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Twitter has emerged as a significant communication platform at urological meetings. Use increased dramatically between 2012 and 2013. Urologists have increasingly led this discussion with an increased focus on data arising from meeting proceedings. This adjunct to traditional meeting activity merits the attention of urologists and the professional associations that host such meetings.

ObjectiveTo understand the attitudes and practices of urologists regarding social media use. Social media services have become ubiquitous, but their role in the context of medical practice is underappreciated. Subjects and MethodsA survey was sent to all active members of the Canadian Urological Association by e-mail and surface mail. Likert scales were used to assess engagement in social media, as well as attitudes toward physician responsibilities, privacy concerns and patient interaction online. ResultsOf 504 surveys delivered, 229 were completed (45.4%). Urologists reported frequent or daily personal and professional social media use in 26% and 8% of cases, respectively. There were no differences between paper (n = 103) or online (n = 126; P > 0.05) submissions. Among frequent social media users, YouTube™ (86%), Facebook™ (76%), and Twitter™ (41%) were most commonly used; 12% post content or links frequently to these sites. The most common perceived roles of social media in health care were for inter-professional communication (67%) or as a simple information repository (59%); online patient interaction was endorsed by 14% of urologists. Fewer than 19% had read published guidelines for online patient interaction, and ≤64% were unaware of their existence. In all, 94.6% agreed that physicians need to exercise caution personal social media posting, although 57% felt that medical regulatory bodies should 'stay out of [their] personal social media activities' , especially those in practice <10 years (P = 0.001). In all, 56% agreed that social media integration in medical practice will be 'impossible' due to privacy and boundary issues; 73% felt that online interaction with patients would become unavoidable in the future, especially those in practice >20 years (P = 0.02). ConclusionPracticing urologists engage infrequently in social media activities, and are almost universal in avoiding social media for professional use. Most feel that social media is best kept to exchanges between colleagues. Emerging data suggest an increasing involvement is likely in the continuing professional development space.

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Context: Disease-specific registries that enroll a considerable number of patients play a major role in prostate cancer (PCa) research. Objective: To evaluate available registries, describe their strengths and limitations, and discuss the potential future role of PCa registries in outcomes research. Evidence acquisition: We performed a literature review of the Medline, Embase, and Web of Science databases. The search strategy included the terms prostate cancer, outcomes, statistical approaches, population-based cohorts, registries of outcomes, and epidemiological studies, alone or in combination. We limited our search to studies published between January 2005 and January 2015. Evidence synthesis: Several population-based and prospective disease-specific registries are currently available for prostate cancer. Studies performed using these data sources provide important information on incidence and mortality, disease characteristics at presentation, risk factors, trends in utilization of health care services, disparities in access to treatment, quality of care, long-term oncologic and health-related quality of life outcomes, and costs associated with management of the disease. Although data from these registries have some limitations, statistical methods are available that can address certain biases and increase the internal and external validity of such analyses. In the future, improvements in data quality, collection of tissue samples, and the availability of data feedback to health care providers will increase the relevance of studies built on population-based and disease-specific registries. Conclusions: The strengths and limitations of PCa registries should be carefully considered when planning studies using these databases. Although randomized controlled trials still provide the highest level of evidence, large registries play an important and growing role in advancing PCa research and care. Patient summary: Several population-based and prospective disease-specific registries for prostate cancer are currently available. Analyses of data from these registries yield information that is clinically relevant for the management of patients with prostate cancer.

Renal cell carcinoma is more prevalent in patients with renal transplantation than the general population, although the subtype distribution differs. Excellent survival is seen at more than 6 years after treatment.

Cite as: Can Urol Assoc J 2014;8(5-6):e398-412. http://dx