Fwd: Reminder! VCBH MAY LECTURE SERIES: Timothy Lash, DSc, MPH

The VCBH welcomes Timothy Lash, DSc, MPH as our May lecture series guest speaker!

Dr. Lash's talk titled, "Significance Testing is the Reason the Scientific Results have Poor Reproducibility", is scheduled for Wednesday, May 15, 12-1pm in the Davis Auditorium at UVMMC.

WCAX features Adam Sprouse-Blum on Migraine research

Our local TV station ran a story about migraines that features Headache Specialist Adam Sprouse Blum, M.D., one of the trainees in UVM's Clinical and Translational Sciences PhD program. The piece also features Katie MacDonald, one of our patient partners in our current PCORI (Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute) funded research project on Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary Care. 

So proud and cheering them on in this important work!

https://www.wcax.com/content/news/Misconceptions-about-migraines-509651521.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kelley's doctoral research published

Congratulations to Kairn "Rocky" Kelley, PhD on the publication of her original research.

J Am Acad Audiol. 2019 Apr 30. doi: 10.3766/jaaa.17125. [Epub ahead of print]

Comparison of Children's Double Dichotic Digits and SCAN-3 Competing Words Free Recall Scores.

Kelley KS1, Littenberg B1,2.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Practice guidelines do not specify which test recordings are best for assessing dichotic deficit or interaural asymmetry. Dichotic Digits and SCAN-3 Competing Words Free Recall are among the most widely used dichotic tests, but it is not known if the choice of test results in important differences in the identification of children with deficits or if they can be used interchangeably.

PURPOSE:

To determine whether two commonly used dichotic tests, SCAN-3 Competing Words Free Recall (CW) and Musiek's Dichotic Digits (DD), agree on interaural asymmetry and dichotic deficit in children.

RESEARCH DESIGN:

CW and DD tests were administered to all participants. Each participant had a single study visit.

STUDY SAMPLE:

Sixty volunteers aged 7-14 years with normal hearing sensitivity participated in the study.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS:

Hearing sensitivity, CW, and DD performance were measured at a single study visit. We used Spearman's rho (ρ) to assess associations between rank ordering of participants by each test and the kappa statistic (κ) to assess decision consistency between tests.

RESULTS:

Participants were rank-ordered similarly by CW and DD for the right ear (ρ = 0.58), left ear (ρ = 0.51), and total (ρ = 0.73) scores, but not for interaural asymmetry (ρ =0.18). They agreed no better than chance on direction of ear advantage (κ = 0.01, p = 0.93) and had poor agreement on which children scored below cut-scores (κ = 0.22, p < 0.01). DD identified significantly more participants with deficits (n = 18) than CW (n = 3) (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS:

Although children with high scores on one test tend to have high scores on the other, CW and DD do not agree on ear advantage or the presence of deficit. They are not interchangeable for clinical use. Additional research is needed to determine whether either is appropriate for identifying children who would benefit from treatment for dichotic listening deficits.

American Academy of Audiology.

PMID:

 

31070121

 

DOI:

 

10.3766/jaaa.17125

-Ben Littenberg

Liliane Savard featured in CDCI Newsletter

CTS PhD Student, Liliane Savard was featured in the monthly newsletter from CDCI ( Center on Disability and Community Inclusion).   Liliane has worked tirelessly on forming the Vermont Autism Collaborative which connects practitioners, educators, self-advocates and family members in autism research.  Keep up the great work Liliane, we are very proud of your contributions.
See link below for newsletter.
https://mailchi.mp/a805c53c408e/cdci-connects-newsletter-april2019?e=013a6b441e

Burke's research published in JMLA

Congratulations to Marianne Burke, PhD, MA-AHIP, whose dissertation research came out in time for her to have it in her pocket for commencement!

Burke M, Littenberg B. Effect of a Clinical Evidence Technology on Skin Disease Outcomes in Primary Care: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of the Medical Library Association 2019; 107:151–162. http://jmla.mlanet.org/ojs/jmla/article/view/581  https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2019.581.

Objective: Providers’ use of clinical evidence technologies (CETs) improves their diagnosis and treatment decisions. Despite these benefits, few studies have evaluated the impact of CETs on patient outcomes. The investigators evaluated the effect of one CET, VisualDx, on skin problem outcomes in primary care.

Methods: A cluster-randomized controlled pragmatic trial was conducted in outpatient clinics at an academic medical center in the northeastern United States. Participants were primary care providers (PCPs), and their adult patients were seen for skin problems. The intervention was VisualDx, as used by PCPs. Outcomes were patient-reported time from index clinic visit to problem resolution, and the number of follow-up visits to any provider for the same problem. PCPs who were randomly assigned to the intervention agreed to use VisualDx as their primary evidence source for skin problems. Control group PCPs agreed not to use VisualDx. Investigators collected outcome data from patients by phone at thirty-day intervals. Cox proportional hazards models assessed time to resolution. Wilcoxon-rank sum tests and logistic regression compared the need for return appointments.

Results: Thirty-two PCPs and 433 patients participated. In proportional hazards modelling adjusted for provider clusters, the time from index visit to skin problem resolution was similar in both groups (hazard ratio=0.92; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.70, 1.21; p=0.54). Patient follow-up appointments did not differ significantly between groups (odds ratio=1.26; CI=0.94, 1.70; p=0.29).

Conclusion: This pragmatic trial tested the effectiveness of VisualDx on patient-reported skin disease outcomes in a generalizable clinical setting. There was no difference in skin problem resolution or number of follow-up visits when PCPs used VisualDx.

- Ben Littenberg

Oshita on Health Services Research for Communication Sciences

PhD candidate Jennifer Y. Oshita, MSLP, CCC-SLP  and colleagues recently published a tutorial laying out the potential applications of Health Services Research in her specialty of Speech and Language Pathology (and related domains).

Morris MA, Oshita JY, Stransky M. Advancing the Delivery of Communication Sciences and Disorders Services Through Research: The Promise of Health Services Research. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups. 2019; 4(1): 16-26. https://pubs.asha.org/doi/abs/10.1044/2018_PERS-ST-2018-0002

Abstract
Purpose
Traditional efficacy research, or research that studies interventions in controlled settings, can be difficult to translate to real-world clinical settings. In this article, we introduce the field of health services research (HSR) as 1 possible tool to aid this translation. HSR is a field of research that examines and intervenes in the use, cost, quality, delivery, organization, and outcomes of clinical interventions and services in the real-world setting. The complexity of the world outside the clinic walls is accounted for in HSR methods and data sources. As such, HSR often requires collaboration of stakeholders, including patients, caregivers, clinicians, and policy makers. These stakeholders are often engaged throughout the research process, from selecting research questions to disseminating results. HSR brings together researchers from multiple disciplines, including sociology, health economics, epidemiology, and implementation science, among others. The outcomes of HSR can inform policy changes both locally and nationally. To clarify the scope and impact of HSR, we present examples of HSR-based research on communication between patients with communication disorders and health care providers.
Conclusion
HSR is a critical tool for clinicians and researchers in the discipline of communication sciences and disorders who are committed to improving the lives and health of persons with communication disorders.


- Ben Littenberg

Workshop on finding funding

Faculty, Postdoctoral Scholars and Grant-related Staff are invited to attend a workshop on using the Pivot tool for identifying potential sources of support for research and scholarly projects.

To learn more about the Pivot Tool see the Sponsored Project Administration Pivot webpage 

For questions contact:

Hilda Alajajian, MLS | Grant Resource Specialist

University of Vermont

Research Administration and Integrity

P: 802-656-1322 | Hilda.Alajajian@uvm.edu | Find Funding