The annual meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists was held from May 17 to 19 in San Francisco and was attended by more than 4,000 clinicians, academicians, allied health professionals, and others interested in obstetrics and gynecology. The conference highlighted recent advances in the prevention, detection, and treatment of conditions impacting women, with presentations focusing on the advancement of health care services for women worldwide.
In one study, Madelaine E. McElrath, of New York Medical College and Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, and colleagues identified a discrepancy in tone and content between how patients and how medical professionals discuss Pap smears on TikTok.
The authors collected and analyzed 100 videos tagged with #PapSmear on TikTok using a data-scraping program. They found that medical professionals created most of the positive videos (68.0 percent), while the majority of the creators of the negative videos were not medical professionals (91.4 percent). Most of the negative videos (60.0 percent) recounted personal patient experiences, and common themes found in the patient videos were fear, embarrassment, and pain. In addition, videos on TikTok presenting educational material regarding #PapSmear scored highly on understandability but low on health information quality.
“Providers should consider that patients may approach health care discussions and decisions with preconceived negative influence from TikTok,” McElrath said. “Health care providers may consider becoming more active on TikTok to contribute educational content and show relatability to patients.”
In another study, Chris Soudah, of the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, and colleagues found that patients who contract COVID-19 between three and 12 months prior to pregnancy have an increased relative risk for preeclampsia, fetal growth restriction, and antepartum hemorrhage compared with women who are not infected with COVID-19.
The authors aimed to investigate the risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes associated with COVID-19 infection acquired at least three months prior to pregnancy. The adverse pregnancy outcomes evaluated included fetal growth restriction, preeclampsia, antepartum hemorrhage, death, gestational diabetes, and preterm labor.
The authors created two cohorts using deidentified patient data from TriNetX. One cohort included patients of child-bearing age (15 to 45 years) with a history of COVID-19 infection three to 12 months prior to pregnancy. The second cohort included patients of child-bearing age without a history of COVID-19 infection three to 12 months prior to pregnancy. The cohorts were propensity score-matched for age, sex, race, and ethnicity.
Compared with women who were not infected with COVID-19, the researchers found that patients who had contracted COVID-19 between three and 12 months prior to pregnancy had an increased relative risk for preeclampsia, fetal growth restriction, and antepartum hemorrhage.
“Further investigation is warranted to validate these findings in prospective studies with needed consideration for other comorbidities to guide more focused and evidence-based peripartum care for this population,” Soudah said. “In addition, these results encourage clinicians and providers to exercise further surveillance for women seeking pregnancy after recovery from COVID-19 infection.”
One author disclosed a financial relationship with Medtronic.
Diana S. Wolfe, M.D., and Kevin Flatley, M.D., of the Montefiore Health System in New York City, and colleagues found that large-scale standardized screening for cardiovascular disease (CVD) is feasible and gets higher-risk patients in touch with experts to set them up for the safest pregnancy possible.
The authors evaluated the effectiveness of a CVD screening assessment tool proposed by the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative. Specifically, the CVD risk assessment tool was embedded in the electronic medical record for prenatal care providers, prompting them to perform at least one CVD risk assessment during pregnancy and/or the postpartum period.
According to the researchers, universal CVD risk screening in pregnant and postpartum patients in the United States is critical, and implementing universal screening among pregnant and postpartum patients provides an incredible opportunity to identify newly diagnosed cardiac disease as well as decrease maternal morbidity and mortality in the United States.
“The bottom line is that all clinicians, obstetrician-gynecologists, and other practitioners (i.e., emergency department, family medicine providers, etc.) who encounter pregnant and postpartum persons should perform CVD risk screening and be aware of the signs and symptoms of CVD in pregnancy and postpartum period,” Wolfe said. “CVD is the leading cause of maternal mortality in our country, a rising statistic especially among vulnerable populations, particularly communities that have been socially and economically marginalized. To turn the needle, all stakeholders need to join hands and implement universal CVD risk screening among pregnant and postpartum persons.”
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