Effects of Unit Census and Patient Acuity Levels on Discussions During Patient Rounds.

Objectives: PICU teams adapt the duration of patient rounding discussions to accommodate varying contextual factors, such as unit census and patient acuity. Although studies establish that shorter discussions can lead to the omission of critical patient information, little is known about how teams adapt their rounding discussions about essential patient topics (i.e.

Cognitive biases in surgery: systematic review.

Background: Although numerous studies have established cognitive biases as contributors to surgical adverse events, their prevalence and impact in surgery are unknown. This review aimed to describe types of cognitive bias in surgery, their impact on surgical performance and patient outcomes, their source, and the mitigation strategies used to reduce their effect.

Methods: A literature search was conducted on 9 April and 6 December 2021 using MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

Electroencephalography can provide advance warning of technical errors during laparoscopic surgery.

Background: Intraoperative adverse events lead to patient injury and death, and are increasing. Early warning systems (EWSs) have been used to detect patient deterioration and save lives. However, few studies have used EWSs to monitor surgical performance and caution about imminent technical errors.

Effect of the surgical safety checklist on provider and patient outcomes: a systematic review.

Background: Despite being implemented for over a decade, literature describing the surgical safety checklist (SSC) is completed by operating room (OR) teams and how this relates to its effectiveness is scarce. This systematic review aimed to: (1) quantify how many studies reported SSC completion versus described the SSC was completed; (2) evaluate the impact of the SSC on provider outcomes (ommunication, case nderstanding, afety ulture, CUSC), patient outcomes (complications, mortality rates) and moderators of these relationships.

Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted using Medline, CINAHL, Embase, PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science on 10 January 2020.

The Effect of Information Formats and Incidental Affect on Prior and Posterior Probability Judgments.

. Interpreting medical test results involves judging probabilities, including making Bayesian inferences such as judging the positive and negative predictive values. Although prior work has shown that experience formats (e.

A Patient's View of the Challenges and Blessings of Her Dissociative Disorder.

People who live with dissociative disorders and a history of childhood trauma are less rare than commonly thought and can be challenging for unfamiliar medical practitioners. Many of us present as apparently normal people and live full and satisfying lives. But under the stress of a medical situation, we can become unpredictable.

Brain activation during laparoscopic tasks in high- and low-performing medical students: a pilot fMRI study.

Background: Up to 20% of medical students are unable to reach competency in laparoscopic surgery. It is unknown whether these difficulties arise from heterogeneity in neurological functioning across individuals. We sought to examine the differences in neurological functioning during laparoscopic tasks between high- and low-performing medical students using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Retracted: The Effect of Bilingualism on Older Adults' Inhibitory Control: A Meta-Analysis.

Background And Objectives: The effect bilingualism has on older adults' inhibitory control has been extensively investigated, yet there is continued controversy regarding whether older adult bilinguals show superior inhibitory control compared with monolinguals. The objective of the current meta-analysis was to examine the reliability and magnitude of the bilingualism effect on older adults' inhibitory control as measured by the Simon and Stroop tasks. In addition, we examined whether individual characteristics moderate the bilingual advantage in inhibition, including age (young-old vs old-old), age of second language acquisition, immigrant status, language proficiency, and frequency of language use.

Aiding Risk Information learning through Simulated Experience (ARISE): A Comparison of the Communication of Screening Test Information in Explicit and Simulated Experience Formats.

Objective: To determine whether the use of Aiding Risk Information learning through Simulated Experience (ARISE) to communicate conditional probabilities about maternal serum screening results for Down syndrome promotes more accurate positive predictive value (PPV) estimates and conceptual understanding of screening, compared with explicitly providing individuals with this information via numerical summary or icon array.

Method: In experiment 1, 582 participants completed an online study in which they were asked to estimate the PPV and rate their attitudes toward a screening test when information was presented in either a description (required calculation of the PPV), explicit (PPV was provided and had to be identified), or an ARISE format (PPV was inferred through experience-based learning). In experiment 2, 316 participants estimated the PPV and rated their attitudes toward screening based on information presented in either an icon array (identify the icons that represent the PPV) or ARISE format.

The effect of a very low calorie diet on subjective depressive symptoms and anxiety: meta-analysis and systematic review.

There are conflicting findings regarding the effect very low calorie diets (VLCDs) have on self-reported depressive symptoms and anxiety levels. Some studies have reported decreased subjective depressive symptoms and anxiety post-diet, whereas other studies have not. Further complicating matters, the protocol for VLCDs vary substantially across studies, which could account for the mixed findings.

Acute stress and altruism in younger and older adults.

Recent studies of aging and decision making suggests that altruism increases with age. It is unclear, however, whether this pattern holds when choices are made under stress, as is often the case in real-world scenarios. The current study used an intertemporal choice task in which younger and older adults received a financial endowment before making a series of consequential intertemporal decisions involving gains, losses and charitable donations.

Does exposure to simulated patient cases improve accuracy of clinicians' predictive value estimates of diagnostic test results? A within-subjects experiment at St Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Canada.

Objective: Clinicians often overestimate the probability of a disease given a positive test result (positive predictive value; PPV) and the probability of no disease given a negative test result (negative predictive value; NPV). The purpose of this study was to investigate whether experiencing simulated patient cases (ie, an 'experience format') would promote more accurate PPV and NPV estimates compared with a numerical format.

Design: Participants were presented with information about three diagnostic tests for the same fictitious disease and were asked to estimate the PPV and NPV of each test.

Stereotype Threat Effects on Older Adults' Episodic and Working Memory: A Meta-Analysis.

Background And Objectives: Prior research has shown that exposure to negative age-based stereotype threat (ST) can undermine older adults' memory performance. The objective of the current meta-analysis was to examine the reliability and magnitude of ST effects on older adults' episodic and working memory performance-two forms of memory that typically show the greatest age-related declines. In addition, we examined potential moderators of age-based ST including type of ST manipulation, type and timing of memory task, participant age and education level.

Experienced Probabilities Increase Understanding of Diagnostic Test Results in Younger and Older Adults.

Background: With advancing age, the frequency of medical screening increases. Interpreting the results of medical tests involves estimation of posterior probabilities such as positive predictive values (PPVs) and negative predictive values (NPVs). Both laypeople and experts are typically poor at estimating posterior probabilities when the relevant statistics are communicated descriptively.