Verbal fluency in school-aged Spanish children: analysis of clustering and switching organizational strategies, employing different semantic categories and letters

La tarea de fluidez verbal (FV) es una medida de la flexibilidad cognitiva y la estrategia de búsqueda dentro del léxico y el tema semántico. En este trabajo, se probó el uso de estrategias organizativas, es decir, agrupación y cambio en la fluidez semántica y fonológica en niños españoles sanos divididos en dos grupos: el grupo 1 de niños más pequeños (de 8 a 9 años) y el grupo 2 de niños mayores (de 10 años de edad) –11) introducción de diferentes letras (F, A, S y P, M, R) y categorías semánticas (animales y comidas o bebidas). La fluidez semántica fue mayor que la fluidez fonológica en ambos grupos de edad. Además, los niños mayores mostraron un mejor desempeño de ambas fluencias que los niños más pequeños específicamente para el grupo de letras FAS, la letra M y todas las categorías semánticas utilizadas. A partir de los análisis fonológicos, los niños más pequeños evocaron más palabras con el grupo de letras PMR que con el grupo FAS. Además, solo se observó una mejora en la fluidez semántica asociada con la categoría del animal frente a las comidas y bebidas en el grupo de niños más pequeños. Con respecto a las estrategias organizativas, los niños mayores usaron más interruptores específicamente en el grupo FAS y más grupos para la categoría de comidas o bebidas en comparación con el grupo de niños mayores. Para finalizar, las relaciones entre el número de palabras evocadas y el número de clústeres y conmutadores para ambas tareas de FV fueron significativas y positivas. Estos datos sugieren que el tipo de letra y la categoría semántica empleada en la evaluación de FV modulan el rendimiento de fluidez verbal en ambos grupos de edad. The verbal fluency (VF) task is a measure of cognitive flexibility and search strategy within the lexicon and semantic topic. In this work the use of organizational strategies, i.e., clustering and switching in semantic and phonological fluency was tested in healthy Spanish children divided in two groups: group 1 of younger children (age 8–9) and group 2 of older children (age 10–11) introducing different letters (F, A, S and P, M, R) and semantic categories (animals and meals or drinks). Semantic fluency was greater than phonological fluency in both age groups. In addition, older children showed better performance of both fluencies than younger children specifically for FAS letters group, M letter and all of semantic categories used. From the phonological analyses, younger children evoked more word with the PMR letter group than with the FAS one. Moreover, an improvement of semantic fluency associated with the animal’s category faced to meals and drink was observed only in the younger children group. In respect to organizational strategies, older children used more switches specifically in FAS group and more clusters for the meals or drinks category compared with the older children group. To finish, the relationships between the number of words evoked and the number of clusters and switches for both VF tasks were significant and positive. These data suggest that the type of letter and the semantic category employed in the VF evaluation modulate the verbal fluency performance in both groups of age

Abstract 14173: Emailing is an Economical Way to Recruit Participants

Introduction: To produce results from clinical trials that are statistically significant, researchers must enroll enough participants; however, it is difficult to recruit sufficient participants. The ADAPTABLE trial is a pragmatic randomized controlled trial designed to compare two aspirin doses in patients with cardiovascular disease. Methods: We used eligibility criteria set forth by the ADAPTABLE study protocol. We then put patients into two groups. Patients with email addresses were group one, and sent an email weekly. Patients without an email address were in group two, and a letter was mailed to their home address. Eligible patients who had a clinic appointment scheduled were also recruited approached in clinic. Most of these patients had already been stratified into the email or letter group, but there was the possibility that they had a new diagnosis and had not been contacted. All were given a link to the ADAPTABLE trial portal with an access code to enroll. An explanatory video about the study and electronic informed consent were on the trial website. Results: As shown in Table 1, four hundred and nine patients enrolled in our trial over a 10-month period. Three hundred and ninety-seven (97.06%) patients enrolled in the study via email. Letters were sent to 7,226 patients and four (0.98%) enrolled in the study. Eight (1.96%) of the patients who were approached in person enrolled in the study. The cost of email campaign was $1.44/patient and the cost per enrollment was the least expensive, at $95.71. In person enrollment cost $23.34/patient and the total cost per enrollment was $417.12. The letter recruitment cost $0.30/patient, however, the cost per enrollment was the highest, at $542.26. Conclusion: Email is an effective and economical way to recruit patients for clinical trials. Email allows researchers to contact more patients about proposed studies promptly and facilitates pragmatic research trials that achieve results in a timely and cost-efficient manner.

Incidence of COVID-19 in patients with rheumatic disease: is prior health education more important than shielding advice during the pandemic?

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to major changes in clinical practice on a global scale in order to protect patients. This includes the identification of vulnerable patients who should “shield” in order to reduce the likelihood of contracting SARS-CoV2. We used national specialty guidance and an adapted screening tool to risk stratify patients identified from our prescribing and monitoring databases, and identify those needing to shield (score ≥ 3) using information from departmental letters, online general practice records and recent laboratory investigations. We collated underlying rheumatological conditions and risk factors. Two months into the shielding process, we examined the COVID-19 status of these patients using hospital laboratory records and compared to population level data. Of 887 patients assessed, 248 (28%) scored ≥ 3 and were sent a standard shielding letter. The most common risk factor in the shielding letter group was age ≥ 70 years and/or presence of a listed co-morbidity (199 patients). The most common rheumatology conditions were rheumatoid arthritis (69.4%), polymyalgia rheumatica (8.5%) and giant cell arteritis (8.5%). Coronavirus incidence rates were similar in the shielding letter group (0.403%) and in the UK population (0.397%). However, we found a trend towards lower incidence (0.113%) in our whole cohort (RR 0.28, 95%CI 0.04–2.01 for the whole cohort compared to UK population). The trend towards lower incidence in this cohort could be because of prior education regarding general infection risk and response to public health messages. While risk stratification and shielding could be effective, prior education regarding general infection risk and public health messages to enhance health protection behaviours during a pandemic may have equal or more important roles. Key Points• Patients on treatment for rheumatic disorders showed a trend for lower incidence of COVID-19 transmission irrespective of shielding letter status• This could potentially be because of prior education regarding infection risk received when starting on disease-modifying medication• Health education influencing health protection behaviours may be of equal or more importance than shielding information in reducing transmission of SARS-CoV-2

Obsequium amicos, veritas odium parit

It is an often mentioned and well-known fact, that Cicero was the closest to Petrarch among the greatest of the ancient world. This is evidenced, among other things, by the fact that he quotes him for countless times, often very long, and that in the Rerum familiarium libri XXIV, which was inspired by Cicero, in the letter group called by the summarizing title Antiquis illustrioribus collection, two epistles are addressed only to him. Almost without exception, Petrarch selects in his moral philosophical writings one work of Cicero as a starting point, and elaborates his own thoughts reflecting on the antique predecessor's views. In my presentation, I outline some of these, and with its help I try to present the “friendship” that spans thousands of years.

Impact of Pharmacist Follow-up Intervention on Patient Return to a Community Pharmacy From a Convenient Care Clinic

Background: Convenient Care Clinics (CCCs) located within the same facility as a retail pharmacy offer the opportunity for immediate fill of prescriptions from the CCC and may also provide a source of new customers for the pharmacy. Objective: To assess the impact of a follow-up intervention on new patients seen at a CCC returning to the pharmacy for subsequent prescription fills compared to the control group. Methods: New patients who filled a prescription from the CCC in November and December 2015 received an initial follow-up telephone call or letter, respectively, from the pharmacist within 10 days of their prescription fill date. The primary end point of the percentage of patient return was assessed for 3 months following the initial fill date. Secondary end points included number of prescriptions transferred and customer satisfaction scores. Results: Thirty-four out of 214 patients in the control group returned to the pharmacy for subsequent prescription fills (15.9%). Fourteen out of 52 patients in the telephone group returned to the pharmacy for additional prescription fills following a telephone call from the pharmacist. (26.9%, P = .063) Sixteen out of 77 patients in the letter group returned to the pharmacy after their first prescription. (20.8%, P = .329). Conclusions: Following-up with new patients to the pharmacy in the form of a personalized telephone call increases the likelihood of patients continuing to utilize the pharmacy for their prescription needs.