Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33409088›Full record

ArticleCureus2020

Recommendations to Medical Mission Trip Teams: A Retrospective Study of an Annual Medical Student-Run Mission Trip to Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic.

Madeline MacDonald, Jessica T Phan, Liwei Chen, Taylor L Jarvill, Stephanie Yee, Paul J Wells, Rahul Mhaskar

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cureus, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Madeline MacDonaldInternal Medicine, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, Tampa, USA.
Jessica T PhanInternal Medicine, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, Tampa, USA.
Liwei ChenMedical Education, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, Tampa, USA.
Taylor L JarvillPediatrics, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, Tampa, USA.
Stephanie YeeFamily Medicine, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, Tampa, USA.
Paul J WellsPsychiatry, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, Tampa, USA.
Rahul MhaskarInternal Medicine, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, Tampa, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Introduction There are more than 6,000 international medical mission trips that are conducted annually by United States medical teams. Successfully planning a medical mission trip relies on careful preparation. The objective of this study is to elucidate common chief concerns, diagnoses, and prescription patterns so that medical mission trip teams can effectively prepare for future medical mission trips in Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic, or similar international sites. Methods A retrospective chart review of 940 patient charts was conducted from two University of South Florida Latino Medical Student Association medical mission trips to Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic (DR) that took place during October 2017 and 2018. A coding system was utilized to categorize the data. The most common chief concerns, diagnoses, and medications prescribed were revealed. Findings were stratified further by age (<18 vs ≥18 years old) and sex. Results Our study reveals that 68.6% (n=597/870) of the patients were female and 59.2% (n=161/870) of males were under 18. The most common chief concerns were "cold/flu" (33.2%,n=289/870), gastrointestinal problems (20.3%, n=177/870), headache (20.0%, n=174/870), and musculoskeletal problems (12.0%, n=104/870). The most common diagnoses were viral syndrome (25.4%, n=221/870), presumed parasitic infection (16.9%, n=147/870), hypertension (12.6%, n=110/870), headache (10.6%, n=92/870), and musculoskeletal disorder (8.5%, n=74/870). The most frequently prescribed medications were acetaminophen (18.3%, n=291/1,587), albendazole (15.2%, n=241/1,587), nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (10.5%, n=166/1,587), antihistamines (6.1%, n=97/1,587), and antibiotics (5.9%, n=93/1,587). Conclusions Our study reveals potential areas for improvement of an annual, medical student-run medical mission trip to Jarabacoa, DR. Dedicated efforts should be made to address long-term management of chronic conditions identified or treated on medical mission trips. Community partnerships should be established to facilitate this. We hope this will encourage other medical mission trip teams to analyze their data in order to be more prepared for their trips.

Indexed as

global healthmedical mission tripmedical student

Identifiers

PMID33409088
PMCPMC7781550

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.