Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial
A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Effects of a Brief Intervention to Increase Chlamydia and Gonorrhea Testing Uptake Among Young Adult Female Emergency Department Patients.
The objective of this study was to test the effect of a brief educational and counseling intervention on increasing the uptake of free testing for Chlamydia trachomatis (chlamydia) and Neisseria gonorrhea (gonorrhea) among young female emergency department (ED) patients. Women are particularly vulnerable to more serious consequences of these infections due to asymptomatic presentation. Increased testing is important to detect, treat, and halt the spread of these infections among asymptomatic women. ⋯ The brief intervention used in this study did not increase the uptake of testing for chlamydia and gonorrhea infections in this sample, in comparison to receiving no intervention. Although Hispanic women were more likely to accept chlamydia and gonorrhea testing, it is concerning that those women who report STI risk factors were not more likely to accept the offer of chlamydia and gonorrhea testing. Future research should focus on the refinement of an intervention protocol to focus on prior STI and lack of condom use to increase the uptake of testing among this high-risk group.
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Traumatic injury remains an unacceptably high contributor to morbidity and mortality rates across the United States. Gender-specific research in trauma and emergency resuscitation has become a rising priority. ⋯ Nominal group technique was used for the consensus-building process and a combination of face-to-face meetings, monthly conference calls, e-mail discussions, and preconference surveys were used to refine the research questions. The resulting research agenda focuses on opportunities to improve patient outcomes by expanding research in sex- and gender-specific emergency care in the field of traumatic injury and resuscitation.
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Title IX, the commercialization of sports, the social change in sports participation, and the response to the obesity epidemic have contributed to the rapid proliferation of participation in both competitive organized sports and nontraditional athletic events. As a consequence, emergency physicians are regularly involved in the acute diagnosis, management, disposition, and counseling of a broad range of sports-related pathology. ⋯ Sex differences in injury risk, diagnosis, ED treatment, and counseling are identified in each of these themes. This article presents the consensus-based priority research agenda.
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The 2014 Academic Emergency Medicine (AEM) consensus conference "Gender-Specific Research in Emergency Medicine: Investigate, Understand, and Translate How Gender Affects Patient Outcomes" convened a diverse group of stakeholders to target gaps in emergency medicine (EM) sex- and gender-specific research and identify research priorities. At the close of the conference, the executive committee sought feedback from group leaders and conference attendees about the next critical steps in EM sex- and gender-specific research, goals for their own future research, and anticipated barriers in pursuing this research. This article summarizes this feedback on the future directions in sex- and gender-specific research in emergency care and strategies to overcome barriers.
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For many years, gender differences have been recognized as important factors in the etiology, pathophysiology, comorbidities, and treatment needs and outcomes associated with the use of alcohol, drugs, and tobacco. However, little is known about how these gender-specific differences affect ED utilization; responses to ED-based interventions; needs for substance use treatment and barriers to accessing care among patients in the ED; or outcomes after an alcohol-, drug-, or tobacco-related visit. As part of the 2014 Academic Emergency Medicine consensus conference on "Gender-Specific Research in Emergency Care: Investigate, Understand and Translate How Gender Affects Patient Outcomes," a breakout group convened to generate a research agenda on priority questions related to substance use disorders.