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG). METHODS: A total of 18 adolescents with severe obesity (OB) and 17 without obesity (nOB), aged 14 to 21, underwent T1-weighted structural magnetic resonance imaging. A subset was scanned twice 5 months apart to compare cortical thickness following VSG (n = 6) with two control groups: wait-listed (n = 9) and nOB (n = 12). RESULTS: At baseline, OB had a thinner cortex than nOB in motor and superior parietal cortices. At follow-up, VSG adolescents lost weight, the wait-listed group gained weight, and nOB did not change. Group × Time interactions indicated that VSG had cortical thinning in orbitofrontal, primary sensorimotor, superior, and middle temporal cortices and thickening in lingual, fusiform, and lateral occipital cortices. Wait-listed and nOB groups largely did not change. CONCLUSIONS: Severe obesity is associated with a thinner cortex in motor and attentional function-associated regions. VSG resulted in cortical thinning in reward valuation, sensory, and perceptual regions and thickening in visual regions. Surgery-related changes in regions distinct from those associated with obesity suggest compensation, rather than normalization. These results provide preliminary evidence supporting structural neural alterations following sleeve gastrectomy.

Construct validity and factor structure of a Spanish-language Social Support Questionnaire during early pregnancy.

BACKGROUND: The Social Support Questionnaire - Short Form (SSQ-6) is a widely used instrument that assesses availability and satisfaction of a person's social support. The present study aimed to evaluate the construct validity and factor structure of the Spanish language version of the SSQ-6 during early pregnancy. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: A total of 4,236 pregnant Peruvian women were interviewed at 10.3 ± 3.8 weeks of gestation. In-person interviewers were used to collect lifestyle, demographic, and social support characteristics. The construct validity and factorial structure of the SSQ-6 were assessed through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha. RESULTS: The mean SSQ-6 score was 39.6 ± 6.8 and Cronbach's alpha was 0.83. EFA resulted in a three-factor solution that accounted for 60.6% of the variance. CFA results confirmed the three-factor structure and yielded measures indicating goodness of fit (comparative fit index of 0.9401) and accuracy (root mean square error of approximation of 0.0394). CONCLUSION: Although the SSQ-6 was originally developed as a two-factor model, and previous studies have supported this, in our study a three-factor model was found to be more appropriate. The SSQ-6 was found to have good construct validity and reliability for assessing social support.