Journal of general internal medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial
A Postcard Primer Prior to Mailed Fecal Immunochemical Test Among Veterans: a Randomized Controlled Trial.
Mailed fecal immunochemical testing (FIT) programs are increasingly utilized for population-based colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. Advanced notifications (primers) are one behavioral designed feature of many mailed FIT programs, but few have tested this feature among Veterans. ⋯ Though primers are often a standard part of mailed FIT programs, we did not find an increase in FIT completion with mailed postcard primers among Veterans. Given the overall low mailed FIT return rates, testing different ways to improve return rates is essential to improving CRC screening.
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Results from high-profile randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are routinely reported through press release months prior to peer-reviewed publication. There are potential benefits to press releases (e.g., knowledge dissemination, ensuring regulatory compliance), but also potential drawbacks (e.g., selective reporting, positive "spin"). ⋯ Preemptive press releases were common, most often issued for trials funded by a pharmaceutical company, and typically preceded publication in a peer-reviewed journal by approximately eight months.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Using a Video Game Intervention to Increase Hospitalists' Advance Care Planning Conversations with Older Adults: a Stepped Wedge Randomized Clinical Trial.
Guidelines recommend Advance Care Planning (ACP) for seriously ill older adults to increase the patient-centeredness of end-of-life care. Few interventions target the inpatient setting. ⋯ When added to enhanced usual care, a novel video game intervention had no clear effect on ACP billing, but variation across steps of the trial raised concerns about confounding from secular trends (i.e., COVID).
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Bedside incision and drainage (I&D) of skin abscesses is a common medical procedure performed in a variety of medical settings. Yet, there is a paucity of published validated educational tools to teach and assess competency for this procedure. ⋯ An educational and evaluation tool for bedside I&D of skin abscesses was validated via the Delphi and Angoff methods.