Determinants of disease-specific knowledge among children with inflammatory bowel disease and their parents: A multicentre study

Construction and evaluation of a cloud follow-up platform for gynecological patients receiving chemotherapy

BACKGROUND

Patient follow-up is an essential component of hospital management. In the current information era, the patient follow-up scheme is expected to be replaced by Internet technology. This study constructed a cloud follow-up platform for gynecological chemotherapy patients and assessed its cost-effectiveness and patients' feedback.

METHODS

A total of 2,538 patients were followed up using a cloud follow-up system between January and October 2021. Prior to this, 690 patients were followed manually via telephone calls. Patients' characteristics, follow-up rate, satisfaction, and session duration were compared between the cloud follow-up and manual follow-up groups. In addition, the read rate of health education materials in the cloud follow-up group was analyzed.

RESULTS

General information, including age, education attainment, cancer stage, and disease category, and follow-up rate (cloud: 6,957/7,614, 91.4%; manual: 1,869/2,070, 90.3%; P = 0.13) did not significantly differ between the two groups. The follow-up satisfaction of the cloud follow-up patients was significantly better than that of the manual follow-up group (cloud: 7,192/7,614, 94.5%; manual: 1,532/2,070, 74.0%; P<0.001). The time spent on the follow-up was approximately 1.2 h for 100 patients in the cloud follow-up group and 10.5 h in the manual follow-up group. Multivariate analysis indicated that the cloud follow-up group had significantly greater follow-up satisfaction (odds ratio: 2.239, 95% CI: 1.237 ~ 5.219). Additionally, the average follow-up duration of the cloud follow-up group decreased by 9.287 h (coefficient: -9.287, 95% CI: -1.439~-0.165). The read rate of health education materials was 72.9% in the cloud follow-up group.

CONCLUSIONS

The follow-up effect of the cloud follow-up group was not inferior to that of the manual follow-up group. The cloud follow-up was more effective for prevention and control requirements in the post-epidemic era. Cloud follow-up can save medical resources, improve cost-effectiveness, provide sufficient health education resources for patients, and improve their satisfaction.

Italian Cross-Cultural Adaptation of a Knowledge Assessment Tool (IBD-KID2) for Children with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Background: For children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), understanding their condition may lead to better outcomes. Knowledge assessment is imperative to identify where education may be required. An IBD knowledge assessment tool (IBD-KID2) is available in English; the aim of this study was to translate IBD-KID2 in to Italian and assess its validity/reliability among children with IBD. Methods: IBD-KID2 has fifteen items, scoring one point per correct answer. IBD-KID2 items were assessed for cultural comprehension/relevance by Italian gastroenterologists using a content validity index; those items with a maximum score proportion <0.78 were reviewed. IBD-KID2 was then translated using ‘forward–backward’ process and reviewed for content/meaning. A prospective study among Italian children with IBD enabled score comparisons with established populations (z test), and reliability was assessed using test–retest completion (Pearson correlation (r), paired t-test). Results: Twenty-five children participated: 16 (64%) male, mean age 14.9 years (SD2.4), Crohn’s disease 13 (52%). The mean IBD-KID2 score was 8.8 (SD2.8), with no association with independent variables. Test–retest showed strong correlation between scores (r = 0.78, p < 0.001), with no mean difference (p = 0.39). Comparison with other pediatric IBD populations (NZ/Australia/Canada) showed no score difference (p = 0.62, CI −0.9 to 1.5). Conclusions: The translation of IBD-KID2 to Italian used a rigorous methodology. Scores showed the translated tool has equivalence and generalizability to Italian children with IBD.

Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells (BMSC) Carried with miR-338 Improve BMSC Homing in Intestinal Mucosa of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Rats Through Increasing C-X-C Chemokine Receptor Type 4 (CXCR-4)

This study assessed whether bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSC) carried with miR-338 improve its homing in intestinal mucosa of IBD rats. Fifty SD rats were equally and randomly assigned into control set, model set, miR-338 set, CXCR-4 Inhibitor set and positive control set followed by analysis of miR-338 expression, body weight, DAI grade, pathological changes of distal colonic tissue, ultra-microstructure of intestinal epithelium, level of IL-8, IL-10, TGF-β1, VEGF, and CXCR4, as well as the relation between miR-338 and CXCR-4. miR-338 in decorated BMSC was significantly upregulated. Body weight in model set and CXCR-4 Inhibitor set was lowest followed by miR-338 set and positive control set. However, opposite results were obtained for DAI grade. IL-8 level was highest and IL-10 was lowest in model set and CXCR-4 Inhibitor set. The BMSC carried with miR-338 exerted recovery action on the intestinal mucosa of IBD rats and inhibited the activity of inflammatory cells. In conclusion, BMSC carried with miR-338 develops recovery action on the intestinal mucosa of IBD rats possibly through regulation of CXCR4, indicating that miR-338 might be a target for the treatment of IBD.