Does Point-of-care Ultrasound Affect Patient and Caregiver Satisfaction for Children Presenting to the Pediatric Emergency Department?

Objectives: Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) may facilitate the diagnosis and management of children for various conditions. Integration of POCUS into clinical care requires hands-on training; however, providers may be reluctant to perform educational ultrasounds to improve their skills, as it is a procedure without direct clinical benefit to the patient and due to concerns that it may lower a family's overall satisfaction. We sought to evaluate whether the use of POCUS changed overall patient/caregiver satisfaction in a pediatric emergency department (ED) visit.

Point-of-Care Ultrasound is Associated With Decreased Length of Stay in Children Presenting to the Emergency Department With Soft Tissue Infection.

Background: Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is increasingly being used to differentiate cellulitis from abscess in the pediatric emergency department (ED). POCUS has also been shown to decrease length of stay (LOS) for other applications among adult patients.

Objective: We sought to determine if ED LOS differed for children presenting with skin and soft tissue infections who received POCUS versus radiology-performed ultrasound.

Bedside Ultrasound for Tracheal Tube Verification in Pediatric Emergency Department and ICU Patients: A Systematic Review.

Objectives: Improper placement of the tracheal tube during intubation can lead to dangerous complications, and bedside ultrasound has been proposed as a method of quickly and accurately identifying tube placement. Recent studies in adults have found it to be accurate, but its applicability in pediatric patients is unclear. This systematic review aims to describe the current available data on the accuracy and feasibility of bedside ultrasound for tracheal tube placement in children.

Examining patient comprehension of emergency department discharge instructions: Who says they understand when they do not?

Patient comprehension of emergency department (ED) discharge instructions is important for ensuring that patients understand their diagnosis, recommendations for treatment, appropriate follow-up, and reasons to return. However, many patients may not fully understand their instructions. Furthermore, some patients may state they understand their instructions even when they do not.

Does numeracy correlate with measures of health literacy in the emergency department?

Objectives: The objective was to quantify the correlation between general numeracy and health literacy in an emergency department (ED) setting.

Methods: This was a prospective cross-sectional convenience sample study of adult patients in an urban, academic ED with 97,000 annual visits. General numeracy was evaluated using four validated questions and health literacy using three commonly used validated screening tools (Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults [S-TOFHLA], Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine-Revised [REALM-R], and the Newest Vital Sign [NVS]).

Feasibility and diagnostic accuracy of brief health literacy and numeracy screening instruments in an urban emergency department.

Objectives: The objective was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of five health literacy screening instruments in emergency department (ED) patients: the Rapid Evaluation of Adult Literacy in Medicine-Revised (REALM-R), the Newest Vital Sign (NVS), Single Item Literacy Screens (SILS), health numeracy, and physician gestalt. A secondary objective was to evaluate the feasibility of these instruments as measured by administration time, time on task, and interruptions during test administration.

Methods: This was a prospective observational cross-sectional study of a convenience sampling of adult patients presenting during March 2011 and February 2012 to one urban university-affiliated ED.

Pooled analysis of a self-sampling HPV DNA Test as a cervical cancer primary screening method.

Background: Worldwide, one-seventh of cervical cancers occur in China, which lacks a national screening program. By evaluating the diagnostic accuracy of self-collected cervicovaginal specimens tested for human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA (Self-HPV testing) in China, we sought to determine whether Self-HPV testing may serve as a primary cervical cancer screening method in low-resource settings.

Methods: We compiled individual patient data from five population-based cervical cancer-screening studies in China.

Age-specific human papillomavirus antibody and deoxyribonucleic acid prevalence: a global review.

Purpose: Global data on human papillomavirus (HPV) serological and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) prevalence are essential to optimize HPV prophylactic vaccination strategies.

Methods: We conducted a global review of age-specific HPV antibody and studies with both antibody and DNA prevalence for HPV-16, -18, -6, and -11.

Results: One hundred seventeen studies were included; participants' ages ranged from several hours to >90 years.

Performance of high-risk human papillomavirus DNA testing as a primary screen for cervical cancer: a pooled analysis of individual patient data from 17 population-based studies from China.

Background: Controversy remains over whether high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing should be used as a primary screen for cervical cancer. The aims of our study were to assess whether HPV DNA testing could be applied to cervical-cancer screening programmes in China, as well as other similar developing countries.

Methods: We did a pooled analysis of population-based cervical cancer screening studies done in mainland China from 1999 to 2008 with concurrent HPV DNA testing (Hybrid Capture 2 assay; Qiagen, Gaithersburg, MD, USA), liquid-based cytology (LBC), and visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA).