Alexandria Quesenberry Wilson

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the readability of online information about semaglutide while also assessing understandability and quality. Methods: Ozempic, Wegovy, and ‘semaglutide’ were individually searched. The non-sponsored results on the first five pages for each search were screened. The text from the included links were evaluated by two researchers for readability using SMOG and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE), for understandability using Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT) and for quality using DISCERN. A statistician ran reports for medians, interquartile ranges, and frequency statistics. Results: 61 links met evaluation criteria. Median scores for SMOG and FRE were 13th grade level and College. Fewer than 10% were at or below the recommended reading grade level. The median score of PEMAT was 62%. The median overall score of DISCERN was 4 out of 5. Conclusions: Most education available online about semaglutide medications is not written at the recommended reading level. Patient education on semaglutide needs to be rewritten to be at the recommended 8th grade reading level.

Background: An estimated 10–30% of people with COVID-19 experience debilitating long-term symptoms or long covid. Underlying health conditions associated with chronic inflammation may increase the risk of long covid. Methods: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine whether long covid risk was altered by pre-existing asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in adults. We identified studies by searching the PubMed and Embase databases from inception to 13 September 2024. We excluded studies that focused on children or defined long covid only in terms of respiratory symptoms. We used random-effects, restricted maximum likelihood models to analyse data pooled from 51 studies, which included 43 analyses of asthma and 30 analyses of COPD. The risk of bias was assessed using a ROBINS-E table. Results: We found 41% increased odds of long covid with pre-existing asthma (95% CI 1.29 to 1.54); pre-existing COPD was associated with 32% increased odds (95% CI 1.16 to 1.51). Pre-existing asthma, but not COPD, was associated with increased odds of long covid-associated fatigue. We observed heterogeneity in the results of studies of asthma related to hospitalisation status. Potential confounding and inconsistent measurement of exposure and outcome variables were among the identified limitations. Conclusions: Our findings support the hypothesis that pre-existing asthma and COPD increase the risk of long covid, including chronic fatigue outcomes in patients with asthma. Because COVID-19 targets the respiratory tract, these inflammatory conditions of the lower respiratory tract could provide mechanistic clues to a common pathway for the development of long-term sequelae in patients with long covid.

Background: During the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many consumer health libraries were forced to close their doors to patrons. At the Health Information Center in Knoxville, Tennessee, the physical space closed, while health information services continued to be provided via phone and email. To examine the impact of lack of access to a physical library for consumer health information, researchers analyzed the number of health information requests pre-COVID-19 pandemic compared to during the initial phase of the pandemic. Case Presentation: Data from an internal database was collected and analyzed. Researchers divided the data into three time periods: March 2018 to February 2019 (Phase 1), March 2019 to February 2020 (Phase 2), and March 2020 to February 2021 (Phase 3). Data was de-identified and duplicate entries were removed. The type of interaction and request topics were reviewed in each phase. Conclusion: In Phase 1, there were 535 walk-ins to request health information and 555 walk-ins in Phase 2. In Phase 3, there were 40 walk-ins. The number of requests through phone and email varied but remained steady. There was a 61.56% decrease in requests between Phase 1 and Phase 3 while there was a 66.27% decrease between Phase 2 and Phase 3 due to the lack of walk-in requests. The number of phone and email requests did not increase despite the closure of the physical library space to the public. Access to the physical space plays a significant role in providing health information requests to patients and family members.

Background: Consumer health libraries connect communities to reliable and accurate health information while Little Free Libraries (LFL) provide communities globally with access to free books with a ‘take one leave one’ type policy.Objectives: To discuss how medical librarians used already established LFLs as outreach opportunities to provide consumer health books to rural locations in East Tennessee's Appalachia region in the United States.Methods: Researchers reviewed the population's literacy levels, the Index of Medical Underservice scores, and the availability of established LFLs. Twenty‐two established LFL locations were selected and one new LFL was built for an eye clinic. Eleven health books were purchased for each established LFL, and 33 books were purchased for the new LFL.Results: Researchers went back to each location 5 months after delivery. 90% of the books were taken from the already established LFLs. Ten books were taken from the new LFL.Discussion: Using already established LFLs is a great opportunity to provide relevant health information to rural communities. The new LFL allowed for a partnership between the library and a rural eye clinic.Conclusion: By distributing health books to already established LFLs, researchers brought relevant health information books to rural and medically underserved communities.

Researchers examined the correlation between the physician's subjective assessment of health literacy rates and actual health literacy rates among patients as determined by the Newest Vital Sign (NVS). A sample of n = 150 patients, 18 years of age or older, were verbally interviewed using NVS tool before seeing their physician. After the physician met with the patient, the physician was asked to measure that patient's level of health literacy on a Likert-type scale and a “yes/no” scale. Frequency and percentage statistics were performed in SPSS to describe the distributions of patient and physician responses. Between-subjects statistics were used. Analysis of the patient surveys revealed one in 4 patients has a high likelihood of low health literacy. Analysis revealed there were significant positive correlations between physician response to perception of a patient's low health literacy risk and NVS survey responses. Despite the risk of limited literacy, 97.3% of physicians perceived the patient to understand what the physician was saying. Physicians should use teach-back and other health literacy principles with each patient, regardless of perceived risk.

Since 2006, the University of Tennessee’s Preston Medical Library has collected survey feedback from exiting residents through targeted emails or at the required exit process in the library. Questions ask residents which types of articles or sources they use to find information and address the resident’s use of the library’s physical space. Survey results from 2006 to 2021 were examined for trends and changes in resident utilization of resources to better inform future library decisions on instruction and marketing. Resident resource usage varied over time and demonstrated an encouraging increase in attention to evidence-based tools. UpToDate’s consistent popularity shows the durability of the product. A reported increase in use of reviews, randomized controlled trials, case reports, and practice guidelines reflects greater employment of more in-depth resources than merely expert opinion. At the same time, residents clearly valued the library’s physical space. Survey results will inform future outreach focus.

The current literature demonstrates that not only is exercise during pregnancy safe, but it has substantial maternal and infant benefits and appears to influence infant growth/size throughout pregnancy and at birth. However, many existing studies have investigated only the effects of prenatal exercise on birth weight. The purpose of this review was to determine the impact or association of maternal physical activity during pregnancy on neonatal body composition assessed between birth and two weeks of age. Electronic database searches were conducted on 29 July 2019 for randomized control trials and cohort studies, with an updated search completed on 8 January 2021. A total of 32 articles that met eligibility criteria were selected for review. Overall, prenatal exercise was not associated with infant body composition at birth. Yet, five of the studies identified suggest that infant body composition could be influenced by higher volumes of mid-to-late term prenatal physical activity. This systematic review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and registered in PROSPERO (Registration No. CRD42020160138).

About 45:000 cancers are linked to HPV each year in the United States alone. The HPV vaccine prevents cancer and is highly effective, yet vaccination coverage remains low. Pharmacies can play a meaningful role in increasing HPV vaccination access due to their availability and convenience. However, little is known about pharmacists’ perceived barriers to HPV vaccination. The objective of this systematic review was to summarize existing literature on perceived barriers to administering HPV vaccination reported by pharmacists. Barriers identified from selected studies were synthesized and further grouped into patient, parental, (pharmacist’s) personal, and system/organization barrier groups. Six studies were included in this review. The cost of the HPV vaccine, insurance coverage and reimbursement were commonly reported perceived barriers. Adolescent HPV vaccination barriers related to parental concerns, beliefs, and inadequate knowledge about the HPV vaccine. Perceived (pharmacist’s) personal barriers were related to lack of information and knowledge about HPV vaccine and recommendations. At the system/organization level, barriers reported included lack of time/staff/space; difficulty in series completion; tracking and recall of patient; perceived competition with providers; and other responsibilities/vaccines taking precedence. Future strategies involving pharmacy settings in HPV-related cancer prevention efforts should consider research on multilevel pharmacy-driven interventions addressing barriers.

Objective: In order to determine the status of scholarly efforts on health literacy by librarians, researchers examined the characteristics of health literacy publications authored by librarians from 2000 to 2020. Methods: Bibliometric analysis was used to assess the indicators of productivity, affiliation, collaboration, and citation metrics of librarians in health literacy–related research. Data were collected using the Scopus database; articles were screened for inclusion before importation into Microsoft Excel for analysis. SPSS software was used to run basic descriptive statistics. Results: Of 797 search results, 460 references met the inclusion criteria of librarian authorship. There was a significant linear trend upward in publications since 2001 with an average increase of 1.52 papers per year. The number of publications per year peaked in 2019 (n=59). Journal of Consumer Health on the Internet was the most prolific journal. The majority of references were authored by at least two authors and by multidisciplinary teams. Nineteen percent (n=107) of the librarian authors were responsible for more than one publication, and 84.1% of publications were cited at least once. Conclusions: In the last two decades, librarian involvement in health literacy publications has exponentially increased, most markedly in the years following 2014. The productivity, multidisciplinary collaboration efforts, and consistent growth in literature indicate that librarians are engaged in health literacy scholarship. Further research is needed to explore the work of librarians whose impacts on health literacy may not be reflected within well-indexed, peer-reviewed publications.

The ability to be flexible and adapt quickly to changing circumstances is a crucial skill for librarians to develop in a world increasingly characterized by rapid change. It can take a crisis to learn how effective librarians have become in developing the needed adaptive behaviors, including a willingness to change workstyles, experiment with new technologies and readily move on from failed experiments. In this paper, librarians from the Preston Medical Library at the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine, prompted by the crisis of COVID-19, present their response. Beginning with a description of how services were provided prior to the pandemic, librarians detail their response in several key areas and show how they implemented new approaches to teaching, collaboration, and mutual support, working together to handle patron issues and pursue scholarly activities.