International Journal of Evidence-Based Healthcare

Completeness of intervention reporting in neurology randomized controlled trials: a retrospective, cross-sectional study
Roberts W, Beavers C, Jellison S and Vassar M
Incomplete reporting of interventions in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) may hinder the replicability of studies and thus lead to adverse clinical outcomes for patients. Currently, little is known about the completeness of intervention reporting in neurology clinical trials. This study's primary objective was to determine the completeness of intervention reporting in neurology RCTs, as measured by the Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR) checklist. The secondary objectives of this study were to compare the completeness of intervention reporting before and after TIDieR publication and to evaluate factors associated with intervention reporting.
Development of a novel patient focussed symptom severity index for use in assessing and treating inflammatory conditions of the lactating breast: a Delphi study
Cooper M, Lowe H and McArdle A
To investigate the content and face validity of a patient-reported outcome measure used by Australian physiotherapists in the assessment of inflammatory conditions of the lactating breast.
The Work Organisation Assessment Questionnaire: validation for use with community nurses and paramedics
Karimi L and Oakman J
The current study aimed to assess the suitability of the Work Organisation Assessment Questionnaire (WOAQ) for use in the healthcare sector, specifically for community nurses and paramedics. Community nurses and paramedics work in complex environments and are exposed to a range of psychosocial hazards linked with the development of musculoskeletal and mental health disorders. To reduce the incidence of these disorders, assessment and then control of psychosocial hazards is required. WOAQ addresses this need through an employee survey to identify key hazards, with the responses used to underpin a participative development of solutions.
Interventions to ensure medication safety in acute care: an umbrella review
Khalil H, Kynoch K and Hines S
Medication errors are one of the leading avoidable sources of harm to hospital patients. In hospitals, a range of interventions have been used to reduce the risk of errors at each of the points they may occur, such as prescription, dispensing and/or administration. Systematic reviews have been conducted on many of these interventions; however, it is difficult to compare the clinical utility of any of the separate interventions without the use of a rigorous umbrella review methodology.
Effect of respiratory muscle training session on ankle muscle activity in athletes with chronic low back pain performing overhead squats: a randomized controlled trial
Borujeni BG and Yalfani A
The current study was conducted to evaluate the effect of a respiratory muscle training session on ankle muscle activity in athletes with chronic low back pain performing overhead squats.
Intermittent iron supplementation for reducing anaemia and its associated impairments in adolescent and adult menstruating women
McLoughlin G
Splenectomy associated with increased risk of herpes zoster in a population-based cohort study
Lai SW, Lin CL and Liao KF
No systematic research focuses on the association between splenectomy and herpes zoster. This study aimed to investigate the association between splenectomy and herpes zoster in Taiwan.
The chameleon effect: adapting, advancing and aligning
Jordan Z
Patients' and physicians' perspectives and experiences on the quality of medical consultations: a qualitative study
Bahadori M, Yaghoubi M, Haghgoshyie E, Ghasemi M and Hasanpoor E
Medical consultation is not only one of the most important steps in disease diagnosis and patient treatment, but also every patient's right. The purpose of this review was to explore patients' and physicians' perspectives and experiences of the quality of medical consultations.
Dental care as a risk factor for transfusion transmissible infections in blood donors: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Borra V, Darius A, Dockx K, Compernolle V, Lambrechts P, Vandekerckhove P and De Buck E
The deferral policy for blood donation after dental care is based on the precautionary principle. The aim of this systematic review is to give an overview of the scientific evidence concerning the risk of transfusion transmissible infections (TTIs) after dental care.
Exploring the evidence-practice gap in the use of plain radiography for acute abdominal pain and intestinal obstruction: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Denham G, Smith T, James D, McKiernan S and Evans TJ
Previous studies, some dating back several decades, have recommended that the use of plain abdominal radiography should be curbed, particularly with the growth of more accurate imaging modalities. However, evidence from referral data suggests that plain abdominal radiography continues to be a commonly requested examination. The aim of this review was to explore the gap between evidence and practice by re-examining the evidence using a robust methodology, investigating the diagnostic accuracy of plain abdominal radiography.
Relationships between workload perception, burnout, and intent to leave among medical-surgical nurses
Phillips C
These are turbulent times for hospitals, patients, and nurses. Nurse turnover is a global issue across all specialties but are exacerbated in medical-surgical areas where high nurse-patient ratios, use of point-of-care technologies, and stressful working conditions require sufficient numbers of highly trained nurses. These workload factors are further exaggerated by the current nursing shortage. The current nursing shortage crisis makes nursing job conditions more important than ever to examine. Despite heavy emphasis on promoting healthy work environments, job satisfaction, and retention of nurses working in intensive care and emergency room settings, limited research is available about the workload perception, burnout, and intent to leave among medical-surgical nurses. This study aimed to describe the relationships between workload perception, burnout, and intent to leave among medical-surgical nurses at two teaching hospitals in Southeastern United States.
The Joanna Briggs Institute clinical fellowship program: a gateway opportunity for evidence-based quality improvement and organizational culture change
Lockwood C, Stannard D, Jordan Z and Porritt K
An evaluation of a training intervention to support the use of evidence in healthcare commissioning in England
Sabey A
Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in England are responsible for the health of their populations through the services they provide, yet we know that the use of evidence to inform commissioning decisions is low. A programme of training in seven CCGs in England was instigated in a joint piece of work by the National Institute for Health Research Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care and Academic Health Science Network in the West of England, to help build an evidence informed culture in commissioning.
Modelling management response and online reviews for improved financial performance of hospitals
Saha M, Jha JK and Maiti J
Hospitals are increasingly changing their online review strategy from active listening to proactive engagement to ensure proper responses to patients. Reviews of and responses from hospitals vary in different regions of the world, thereby the process of ranking of hospitals is bounded to a specific region. On the other hand, working conditions in public hospitals have been of great concern worldwide for healthcare personnel. Due to the poor review of a hospital, financial performance is gradually deteriorating, which leads to the migration of healthcare personnel from one hospital to another. This study investigates the combined effect of management responses and online reviews on the financial performance of hospitals by concentrating on three areas of concern. First, how variation in management responses, both within a hospital and on peer review sites, affects the motivation of healthcare personnel towards service and number of patients seeking services. Second, a cyclic link depicting interrelationships among four major domains, namely rating, management response, financial performance, and recommendation, has been presented. Third, a generic model is proposed to improve the performance of hospitals in each of the above domains, and analysis has been done to make the model region-specific. A case study on Indian hospitals is performed to depict the sufficiency of models. It is found that management intervention on social media should be strategic, and a higher average rating tends to mitigate the effect of negative responses.
Selecting the best meta-analytic estimator for evidence-based practice: a simulation study
Doi SAR and Furuya-Kanamori L
Studies included in meta-analysis can produce results that depart from the true population parameter of interest due to systematic and/or random errors. Synthesis of these results in meta-analysis aims to generate an estimate closer to the true population parameter by minimizing these errors across studies. The inverse variance heterogeneity (IVhet), quality effects and random effects models of meta-analysis all attempt to do this, but there remains controversy around the estimator that best achieves this goal of reducing error. In an attempt to answer this question, a simulation study was conducted to compare estimator performance. Five thousand iterations at 10 different levels of heterogeneity were run, with each iteration generating one meta-analysis. The results demonstrate that the IVhet and quality effects estimators, though biased, have the lowest mean squared error. These estimators also achieved a coverage probability at or above the nominal level (95%), whereas the coverage probability under the random effects estimator significantly declined (<80%) as heterogeneity increased despite a similar confidence interval width. Based on our findings, we would recommend the use of the IVhet and quality effects models and a discontinuation of traditional random effects models currently in use for meta-analysis.
Using patient self-checklist to improve the documentation of risk of postoperative nausea and vomiting: an implementation project
Zheng Z, Layton J, Stelmach W, Crabbe J, Ma J, Briedis J, Atme J, Bourne D, Hau R, Cleary S and Xue CC
Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is a common surgical complication, affecting 30-50% of patients and 80% in high risk populations. Successful prevention and management of PONV relies on accurately assessing individual risk prior to surgery. A valid and reliable Apfel score is commonly used to assess patients' risk. It is however challenging to translate this evidence into clinical practice. This evidence-based project aimed to identify the current practice of assessing and documenting the risk factors of PONV prior to surgery, and to develop strategies to improve the practice.
Effectiveness of interpretive front-of-pack nutritional labelling schemes on the promotion of healthier food choices: a systematic review
Feteira-Santos R, Fernandes J, Virgolino A, Alarcão V, Sena C, Vieira CP, Gregório MJ, Nogueira P, Costa A, Graça P and Santos O
Interpretive front-of-package nutrition labelling can contribute to healthier food habits. This systematic review aimed to examine the effectiveness of interpretive front-of-package nutrition labelling schemes on consumers' food choices, namely at the moment of food purchase, and to analyse if this potential front-of-package nutrition labelling's effect varies according to different socioeconomic groups.
Integrated physical and mental healthcare: an overview of models and their evaluation findings
Coates D, Coppleson D and Schmied V
Comorbid physical and mental health problems are common across the age spectrum. However, services addressing these health concerns are typically siloed and disconnected. Over the past 2 decades efforts have been made to design integrated services to address the physical and mental health needs of the population but little is known about the characteristics of effective integrated care models. The aim of the review was to map the design of integrated care initiatives/models and to describe how the models were evaluated and their evaluation findings.
Nursing documentation for chemotherapy in a university hospital's bone marrow transplant unit: a best practice implementation project
Dos Santos KB, Campos CS, de São José Perrone ACA, de Araújo Silva Vieira CM, Coelho DP, Hallack-Neto AE, Lockwood C and de Araújo Püschel VA
The aim of this evidence implementation project was to improve the documentation of chemotherapy administration by nursing staff in a bone marrow transplant unit, to improve patient care and safety, as well as meet the legal and educational responsibilities of the nursing staff.
Focus is the new intelligence quotient for evidence-based practice
Jordan Z