Current medical research and opinion
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Colonoscopy is the gold standard method for colorectal cancer screening. Looping occurs in 91% of cases undergoing colonoscopy and can cause patient discomfort, prolonged cecal intubation time (CIT), and colon perforation. This meta-analysis investigates the impact of abdominal compression devices (ACD) on colonoscopy outcomes. ⋯ ACD during colonoscopy may enhance patient comfort by reducing CIT, pain, and postural changes. Nevertheless, additional RCTs are necessary to validate these results and determine the most suitable approach to utilize ACD for colonoscopy.
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Real-world data evaluating weight changes in people living with HIV (PLWH) following switch to integrase strand transfer inhibitor (INSTI), specifically bictegravir (BIC), are limited. This retrospective cohort study analyzed weight changes upon switching to INSTI from non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) or protease inhibitor (PI) in treatment-experienced PLWH. ⋯ Weight gain and related metabolic health of PLWH switching from NNRTI to DTG or BIC should be closely monitored by clinicians. Further research is needed to assess other metabolic outcomes in PLWH remaining on PI and those who switch from PI to INSTI.
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To estimate long-term persistence among bio-naïve patients with CD initiated on ustekinumab or adalimumab. ⋯ Bio-naïve patients with CD initiated on ustekinumab demonstrated significantly more persistence than patients initiated on adalimumab at 12 and 24 months of treatment. Long-term persistence is a measure of a drug's real-world performance and findings may aid clinical decision-making.
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Understanding the healthcare provider (HCP) journey of discovering and consuming medical and scientific information is critical for optimizing publication reach. A survey was conducted in 2019-2020 to understand how HCPs in the United States discover, review, and share publications of interest. A follow-up survey was conducted in 2021-2022 to assess how HCP behavior in the United States has evolved over the past 2 years, including due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ These survey results suggest that how HCPs interact with publication content is evolving and that these changes appear accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This evolution is important to understand, and be accounted for, in the framework of omnichannel publication planning.
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Vedolizumab is an antibody targeting α4β7 integrin used in the treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC). Patients are commonly prescribed higher-than-standard doses if treatment response is inadequate, but little is known about the drivers and impact of increased dosing. Our objective was to use real-world data to describe vedolizumab dosages in current clinical practice, patient characteristics, physicians' reasons for prescribing vedolizumab, and physician treatment satisfaction. ⋯ Over 10% of patients were receiving a higher-than-standard dose of vedolizumab, but despite this were found to have suboptimal clinical outcomes and low physician satisfaction.