Physicians' Perspectives on Using Direct Observation to Assess Non-English Language Proficiency for Clinical Practice: A Qualitative Study.

Background: Communication barriers are known to adversely affect patient safety. Yet few health systems assess and track physician non-English language proficiency for use in clinical settings. Barriers to current assessments (usually simulated clinician oral proficiency interviews) include time constraints and lack of interactivity.

Enhancing Neonatal Care: The Vital Role of Pulse Oximetry in the Early Screening of Critical Congenital Heart Diseases and Respiratory Diseases in Rural Areas.

Background Pulse oximetry screening (POS) is acknowledged globally as a noninvasive method to detect critical congenital heart diseases (CCHDs) and respiratory illnesses. However, its value for early diagnosis and treatment remains unrecognized in many hospitals with limited resources around the world. This study aimed to evaluate POS's application in CCHDs, persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN), and respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) for early diagnosis and its influence on clinical procedures in rural areas.

Language Access Systems Improvement initiative: impact on professional interpreter utilisation, a natural experiment.

Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the Language Access Systems Improvement (LASI) initiative's impact on professional interpreter utilisation in primary care and to explore patient and clinician perspectives on professional interpreter use.

Design: Multi methods: Quantitative natural experiment pre-LASI and post-LASI, qualitative semistructured interviews with clinicians and focus groups with patients post-LASI.

Setting: Large, academic primary care practice.

Language-Concordant Care: a Qualitative Study Examining Implementation of Physician Non-English Language Proficiency Assessment.

Background: Language concordance can increase access to care for patients with language barriers and improve patient health outcomes. However, systematically assessing and tracking physician non-English language skills remains uncommon in most health systems. This is a missed opportunity for health systems to maximize language-concordant care.

Clinical Predictors of Coronary Artery Ectasia.

Coronary artery ectasia (CAE) is defined as abnormal dilation of a coronary artery ≥1.5 times the normal segment. We aimed to determine the prevalence and clinical predictors of CAE.

Patient Perspectives on the Quality of Professional Interpretation: Results from LASI Study.

Background: The use of professional interpretation is associated with improvements in overall healthcare of patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). For these patients, it is important to understand whether quality of professional interpretation in-person is preserved using remote interpretation modalities (video-conferencing, telephone).

Objective: To compare patient perceptions of professional interpretation quality delivered in-person, via video-conferencing, or via telephone during in-person primary care clinical visits.

Allergic reactions to atropine eye drops for retardation of progressive myopia in children.

Purpose: To report clinical manifestations of ocular allergy to atropine eye drops used for retardation of progressive myopia in children.

Methods: Myopic children, who developed bothersome itching that subsided promptly after cessation of atropine eye drops, were included. History of systemic or ocular allergy, preexisting ocular conditions, and clinical features of allergy were noted.

Hospital discharge preparedness for patients with limited English proficiency: A mixed methods study of bedside interpreter-phones.

Objective: Assess effects of a bedside interpreter-phone intervention on hospital discharge preparedness among patients with limited English proficiency (LEP).

Methods: Mixed-methods study compared patient-reported discharge preparedness and knowledge of medications and follow-up appointments among 189 Chinese- and Spanish-speakers before (n=94) and after (n=95) bedside interpreter-phone implementation, and examined nurse and resident-physician interpreter-phone utilization through focus groups.

Results: Pre-post discharge preparedness (Care Transitions Measure mean 77.

Efficacy of Sciatic Nerve Block for Pain Management in below Knee Orthopaedic Surgery.

Introduction: Perioperative pain management is an integral part of anaesthesia and patients are most satisfied if there is minimal or no pain after surgery. Sciatic nerve block provides postoperative pain relief after below knee surgery and knee surgery. Many studies with different approaches for sciatic nerve block have been conducted to demonstrate the efficacy of sciatic nerve block with different local anaesthetic drugs over the past decade.

Reducing Health Care Disparities for Minority Women in the Era of the Affordable Care Act: Opportunities within Primary Care.

Despite improvements in overall health of the American population, disparities persist, particularly for minority women. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) offers the potential to reduce disparities through expanded insurance coverage, greater access to high-quality care, and bolstered prevention efforts in the context of new models of care such as the patient-centered medical home (PCMH). We use case studies representing three clinical conditions (breast cancer, HIV, and coronary heart disease) to present strategies for how a PCMH could reduce disparities for minority women.

Thromboprophylaxis with dabigatran after total hip arthroplasty in Indian patients: A subanalysis of a double-blind, double-dummy, randomized RE-NOVATE II study.

Objective: In the Re-NOVATE II study, oral dabigatran provided thromboprophylaxis after total hip arthroplasty and improved compliance postdischarge in a global population. This article aims to identify trends (if any) in the Indian population.

Methods: In this prospective, double-blind, double-dummy study, patients scheduled for primary, unilateral, elective total hip arthroplasty were randomized to 220 mg oral dabigatran once daily, starting with a 110 mg half-dose, 1-4 hours after surgery, or subcutaneous enoxaparin 40 mg once daily, starting the evening before surgery.

Penile carcinoma presenting as inguinal bubo, masquerading as a venereal disease.

We report a case of penile carcinoma presenting as an inguinal bubo in a young man. The associated painful genital ulcer and history of high-risk sexual behaviour raised a strong suspicion of a sexually transmitted infection. We review the literature for similar cases, highlight the similarities with venereal disease and discuss the differential diagnosis of inguinal bubo.

A Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Survey regarding Sex, Contraception and Sexually Transmitted Diseases among Commerce College Students in Mumbai.

Introduction: One in four Indians is a juvenile. Sexual crimes, pre marital sex, sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies are on the rise. It has been shown that lack of sexuality education can significantly contribute to the above.

Ameliorative effect of Elaeocarpus ganitrus on gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity in rats.

Objectives: The present study was designed to evaluate the ameliorative effect of Elaeocarpus ganitrus on gentamicin (GM)-induced nephrotoxicity in rats.

Materials And Methods: E. ganitrus (100, 200, and 400 mg/kg body weight) was administered orally to male Wistar rats.

From the perspective of CEOs: what motivates hospitals to embrace cultural competence?

The quality domains of patient-centered and equitable care are increasingly relevant to today's healthcare leaders as hospitals care for patients with increasingly diverse cultural and linguistic needs. Hospital leaders face substantial tensions in defining their organization's strategic priorities to improve care for diverse populations with limited resources, increased competition, and complex regulatory and accreditation requirements. We sought to understand what motivates hospitals to focus on and commit resources to supporting the delivery of culturally competent care by analyzing interviews with chief executive officers (CEOs) in 60 hospitals across the United States.

Identification of novel synthetic toll-like receptor 2 agonists by high throughput screening.

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play a central role in host defense by inducing inflammatory and adaptive immune responses following infection. Drugs that target TLRs are of considerable interest as potential inflammatory regulators, vaccine adjuvants, and novel immunotherapeutics. TLR2, in cooperation with either TLR1 or TLR6, mediates responses to a wide variety of microbial products as well as products of host tissue damage.

Human TLRs 10 and 1 share common mechanisms of innate immune sensing but not signaling.

TLRs are central receptors of the innate immune system that drive host inflammation and adaptive immune responses in response to invading microbes. Among human TLRs, TLR10 is the only family member without a defined agonist or function. Phylogenetic analysis reveals that TLR10 is most related to TLR1 and TLR6, both of which mediate immune responses to a variety of microbial and fungal components in cooperation with TLR2.