Journal of Osteopathic Medicine最新文献

Context: Osteopathic (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine [DO]) medical students account for more than 25 % of all medical students in the United States.

Objectives: This study examined the predictive validity of Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) total scores and cumulative undergraduate grade point averages (UGPAs) for performance on the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination of the United States (COMLEX-USA) Level 1 and Level 2-CE (Cognitive Evaluation) licensure examinations administered by the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners (NBOME). Additionally, the study examined the degree to which MCAT total scores and UGPAs provide comparable prediction of student performance by key sociodemographic variables.

Methods: This study involved a collaborative effort between the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) and the NBOME. Data were examined for 39 accredited DO-granting medical schools in the United States during the 2017 application cycle. Researchers utilized three regression models that included MCAT total scores, cumulative UGPA, and combined MCAT total scores and cumulative UGPA to determine predictive validity. Researchers also examined the comparability of prediction for sociodemographic variables by examining the differences between observed and predicted error for both scores and pass/fail success rates.

Results: Medium to large correlations were discernible between MCAT total scores, UGPA, and COMLEX-USA examination outcomes. For both COMLEX-USA Level 1 and Level 2-CE scores and pass/fail outcomes, MCAT scores alone provided superior predictive value to UGPA alone. However, MCAT scores and UGPA utilized in conjunction provided the best predictive value. When predicting both licensure examination scores and pass/fail outcomes by sociodemographic variables, all three models provided comparable predictive accuracy.

Conclusions: Findings from this comprehensive study of DO-granting medical schools provide evidence for the value-added benefit of taking MCAT scores and UGPA into consideration, particularly when these measures are utilized in conjunction. Further, findings provide evidence indicating that individuals from different sociodemographic backgrounds who enter medical school with similar MCAT scores and UGPA perform similarly on licensure examination outcome measures.

Context: Prenatal substance exposure (PSE) can lead to various harmful outcomes for the developing fetus and is linked to many emotional, behavioral, and cognitive difficulties later in life. Therefore, examination of the relationship between the development of associated brain structures and PSE is important for the development of more specific or new preventative methods.

Objectives: Our study's primary objective was to examine the relationship between the physical development of the amygdala, hippocampus, and parahippocampus following prenatal alcohol, tobacco, and prescription opioid exposure.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, a longitudinal neuroimaging study that measures brain morphometry from childhood throughout adolescence. Data were collected from approximately 12,000 children (ages 9 and 10) and parents across 22 sites within the United States. Prenatal opioid, tobacco, and alcohol use was determined through parent self-report of use during pregnancy. We extracted variables assessing the volumetric size (mm³) of the amygdala, hippocampus, and parahippocampal gyrus as well as brain volume, poverty level, age, sex, and race/ethnicity for controls within our adjusted models. We reported sociodemographic characteristics of the sample overall and by children who had PSE. We calculated and reported the means of each of the specific brain regions by substance exposure. Finally, we constructed multivariable regression models to measure the associations between different PSE and the demographic characteristics, total brain volume, and volume of each brain structure.

Results: Among the total sample, 24.6% had prenatal alcohol exposure, 13.6% had prenatal tobacco exposure, and 1.2% had prenatal opioid exposure. On average, those with prenatal tobacco exposure were found to have a statistically significant smaller parahippocampus.

Conclusions: We found a significant association between prenatal tobacco exposure and smaller parahippocampal volume, which may have profound impacts on the livelihood of individuals including motor delays, poor cognitive and behavioral outcomes, and long-term health consequences. Given the cumulative neurodevelopmental effects associated with PSE, we recommend that healthcare providers increase screening rates, detection, and referrals for cessation. Additionally, we recommend that medical associations lobby policymakers to address upstream barriers to the effective identification of at-risk pregnant individuals, specifically, eliminating or significantly reducing punitive legal consequences stemming from state laws concerning prenatal substance use.

Context: A variety of manual manipulation techniques are utilized in clinical practice to alleviate pain and improve musculoskeletal function. Many manual practitioners analyze gait patterns and asymmetries in their assessment of the patient, and an increasing number of gait motion capture studies are taking place with recent improvements in motion capture technology. This study is the first systematic review of whether these manual modalities have been shown to produce an objectively measurable change in gait mechanics.

Objectives: This study was designed to perform a systematic review of the literature to assess the impact of manual medicine modalities on biomechanical parameters of gait.

Methods: A master search term composed of keywords and Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) search terms from an initial scan of relevant articles was utilized to search six databases. We screened the titles and abstracts of the resulting papers for relevance and then assessed their quality with the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool. Clinical trials that featured both a manual manipulation intervention and multiple mechanical gait parameters were included. Case reports and other studies that only measured gait speed or other subjective measures of mobility were excluded.

Results: We included 20 studies in our final analysis. They utilize manipulation techniques primarily from osteopathic, chiropractic, massage, and physiotherapy backgrounds. The conditions studied primarily included problems with the back, knee, and ankle, as well as healthy patients and Parkinson's patients. Control groups were highly variable, if not absent. Most studies measured their gait parameters utilizing either multicamera motion capture systems or force platforms.

Conclusions: Twelve of 20 papers included in the final analysis demonstrated a significant effect of manipulation on gait variables, many of which included either step length, walking speed, or sagittal range of motion (ROM) in joints of the lower extremity. However, the results and study design are too heterogeneous to draw robust conclusions from these studies as a whole. While there are initial indications that certain modalities may yield a change in certain gait parameters, the quality of evidence is low and there is insufficient evidence to conclude that manual therapies induce changes in biomechanical gait parameters. Studies are heterogeneous with respect to the populations studied and the interventions performed. Comparators were variable or absent across the studies, as were the outcome variables measured. More could be learned in the future with consistent methodology around blinding and sham treatment, and if the gait parameters measured were standardized and of a more robust clinical significance.

Context: Racial inequalities across social determinants of health (SDOHs) are often influenced by discriminatory policies that reinforce systems that further uphold these disparities. There is limited data describing the influence of food insecurity (FI) on childhood racial discrimination.

Objectives: Our objective was to determine if the likelihood of experiencing racial discrimination was exacerbated by FI.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the 2016-2020 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) to extract data on childhood racial discrimination and food security. We extracted sociodemographic variables to utilize as controls and constructed logistic regression models to determine associations, via odds ratios (ORs), between food security and whether the child experienced racial discrimination.

Results: We found statistically significant associations between experiencing FI and childhood racial discrimination. Individuals who experienced food shortages were significantly more likely to experience racial discrimination compared to those without food limitations when controlling for race, food voucher usage, age, and % federal poverty guidelines (FPG, adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 3.34; 95 % CI: 2.69-4.14).

Conclusions: Our study found that parents of minority children all reported high rates of racial discrimination, which was exacerbated by concurrent FI. Children of families that were the most food insecure reported the highest percentage of racial discrimination at 11.13 %, compared with children who always had enough nutritious meals to eat at 2.87 %. Acknowledging the intersection that exists between FI, race, gender, and socioeconomic status (SES), might be a way forward in addressing the adverse health effects experienced by food-insecure children and adults.

Context: Children and adolescents young adults (AYAs) undergoing treatment for oncologic diagnoses are frequently hospitalized and experience unwanted therapy-induced side effects that diminish quality of life. Osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) is a medical intervention that utilizes manual techniques to diagnose and treat body structures. Few studies have investigated the implementation of OMT in the pediatric oncology outpatient setting. To date, no studies have investigated the safety and feasibility of OMT in the pediatric oncology inpatient setting.

Objectives: The objective of this study is to investigate the safety and feasibility of OMT in the pediatric oncology inpatient setting.

Methods: This is a prospective, single-institution pilot study evaluating children and AYAs aged ≥2 years to ≤30 years with a diagnosis of cancer hospitalized at Riley Hospital for Children (RH) from September 2022 to July 2023. Approval was obtained from the Indiana University Institutional Review Board (IRB). Patients were evaluated daily with a history and physical examination as part of routine inpatient management. Patients who reported chemotherapy side effects commonly encountered and managed in the inpatient setting, such as pain, headache, neuropathy, constipation, or nausea, were offered OMT. Patients provided written informed consent/assent prior to receiving OMT. OMT was provided by trained osteopathic medical students under the supervision of a board-certified osteopathic physician and included techniques commonly taught in first- and second-year osteopathic medical school curricula. Safety was assessed by a validated pain (FACES) scale immediately pre/post-OMT and by adverse event grading per Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) 24 h post-OMT. All data were summarized utilizing descriptive statistics.

Results: A total of 11 patients were screened for eligibility. All patients met the eligibility criteria and were enrolled in the study. The majority of patients were male (n=7, 63.6 %) with a median age of 18.2 years at time of enrollment (range, 10.2-29.8 years). Patients had a variety of hematologic malignancies including B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) (n=5, 45.5 %), T-cell ALL (n=1, 9.1 %), acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (n=2, 18.2 %), non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (n=2, 18.2 %), and Hodgkin's lymphoma (n=1, 9.1 %). All patients were actively undergoing cancer-directed therapy at the time of enrollment. There were 40 unique reasons for OMT reported and treated across 37 encounters, including musculoskeletal pain (n=23, 57.5 %), edema (n=7, 17.5 %), headache (n=5, 12.5 %), peripheral neuropathy (n=2, 5.0 %), constipation (n=2, 5.0 %), and epigastric pain not otherwise specified (n=1, 2.5 %). Validated FACES pain scores were reported in 27 encounters. Of the 10 encounters for which FACES pain scores were not reported, 8 encounters addr