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BEME guide no. 3: systematic searching for evidence in medical education--part 2: constructing searches.

Searching for evidence to inform best practice in medical education is a complex undertaking. With very few information sources dedicated to medical education itself, one is forced to consult a wide range of often enormous sources-and these are dedicated to either medicine or education, making a medical education search all the more challenging. This guide provides a comprehensive overview of relevant information sources and methods (including bibliographic databases, grey literature, hand searching and the Internet) and describes when they should be consulted. The process of constructing a search is explained:identifying and combining core concepts, using Boolean algebra and search syntax, limiting results sets, and making best use of databases' controlled vocabularies. This process is illustrated with images from search screens and is followed by numerous examples designed to reinforce skills and concepts covered. The guide has been developed from the ongoing experience gained from the systematic searches conducted for the Best Evidence Medical Education Collaboration, and concludes by looking ahead to initiatives that will shape future searching for medical education evidence.

Abstracting and Indexing↗

The direct and indirect economic costs incurred by living kidney donors-a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Despite the many benefits of living donor kidney transplantation, economic consequences can result for donors. We reviewed studies which quantified the direct and indirect costs incurred by living kidney donors, in order to understand the strengths and limitations of existing literature. METHODS: We identified relevant studies in MEDLINE, EMBASE and ECONOLIT bibliographic databases, in the Science Citation Index and study reference lists. Any study which reported at least one cost relevant to donors was included. The accuracy of abstracted data was verified by two reviewers and reported in year 2004 US dollars. RESULTS: Thirty-five studies from 12 countries described costs incurred by individuals who donated between the years 1964 and 2003. No study comprehensively quantified all relevant expenses-the sum of select costs considered in one US study averaged Dollars 837 per donor and ranged from Dollars 0 to 28,906. Travel and/or accommodation costs were incurred by 9-99% of donors, and were higher in countries with a larger land mass. Post-discharge analgesics were required by 4-24% of donors, but prescription costs were not reported. Between 14 and 30% of donors incurred costs for lost income, with an average loss of Dollars 3386 in one study from the UK and Dollars 682 in another study from the Netherlands. Costs for dependent care were incurred by 9-44% of donors, while costs for domestic help were incurred by 8% of donors. CONCLUSIONS: Donors incur many types of costs attributable to kidney donation and the total costs are certainly higher than previously reported. To guide informed consent and fair reimbursement policies, further data on all relevant costs, preferably from a detailed prospective multi-centre cohort study, are required.

Compensation and Redress↗

Readiness of U.S. nurses for evidence-based practice.

Evidence-based practice is a systematic approach to problem solving for health care providers, including RNs, characterized by the use of the best evidence currently available for clinical decision making, in order to provide the most consistent and best possible care to patients. Are RNs in the United States prepared to engage in this process? This study examines nurses' perceptions of their access to tools with which to obtain evidence and whether they have the skills to do so. Using a stratified random sample of 3,000 RNs across the United States, 1,097 nurses (37%) responded to the 93-item questionnaire. Seven hundred sixty respondents (77% of those who were employed at the time of the survey) worked in clinical settings and are the focus of this article. Although these nurses acknowledge that they frequently need information for practice, they feel much more confident asking colleagues or peers and searching the Internet and World Wide Web than they do using bibliographic databases such as PubMed or CINAHL to find specific information. They don't understand or value research and have received little or no training in the use of tools that would help them find evidence on which to base their practice. Implications for nursing and nursing education are discussed.

Adult↗

Economic evaluations in the critical care literature: do they help us improve the efficiency of our unit?

OBJECTIVE: To determine the extent to which economic evaluations published in the critical care literature provide information that can help us to improve the efficiency of our unit. DATA SOURCES: We searched computerized bibliographic databases and manually searched key critical care journals to retrieve all economic evaluations. STUDY SELECTION: We included economic evaluations that dealt with clinical problems relevant to the practice of adult critical care and that compared competing healthcare interventions. DATA ABSTRACTION: Included articles were further evaluated using criteria for minimal methodologic soundness, adopted from the literature, and criteria that we developed to assess the generalizability of results to our clinical setting. DATA SYNTHESIS: We screened 4,167 papers manually and > 450 abstracts and titles in our computer search. One hundred fifty-one papers were retrieved for further evaluation; 29 papers met our inclusion criteria. Of these 29 papers, only 14 (48%) adequately described competing healthcare interventions, 17 (59%) provided sufficient evidence of clinical efficacy, six (21%) identified, measured, and valuated costs appropriately, and three (10%) performed a sensitivity analysis. None of the papers met all four of these criteria for a minimum level of methodologic soundness. Four (14%) of 29 studies which adequately dealt with issues of cost and efficacy were evaluated using our generalizability criteria. Different costing methods precluded the application of the results of three of the four studies to our intensive care unit. CONCLUSIONS: In the critical care literature, very little useful economic information exists to help decision-makers maximize efficiency in their own setting.

Adult↗

The prevalence of low back pain in the elderly. A systematic review of the literature.

STUDY DESIGN: The prevalence of low back pain in the older population (> = or 65 years) was reviewed in an analysis of the literature from 1966 to the present. OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of low back pain in the geriatric population. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Back pain is one of the most frequently reported conditions affecting the adult population. However, the prevalence of low back pain in the older age population is not accurately known. METHODS: A methodologic search of five computerized bibliographic databases was performed to identify citations on the prevalence of low back pain in the elderly. Data were summarized, and prevalence studies were critically appraised in detail for their quality. RESULTS: There is wide variability in the reported prevalence of back pain. Many factors have been proposed to explain these findings including sample source, study design, definitions of back pain, and use of patient-reported data. Comorbidity among older patients also contributes to the variability in the reporting of prevalence of back pain. CONCLUSION: There is an under-representation of the older population in the back pain literature. The data in the current study suggest that the prevalence of low back pain in this population is not known with certainty and is not comparable with that in the younger population. The authors stress the need for future studies to improve the reporting of age information to make prevalence studies more informative and applicable.

Aged↗

A critical appraisal of review articles on the effectiveness of conservative treatment for neck pain.

STUDY DESIGN: A criteria-based appraisal of review articles on neck pain. OBJECTIVES: To assess the methodologic quality, conclusions, and extent of concordance among reviews on the conservative treatment of neck disorders. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: During the past decades there has been an increasing interest in summarizing and analyzing the available evidence on the effectiveness of conservative management of neck pain. Considering the growing number and quality of reviews, consumers may question which reviews to read and believe. METHODS: Computerized bibliographic databases were searched without language restriction. The reviews assessed had been published before January 1998, included neck pain and evaluated conservative therapies, and reported at least one controlled clinical trial. Identification, selection, and quality assessment were performed independently by two investigators. RESULTS: Of the 108 identified articles, 25 review articles were selected, of which 12 were systematic reviews. The reviews differed in their reporting of study population, interventions, and outcomes. Statistical pooling was performed in two high-quality systematic reviews, whereas in other reviews, the investigators explicitly decided not to pool data. The results of the current study show that the concordance among reviews varied. Regarding manipulation and traction, there is inconclusive evidence among reviews. Concordance regarding the effectiveness of other conservative interventions was absent. Many of the reviews displayed major methodologic flaws. CONCLUSIONS: Consumers should consider reports of reviews both carefully and critically, given the wide variety of review methodology, descriptive information, and final conclusions. There is a paucity of evidence from primary studies on neck pain. Therefore, more research is needed to allow systematic reviews to formulate stronger conclusions.

Databases, Bibliographic↗

Developing methods for systematic reviewing in health services delivery and organization: an example from a review of access to health care for people with learning disabilities. Part 1. Identifying the literature.

OBJECTIVES: Our objectives were to identify literature on: (i) theory, evidence and gaps in knowledge relating to the help-seeking behaviour of people with learning disabilities and their carers; (ii) barriers experienced by people with learning disabilities in securing access to the full range of health services; (iii) interventions which improve access to health services by people with learning disabilities. DATA SOURCES: twenty-eight bibliographic databases, research registers, organizational websites or library catalogues; reference lists from identified studies; contact with experts; current awareness and contents alerting services in the area of learning disabilities. REVIEW METHODS: Inclusion criteria were English language literature from 1980 onwards, relating to people with learning disabilities of any age and all study designs. The main criteria for assessment was relevance to the Guilliford et al. model of access to health care (Gulliford et al. Access to health care. Report of a Scoping Exercise for the National Co-ordinating Centre for NHS Service Delivery and Organisation R & D (NCCSDO). London: NCCSDO, 2001), which was modified to the special needs of people with learning disabilities. Inclusion criteria focused on relevance to the model with initial criteria revised in light of literature identified and comments from a consultation exercise with people with learning disabilities, family and paid carers and experts in the field. Data abstraction was completed independently and selected studies were evaluated for scientific rigour and the results synthesized. RESULTS: In total, 2221 items were identified as potentially relevant and 82 studies fully evaluated. CONCLUSIONS: The process of identifying relevant literature was characterized by a process of clarifying the concept under investigation and sensitive search techniques which led to an initial over-identification of non-relevant records from database searches. Thesaurus terms were of limited value, forcing a reliance on using free-text terms and alternative methods of identifying literature to supplement and improve the recall of the database searches. A key enabler in identifying relevant literature was the depth and breadth of knowledge built up by the reviewers whilst engaged in this process.

Databases, Bibliographic↗

Developing methods for systematic reviewing in health services delivery and organization: an example from a review of access to health care for people with learning disabilities. Part 2. Evaluation of the literature--a practical guide.

OBJECTIVES: To develop methods to facilitate the 'systematic' review of evidence from a range of methodologies on diffuse or 'soft' topics, as exemplified by 'access to health care'. DATA SOURCES: Twenty-eight bibliographic databases, research registers, organizational websites or library catalogues. Reference lists from identified studies. Contact with experts and service users. Current awareness and contents alerting services in the area of learning disabilities. REVIEW METHODS: Inclusion criteria were English language literature from 1980 onwards, relating to people with learning disabilities of any age and all study designs. The main criteria for assessment was relevance to Guillifords' model of access to health care which was adapted to the circumstances of people with learning disabilities. Selected studies were evaluated for scientific rigour then data was extracted and the results synthesized. Quality assessment was by an initial set of 'generic' quality indicators. This enabled further evidence selection before evaluation of findings according to specific criteria for qualitative, quantitative or mixed-method studies. RESULTS: Eighty-two studies were fully evaluated. Five studies were rated 'highly rigorous', 22 'rigorous', 46 'less rigorous' and nine 'poor' papers were retained as the sole evidence covering aspects of the guiding model. The majority of studies were quantitative but used only descriptive statistics. Most evidence lacked methodological detail, which often lowered final quality ratings. CONCLUSIONS: The application of a consistent structure to quality evaluation can facilitate data appraisal, extraction and synthesis across a range of methodologies in diffuse or 'soft' topics. Synthesis can be facilitated further by using software, such as the microsoft 'access' database, for managing information.

Adult↗

Publishing trends in Chinese medicine and related subjects documented in WorldCat.

BACKGROUND: Chinese medicine (CM) has been the subject of increasing interest in the past 30 years, both as a discipline and in the larger context of alternative medicine. It has steadily been accepted by and integrated into the medical and health-care fields in many countries. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to gain an overview of how CM has been interpreted and presented to the world outside China and to identify emerging trends. METHODS: This study is designed to analyse the publishing trends of CM and related subjects in all languages except Chinese, ranging from books and serials to audio-visual and electronic resources found in WorldCat, the world's largest bibliographic database produced by OnLine Computer Library Center (OCLC). RESULTS: The findings showed a flourishing growth of publications in CM and related subjects beginning in the 1970s with greater coverage on acupuncture. The materials in English language constitute the major portion of total output. CONCLUSION: We conclude that Chinese medicine has steadily gained recognition in the world based on the analysis of publication records. The translation of original works and analysis of journal literature and conference proceedings on Chinese medicine merit further study.

Acupuncture↗

Best paediatric evidence; is it accessible and used on-call?

BACKGROUND: Paediatricians wanting to use evidence based medicine (EBM) strategies, need to be able to track down and critically appraise evidence. This requires access to quality filtered resources (for example, Cochrane Library), bibliographic databases (for example, Medline), and paediatric journals. AIMS: To determine whether paediatricians have access to these resources when on-call and if they use them to answer clinical questions. METHOD: A telephone survey of paediatric and neonatal units was performed during November 2001. The "paediatrician-on-call" was asked whether they could access Medline, Cochrane, and paediatric journals, and if they used these when on-call. RESULTS: Paediatric trainees were available in 87 of the 97 units contacted. All except one had access to Medline; although only 56 (64%) could do this near their ward. Eighty had access to Cochrane. Thirteen (15%) could not gain access to their library out-of-hours. All except one department had local guidelines, with 71% having >15 guidelines. Access to any of the top seven "best evidence" paediatric journals varied from 64% to 100%. Only 26% of trainees had read the evidence based section of Archives of Disease of Childhood, Archimedes. Many trainees claimed to use guidelines when on-call (61; 70%), but few used Medline (14; 16%). CONCLUSIONS: Paediatric trainees mostly have access to facilities to help them to track down and critically appraise evidence. However, few of them have used it to help make clinical decisions when on-call. Many of the doctors contacted said they used local guidelines as their source of information on-call.

Child↗

Promoting the online use of radiology appropriateness criteria.

Radiology appropriateness criteria and practice guidelines seek to promote the cost-effective use of radiology procedures and interventions and can be most useful when integrated with electronic patient records and order-entry systems. The task of translating practice guidelines into computer-based formats can highlight deficiencies and lead to revisions that make them more useful. Computer-based practice guidelines can include additional didactic material, such as images, videos, sounds, simulations, and links to bibliographic databases. Given patient data, information systems can select the most appropriate intervention automatically; some systems can function autonomously. Knowledge representation schemes can make appropriateness criteria available across a wide variety of computer platforms. Internet-based tools can allow developers to collaborate across an institution or around the globe. Information systems can bring appropriateness criteria to physicians at the point of care. The use of standardized approaches is important to ensure that appropriateness criteria reach the broadest possible audience and that such efforts can be incorporated easily into automated systems.

Artificial Intelligence↗

A quarter-long exercise that introduces general education students to neurophysiology and scientific writing.

Providing large numbers of general education students with an introduction to science is a challenge. To meet this challenge, a quarter-long neurophysiology project was developed for use in an introductory biology course. The primary goals of this multistep project were to introduce students to the scientific method, scientific writing, on-line scientific bibliographic databases, and the scientific literature, while improving their academic literacy skills. Students began by collecting data on their own circadian rhythms in autonomic, motor, and cognitive function, reliably demonstrating the predicted circadian changes in heart rate, eye-hand coordination, and adding speed. Students wrote a journal-style article using pooled class data. Students were prepared to write the paper by several methods that were designed to improve academic language skills, including a library training exercise, "modeling" of the writing assignment, and drafting of subsections of the paper. This multistep neurophysiology project represents a significant commitment of time by both students and instructors, but produces a valuable finished product and ideally gives introductory students a positive first experience with science.

Circadian Rhythm↗

[The Spanish version of the Short Form 36 Health Survey: a decade of experience and new developments].

OBJECTIVE: The Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) is one of the most widely used and evaluated generic health-related quality of life (HRQL) questionnaires. After almost a decade of use in Spain, the present article critically reviews the content and metric properties of the Spanish version, as well as its new developments. METHODS: A review of indexed articles that used the Spanish version of the SF-36 was performed in Medline (PubMed), the Spanish bibliographic databases IBECS and IME. Articles that provided information on the measurement model, reliability, validity, and responsiveness to change of the instrument were selected. RESULTS: Seventy-nine articles were found, of which 17 evaluated the metric characteristics of the questionnaire. The reliability of the SF-36 scales was higher than the suggested standard (Cronbach's alpha) of 0.7 in 96% of the evaluations. Grouped evaluations obtained by meta-analysis were higher than 0.7 in all cases. The SF-36 showed good discrimination among severity groups, moderate correlations with clinical indicators, and high correlations with other HRQL instruments. Moreover, questionnaire scores predicted mortality and were able to detect improvement due to therapeutic interventions such as coronary angioplasty, benign prostatic hyperplasia surgery, and non-invasive positive pressure home ventilation. The new developments (norm-based scoring, version 2, the SF-12 and SF-8) improved both the metric properties and interpretation of the questionnaire. CONCLUSIONS: The Spanish version of the SF-36 and its recently developed versions is a suitable instrument for use in medical research, as well as in clinical practice.

Attitude to Health↗

A simplified search strategy for identifying randomised controlled trials for systematic reviews of health care interventions: a comparison with more exhaustive strategies.

BACKGROUND: It is generally believed that exhaustive searches of bibliographic databases are needed for systematic reviews of health care interventions. The CENTRAL database of controlled trials (RCTs) has been built up by exhaustive searching. The CONSORT statement aims to encourage better reporting, and hence indexing, of RCTs. Our aim was to assess whether developments in the CENTRAL database, and the CONSORT statement, mean that a simplified RCT search strategy for identifying RCTs now suffices for systematic reviews of health care interventions. METHODS: RCTs used in the Cochrane reviews were identified. A brief RCT search strategy (BRSS), consisting of a search of CENTRAL, and then for variants of the word random across all fields (random$.af.) in MEDLINE and EMBASE, was devised and run. Any trials included in the meta-analyses, but missed by the BRSS, were identified. The meta-analyses were then re-run, with and without the missed RCTs, and the differences quantified. The proportion of trials with variants of the word random in the title or abstract was calculated for each year. The number of RCTs retrieved by searching with "random$.af." was compared to the highly sensitive search strategy (HSSS). RESULTS: The BRSS had a sensitivity of 94%. It found all journal RCTs in 47 of the 57 reviews. The missing RCTs made some significant differences to a small proportion of the total outcomes in only five reviews, but no important differences in conclusions resulted. In the post-CONSORT years, 1997-2003, the percentage of RCTs with random in the title or abstract was 85%, a mean increase of 17% compared to the seven years pre-CONSORT (95% CI, 8.3% to 25.9%). The search using random$.af. reduced the MEDLINE retrieval by 84%, compared to the HSSS, thereby reducing the workload of checking retrievals. CONCLUSION: A brief RCT search strategy is now sufficient to locate RCTs for systematic reviews in most cases. Exhaustive searching is no longer cost-effective, because in effect it has already been done for CENTRAL.

Abstracting and Indexing↗

Pulsed electromagnetic energy treatment offers no clinical benefit in reducing the pain of knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: The rehabilitation of knee osteoarthritis often includes electrotherapeutic modalities as well as advice and exercise. One commonly used modality is pulsed electromagnetic field therapy (PEMF). PEMF uses electro magnetically generated fields to promote tissue repair and healing rates. Its equivocal benefit over placebo treatment has been previously suggested however recently a number of randomised controlled trials have been published that have allowed a systematic review to be conducted. METHODS: A systematic review of the literature from 1966 to 2005 was undertaken. Relevant computerised bibliographic databases were searched and papers reviewed independently by two reviewers for quality using validated criteria for assessment. The key outcomes of pain and functional disability were analysed with weighted and standardised mean differences being calculated. RESULTS: Five randomised controlled trials comparing PEMF with placebo were identified. The weighted mean differences of the five papers for improvement in pain and function, were small and their 95% confidence intervals included the null. CONCLUSION: This systematic review provides further evidence that PEMF has little value in the management of knee osteoarthritis. There appears to be clear evidence for the recommendation that PEMF does not significantly reduce the pain of knee osteoarthritis.

Adult↗

An overview of the design and methods for retrieving high-quality studies for clinical care.

BACKGROUND: With the information explosion, the retrieval of the best clinical evidence from large, general purpose, bibliographic databases such as MEDLINE can be difficult. Both researchers conducting systematic reviews and clinicians faced with a patient care question are confronted with the daunting task of searching for the best medical literature in electronic databases. Many have advocated the use of search filters or "hedges" to assist with the searching process. The purpose of this report is to describe the design and methods of a study that set out to develop optimal search strategies for retrieving sound clinical studies of health disorders in large electronics databases. OBJECTIVE: To describe the design and methods of a study that set out to develop optimal search strategies for retrieving sound clinical studies of health disorders in large electronic databases. DESIGN: An analytic survey comparing hand searches of 170 journals in the year 2000 with retrievals from MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and PsycINFO for candidate search terms and combinations. The sensitivity, specificity, precision, and accuracy of unique search terms and combinations of search terms were calculated. CONCLUSION: A study design modeled after a diagnostic testing procedure with a gold standard (the hand search of the literature) and a test (the search terms) is an effective way of developing, testing, and validating search strategies for use in large electronic databases.

Databases, Bibliographic↗

A MEDLINE categorization algorithm.

BACKGROUND: Categorization is designed to enhance resource description by organizing content description so as to enable the reader to grasp quickly and easily what are the main topics discussed in it. The objective of this work is to propose a categorization algorithm to classify a set of scientific articles indexed with the MeSH thesaurus, and in particular those of the MEDLINE bibliographic database. In a large bibliographic database such as MEDLINE, finding materials of particular interest to a specialty group, or relevant to a particular audience, can be difficult. The categorization refines the retrieval of indexed material. In the CISMeF terminology, metaterms can be considered as super-concepts. They were primarily conceived to improve recall in the CISMeF quality-controlled health gateway. METHODS: The MEDLINE categorization algorithm (MCA) is based on semantic links existing between MeSH terms and metaterms on the one hand and between MeSH subheadings and metaterms on the other hand. These links are used to automatically infer a list of metaterms from any MeSH term/subheading indexing. Medical librarians manually select the semantic links. RESULTS: The MEDLINE categorization algorithm lists the medical specialties relevant to a MEDLINE file by decreasing order of their importance. The MEDLINE categorization algorithm is available on a Web site. It can run on any MEDLINE file in a batch mode. As an example, the top 3 medical specialties for the set of 60 articles published in BioMed Central Medical Informatics & Decision Making, which are currently indexed in MEDLINE are: information science, organization and administration and medical informatics. CONCLUSION: We have presented a MEDLINE categorization algorithm in order to classify the medical specialties addressed in any MEDLINE file in the form of a ranked list of relevant specialties. The categorization method introduced in this paper is based on the manual indexing of resources with MeSH (terms/subheadings) pairs by NLM indexers. This algorithm may be used as a new bibliometric tool.

Abstracting and Indexing↗

Optimal search strategies for detecting cost and economic studies in EMBASE.

BACKGROUND: Economic evaluations in the medical literature compare competing diagnosis or treatment methods for their use of resources and their expected outcomes. The best evidence currently available from research regarding both cost and economic comparisons will continue to expand as this type of information becomes more important in today's clinical practice. Researchers and clinicians need quick, reliable ways to access this information. A key source of this type of information is large bibliographic databases such as EMBASE. The objective of this study was to develop search strategies that optimize the retrieval of health costs and economics studies from EMBASE. METHODS: We conducted an analytic survey, comparing hand searches of journals with retrievals from EMBASE for candidate search terms and combinations. 6 research assistants read all issues of 55 journals indexed by EMBASE for the publishing year 2000. We rated all articles using purpose and quality indicators and categorized them into clinically relevant original studies, review articles, general papers, or case reports. The original and review articles were then categorized for purpose (i.e., cost and economics and other clinical topics) and depending on the purpose as 'pass' or 'fail' for methodologic rigor. Candidate search strategies were developed for economic and cost studies, then run in the 55 EMBASE journals, the retrievals being compared with the hand search data. The sensitivity, specificity, precision, and accuracy of the search strategies were calculated. RESULTS: Combinations of search terms for detecting both cost and economic studies attained levels of 100% sensitivity with specificity levels of 92.9% and 92.3% respectively. When maximizing for both sensitivity and specificity, the combination of terms for detecting cost studies (sensitivity) increased 2.2% over the single term but at a slight decrease in specificity of 0.9%. The maximized combination of terms for economic studies saw no change in sensitivity from the single term and only a 0.1% increase in specificity. CONCLUSION: Selected terms have excellent performance in the retrieval of studies of health costs and economics from EMBASE.

Data Collection↗