Faculty Bibliography

BACKGROUND:Prospective evidence supports active surveillance/watchful waiting (AS/WW) as an efficacious management option for low-risk prostate cancer that avoids potential treatment toxicity. AS/WW schedules require regular follow-up and adherence, and it is unknown to what extent patient socioeconomic status (SES) may impact management decisions for AS/WW. We sought to determine whether AS/WW use in the United States differs according to patient SES. DESIGN/METHODS:Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Prostate with AS/WW Database, all adult men diagnosed with localized low-risk prostate cancer (clinical T1-T2a, Gleason 6, and prostate-specific antigen <10 ng/mL) and managed with either AS/WW, radical prostatectomy, or radiotherapy were identified between 2010 and 2015. SES tertile was measured by the validated Yost Index (low: 0-10,901; middle: 10,904-11,469; high: 11,470-11,827). AS/WW trends were defined across SES tertiles from 2010 to 2015. Logistic multivariable regression defined adjusted odds ratios (aOR) for receipt of AS/WW by SES tertile. RESULTS:<0.001). By 2015, likelihood of AS/WW became comparable among the middle vs. high SES tertiles (aOR 0.96, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.83-1.11, P = 0.55), but remained lower among the low vs. high SES tertile (aOR 0.73, 95% CI: 0.64-0.83, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS:AS/WW use for low-risk prostate cancer in the US differs by SES. Despite increases in AS/WW across SES from 2010 to 2015, patients from low SES received significantly lower rates of AS/WW compared with higher SES groups. SES may therefore influence management decisions, where factors associated with low SES might act as a barrier to AS/WW, and may need to be addressed to reduce any disproportionate risk of unnecessary treatment to lower SES patients.

Although there is a large amount of user-generated content about urological health issues on social media, much of this content has not been vetted for information accuracy. In this article, we review the literature on the quality and balance of information on urological health conditions on social networks. Across a wide range of benign and malignant urological conditions, studies show a substantial amount of commercial, biased and/or inaccurate information present on popular social networking sites. The healthcare community should take proactive steps to improve the quality of medical information on social networks. PATIENT SUMMARY: In this review, we examined the spread of misinformation about urological health conditions on social media. We found that a significant amount of the circulating information is commercial, biased or misinformative.

Introduction: Despite substantial evidence on the impact of prostate cancer treatment on sexual function and sexual quality of life for men, there is limited research on the effect that this has on the sexual quality of life of partners. A better understanding of partners' sexual concerns will enable support of mutuality in couples' sexual relationships in PCa survivorship.
Objective(s): To perform a content analysis of posts by female partners to an online prostate cancer community.
Method(s): Inspire is a web-based social platform containing numerous communities about different health topics, which patients and caregivers can use to share information and support. The Inspire UsTOO Prostate Cancer Online Support & Discussion Community is one of the many disease-specific communities, which currently has more than 20,000 members. Through a data use agreement, we obtained anonymized text from postings to the community by female caregivers. Posts were manually reviewed to identify content related to sexual health, and qualitative analysis was performed to identify key themes.
Result(s): There were many posts by women to the online prostate cancer community about sexual issues related to their partner's diagnosis and treatment. Table 1 shows key themes and sample quotes. Partners expressed that intimacy was more important than receptive intercourse, particularly during a stressful time dealing with a cancer diagnosis. Without intimacy, women expressed feelings of grief and isolation. Sexual health was also tied into women's evolving role as a caregiver, requiring time spent to plan ahead for sexual activity as well as research into management options to improve sexual function for their partner.
Conclusion(s): Data from online health communities provide a unique window into the lived experience of patients and their families. Sexual issues resulting from prostate cancer treatment have a significant impact on female partners. Lack of intimacy and changes in the sexual relationship can result in significant feelings of isolation and grief for female partners. [Formula presented] Disclosure: Work supported by industry: no.
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Previous epidemiologic studies have examined the relationship between sleep disturbances with prostate cancer (PCa) risk and/or survival. However, less has been published about the impact of sleep disturbance on quality of life for PCa survivors and their caregivers. Although PCa presents numerous potential barriers to sleep (e.g. hot flashes, nocturia), current survivorship guidelines do not address sleep. In addition to its impact on quality of life, sleep disturbances also mediate the impact of cancer status on missed days from work and healthcare expenditures.

Global usage of the social media (SoME) has increased exponentially. Facebook has close to 2.4 billion users, Twitter 330 million, YouTube 2 billion viewers each month, Instagram 1 billion active users, and LinkedIn 310 million users. This represents increases of 75%, 16%, 90%, 500%, and 19% respectively for these platforms over the past five years (1).

OBJECTIVE:To provide the first comprehensive analysis of the Twitter-verse amongst academic urologists and programs in North America. METHODS:Using national accreditation and individual program websites, all active urology residency programs (USA & Canada) and academic Urology faculty at these programs were identified. Demographic data for each program (AUA section, resident class size) and physician (title, fellowship training, Scopus H-index and citations) were documented. Twitter metrics (Twitter handle, date joined, # tweets, # followers, # following, likes) for programs and physicians were catalogued (data capture: March-April 2019). Descriptive analyses and temporal trends in Twitter utilization amongst programs and physician were assessed. Multivariable (MV) logistic regression was used to identify predictors of Twitter use. RESULTS:156 academic programs (143 USA, 13 Canada) and 2214 academic faculty (2015 USA, 199 Canada) were identified. Twitter utilization is currently 49.3% and 34.1% amongst programs and physicians, respectively, and continues to increase. On MV analysis, programs with 3-5 residents/year and programs with a higher percentage of faculty Twitter engagement were more likely to have Twitter accounts. From a physician perspective, those with fellowship training, lower academic rank (clinical instructor, assistant professor, associate professor vs. professor) and higher H-indices were more likely to have individual Twitter accounts. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:There is a steady increase in Twitter engagement amongst Urology programs and academic physicians. Faculty Twitter utilization is an important driver of program Twitter engagement. Twitter SoMe activity is strongly associated with academic productivity, and may in fact drive academic metrics. Within Urology, SoMe presence appears to be proportional to academic activity.

The use of social media is growing rapidly in health care. The purpose of this study was to provide updated data on utilization of social media in urology. A survey was emailed to 19 840 American Urological Association (AUA) members in September 2017, and responses were compared to our previous survey in 2013. Overall, 74% of 1731 respondents have a social media account. Facebook and YouTube were the platforms most commonly used. However, use of Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Pinterest significantly increased. Among social media users, 33% agreed that it has impacted their practice, and one-third have followed a medical conference remotely. At the 2018 AUA meeting (#AUA18), there were 18,863 tweets from 3887 contributors, which achieved 73,878 million impressions, a significant increase since 2013. More than half of users were not familiar with professional guidelines on social media. The most common reasons for non-use were not seeing any value and not wanting invasion of privacy. In conclusion, social media use has increased substantially in urology, providing opportunities for global conference participation and influencing clinical practice for a substantial proportion of users. Professional standards for online conduct should be integrated into medical education as use of social media continues to increase. PATIENT SUMMARY: The use of social media in urology has increased over time. Although Facebook and YouTube are the platforms most commonly used, use of Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Pinterest has significantly increased over time. Use of social media at medical conferences has increased over time, and a substantial proportion of urologists reported that social media influenced their clinical practice.

BACKGROUND:Little is known about the key composition of a successful tweet in urology. OBJECTIVE:To investigate for predictors of engagement with urology content on Twitter. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS/METHODS:This was a cross-sectional study based on 2-wk Twitter data surrounding a major international urology conference. INTERVENTION/METHODS:We examined the engagement for all original tweets containing the hashtags for the European Association of Urology conference ("#EAU19" and/or "#EAU2019"). OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS/UNASSIGNED:Study outcomes included engagement with tweets, as measured by the number of "likes" and "retweets." Tweet- and Twitter user-related parameters of each individual tweet were recorded. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to investigate for predictors of likes and retweets. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS/CONCLUSIONS:From March 9 to 22, 2019, there were a total of 37 222 tweets. Among them, 3534 were "original tweets" that had 31 889 likes and 10 031 retweets. On multivariable analysis, the word count, number of mentions, and presence of a photo were predictors of likes and retweets. An increasing number of hashtags were associated with fewer likes. The number of "followings" and "followers" of the contributor, and their time since joining Twitter did not have any associations with the number of likes or retweets. The major limitation of the study is the lack of assessment about the quality of the tweet content. CONCLUSIONS:Based on the Twitter data from a urology conference, we concluded that the word count, number of mentions, and presence of a photo within the tweet were associated with audience engagement. PATIENT SUMMARY/UNASSIGNED:We could engage the audience more successfully by increasing the number of words and mentions, and including a photo within a tweet. The results formulated the basic principles in creating successful tweets for sharing urological knowledge.

Data from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) show that the Internet is the first place people go to when they need information about health or medical topics. Searches for online health information have both benefits and challenges for patient-physician communication. To fully appreciate these issues, it is important to understand the following: (1) who is going online; (2) why are they going; (3) where are they going; (4) what needs are being met; and (5) how, if at all, do they discuss health information found online with their doctors. The objective of this mini-review is to highlight contemporary issues regarding the impact of the internet on patient-physician communication and to present directions for future research. PATIENT SUMMARY: The growing use of the Internet has implications for people seeking information on health matters. Our review shows that the Internet can be helpful for patient-physician communication, but this depends on the quality of health information found and whether the information is discussed during medical visits.

Active surveillance is now the recommended management option for low-risk prostate cancer. In this lecture we will discuss trends in use of active surveillance worldwide, optimal patient selection and monitoring. For men with intermediate- to high-risk localized prostate cancer, radical prostatectomy remains a gold standard treatment option. We will discuss recent trends in the surgical management of localized prostate cancer