Explanation and elaboration of the SQUIRE (Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence) Guidelines, V.2.0: examples of SQUIRE elements in the healthcare improvement literature.

PubMed

Goodman, Daisy; Ogrinc, Greg; Davies, Louise; Baker, G Ross; Barnsteiner, Jane; Foster, Tina C; Gali, Kari; Hilden, Joanne; Horwitz, Leora; Kaplan, Heather C; Leis, Jerome; Matulis, John C; Michie, Susan; Miltner, Rebecca; Neily, Julia; Nelson, William A; Niedner, Matthew; Oliver, Brant; Rutman, Lori; Thomson, Richard; Thor, Johan

2016-12-01

Since its publication in 2008, SQUIRE (Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence) has contributed to the completeness and transparency of reporting of quality improvement work, providing guidance to authors and reviewers of reports on healthcare improvement work. In the interim, enormous growth has occurred in understanding factors that influence the success, and failure, of healthcare improvement efforts. Progress has been particularly strong in three areas: the understanding of the theoretical basis for improvement work; the impact of contextual factors on outcomes; and the development of methodologies for studying improvement work. Consequently, there is now a need to revise the original publication guidelines. To reflect the breadth of knowledge and experience in the field, we solicited input from a wide variety of authors, editors and improvement professionals during the guideline revision process. This Explanation and Elaboration document (E&E) is a companion to the revised SQUIRE guidelines, SQUIRE 2.0. The product of collaboration by an international and interprofessional group of authors, this document provides examples from the published literature, and an explanation of how each reflects the intent of a specific item in SQUIRE. The purpose of the guidelines is to assist authors in writing clearly, precisely and completely about systematic efforts to improve the quality, safety and value of healthcare services. Authors can explore the SQUIRE statement, this E&E and related documents in detail at http://www.squire-statement.org. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Introducing the new BTS Guideline: Management of non-tuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease (NTM-PD).

PubMed

Haworth, Charles S; Floto, R Andres

2017-11-01

The new BTS Guidelines for the management of non-tuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease combine the best available evidence with expert consensus to generate a set of pragmatic Guidelines, published as a supplement to this issue of Thorax, to assist in the management of these challenging infections. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Scientific authorship. Part 2. History, recurring issues, practices, and guidelines.

PubMed

Claxton, Larry D

2005-01-01

One challenge for most scientists is avoiding and resolving issues that center around authorship and the publishing of scientific manuscripts. While trying to place the research in proper context, impart new knowledge, follow proper guidelines, and publish in the most appropriate journal, the scientist often must deal with multi-collaborator issues like authorship allocation, trust and dependence, and resolution of publication conflicts. Most guidelines regarding publications, commentaries, and editorials have evolved from the ranks of editors in an effort to diminish the issues that faced them as editors. For example, the Ingelfinger rule attempts to prevent duplicate publications of the same study. This paper provides a historical overview of commonly encountered scientific authorship issues, a comparison of opinions on these issues, and the influence of various organizations and guidelines in regards to these issues. For example, a number of organizations provide guidelines for author allocation; however, a comparison shows that these guidelines differ on who should be an author, rules for ordering authors, and the level of responsibility for coauthors. Needs that emerge from this review are (a) a need for more controlled studies on authorship issues, (b) an increased awareness and a buy-in to consensus views by non-editor groups, e.g., managers, authors, reviewers, and scientific societies, and (c) a need for editors to express a greater understanding of authors' dilemmas and to exhibit greater flexibility. Also needed are occasions (e.g., an international congress) when editors and others (managers, authors, etc.) can directly exchange views, develop consensus approaches and solutions, and seek agreement on how to resolve authorship issues. Open dialogue is healthy, and it is essential for scientific integrity to be protected so that younger scientists can confidently follow the lead of their predecessors.

A Systematic Literature Review on Evaluation of Digital Tools for Authoring Evidence-Based Clinical Guidelines.

PubMed

Khodambashi, Soudabeh; Nytrø, Øystein

2017-01-01

To facilitate the clinical guideline (GL) development process, different groups of researchers have proposed tools that enable computer-supported tools for authoring and publishing GLs. In a previous study we interviewed GL authors in different Norwegian institutions and identified tool shortcomings. In this follow-up study our goal is to explore to what extent GL authoring tools have been evaluated by researchers, guideline organisations, or GL authors. This article presents results from a systematic literature review of evaluation (including usability) of GL authoring tools. A controlled database search and backward snow-balling were used to identify relevant articles. From the 12692 abstracts found, 188 papers were fully reviewed and 26 papers were identified as relevant. The GRADEPro tool has attracted some evaluation, however popular tools and platforms such as DECIDE, Doctor Evidence, JBI-SUMARI, G-I-N library have not been subject to specific evaluation from an authoring perspective. Therefore, we found that little attention was paid to the evaluation of the tools in general. We could not find any evaluation relevant to how tools integrate and support the complex GL development workflow. The results of this paper are highly relevant to GL authors, tool developers and GL publishing organisations in order to improve and control the GL development and maintenance process.

Evaluating Industry Payments Among Dermatology Clinical Practice Guidelines Authors.

PubMed

Checketts, Jake X; Sims, Matthew Thomas; Vassar, Matt

2017-12-01

It is well documented that financial conflicts of interest influence medical research and clinical practice. Prior to the Open Payments provisions of the Affordable Care Act, financial ties became apparent only through self-disclosure. The nature of financial interests has not been studied among physicians who develop dermatology clinical practice guidelines. To evaluate payments received by physicians who author dermatology clinical practice guidelines, compare disclosure statements for accuracy, determine whether pharmaceutical companies from which the authors received payments manufactured products related to the guidelines, and examine the extent to which the American Academy of Dermatology enforced their Administrative Regulations for guideline development. Three American Academy of Dermatology guidelines published from 2013 to 2016 were retrieved. Double data extraction was used to record financial payments received by 49 guideline authors using the Open Payments database. Payments received by the authors from the date of the initial literature search to the date of publication were used to evaluate disclosure statement accuracy, detail the companies providing payments, and evaluate Administrative Regulations enforcement. This study is applicable to clinical practice guideline panels drafting recommendations, physicians using clinical practice guidelines to inform patient care, and those establishing policies for guideline development. Our main outcomes are the monetary values and types of payments received by physicians who author dermatology guidelines and the accuracy of disclosure statements. Data were collected from the Open Payments database and analyzed descriptively. Of the 49 authors evaluated, 40 received at least 1 reported industry payment, 31 accepted more than $1000, 25 accepted more than $10 000, and 18 accepted more than $50 000. Financial payments amounted to a mean of $157 177 per author. The total reimbursement among the 49 authors from 2013 to 2015 was $7 701 681. Of the 40 authors receiving payments, 22 did not accurately disclose industry relationships. Authors received payments from companies with products directly related to the guideline topic. Violations to the Administrative Regulations were found. Dermatology clinical practice guideline authors received sizable industry payments and did not completely disclose these payments. The American Academy of Dermatology policies may benefit from stricter enforcement or the adoption of new standards.

Prudent use guidelines: a review of existing veterinary guidelines.

PubMed

Teale, C J; Moulin, G

2012-04-01

The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) TerrestrialAnimal Health Code considers the prudent use of antimicrobial agents in veterinary medicine to comprise a series of practical measures and recommendations which confer benefits to animal and public health while preserving and maintaining the therapeutic efficacy of antimicrobials. This paper reviews some of the main veterinary prudent use guidelines which have been published in English and the responsibilities of those involved at all levels in the administration of antimicrobials to animals, including national regulatory authorities. The OIE guidelines are considered comprehensive and cover all of those levels, from regulatory authorities to veterinarians and food producers. Guidelines produced by national authorities, professional veterinary associations or farming associations and which are targeted at particular individuals, for example veterinarians or food animal producers, will, obviously, restrict their coverage to those aspects considered relevant for their target audience.

[Formulation of guidelines for microscopic endodontics suitable for the situation of China].

PubMed

Ling, J Q

2016-08-01

In order to promote the use of dental operating microscope in endodontics, Society of Cariology and Endodontology of Chinese Stomatological Association formulated these guidelines, after extensive consultation with related authorities and careful reference to the available published materials and literatures. It is hoped that these guidelines will be useful for dental practitioners embarking on microscopic endodontics.

Setting Global Standards for Stem Cell Research and Clinical Translation: The 2016 ISSCR Guidelines.

PubMed

Daley, George Q; Hyun, Insoo; Apperley, Jane F; Barker, Roger A; Benvenisty, Nissim; Bredenoord, Annelien L; Breuer, Christopher K; Caulfield, Timothy; Cedars, Marcelle I; Frey-Vasconcells, Joyce; Heslop, Helen E; Jin, Ying; Lee, Richard T; McCabe, Christopher; Munsie, Megan; Murry, Charles E; Piantadosi, Steven; Rao, Mahendra; Rooke, Heather M; Sipp, Douglas; Studer, Lorenz; Sugarman, Jeremy; Takahashi, Masayo; Zimmerman, Mark; Kimmelman, Jonathan

2016-06-14

The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) presents its 2016 Guidelines for Stem Cell Research and Clinical Translation (ISSCR, 2016). The 2016 guidelines reflect the revision and extension of two past sets of guidelines (ISSCR, 2006; ISSCR, 2008) to address new and emerging areas of stem cell discovery and application and evolving ethical, social, and policy challenges. These guidelines provide an integrated set of principles and best practices to drive progress in basic, translational, and clinical research. The guidelines demand rigor, oversight, and transparency in all aspects of practice, providing confidence to practitioners and public alike that stem cell science can proceed efficiently and remain responsive to public and patient interests. Here, we highlight key elements and recommendations in the guidelines and summarize the recommendations and deliberations behind them. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

MASCC/ISOO clinical practice guidelines for the management of mucositis secondary to cancer therapy.

PubMed

Lalla, Rajesh V; Bowen, Joanne; Barasch, Andrei; Elting, Linda; Epstein, Joel; Keefe, Dorothy M; McGuire, Deborah B; Migliorati, Cesar; Nicolatou-Galitis, Ourania; Peterson, Douglas E; Raber-Durlacher, Judith E; Sonis, Stephen T; Elad, Sharon

2014-05-15

Mucositis is a highly significant, and sometimes dose-limiting, toxicity of cancer therapy. The goal of this systematic review was to update the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer and International Society of Oral Oncology (MASCC/ISOO) Clinical Practice Guidelines for mucositis. A literature search was conducted to identify eligible published articles, based on predefined inclusion/exclusion criteria. Each article was independently reviewed by 2 reviewers. Studies were rated according to the presence of major and minor flaws as per previously published criteria. The body of evidence for each intervention, in each treatment setting, was assigned a level of evidence, based on previously published criteria. Guidelines were developed based on the level of evidence, with 3 possible guideline determinations: recommendation, suggestion, or no guideline possible. The literature search identified 8279 papers, 1032 of which were retrieved for detailed evaluation based on titles and abstracts. Of these, 570 qualified for final inclusion in the systematic reviews. Sixteen new guidelines were developed for or against the use of various interventions in specific treatment settings. In total, the MASCC/ISOO Mucositis Guidelines now include 32 guidelines: 22 for oral mucositis and 10 for gastrointestinal mucositis. This article describes these updated guidelines. The updated MASCC/ISOO Clinical Practice Guidelines for mucositis will help clinicians provide evidence-based management of mucositis secondary to cancer therapy. © 2014 The Authors. Cancer published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Cancer Society.

Publication guidelines for quality improvement in health care: evolution of the SQUIRE project

PubMed Central

Davidoff, F; Batalden, P; Stevens, D; Ogrinc, G; Mooney, S

2008-01-01

In 2005, draft guidelines were published for reporting studies of quality improvement interventions as the initial step in a consensus process for development of a more definitive version. This article contains the full revised version of the guidelines, which the authors refer to as SQUIRE (Standards for QUality Improvement Reporting Excellence). This paper also describes the consensus process, which included informal feedback from authors, editors and peer reviewers who used the guidelines; formal written commentaries; input from a group of publication guideline developers; ongoing review of the literature on the epistemology of improvement and methods for evaluating complex social programmes; a two-day meeting of stakeholders for critical discussion and debate of the guidelines’ content and wording; and commentary on sequential versions of the guidelines from an expert consultant group. Finally, the authors consider the major differences between SQUIRE and the initial draft guidelines; limitations of and unresolved questions about SQUIRE; ancillary supporting documents and alternative versions that are under development; and plans for dissemination, testing and further development of SQUIRE. PMID:18836063

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, The Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists, and The American Society of ExtraCorporeal Technology: Clinical Practice Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Bypass--Temperature Management During Cardiopulmonary Bypass.

PubMed

Engelman, Richard; Baker, Robert A; Likosky, Donald S; Grigore, Alina; Dickinson, Timothy A; Shore-Lesserson, Linda; Hammon, John W

2015-08-01

In order to improve our understanding of the evidence-based literature supporting temperature management during adult cardiopulmonary bypass, The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiology and the American Society of ExtraCorporeal Technology tasked the authors to conduct a review of the peer-reviewed literature, including: 1) optimal site for temperature monitoring, 2) avoidance of hyperthermia, 3) peak cooling temperature gradient and cooling rate, and 4) peak warming temperature gradient and rewarming rate. Authors adopted the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association method for development clinical practice guidelines, and arrived at the following recommendations: No Recommendation No recommendation for a guideline is provided concerning optimal temperature for weaning from CPB due to insufficient published evidence. Copyright © 2015 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of Industry Relationships Among Authors of Otolaryngology Clinical Practice Guidelines.

PubMed

Horn, Jarryd; Checketts, Jake Xavier; Jawhar, Omar; Vassar, Matt

2018-03-01

Financial relationships between physicians and industry have influence on patient care. Therefore, organizations producing clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) must have policies limiting financial conflicts during guideline development. To evaluate payments received by physician authors of otolaryngology CPGs, compare disclosure statements for accuracy, and investigate the extent to which the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery complied with standards for guideline development from the Institute of Medicine (IOM). This cross-sectional analysis retrieved CPGs from the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation that were published or revised from January 1, 2013, through December 31, 2015, by 49 authors. Data were retrieved from December 1 through 31, 2016. Industry payments received by authors were extracted using the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Open Payments database. The values and types of these payments were then evaluated and used to determine whether self-reported disclosure statements were accurate and whether guidelines adhered to applicable IOM standards. The monetary amounts and types of payments received by physicians who author otolaryngology guidelines and the accuracy of disclosure statements. Of the 49 physicians in this sample, 39 (80%) received an industry payment. Twenty-one authors (43%) accepted more than $1000; 12 (24%), more than $10 000; 7 (14%), more than $50 000; and 2 (4%), more than $100 000. Mean (SD) financial payments amounted to $18 431 ($53 459) per physician. Total reimbursement for all authors was $995 282. Disclosure statements disagreed with the Open Payments database for 3 authors, amounting to approximately $20 000 among them. Of the 3 IOM standards assessed, only 1 was consistently enforced. Some CPG authors failed to fully disclose all financial conflicts of interest, and most guideline development panels and chairpersons had conflicts. In addition, adherence to IOM standards for guideline development was lacking. This study is relevant to CPG panels authoring recommendations, physicians implementing CPGs to guide patient care, and the organizations establishing policies for guideline development.

National origin harassment in the work place: recent guideline developments from the EEOC.

PubMed

Hollon, C J; Bright, T L

1982-01-01

In December 1980 the EEOC published its revised "Guidelines on Discrimination Because of National Origin." The revised guidelines expand the definition of national origin harassment and declare it a violation of Title Vii. According to the EEOC, the guidelines reaffirm the position the Commission has taken in earlier decisions. In the following article, the authors examine the EEOC's position on national origin harassment. Using the guidelines as a frame of reference, they look at both EEOC decisions issued prior to the guidelines and court decisions that may offer employers guidance regarding impermissible conduct and liability in this area.

And Some Are More Equal Than Others

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kilpatrick, James J.

1976-01-01

Charges that Macmillan Publishing Company's policy guidelines for textbooks ought to be denounced as a wilful exercise in intellectual dishonesty, as the company insists that its textbooks depict society, not as it is, but as the publishers would like it to be. (Author/AM)

The minimum information required for a glycomics experiment (MIRAGE) project: sample preparation guidelines for reliable reporting of glycomics datasets.

PubMed

Struwe, Weston B; Agravat, Sanjay; Aoki-Kinoshita, Kiyoko F; Campbell, Matthew P; Costello, Catherine E; Dell, Anne; Ten Feizi; Haslam, Stuart M; Karlsson, Niclas G; Khoo, Kay-Hooi; Kolarich, Daniel; Liu, Yan; McBride, Ryan; Novotny, Milos V; Packer, Nicolle H; Paulson, James C; Rapp, Erdmann; Ranzinger, Rene; Rudd, Pauline M; Smith, David F; Tiemeyer, Michael; Wells, Lance; York, William S; Zaia, Joseph; Kettner, Carsten

2016-09-01

The minimum information required for a glycomics experiment (MIRAGE) project was established in 2011 to provide guidelines to aid in data reporting from all types of experiments in glycomics research including mass spectrometry (MS), liquid chromatography, glycan arrays, data handling and sample preparation. MIRAGE is a concerted effort of the wider glycomics community that considers the adaptation of reporting guidelines as an important step towards critical evaluation and dissemination of datasets as well as broadening of experimental techniques worldwide. The MIRAGE Commission published reporting guidelines for MS data and here we outline guidelines for sample preparation. The sample preparation guidelines include all aspects of sample generation, purification and modification from biological and/or synthetic carbohydrate material. The application of MIRAGE sample preparation guidelines will lead to improved recording of experimental protocols and reporting of understandable and reproducible glycomics datasets. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Clinical practice guidelines and consensus statements in oncology--an assessment of their methodological quality.

PubMed

Jacobs, Carmel; Graham, Ian D; Makarski, Julie; Chassé, Michaël; Fergusson, Dean; Hutton, Brian; Clemons, Mark

2014-01-01

Consensus statements and clinical practice guidelines are widely available for enhancing the care of cancer patients. Despite subtle differences in their definition and purpose, these terms are often used interchangeably. We systematically assessed the methodological quality of consensus statements and clinical practice guidelines published in three commonly read, geographically diverse, cancer-specific journals. Methods Consensus statements and clinical practice guidelines published between January 2005 and September 2013 in Current Oncology, European Journal of Cancer and Journal of Clinical Oncology were evaluated. Each publication was assessed using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II (AGREE II) rigour of development and editorial independence domains. For assessment of transparency of document development, 7 additional items were taken from the Institute of Medicine's standards for practice guidelines and the Journal of Clinical Oncology guidelines for authors of guidance documents. Consensus statements and clinical practice guidelines published between January 2005 and September 2013 in Current Oncology, European Journal of Cancer and Journal of Clinical Oncology were evaluated. Each publication was assessed using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II (AGREE II) rigour of development and editorial independence domains. For assessment of transparency of document development, 7 additional items were taken from the Institute of Medicine's standards for practice guidelines and the Journal of Clinical Oncology guidelines for authors of guidance documents. Thirty-four consensus statements and 67 clinical practice guidelines were evaluated. The rigour of development score for consensus statements over the three journals was 32% lower than that of clinical practice guidelines. The editorial independence score was 15% lower for consensus statements than clinical practice guidelines. One journal scored consistently lower than the others over both domains. No journals adhered to all the items related to the transparency of document development. One journal's consensus statements endorsed a product made by the sponsoring pharmaceutical company in 64% of cases. Guidance documents are an essential part of oncology care and should be subjected to a rigorous and validated development process. Consensus statements had lower methodological quality than clinical practice guidelines using AGREE II. At a minimum, journals should ensure that that all consensus statements and clinical practice guidelines adhere to AGREE II criteria. Journals should consider explicitly requiring guidelines to declare pharmaceutical company sponsorship and to identify the sponsor's product to enhance transparency.

Characteristics of Retractions from Korean Medical Journals in the KoreaMed Database: A Bibliometric Analysis

PubMed Central

Cho, Hye-Min

2016-01-01

Background Flawed or misleading articles may be retracted because of either honest scientific errors or scientific misconduct. This study explored the characteristics of retractions in medical journals published in Korea through the KoreaMed database. Methods We retrieved retraction articles indexed in the KoreaMed database from January 1990 to January 2016. Three authors each reviewed the details of the retractions including the reason for retraction, adherence to retraction guidelines, and appropriateness of retraction. Points of disagreement were reconciled by discussion among the three. Results Out of 217,839 articles in KoreaMed published from 1990 to January 2016, the publication type of 111 articles was retraction (0.051%). Of the 111 articles (addressing the retraction of 114 papers), 58.8% were issued by the authors, 17.5% were jointly issued (author, editor, and publisher), 15.8% came from editors, and 4.4% were dispatched by institutions; in 5.3% of the instances, the issuer was unstated. The reasons for retraction included duplicate publication (57.0%), plagiarism (8.8%), scientific error (4.4%), author dispute (3.5%), and other (5.3%); the reasons were unstated or unclear in 20.2%. The degree of adherence to COPE’s retraction guidelines varied (79.8%–100%), and some retractions were inappropriate by COPE standards. These were categorized as follows: retraction of the first published article in the case of duplicate publication (69.2%), authorship dispute (15.4%), errata (7.7%), and other (7.7%). Conclusion The major reason for retraction in Korean medical journals is duplicate publication. Some retractions resulted from overreaction by the editors. Therefore, editors of Korean medical journals should take careful note of the COPE retraction guidelines and should undergo training on appropriate retraction practices. PMID:27706245

Ethical guidelines for publishing in the journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle: update 2017.

PubMed

von Haehling, Stephan; Morley, John E; Coats, Andrew J S; Anker, Stefan D

2017-12-01

This article details an updated version of the principles of ethical authorship and publishing in the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle (JCSM). At the time of submission to JCSM, the corresponding author, on behalf of all co-authors, needs to certify adherence to these principles. The principles are as follows: All authors listed on a manuscript considered for publication have approved its submission and (if accepted) publication as provided to JCSM. No person who has a right to be recognized as author has been omitted from the list of authors on the submitted manuscript. Each author has made a material and independent contribution to the work submitted for publication. The submitted work is original and is neither under consideration elsewhere nor that it has been published previously in whole or in part other than in abstract form. All authors certify that the work is original and does not contain excessive overlap with prior or contemporaneous publication elsewhere, and where the publication reports on cohorts, trials, or data that have been reported on before these other publications must be referenced. All original research work has been approved by the relevant bodies such as institutional review boards or ethics committees. All conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise, that may affect the authors' ability to present data objectively, and relevant sources of funding have been duly declared in the manuscript. The manuscript in its published form will be maintained on the servers of JCSM as a valid publication only as long as all statements in the guidelines on ethical publishing remain true. If any of the aforementioned statements ceases to be true, the authors have a duty to notify the Editors of JCSM as soon as possible so that the available information regarding the published article can be updated and/or the manuscript can be withdrawn. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of the Society on Sarcopenia, Cachexia and Wasting Disorders.

Reporting Statistical Results in Medical Journals

PubMed Central

Arifin, Wan Nor; Sarimah, Abdullah; Norsa’adah, Bachok; Najib Majdi, Yaacob; Siti-Azrin, Ab Hamid; Kamarul Imran, Musa; Aniza, Abd Aziz; Naing, Lin

2016-01-01

Statistical editors of the Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences (MJMS) must go through many submitted manuscripts, focusing on the statistical aspect of the manuscripts. However, the editors notice myriad styles of reporting the statistical results, which are not standardised among the authors. This could be due to the lack of clear written instructions on reporting statistics in the guidelines for authors. The aim of this editorial is to briefly outline reporting methods for several important and common statistical results. It will also address a number of common mistakes made by the authors. The editorial will serve as a guideline for authors aiming to publish in the MJMS as well as in other medical journals. PMID:27904419

Systematic review: the quality of the scientific evidence and conflicts of interest in international inflammatory bowel disease practice guidelines.

PubMed

Feuerstein, J D; Akbari, M; Gifford, A E; Cullen, G; Leffler, D A; Sheth, S G; Cheifetz, A S

2013-05-01

Guidelines published by the international gastroenterology societies establish standards of care and seek to improve patient outcomes. We examined inflammatory bowel disease guidelines (IBD) for quality of evidence, methods of grading evidence and conflicts of interest (COI). All 182 guidelines published by the American College of Gastroenterology, American Gastroenterological Association, British Society of Gastroenterology, Canadian Association of Gastroenterology, Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America and European Crohn's and Colitis Organisation as of 27 September 2012 were reviewed. Nineteen IBD guidelines were found. Eighty-nine per cent (n = 17/19) of the guidelines graded the levels of evidence using seven different systems. Of the 1070 recommendations reviewed, 23% (n = 249) cited level A evidence; 28% (n = 302) level B; 36% (n = 383) level C and 13% (n = 136) level D. The mean age of the guidelines was 4.2 years. In addition, 61% (n = 11/19) of the guidelines failed to comment on COI. All eight articles commenting on COI had conflicts with 81% (n = 92/113) of authors reported an average 11.7 COI. Lastly, there were variations in the recommendations between societies. Nearly half the IBD guideline recommendations are based on expert opinion or no evidence. Majority of the guidelines fail to disclose any COI, and when commenting, all have numerous COI. Furthermore, the guidelines are not updated frequently and there is a lack of consensus between societal guidelines. This study highlights the critical need to centralize and redesign the guidelines development process. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

The CONSORT Statement: Application within and adaptations for orthodontic trials.

PubMed

Pandis, Nikolaos; Fleming, Padhraig S; Hopewell, Sally; Altman, Douglas G

2015-06-01

High-quality randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are an integral part of evidence-based medicine. RCTs are the bricks and mortar of high-quality systematic reviews, which are important determinants of health care policy and clinical practice. For published research to be used most effectively, investigators and authors should follow the guidelines for accurate and transparent reporting of RCTs. The consolidated standards of reporting trials (CONSORT) statement and its extensions are among the most widely used reporting guidelines in biomedical research. CONSORT was adopted by the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics in 2004. Since 2011, this Journal has been actively implementing compliance with the CONSORT reporting guidelines. The objective of this explanatory article is to highlight the relevance and implications of the various CONSORT items to help authors to achieve CONSORT compliance in their research submissions of RCTs to this and other orthodontic journals. Copyright © 2015 American Association of Orthodontists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Practice guidelines for the diagnosis and management of skin and soft tissue infections: 2014 update by the infectious diseases society of America.

PubMed

Stevens, Dennis L; Bisno, Alan L; Chambers, Henry F; Dellinger, E Patchen; Goldstein, Ellie J C; Gorbach, Sherwood L; Hirschmann, Jan V; Kaplan, Sheldon L; Montoya, Jose G; Wade, James C

2014-07-15

A panel of national experts was convened by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) to update the 2005 guidelines for the treatment of skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs). The panel's recommendations were developed to be concordant with the recently published IDSA guidelines for the treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections. The focus of this guideline is the diagnosis and appropriate treatment of diverse SSTIs ranging from minor superficial infections to life-threatening infections such as necrotizing fasciitis. In addition, because of an increasing number of immunocompromised hosts worldwide, the guideline addresses the wide array of SSTIs that occur in this population. These guidelines emphasize the importance of clinical skills in promptly diagnosing SSTIs, identifying the pathogen, and administering effective treatments in a timely fashion. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Practice guidelines for the diagnosis and management of skin and soft tissue infections: 2014 update by the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

PubMed

Stevens, Dennis L; Bisno, Alan L; Chambers, Henry F; Dellinger, E Patchen; Goldstein, Ellie J C; Gorbach, Sherwood L; Hirschmann, Jan V; Kaplan, Sheldon L; Montoya, Jose G; Wade, James C

2014-07-15

A panel of national experts was convened by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) to update the 2005 guidelines for the treatment of skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs). The panel's recommendations were developed to be concordant with the recently published IDSA guidelines for the treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections. The focus of this guideline is the diagnosis and appropriate treatment of diverse SSTIs ranging from minor superficial infections to life-threatening infections such as necrotizing fasciitis. In addition, because of an increasing number of immunocompromised hosts worldwide, the guideline addresses the wide array of SSTIs that occur in this population. These guidelines emphasize the importance of clinical skills in promptly diagnosing SSTIs, identifying the pathogen, and administering effective treatments in a timely fashion. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Reporting guidelines for survey research: an analysis of published guidance and reporting practices.

PubMed

Bennett, Carol; Khangura, Sara; Brehaut, Jamie C; Graham, Ian D; Moher, David; Potter, Beth K; Grimshaw, Jeremy M

2010-08-01

Research needs to be reported transparently so readers can critically assess the strengths and weaknesses of the design, conduct, and analysis of studies. Reporting guidelines have been developed to inform reporting for a variety of study designs. The objective of this study was to identify whether there is a need to develop a reporting guideline for survey research. We conducted a three-part project: (1) a systematic review of the literature (including "Instructions to Authors" from the top five journals of 33 medical specialties and top 15 general and internal medicine journals) to identify guidance for reporting survey research; (2) a systematic review of evidence on the quality of reporting of surveys; and (3) a review of reporting of key quality criteria for survey research in 117 recently published reports of self-administered surveys. Fewer than 7% of medical journals (n = 165) provided guidance to authors on survey research despite a majority having published survey-based studies in recent years. We identified four published checklists for conducting or reporting survey research, none of which were validated. We identified eight previous reviews of survey reporting quality, which focused on issues of non-response and accessibility of questionnaires. Our own review of 117 published survey studies revealed that many items were poorly reported: few studies provided the survey or core questions (35%), reported the validity or reliability of the instrument (19%), defined the response rate (25%), discussed the representativeness of the sample (11%), or identified how missing data were handled (11%). There is limited guidance and no consensus regarding the optimal reporting of survey research. The majority of key reporting criteria are poorly reported in peer-reviewed survey research articles. Our findings highlight the need for clear and consistent reporting guidelines specific to survey research.

Developing clinical practice guidelines: target audiences, identifying topics for guidelines, guideline group composition and functioning and conflicts of interest

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Clinical practice guidelines are one of the foundations of efforts to improve health care. In 1999, we authored a paper about methods to develop guidelines. Since it was published, the methods of guideline development have progressed both in terms of methods and necessary procedures and the context for guideline development has changed with the emergence of guideline clearing houses and large scale guideline production organisations (such as the UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence). It therefore seems timely to, in a series of three articles, update and extend our earlier paper. In this first paper we discuss: the target audience(s) for guidelines and their use of guidelines; identifying topics for guidelines; guideline group composition (including consumer involvement) and the processes by which guideline groups function and the important procedural issue of managing conflicts of interest in guideline development. PMID:22762776

Developing clinical practice guidelines: target audiences, identifying topics for guidelines, guideline group composition and functioning and conflicts of interest.

PubMed

Eccles, Martin P; Grimshaw, Jeremy M; Shekelle, Paul; Schünemann, Holger J; Woolf, Steven

2012-07-04

Clinical practice guidelines are one of the foundations of efforts to improve health care. In 1999, we authored a paper about methods to develop guidelines. Since it was published, the methods of guideline development have progressed both in terms of methods and necessary procedures and the context for guideline development has changed with the emergence of guideline clearing houses and large scale guideline production organisations (such as the UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence). It therefore seems timely to, in a series of three articles, update and extend our earlier paper. In this first paper we discuss: the target audience(s) for guidelines and their use of guidelines; identifying topics for guidelines; guideline group composition (including consumer involvement) and the processes by which guideline groups function and the important procedural issue of managing conflicts of interest in guideline development.

No. 247-Antibiotic Prophylaxis in Obstetric Procedures.

PubMed

van Schalkwyk, Julie; Van Eyk, Nancy

2017-09-01

To review the evidence and provide recommendations on antibiotic prophylaxis for obstetrical procedures. Outcomes evaluated include need and effectiveness of antibiotics to prevent infections in obstetrical procedures. Published literature was retrieved through searches of Medline and The Cochrane Library on the topic of antibiotic prophylaxis in obstetrical procedures. Results were restricted to systematic reviews, randomized controlled trials/controlled clinical trials, and observational studies. Searches were updated on a regular basis and articles published from January 1978 to June2009 were incorporated in the guideline. Current guidelines published by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology were also incorporated. Grey (unpublished) literature was identified through searching the websites of health technology assessment and health technology assessment-related agencies, clinical practice guideline collections, clinical trial registries, and national and international medical specialty societies. The evidence obtained was reviewed and evaluated by the Infectious Diseases Committee of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada under the leadership of the principal authors, and recommendations were made according to guidelines developed by the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care (Table 1). Implementation of this guideline should reduce the cost and harm resulting from the administration of antibiotics when they are not required and the harm resulting from failure to administer antibiotics when they would be beneficial. RECOMMENDATIONS. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Standard development at the Human Variome Project.

PubMed

Smith, Timothy D; Vihinen, Mauno

2015-01-01

The Human Variome Project (HVP) is a world organization working towards facilitating the collection, curation, interpretation and free and open sharing of genetic variation information. A key component of HVP activities is the development of standards and guidelines. HVP Standards are systems, procedures and technologies that the HVP Consortium has determined must be used by HVP-affiliated data sharing infrastructure and should be used by the broader community. HVP guidelines are considered to be beneficial for HVP affiliated data sharing infrastructure and the broader community to adopt. The HVP also maintains a process for assessing systems, processes and tools that implement HVP Standards and Guidelines. Recommended System Status is an accreditation process designed to encourage the adoption of HVP Standards and Guidelines. Here, we describe the HVP standards development process and discuss the accepted standards, guidelines and recommended systems as well as those under acceptance. Certain HVP Standards and Guidelines are already widely adopted by the community and there are committed users for the others. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press.

National Health Guidelines in I.R of Iran, an Innovative Approach for Developing Countries

PubMed Central

Esmaeil Akbari, Mohammad; Mohammadi, Gohar; Vosoogh-Moghaddam, Abbas; Rabanikhah, Fahimeh; Javadi, Hamideh; Rostami-Gooran, Narges; Safaei, Asal; Akbari, Atieh

2015-01-01

Background Guidelines have produced and used in complex environment of health care system with its ethical, economical, legal and other aspects; that should be taken into account in any country. Modifying the format and content of guidelines might facilitate their usage and lead to improved quality of care and cost containment. We have produced this tool for explained above purpose. Methods A coordinating national team has settled at the office of minster of health and medical education, supported by a guideline review committee. An innovative and appropriate approach for adapting national health guidelines has consisted of eight steps, have defined For preparing the draft of each guideline a technical team which, including main author, her/his co-workers have nominated. The authors of each topic have systematically searched databases of the proposed Twenty-two International Sites, and then have selected at least five sources of them that were more relevant. The final recommendations have proposed by agreement of technical team and Guideline Review Committee. Results In less than 5 months, more than 500 authors in whole country have selected to prepare guidelines and, approximately 150 guidelines have provided in three volumes of the published and distributed book. Each guideline had a national ID number, constant forever; all topics should be reviewed every 3-5 years. Conclusion National health guideline(s) would be essential means for policy making in health system and increased the cost containment and quality of care. Ministry of Health and Medical Education should provide and distribute the guidelines based on its accountability to legal responsibility. PMID:25960845

National health guidelines in I.R of iran, an innovative approach for developing countries.

PubMed

Esmaeil Akbari, Mohammad; Mohammadi, Gohar; Vosoogh-Moghaddam, Abbas; Rabanikhah, Fahimeh; Javadi, Hamideh; Rostami-Gooran, Narges; Safaei, Asal; Akbari, Atieh

2015-01-01

Guidelines have produced and used in complex environment of health care system with its ethical, economical, legal and other aspects; that should be taken into account in any country. Modifying the format and content of guidelines might facilitate their usage and lead to improved quality of care and cost containment. We have produced this tool for explained above purpose. A coordinating national team has settled at the office of minster of health and medical education, supported by a guideline review committee. An innovative and appropriate approach for adapting national health guidelines has consisted of eight steps, have defined For preparing the draft of each guideline a technical team which, including main author, her/his co-workers have nominated. The authors of each topic have systematically searched databases of the proposed Twenty-two International Sites, and then have selected at least five sources of them that were more relevant. The final recommendations have proposed by agreement of technical team and Guideline Review Committee. In less than 5 months, more than 500 authors in whole country have selected to prepare guidelines and, approximately 150 guidelines have provided in three volumes of the published and distributed book. Each guideline had a national ID number, constant forever; all topics should be reviewed every 3-5 years. National health guideline(s) would be essential means for policy making in health system and increased the cost containment and quality of care. Ministry of Health and Medical Education should provide and distribute the guidelines based on its accountability to legal responsibility.

Fifteen hundred guidelines and growing: the UK database of clinical guidelines.

PubMed

van Loo, John; Leonard, Niamh

2006-06-01

The National Library for Health offers a comprehensive searchable database of nationally approved clinical guidelines, called the Guidelines Finder. This resource, commissioned in 2002, is managed and developed by the University of Sheffield Health Sciences Library. The authors introduce the historical and political dimension of guidelines and the nature of guidelines as a mechanism to ensure clinical effectiveness in practice. The article then outlines the maintenance and organisation of the Guidelines Finder database itself, the criteria for selection, who publishes guidelines and guideline formats, usage of the Guidelines Finder service and finally looks at some lessons learnt from a local library offering a national service. Clinical guidelines are central to effective clinical practice at the national, organisational and individual level. The Guidelines Finder is one of the most visited resources within the National Library for Health and is successful in answering information needs related to specific patient care, clinical research, guideline development and education.

Fertility preservation in children, adolescents, and young adults with cancer: Quality of clinical practice guidelines and variations in recommendations.

PubMed

Font-Gonzalez, Anna; Mulder, Renée L; Loeffen, Erik A H; Byrne, Julianne; van Dulmen-den Broeder, Eline; van den Heuvel-Eibrink, Marry M; Hudson, Melissa M; Kenney, Lisa B; Levine, Jennifer M; Tissing, Wim J E; van de Wetering, Marianne D; Kremer, Leontien C M

2016-07-15

Fertility preservation care for children, adolescents, and young adults (CAYAs) with cancer is not uniform among practitioners. To ensure high-quality care, evidence-based clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) are essential. The authors identified existing CPGs for fertility preservation in CAYAs with cancer, evaluated their quality, and explored differences in recommendations. A systematic search in PubMed (January 2000-October 2014); guideline databases; and Web sites of oncology, pediatric, and fertility organizations was performed. Two reviewers evaluated the quality of the identified CPGs using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II Instrument (AGREE II). From high-quality CPGs, the authors evaluated concordant and discordant areas among the recommendations. A total of 25 CPGs regarding fertility preservation were identified. The average AGREE II domain scores (scale of 0%-100%) varied from 15% on applicability to 100% on clarity of presentation. The authors considered 8 CPGs (32%) to be of high quality, which was defined as scores ≥60% in any 4 domains. Large variations in the recommendations of the high-quality CPGs were observed, with 87.2% and 88.6%, respectively, of discordant guideline areas among the fertility preservation recommendations for female and male patients with cancer. Only approximately one-third of the identified CPGs were found to be of sufficient quality. Of these CPGs, the fertility preservation recommendations varied substantially, which can be a reflection of inadequate evidence for specific recommendations, thereby hindering the ability of providers to deliver high-quality care. CPGs including a transparent decision process for fertility preservation can help health care providers to deliver optimal and uniform care, thus improving the quality of life of CAYAs with cancer and cancer survivors. Cancer 2016;122:2216-23. © 2016 The Authors. Cancer published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Cancer Society. © 2016 The Authors. Cancer published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Cancer Society.

When will sub-Saharan Africa adopt HIV treatment for all?

PubMed

Gupta, Somya; Granich, Reuben

2016-01-01

The World Health Organization (WHO) HIV treatment guidelines have been used by various countries to revise their national guidelines. Our study discusses the national policy response to the HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa and quantifies delays in adopting the WHO guidelines published in 2009, 2013 and 2015. From the Internet, health authorities and experts, and community members, we collected 59 published HIV guidelines from 33 countries in the sub-Saharan African region, and abstracted dates of publication and antiretroviral therapy (ART) eligibility criteria. For these 33 countries, representing 97% regional HIV burden in 2015, the number of months taken to adopt the WHO 2009, 2013 and/or 2015 guidelines were calculated to determine the average delay in months needed to publish revised national guidelines. Of the 33 countries, 3 (6% regional burden) are recommending ART according to the WHO 2015 guidelines (irrespective of CD4 count); 19 (65% regional burden) are recommending ART according to the WHO 2013 guidelines (CD4 count ≤ 500 cells/mm 3 ); and 11 (26% regional burden) according to the WHO 2009 guidelines (CD4 count ≤ 350 cells/mm 3 ). The average time lag to WHO 2009 guidelines adoption in 33 countries was 24 (range 3-56) months. The 22 that have adopted the WHO 2013 guidelines took an average of 10 (range 0-36) months, whilst the three countries that adopted the WHO 2015 guidelines took an average of 8 (range 7-9) months. There is an urgent need to shorten the time lag in adopting and implementing the new WHO guidelines recommending 'treatment for all' to achieve the 90-90-90 targets.

Responsible Translation of Stem Cell Research: An Assessment of Clinical Trial Registration and Publications.

PubMed

Fung, Moses; Yuan, Yan; Atkins, Harold; Shi, Qian; Bubela, Tania

2017-05-09

We assessed the extent to which the publication of clinical trial results of innovative cell-based interventions reflects International Society for Stem Cell Research best practice guidelines. We assessed: (1) characteristics and time to publication of completed trials; (2) quality of reported trials; and (3) results of published trials. We identified and analyzed publications from 1,052 novel stem cell clinical trials: 179 (45.4%) of 393 completed trials had published results; 48 trials were registered by known stem cell tourism clinics, none of which reported results. Completed non-industry-sponsored trials initially published more rapidly, but differences with industry-sponsored trials decreased over time. Most publications reported safety, and 67.3% (mainly early-stage trials) reported positive outcomes. A higher proportion of industry trials reported positive efficacy. Heightened patient expectations for stem cell therapies give rise to ethical obligations for the transparent conduct of clinical trials. Reporting guidelines need to be developed that are specific to early-phase clinical trials. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparison of Western and Asian Guidelines Concerning the Management of Colon Cancer.

PubMed

Pellino, Gianluca; Warren, Oliver; Mills, Sarah; Rasheed, Shahnawaz; Tekkis, Paris P; Kontovounisios, Christos

2018-02-01

Guidelines are important to standardize treatments and optimize outcomes. Several societies have published authoritative guidelines for patients with colon cancer, and a certain degree of variation can be predicted. This study aims to compare Western and Asian guidelines for the management of colon cancer. A literature review was performed following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines for studies published between 2010 and 2017 by the online resources from the official Web sites of the societies/panels. Sources included guidelines by European Society of Medical Oncology, the Japanese Society for Cancer of the Colon and Rectum, and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. Only full-text studies and the latest guidelines dealing with colon cancer were included. Studies and guidelines were separately assessed by 2 authors, who independently identified discrepancies and areas for further research. These were discussed and agreed with by all the authors. The recommendations of the guidelines of each society were compared, seeking discrepancies and potential areas for improvement. Endoscopic techniques for the management of early colon cancer are discussed in detail in the Asian guidelines. Asian guidelines advocate extended (D3) lymphadenectomy on a routine basis in T3/T4 and in selected T2 patients, whereas such an approach is still under investigation in Western countries. Only US guidelines describe neoadjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy. All the guidelines recommend adjuvant treatment in selected stage II patients, but agreement exists that this is performed without solid evidence, because better outcomes are hypothesized based on studies including stage III or stage II/III patients. The role of cytoreductive surgery with intra-abdominal chemotherapy is dubious, and European guidelines only recommend it in the setting of trials. Asian guidelines endorse an aggressive surgical approach to peritoneal disease. Only US guidelines include a patient advocate in the drafting panel. Bias may have arisen from country-specific socioeconomic and cultural issues, and from the latest available updates. Surgical approaches to colon cancer differ significantly among Western and Asian guidelines, reflecting different concepts of treatment. The role of adjuvant treatment in node-negative disease and quality-of-life assessment need further research.

Transparency in Research involving Animals: The Basel Declaration and new principles for reporting research in BJP manuscripts.

PubMed

McGrath, John C; McLachlan, Elspeth M; Zeller, Rolf

2015-05-01

This article discusses the background to the need for change in the reporting of experiments involving animals, including a report of a consensus meeting organised by the Basel Declaration Society and Understanding Animal Research UK that sought to Internationalise guidelines for reporting experiments involving animals. A commentary on the evolution of BJP's attempts to implement the ARRIVE guidelines and details of our new guidance for authors is published separately (McGrath, 2014). This is one of a series of editorials discussing updates to the BJP Instructions to Authors LINKED EDITORIALS: This Editorial is the first in a series. The other Editorials in this series will be published in the forthcoming issues. To view them, visit: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1476-5381. © 2015 The British Pharmacological Society.

Guidelines on the use of extracorporeal photopheresis.

PubMed

Knobler, R; Berlin, G; Calzavara-Pinton, P; Greinix, H; Jaksch, P; Laroche, L; Ludvigsson, J; Quaglino, P; Reinisch, W; Scarisbrick, J; Schwarz, T; Wolf, P; Arenberger, P; Assaf, C; Bagot, M; Barr, M; Bohbot, A; Bruckner-Tuderman, L; Dreno, B; Enk, A; French, L; Gniadecki, R; Gollnick, H; Hertl, M; Jantschitsch, C; Jung, A; Just, U; Klemke, C-D; Lippert, U; Luger, T; Papadavid, E; Pehamberger, H; Ranki, A; Stadler, R; Sterry, W; Wolf, I H; Worm, M; Zic, J; Zouboulis, C C; Hillen, U

2014-01-01

After the first investigational study on the use of extracorporeal photopheresis for the treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma was published in 1983 with its subsequent recognition by the FDA for its refractory forms, the technology has shown significant promise in the treatment of other severe and refractory conditions in a multi-disciplinary setting. Among the major studied conditions are graft versus host disease after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation, systemic sclerosis, solid organ transplant rejection and inflammatory bowel disease. In order to provide recognized expert practical guidelines for the use of this technology for all indications the European Dermatology Forum (EDF) proceeded to address these questions in the hands of the recognized experts within and outside the field of dermatology. This was done using the recognized and approved guidelines of EDF for this task. These guidelines provide at present the most comprehensive available expert recommendations for the use of extracorporeal photopheresis based on the available published literature and expert consensus opinion. © 2013 The Authors. Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.

AAPM-RSS Medical Physics Practice Guideline 9.a. for SRS-SBRT.

PubMed

Halvorsen, Per H; Cirino, Eileen; Das, Indra J; Garrett, Jeffrey A; Yang, Jun; Yin, Fang-Fang; Fairobent, Lynne A

2017-09-01

The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) is a nonprofit professional society whose primary purposes are to advance the science, education, and professional practice of medical physics. The AAPM has more than 8,000 members and is the principal organization of medical physicists in the United States. The AAPM will periodically define new practice guidelines for medical physics practice to help advance the science of medical physics and to improve the quality of service to patients throughout the United States. Existing medical physics practice guidelines will be reviewed for revision or renewal, as appropriate, on their fifth anniversary or sooner. Each medical physics practice guideline represents a policy statement by the AAPM, has undergone a thorough consensus process in which it has been subjected to extensive review, and requires the approval of the Professional Council. The medical physics practice guidelines recognize that the safe and effective use of diagnostic and therapeutic radiology requires specific training, skills, and techniques, as described in each document. Reproduction or modification of the published practice guidelines and technical standards by those entities not providing these services is not authorized. The following terms are used in the AAPM practice guidelines: Must and Must Not: Used to indicate that adherence to the recommendation is considered necessary to conform to this practice guideline. Should and Should Not: Used to indicate a prudent practice to which exceptions may occasionally be made in appropriate circumstances. Approved by AAPM Professional Council 3-31-2017 and Executive Committee 4-4-2017. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

AAPM medical physics practice guideline 6.a.: Performance characteristics of radiation dose index monitoring systems.

PubMed

Gress, Dustin A; Dickinson, Renee L; Erwin, William D; Jordan, David W; Kobistek, Robert J; Stevens, Donna M; Supanich, Mark P; Wang, Jia; Fairobent, Lynne A

2017-07-01

The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) is a nonprofit professional society whose primary purposes are to advance the science, education and professional practice of medical physics. The AAPM has more than 8,000 members and is the principal organization of medical physicists in the United States. The AAPM will periodically define new practice guidelines for medical physics practice to help advance the science of medical physics and to improve the quality of service to patients throughout the United States. Existing medical physics practice guidelines will be reviewed for the purpose of revision or renewal, as appropriate, on their fifth anniversary or sooner. Each medical physics practice guideline represents a policy statement by the AAPM, has undergone a thorough consensus process in which it has been subjected to extensive review, and requires the approval of the Professional Council. The medical physics practice guidelines recognize that the safe and effective use of diagnostic and therapeutic radiology requires specific training, skills, and techniques, as described in each document. Reproduction or modification of the published practice guidelines and technical standards by those entities not providing these services is not authorized. The following terms are used in the AAPM practice guidelines: •Must and Must Not: Used to indicate that adherence to the recommendation is considered necessary to conform to this practice guideline. •Should and Should Not: Used to indicate a prudent practice to which exceptions may occasionally be made in appropriate circumstances. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

Transparency in Research involving Animals: The Basel Declaration and new principles for reporting research in BJP manuscripts

PubMed Central

McGrath, John C; McLachlan, Elspeth M; Zeller, Rolf

2015-01-01

This article discusses the background to the need for change in the reporting of experiments involving animals, including a report of a consensus meeting organised by the Basel Declaration Society and Understanding Animal Research UK that sought to Internationalise guidelines for reporting experiments involving animals. A commentary on the evolution of BJP's attempts to implement the ARRIVE guidelines and details of our new guidance for authors is published separately (McGrath, 2014). This is one of a series of editorials discussing updates to the BJP Instructions to Authors PMID:25899710

Multiple Authorship in Scientific Manuscripts: Ethical Challenges, Ghost and Guest/Gift Authorship, and the Cultural/Disciplinary Perspective.

PubMed

Teixeira da Silva, Jaime A; Dobránszki, Judit

2016-10-01

Multiple authorship is the universal solution to multi-tasking in the sciences. Without a team, each with their own set of expertise, and each involved mostly in complementary ways, a research project will likely not advance quickly, or effectively. Consequently, there is a risk that research goals will not be met within a desired timeframe. Research teams that strictly scrutinize their modus operandi select and include a set of authors that have participated substantially in the physical undertaking of the research, in its planning, or who have contributed intellectually to the ideas or the development of the manuscript. Authorship is not an issue that is taken lightly, and save for dishonest authors, it is an issue that is decided collectively by the authors, usually in sync with codes of conduct established by their research institutes or national ministries of education. Science, technology and medicine (STM) publishers have, through independent, or sometimes coordinated efforts, also established their own sets of guidelines regarding what constitutes valid authorship. However, these are, for the greater part, merely guidelines. A previous and recent analysis of authorship definitions indicates that the definitions in place regarding authorship and its validity by many leading STM publishers is neither uniform, nor standard, despite several of them claiming to follow the guidelines as set forward by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors or ICMJE. This disparity extends itself to ghost and guest authorship, two key authorship-related issues that are examined in this paper to assess the extent of discrepancies among the same set of STM publishers and what possible influence they might have on publishing ethics.

Overview of the European Medicines Agency's Development of Product-Specific Bioequivalence Guidelines.

PubMed

Sullivan, Jane O'; Blake, Kevin; Berntgen, Michael; Salmonson, Tomas; Welink, Jan

2017-12-05

The European Medicines Agency's (EMA) product-specific bioequivalence guidelines outline harmonized regulatory requirements for studies to demonstrate bioequivalence for products that may have particular needs due to their pharmacokinetics, in addition to those outlined in general guidance. As such they are potentially very useful to the pharmaceutical industry in the development of generic medicinal products and to regulatory authorities for harmonized decision-making. Since their introduction in 2013, EMA product-specific bioequivalence guidelines continue to increase in number, and as of June 2017, encompass a number of different pharmacotherapeutic groups and pharmaceutical forms. This article further elucidates the processes involved for stakeholders and reviews the Agency's experience with the development of these guidelines, including the scientific issues witnessed with their advancement. A comparison with the United States Food and Drug Administration approach to similar guidelines is also provided. © 2017 The Authors Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

When and Why Replication Studies Should Be Published: Guidelines for Mathematics Education Journals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Star, Jon R.

2018-01-01

The present issue of "JRME" features three articles--Melhuish (2018; see EJ1167195); Jamil, Larsen, and Hamres (2018; see EJ1167178); and Thanheiser (2018; see EJ1167179)--that involve, at least to some degree, replication of prior published studies. In each of these articles, the authors provide a clear rationale for the importance of…

[Guidelines for research reports: an application of CONSORT 2010 statements].

PubMed

Ziegler, A; König, I R

2011-02-01

Reporting guidelines are not only useful for authors in compiling complete and transparent reports but they can use also be used by readers for the critical appraisal of the study. In this study, we apply the CONSORT 2010 reporting guideline to illustrate its value as the first step in the critical appraisal. We have applied the checklist of the CONSORT 201 statement to the publication of Richter et al. [7]. This has been done by both authors independently. We report for each item of the 25 item checklist whether it was adequately reported, and we comment on each item. The paper of Richter et al. does not comply with the CONSORT 2010 checklist and the CONSORT extension for summaries in all items. The most important reporting guidelines are now available in German (https://www.thieme-connect.de/ejournals/toc/dmw/104011). They are useful for authors of research articles to compile complete and transparent reports. Readers can use items of these reporting guidelines for judging the quality of a published study. To this end, there is a need to distinguish between reporting quality and the quality of a specific study. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Concept of biosimilar products in Jordan.

PubMed

Haddadin, Rania Dakhlallah

2011-09-01

After the expiration of patents on originator biological products, Jordanian local manufacturers and the agents of international pharmaceutical companies in Jordan started to submit registration dossiers for biosimilar products. The Jordan Food and Drug Administration (JFDA) is the national regulatory authority responsible for the registration of biosimilar products. Biosimilars are registered under the same regulations used for drugs until specific guidelines for registration of biological and biosimilar products are released. Those regulations are called Criteria of Registration of Drugs, Vaccines, Sera and Biological Products, the Renewal of its Registration and the Cancellation of Any of them which was published in the official gazette in 2004 under the Provisional Law Number 80 of the year 2001, Drug and Pharmacy Law and its amendments of the year 2003. Also, the JFDA follows the EMA guidelines on similar biological medicinal products for specific active biological substances for non-clinical and clinical studies requirements and the EMA guideline on similar biological medicinal products containing biotechnology-derived proteins as active substance: quality issues. A post marketing surveillance study is requested after a biosimilar product is authorized. The JFDA keeps pace with all advances in the regulatory issues related to biosimilars in order to be capable of authorizing biosimilar products with a safe, effective and good quality profile. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Author contributions to ecological publications: What does it mean to be an author in modern ecological research?

PubMed

Logan, John M; Bean, Sarah B; Myers, Andrew E

2017-01-01

Authorship is a central element of scientific research carrying a variety of rewards and responsibilities, and while various guidelines exist, actual author contributions are often ambiguous. Inconsistent or limited contributions threaten to devalue authorship as intellectual currency and diminish authors' responsibility for published content. Researchers have assessed author contributions in the medical literature and other research fields, but similar data for the field of ecological research are lacking. Authorship practices in ecological research are broadly representative of a variety of fields due to the cross-disciplinary nature of collaborations in ecological studies. To better understand author contributions to current research, we distributed a survey regarding co-author contributions to a random selection of 996 lead authors of manuscripts published in ecological journals in 2010. We obtained useable responses from 45% of surveyed authors. Reported lead author contributions in ecological research studies consistently included conception of the project idea, data collection, analysis, and writing. Middle and last author contributions instead showed a high level of individual variability. Lead authorship in ecology is well defined while secondary authorship is more ambiguous. Nearly half (48%) of all studies included in our survey had some level of non-compliance with Ecological Society of America (ESA) authorship guidelines and the majority of studies (78%) contained at least one co-author that did not meet International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) requirements. Incidence of non-compliance varied with lead author occupation and author position. The probability of a study including an author that was non-compliant with ESA guidelines was lowest for professor-led studies and highest for graduate student and post doctoral researcher-led studies. Among studies with > two co-authors, all lead authors met ESA guidelines and only 2% failed to meet ICMJE requirements. Middle (24% ESA, 63% ICMJE) and last (37% ESA, 60% ICMJE) authors had higher rates of non-compliance. The probability of a study containing a co-author that did not meet ESA or ICMJE requirements increased significantly with the number of co-authors per study although even studies with only two co-authors had a high probability of non-compliance of approximately 60% (ICMJE) and 15 to 40% (ESA). Given the variable and often limited contributions of authors in our survey and past studies of other research disciplines, institutions, journals, and scientific societies need to implement new approaches to instill meaning in authorship status. A byline approach may not alter author contributions but would better define individual contributions and reduce existing ambiguity regarding the meaning of authorship in modern ecological research.

GRADE equity guidelines 1: considering health equity in GRADE guideline development: introduction and rationale.

PubMed

Welch, Vivian A; Akl, Elie A; Guyatt, Gordon; Pottie, Kevin; Eslava-Schmalbach, Javier; Ansari, Mohammed T; de Beer, Hans; Briel, Matthias; Dans, Tony; Dans, Inday; Hultcrantz, Monica; Jull, Janet; Katikireddi, Srinivasa Vittal; Meerpohl, Joerg; Morton, Rachael; Mosdol, Annhild; Petkovic, Jennifer; Schünemann, Holger J; Sharaf, Ravi N; Singh, Jasvinder A; Stanev, Roger; Tonia, Thomy; Tristan, Mario; Vitols, Sigurd; Watine, Joseph; Tugwell, Peter

2017-10-01

This article introduces the rationale and methods for explicitly considering health equity in the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology for development of clinical, public health, and health system guidelines. We searched for guideline methodology articles, conceptual articles about health equity, and examples of guidelines that considered health equity explicitly. We held three meetings with GRADE Working Group members and invited comments from the GRADE Working Group listserve. We developed three articles on incorporating equity considerations into the overall approach to guideline development, rating certainty, and assembling the evidence base and evidence to decision and/or recommendation. Clinical and public health guidelines have a role to play in promoting health equity by explicitly considering equity in the process of guideline development. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Systematic Review and Appraisal of Clinical Practice Guidelines for Musculoskeletal Soft Tissue Injuries and Conditions.

PubMed

Pincus, Daniel; Kuhn, John E; Sheth, Ujash; Rizzone, Katie; Colbenson, Kristi; Dwyer, Tim; Karpinos, Ashley; Marks, Paul H; Wasserstein, David

2017-05-01

Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) are published by several sports medicine institutions. A systematic evaluation can help identify the highest quality CPGs for clinical use and identify any deficiencies that remain. To identify and appraise CPGs relevant to clinical sports medicine professionals. Systematic review. Predetermined selection criteria were utilized by 2 reviewers who independently identified published CPGs before January 1, 2014. CPGs were excluded if they focused on injured workers, radiological criteria, medical pathology, or the axial skeleton (back/neck). The remaining guidelines were scored by 6 reviewers with different clinical backgrounds using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II (AGREE II). Scores lower than 50% indicated deficiency. Scores were also stratified by the publishing institution and anatomic location and compared using Kruskal-Wallis tests. The Spearman correlation coefficient was used to assess the range of interobserver agreement between the evaluators. Seventeen CPGs met the inclusion criteria. The majority of guidelines pertained to the knee, ankle, or shoulder. Interobserver agreement was strong ( r = 0.548-0.740), and mean total scores between nonsurgical (107.8) and surgical evaluators (109.3) were not statistically different. Overall guideline quality was variable but not deficient for 16 of 17 guidelines (>50%), except regarding clinical "applicability" and "editorial independence." No difference was found between CPGs of the knee, shoulder, foot/ankle, or chronic conditions. However, CPG publishing institutions had significantly different scores; the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) guidelines scored significantly higher (141.4) than the total mean score (108.0). The overall quality of sports medicine CPGs was variable but generally not deficient, except regarding applicability and editorial independence. Bias through poor editorial independence is a concern. To improve future guideline quality, authors should pay particular attention to these areas and use existing highest quality guidelines, or the AGREE II instrument, as templates. CPGs dedicated to anatomic areas other than the knee, ankle, and shoulder are needed.

Commentary: Science, Technology, and Society in Guidelines for Using Technology to Prepare Social Studies Teachers--A Reply to Hicks et al. and Crocco and Leo

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mason, Lance

2015-01-01

This essay is a response to both the "Guidelines for Using Technology to Prepare Social Studies Teachers" published in this journal by Hicks, Lee, Berson, Bolick, and Diem (2014) and the rejoinder by Crocco and Leo (2015). The author agrees with Crocco and Leo's assessment that removing the principal regarding science, technology, and…

Quality of the written radiology report: a review of the literature.

PubMed

Pool, Felicity; Goergen, Stacy

2010-08-01

A literature review was carried out, guided by the question, What are the important elements of a high-quality radiology written report? Two papers known to the authors were used as a basis for 5 PubMed search strategies. Exclusion criteria were applied to retrieved citations. Reference lists of retrieved citations were scanned for additional relevant papers and exclusion criteria applied to these. Web sites of professional radiology organizations were scanned for guidelines relating to the written radiology report. Retrieved guidelines were appraised using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research & Evaluation instrument. Methodologies of retrieved papers were not suitable for conventional appraisal, and an evidence table was constructed. The search strategy identified 25 published papers and 4 guidelines. Published study methodologies included 1 randomized controlled trial; 1 before-and-after study of interventions; 10 observational studies, audits, or analyses; 12 surveys; and 1 narrative review of the literature. Existing guidelines have a number of weaknesses with regard to scope and purpose, methods of development, stakeholder consultation, and editorial independence and applicability. There is a major gap in published studies relating to testing of interventions to improve report quality using conventional randomized controlled trial methods. Published studies and guidelines generally support report content, including clinical history, examination quality, description of findings, comparison, and diagnosis. Important report attributes include accuracy, clarity, and certainty. There is wide variation in the language used to describe imaging findings and diagnostic certainty. Survey participants strongly preferred reports with structured or itemized formats, but few studies exist regarding the effect of report structure on quality. Copyright 2010 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Raising the quality of rheumatology management recommendations: lessons from the EULAR process 10 years after provision of standard operating procedures.

PubMed

Colebatch-Bourn, Alexandra N; Conaghan, Philip G; Arden, Nigel K; Cooper, Cyrus; Dougados, Maxime; Edwards, Christopher J

2015-08-01

To increase understanding of how to raise the quality of rheumatology guidelines by reviewing European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) management recommendations, using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE) II instrument, 10 years after publication of the EULAR standardized operating procedures (SOP) for the production of recommendations. It was hoped that this work could help inform improvements in guideline development by other societies and organizations. The SOP were published in 2004 to ensure the quality of EULAR-endorsed recommendations. We reviewed 27 published EULAR recommendations for management using the AGREE II tool. This provides a framework to assess the quality of guidelines across six broad domains using 23 specific questions. Overall the EULAR recommendations reviewed have been performed to a high standard. There are particular strengths in the methodology and presentation of the guidelines; however, the results indicate areas for development in future recommendations: in particular, stakeholder involvement and applicability of the recommendations. Improvements in quality were evident in recent years, with patient representation in 9 of 15 (60.0%) recommendations published 2010-14 compared with 4 of 12 (33.3%) published 2000-09. In the last 10 years the overall quality of recommendations was good, with standards improving over the decade following publication of the SOP. However, this review process has identified potential areas for improvement, especially in patient representation and provision of implementation tools. The lessons from this work can be applied to the development of rheumatology guidelines by other societies and organizations. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Interventional Spine and Pain Procedures in Patients on Antiplatelet and Anticoagulant Medications (Second Edition): Guidelines From the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, the European Society of Regional Anaesthesia and Pain Therapy, the American Academy of Pain Medicine, the International Neuromodulation Society, the North American Neuromodulation Society, and the World Institute of Pain.

PubMed

Narouze, Samer; Benzon, Honorio T; Provenzano, David; Buvanendran, Asokumar; De Andres, José; Deer, Timothy; Rauck, Richard; Huntoon, Marc A

2018-04-01

The American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA) 2012 survey of meeting attendees showed that existing ASRA anticoagulation guidelines for regional anesthesia were insufficient for their needs. Those surveyed agreed that procedure-specific and patient-specific factors required separate guidelines for pain and spine procedures. In response, a guidelines committee was formed. After preliminary review of published complications reports and studies, the committee stratified interventional spine and pain procedures according to potential bleeding risk: low-, intermediate-, and high-risk procedures. The ASRA regional anesthesia anticoagulation guidelines were largely deemed appropriate for the low- and intermediate-risk categories, but the high-risk category required further investigation. The first guidelines specific to interventional spine and pain procedures were published in 2015. Recent reviews evaluating bleeding complications in patients undergoing specific interventional pain procedures, the development of new regional anesthesia and acute pain guidelines, and the development of new anticoagulants and antiplatelet medications necessitate complementary updated guidelines. The authors desired coordination with the authors of the recently updated regional and acute pain anticoagulation guidelines. The latest evidence was sought through extensive database search strategies and the recommendations were evidence based when available and pharmacology driven otherwise. We could not provide strength and grading of these recommendations because there are not enough well-designed large studies concerning interventional pain procedures to support such grading. Although the guidelines could not always be based on randomized studies or on large numbers of patients from pooled databases, it is hoped that they will provide sound recommendations and the evidentiary basis for such recommendations. This publication is intended as a living document to be updated periodically with consideration of new evidence.

Fate of Articles That Warranted Retraction Due to Ethical Concerns: A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study

PubMed Central

Elia, Nadia; Wager, Elizabeth; Tramèr, Martin R.

2014-01-01

Objective To study journals' responses to a request from the State Medical Association of Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, to retract 88 articles due to ethical concerns, and to check whether the resulting retractions followed published guidelines. Design Descriptive cross-sectional study. Population 88 articles (18 journals) by the anaesthesiologist Dr. Boldt, that warranted retraction. Method According to the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics, we regarded a retraction as adequate when a retraction notice was published, linked to the retracted article, identified the title and authors of the retracted article in its heading, explained the reason and who took responsibility for the retraction, and when the retracted article was freely accessible and marked using a transparent watermark that preserved original content. Two authors extracted data independently (January 2013) and contacted editors-in-chief and publishers for clarification in cases of inadequate retraction. Results Five articles (6%) fulfilled all criteria for adequate retraction. Nine (10%) were not retracted (no retraction notice published, full text article not marked). 79 (90%) retraction notices were published, 76 (86%) were freely accessible, but only 15 (17%) were complete. 73 (83%) full text articles were marked as retracted, of which 14 (16%) had an opaque watermark hiding parts of the original content, and 11 (13%) had all original content deleted. 59 (67%) retracted articles were freely accessible. One editor-in-chief stated personal problems as a reason for incomplete retractions, eight blamed their publishers. Two publishers cited legal threats from Dr. Boldt's co-authors which prevented them from retracting articles. Conclusion Guidelines for retracting articles are incompletely followed. The role of publishers in the retraction process needs to be clarified and standards are needed on marking retracted articles. It remains unclear who should check that retractions are done properly. Legal safeguards are required to allow retraction of articles against the wishes of authors. PMID:24465744

Improving planning, design, reporting and scientific quality of animal experiments by using the Gold Standard Publication Checklist, in addition to the ARRIVE guidelines.

PubMed

Hooijmans, Carlijn R; de Vries, Rob; Leenaars, Marlies; Curfs, Jo; Ritskes-Hoitinga, Merel

2011-03-01

Several studies have demonstrated serious omissions in the way research that use animals is reported. In order to improve the quality of reporting of animal experiments, the Animals in research: reporting in vivo experiments (ARRIVE) Guidelines were published in the British Journal of Pharmacology in August 2010. However, not only the quality of reporting of completed animal studies needs to be improved, but also the design and execution of new experiments. With both these goals in mind, we published the Gold Standard Publication Checklist (GSPC) in May 2010, a few months before the ARRIVE guidelines appeared. In this letter, we compare the GSPC checklist with the ARRIVE Guidelines. The GSPC describes certain items in more detail, which makes it both easier to use when designing and conducting an experiment and particularly suitable for making systematic reviews of animal studies more feasible. In order to improve not only the reporting but also the planning, design, execution and thereby, the scientific quality of animal experiments, we strongly recommend to all scientists involved in animal experimentation and to editors of journals publishing animal studies to take a closer look at the contents of both the ARRIVE guidelines and GSPC, and select the set of guidelines which is most appropriate for their particular situation. © 2011 The Authors. British Journal of Pharmacology © 2011 The British Pharmacological Society.

Japanese Society of Medical Oncology Clinical Guidelines: Molecular Testing for Colorectal Cancer Treatment, Third Edition.

PubMed

Yamazaki, Kentaro; Taniguchi, Hiroya; Yoshino, Takayuki; Akagi, Kiwamu; Ishida, Hideyuki; Ebi, Hiromichi; Nakatani, Kaname; Muro, Kei; Yatabe, Yasushi; Yamaguchi, Kensei; Tsuchihara, Katsuya

2018-06-01

The Japanese Society of Medical Oncology (JSMO) previously published 2 editions of the clinical guidelines: "Japanese guidelines for testing of KRAS gene mutation in colorectal cancer" in 2008 and "Japanese Society of Medical Oncology Clinical Guidelines: RAS (KRAS/NRAS) mutation testing in colorectal cancer patients" in 2014. These guidelines have contributed to the proper use of KRAS and RAS mutation testing, respectively. Recently, clinical utility, particularly for colorectal cancer (CRC) patients with BRAF V600E mutation or DNA mismatch-repair (MMR) deficiency, has been established. Therefore, the guideline members decided these genetic alterations should also be involved. The aim of this revision is to properly carry out testing for BRAF V600E mutation and MMR deficiency in addition to RAS mutation. The revised guidelines include the basic requirements for testing for these genetic alterations based on recent scientific evidence. Furthermore, because clinical utility of comprehensive genetic testing using next-generation sequencing and somatic gene testing of analyzing circulating tumor DNA has increasingly evolved with recent advancements in testing technology, we noted the current situation and prospects for these testing technologies and their clinical implementation in the revised guidelines. © 2018 The Authors. Cancer Science published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Japanese Cancer Association.

Mycological Research: instructions and guidelines for authors.

PubMed

Hawksworth, David L

2007-01-01

Instructions and guidelines for authors submitting papers to Mycological Research are provided. The journal is international and covers all fields of mycology, both fundamental and applied. It publishes news items, reviews, original papers, and book reviews. Contributions should be of interest to a wide spectrum of mycologists or make significant novel contributions. Papers with particularly exciting results are fast-tracked and prioritized for publication. Submission must be made online via the Elsevier Editorial System (ees.elsevier.com/mycres); hard copy submissions are no longer accepted. Information is provided on: scope and timeliness; submission of articles; manuscript preparation; tables; illustrations; spellings, numbers, chemical symbols, and abbreviations; voucher material; molecular data; taxonomic data; references; the decision-making process; copyright; author's copies; proofs; and further questions.

Explanation and elaboration of the SQUIRE (Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence) Guidelines, V.2.0: examples of SQUIRE elements in the healthcare improvement literature

PubMed Central

Goodman, Daisy; Ogrinc, Greg; Davies, Louise; Baker, G Ross; Barnsteiner, Jane; Foster, Tina C; Gali, Kari; Hilden, Joanne; Horwitz, Leora; Kaplan, Heather C; Leis, Jerome; Matulis, John C; Michie, Susan; Miltner, Rebecca; Neily, Julia; Nelson, William A; Niedner, Matthew; Oliver, Brant; Rutman, Lori; Thomson, Richard

2016-01-01

Since its publication in 2008, SQUIRE (Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence) has contributed to the completeness and transparency of reporting of quality improvement work, providing guidance to authors and reviewers of reports on healthcare improvement work. In the interim, enormous growth has occurred in understanding factors that influence the success, and failure, of healthcare improvement efforts. Progress has been particularly strong in three areas: the understanding of the theoretical basis for improvement work; the impact of contextual factors on outcomes; and the development of methodologies for studying improvement work. Consequently, there is now a need to revise the original publication guidelines. To reflect the breadth of knowledge and experience in the field, we solicited input from a wide variety of authors, editors and improvement professionals during the guideline revision process. This Explanation and Elaboration document (E&E) is a companion to the revised SQUIRE guidelines, SQUIRE 2.0. The product of collaboration by an international and interprofessional group of authors, this document provides examples from the published literature, and an explanation of how each reflects the intent of a specific item in SQUIRE. The purpose of the guidelines is to assist authors in writing clearly, precisely and completely about systematic efforts to improve the quality, safety and value of healthcare services. Authors can explore the SQUIRE statement, this E&E and related documents in detail at http://www.squire-statement.org. PMID:27076505

Fraud in Academic Publishing: Researchers Under Cyber-Attacks.

PubMed

Dadkhah, Mehdi; Borchardt, Glenn; Maliszewski, Tomasz

2017-01-01

Day by day, researchers receive new suspicious e-mails in their inboxes. Many of them do not have sufficient information about these types of e-mails, and may become victims of cyber-attacks. In this short communication, we review current cyber threats in academic publishing and try to present general guidelines for authors. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

EFNS guidelines for the diagnosis and management of Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Hort, J; O'Brien, J T; Gainotti, G; Pirttila, T; Popescu, B O; Rektorova, I; Sorbi, S; Scheltens, P

2010-10-01

In 2008 a task force was set up to develop a revision of the European Federation of the Neurological Societies (EFNS) guideline for the diagnosis and management of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other disorders associated with dementia, published in early 2007. The aim of this revised international guideline was to present a peer-reviewed evidence-based statement for the guidance of practice for clinical neurologists, geriatricians, psychiatrists, and other specialist physicians responsible for the care of patients with AD. Mild cognitive impairment and non-Alzheimer dementias are not included in this guideline. The task force working group reviewed evidence from original research articles, meta-analysis, and systematic reviews, published before May 2009. The evidence was classified and consensus recommendations graded (A, B, or C) according to the EFNS guidance. Where there was a lack of evidence, but clear consensus, good practice points were provided. The recommendations for clinical diagnosis, blood tests, neuropsychology, neuroimaging, electroencephalography, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis, genetic testing, disclosure of diagnosis, treatment of AD, behavioural and psychological symptoms in dementia, legal issues, counselling and support for caregivers were all revised as compared with the previous EFNS guideline. A number of new recommendations and good practice points are made, namely in CSF, neuropsychology, neuroimaging and reviewing non-evidence based therapies. The assessment, interpretation, and treatment of symptoms, disability, needs, and caregiver stress during the course of AD require the contribution of many different professionals. These professionals should adhere to these guideline to improve the diagnosis and management of AD. © 2010 The Author(s). European Journal of Neurology © 2010 EFNS.

Coauthorship in Physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tarnow, Eugen

2002-06-01

In a large and detailed survey on the ethics of scientific coauthorship, members of the American Physical Society (APS) were asked to judge the number of appropriate coauthors on his or her last published paper. Results show that the first or second coauthor are more appropriate than later coauthors about whom there is equal and considerable doubt. The probability of any third and subsequent coathors being judged as inappropriate is 23% for the APS guideline, 67% for the tighter guideline of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, 59% if the guideline requires "direct contributions to scientific discovery or invention". Only 3% of respondents report having personally rejected an undeserving scientist who expected to be an author on the last published paper. Respondents seem to be divided into two non-overlapping populations - those who report no inappropriate coauthorship and those who have a more graduated view.

Substantial contribution and accountability: best authorship practices for medical writers in biomedical publications.

PubMed

Stocks, Angela; Simcoe, Donna; Toroser, Dikran; DeTora, Lisa

2018-06-01

To provide clarity on the professional medical writer as author or contributor by examining what "a substantial contribution" and "accountability" mean with respect to authorship in a biomedical publication. These terms relate to criteria 1 and 4 of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) authorship guidelines. We reviewed the ICMJE and Good Publication Practice authorship guidelines, which recommend that individuals not meeting all four authorship criteria should be acknowledged as contributors. We also surveyed and assessed selected journals for published guidance on authorship versus contributorship. We found that journals often vary in their authorship guidelines for medical writers. Notwithstanding, and to assist in determining the contribution made by the medical writer, we have expanded on current guidelines to develop recommendations for important intellectual contribution to the design of the work (developing the protocol, choosing endpoints) or the interpretation of data for the work (developing the discussion, interpreting new statistical output), which should result in inclusion of the medical writer as an author, as well as when accountability is relevant. If the medical writer does not qualify as an author, then their inclusion in the acknowledgements section is appropriate. Authors and contributors have a responsibility to create a publication that is accurate and true to the study results, but only authors must provide a substantial contribution and are accountable for that contribution. Contributions made by authors and non-author contributors should be fully described in the publication, to enable the reader to assess credit and responsibility.

Citing Legal Material in APA Journals.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osborne, Allan G., Jr.

1992-01-01

Guidelines are offered to authors on the correct citation format for legal references, including statutes and regulations, court decisions, and law review articles. Standards are based on those published by the Harvard Law Review Association and the American Psychological Association. (DB)

The SQUIRE (Standards for QUality Improvement Reporting Excellence) guidelines for quality improvement reporting: explanation and elaboration

PubMed Central

Ogrinc, G; Mooney, S E; Estrada, C; Foster, T; Goldmann, D; Hall, L W; Huizinga, M M; Liu, S K; Mills, P; Neily, J; Nelson, W; Pronovost, P J; Provost, L; Rubenstein, L V; Speroff, T; Splaine, M; Thomson, R; Tomolo, A M; Watts, B

2008-01-01

As the science of quality improvement in health care advances, the importance of sharing its accomplishments through the published literature increases. Current reporting of improvement work in health care varies widely in both content and quality. It is against this backdrop that a group of stakeholders from a variety of disciplines has created the Standards for QUality Improvement Reporting Excellence, which we refer to as the SQUIRE publication guidelines or SQUIRE statement. The SQUIRE statement consists of a checklist of 19 items that authors need to consider when writing articles that describe formal studies of quality improvement. Most of the items in the checklist are common to all scientific reporting, but virtually all of them have been modified to reflect the unique nature of medical improvement work. This “Explanation and Elaboration” document (E & E) is a companion to the SQUIRE statement. For each item in the SQUIRE guidelines the E & E document provides one or two examples from the published improvement literature, followed by an analysis of the ways in which the example expresses the intent of the guideline item. As with the E & E documents created to accompany other biomedical publication guidelines, the purpose of the SQUIRE E & E document is to assist authors along the path from completion of a quality improvement project to its publication. The SQUIRE statement itself, this E & E document, and additional information about reporting improvement work can be found at http://www.squire-statement.org. PMID:18836062

The development of oncology treatment guidelines: an analysis of the National Guidelines Clearinghouse.

PubMed

Palta, Manisha; Lee, W Robert

2011-01-01

In the last 2 decades, guidelines have been developed to improve quality of patient care. A recent editorial of guideline development procedures suggested the process has significant limitations that affect their scientific validity.(1) This prompted us to review oncology treatment guidelines to determine if such limitations are widespread. We performed a review of oncology treatment guidelines registered at the National Guidelines Clearinghouse (www.guideline.gov). Each guideline was independently reviewed by 2 authors and the following criteria were assessed: coordinating organization, guideline panel composition, reporting conflict of interest, peer review, dissent, expiration date, PubMed citation, and evidence-based scoring and grading of recommendations. Disagreements were resolved by consensus in subsequent discussions. Sixty-four guidelines were reviewed (39 [61%] were developed by a medical specialty society and 25 [39%] were developed by government agencies). Fifty (78%) guideline panels were multidisciplinary and 44 (69%) included individuals with epidemiologic and health services research expertise. Potential conflicts of interest were disclosed in 43 (67%) guidelines. Sixty (94%) guidelines underwent peer review, with external review in 31 (48%). Seventeen (27%) guidelines are indexed by PubMed. Fifty-one (80%) guidelines included evidence-based methodologies and 46 (72%) used evidence-based scoring of recommendations. Significant differences were observed according to coordinating organization (eg, disclosure of conflict of interest in 46% of guidelines developed by medical specialty societies versus 100% authored by government agencies [P <.0001]). The majority of oncology-related treatment guidelines registered at the National Guidelines Clearinghouse satisfy most of the criteria for sound guideline development. Significant differences in these criteria were observed according to the coordinating organization that developed the guideline. Copyright © 2011 American Society for Radiation Oncology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Translations of Developmental Screening Instruments: An Evidence Map of Available Research.

PubMed

El-Behadli, Ana F; Neger, Emily N; Perrin, Ellen C; Sheldrick, R Christopher

2015-01-01

Children whose parents do not speak English experience significant disparities in the identification of developmental delays and disorders; however, little is known about the availability and validity of translations of developmental screeners. The goal was to create a map of the scientific evidence regarding translations of the 9 Academy of Pediatrics-recommended screening instruments into languages other than English. The authors conducted a systematic search of Medline and PsycINFO, references of identified articles, publishers' Web sites, and official manuals. Through evidence mapping, a new methodology supported by AHRQ and the Cochrane Collaboration, the authors documented the extent and distribution of published evidence supporting translations of developmental screeners. Data extraction focused on 3 steps of the translation and validation process: (1) translation methods used, (2) collection of normative data in the target language, and (3) evidence for reliability and validity. The authors identified 63 distinct translations among the 9 screeners, of which 44 had supporting evidence published in peer-reviewed sources. Of the 63 translations, 35 had at least some published evidence regarding translation methods used, 28 involving normative data, and 32 regarding reliability and/or construct validity. One-third of the translations found were of the Denver Developmental Screening Test. Specific methods used varied greatly across screeners, as did the level of detail with which results were reported. Few developmental screeners have been translated into many languages. Evidence map of the authors demonstrates considerable variation in both the amount and the comprehensiveness of information available about translated instruments. Informal guidelines exist for conducting translation of psychometric instruments but not for documentation of this process. The authors propose that uniform guidelines be established for reporting translation research in peer-reviewed journals, similar to those for clinical trials and studies of diagnostic accuracy.

[How to write and publish a scientific article in stomatology].

PubMed

Gao, X J

2017-12-09

The general principles and key points in writing of a scientific article in stomatology were interpreted based on the national guideline and the author's personal experiences in the present article. Efforts should be made by the authors focusing on core information, refinement and description of their papers. In the second half of the article, the general process of paper review was introduced. The article also gave suggestions on how to response to the reviewers' questions. It is well recognized that a good scientific journal was created by good authors, good reviewers and good editors. The author proposed that efforts by above mentioned three parties should be gathered to make more valuable, delicately designed and well performed clinical research articles be published.

Statistical and data reporting guidelines for the European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery and the Interactive CardioVascular and Thoracic Surgery.

PubMed

Hickey, Graeme L; Dunning, Joel; Seifert, Burkhardt; Sodeck, Gottfried; Carr, Matthew J; Burger, Hans Ulrich; Beyersdorf, Friedhelm

2015-08-01

As part of the peer review process for the European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EJCTS) and the Interactive CardioVascular and Thoracic Surgery (ICVTS), a statistician reviews any manuscript that includes a statistical analysis. To facilitate authors considering submitting a manuscript and to make it clearer about the expectations of the statistical reviewers, we present up-to-date guidelines for authors on statistical and data reporting specifically in these journals. The number of statistical methods used in the cardiothoracic literature is vast, as are the ways in which data are presented. Therefore, we narrow the scope of these guidelines to cover the most common applications submitted to the EJCTS and ICVTS, focusing in particular on those that the statistical reviewers most frequently comment on. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.

Relation of completeness of reporting of health research to journals' endorsement of reporting guidelines: systematic review.

PubMed

Stevens, Adrienne; Shamseer, Larissa; Weinstein, Erica; Yazdi, Fatemeh; Turner, Lucy; Thielman, Justin; Altman, Douglas G; Hirst, Allison; Hoey, John; Palepu, Anita; Schulz, Kenneth F; Moher, David

2014-06-25

To assess whether the completeness of reporting of health research is related to journals' endorsement of reporting guidelines. Systematic review. Reporting guidelines from a published systematic review and the EQUATOR Network (October 2011). Studies assessing the completeness of reporting by using an included reporting guideline (termed "evaluations") (1990 to October 2011; addendum searches in January 2012) from searches of either Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Methodology Register or Scopus, depending on reporting guideline name. English language reporting guidelines that provided explicit guidance for reporting, described the guidance development process, and indicated use of a consensus development process were included. The CONSORT statement was excluded, as evaluations of adherence to CONSORT had previously been reviewed. English or French language evaluations of included reporting guidelines were eligible if they assessed the completeness of reporting of studies as a primary intent and those included studies enabled the comparisons of interest (that is, after versus before journal endorsement and/or endorsing versus non-endorsing journals). Potentially eligible evaluations of included guidelines were screened initially by title and abstract and then as full text reports. If eligibility was unclear, authors of evaluations were contacted; journals' websites were consulted for endorsement information where needed. The completeness of reporting of reporting guidelines was analyzed in relation to endorsement by item and, where consistent with the authors' analysis, a mean summed score. 101 reporting guidelines were included. Of 15,249 records retrieved from the search for evaluations, 26 evaluations that assessed completeness of reporting in relation to endorsement for nine reporting guidelines were identified. Of those, 13 evaluations assessing seven reporting guidelines (BMJ economic checklist, CONSORT for harms, PRISMA, QUOROM, STARD, STRICTA, and STROBE) could be analyzed. Reporting guideline items were assessed by few evaluations. The completeness of reporting of only nine of 101 health research reporting guidelines (excluding CONSORT) has been evaluated in relation to journals' endorsement. Items from seven reporting guidelines were quantitatively analyzed, by few evaluations each. Insufficient evidence exists to determine the relation between journals' endorsement of reporting guidelines and the completeness of reporting of published health research reports. Journal editors and researchers should consider collaborative prospectively designed, controlled studies to provide more robust evidence. Not registered; no known register currently accepts protocols for methodology systematic reviews. © Stevens et al 2014.

Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Candidiasis: 2016 Update by the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

PubMed

Pappas, Peter G; Kauffman, Carol A; Andes, David R; Clancy, Cornelius J; Marr, Kieren A; Ostrosky-Zeichner, Luis; Reboli, Annette C; Schuster, Mindy G; Vazquez, Jose A; Walsh, Thomas J; Zaoutis, Theoklis E; Sobel, Jack D

2016-02-15

It is important to realize that guidelines cannot always account for individual variation among patients. They are not intended to supplant physician judgment with respect to particular patients or special clinical situations. IDSA considers adherence to these guidelines to be voluntary, with the ultimate determination regarding their application to be made by the physician in the light of each patient's individual circumstances. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, e-mail journals.permissions@oup.com.

From Delivery to Adoption of Physical Activity Guidelines: Realist Synthesis

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Background: Evidence-based guidelines published by health authorities for the promotion of health-enhancing physical activity (PA), continue to be implemented unsuccessfully and demonstrate a gap between evidence and policies. This review synthesizes evidence on factors influencing delivery, adoption and implementation of PA promotion guidelines within different policy sectors (e.g., health, transport, urban planning, sport, education). Methods: Published literature was initially searched using PubMed, EBSCO, Google Scholar and continued through an iterative snowball technique. The literature review spanned the period 2002–2017. The realist synthesis approach was adopted to review the content of 39 included studies. An initial programme theory with a four-step chain from evidence emersion to implementation of guidelines was tested. Results: The synthesis furthers our understanding of the link between PA guidelines delivery and the actions of professionals responsible for implementation within health services, school departments and municipalities. The main mechanisms identified for guidance implementation were scientific legitimation, enforcement, feasibility, familiarity with concepts and PA habits. Threats emerged to the successful implementation of PA guidelines at national/local jurisdictional levels. Conclusions: The way PA guidelines are developed may influence their adoption by policy-makers and professionals. Useful lessons emerged that may inform synergies between policymaking and professional practices, promoting win-win multisectoral strategies. PMID:28991184

Are pediatric Open Access journals promoting good publication practice? An analysis of author instructions.

PubMed

Meerpohl, Joerg J; Wolff, Robert F; Antes, Gerd; von Elm, Erik

2011-04-09

Several studies analyzed whether conventional journals in general medicine or specialties such as pediatrics endorse recommendations aiming to improve publication practice. Despite evidence showing benefits of these recommendations, the proportion of endorsing journals has been moderate to low and varied considerably for different recommendations. About half of pediatric journals indexed in the Journal Citation Report referred to the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) but only about a quarter recommended registration of trials. We aimed to investigate to what extent pediatric open-access (OA) journals endorse these recommendations. We hypothesized that a high proportion of these journals have adopted recommendations on good publication practice since OA electronic publishing has been associated with a number of editorial innovations aiming at improved access and transparency. We identified 41 journals publishing original research in the subject category "Health Sciences, Medicine (General), Pediatrics" of the Directory of Open Access Journals http://www.doaj.org. From the journals' online author instructions we extracted information regarding endorsement of four domains of editorial policy: the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts, trial registration, disclosure of conflicts of interest and five major reporting guidelines such as the CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) statement. Two investigators collected data independently. The Uniform Requirements were mentioned by 27 (66%) pediatric OA journals. Thirteen (32%) required or recommended trial registration prior to publication of a trial report. Conflict of interest policies were stated by 25 journals (61%). Advice about reporting guidelines was less frequent: CONSORT was referred to by 12 journals (29%) followed by other reporting guidelines (MOOSE, PRISMA or STARD) (8 journals, 20%) and STROBE (3 journals, 7%). The EQUATOR network, a platform of several guideline initiatives, was acknowledged by 4 journals (10%). Journals published by OA publishing houses gave more guidance than journals published by professional societies or other publishers. Pediatric OA journals mentioned certain recommendations such as the Uniform Requirements or trial registration more frequently than conventional journals; however, endorsement is still only moderate. Further research should confirm these exploratory findings in other medical fields and should clarify what the motivations and barriers are in implementing such policies.

Are pediatric Open Access journals promoting good publication practice? An analysis of author instructions

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Several studies analyzed whether conventional journals in general medicine or specialties such as pediatrics endorse recommendations aiming to improve publication practice. Despite evidence showing benefits of these recommendations, the proportion of endorsing journals has been moderate to low and varied considerably for different recommendations. About half of pediatric journals indexed in the Journal Citation Report referred to the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) but only about a quarter recommended registration of trials. We aimed to investigate to what extent pediatric open-access (OA) journals endorse these recommendations. We hypothesized that a high proportion of these journals have adopted recommendations on good publication practice since OA electronic publishing has been associated with a number of editorial innovations aiming at improved access and transparency. Methods We identified 41 journals publishing original research in the subject category "Health Sciences, Medicine (General), Pediatrics" of the Directory of Open Access Journals http://www.doaj.org. From the journals' online author instructions we extracted information regarding endorsement of four domains of editorial policy: the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts, trial registration, disclosure of conflicts of interest and five major reporting guidelines such as the CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) statement. Two investigators collected data independently. Results The Uniform Requirements were mentioned by 27 (66%) pediatric OA journals. Thirteen (32%) required or recommended trial registration prior to publication of a trial report. Conflict of interest policies were stated by 25 journals (61%). Advice about reporting guidelines was less frequent: CONSORT was referred to by 12 journals (29%) followed by other reporting guidelines (MOOSE, PRISMA or STARD) (8 journals, 20%) and STROBE (3 journals, 7%). The EQUATOR network, a platform of several guideline initiatives, was acknowledged by 4 journals (10%). Journals published by OA publishing houses gave more guidance than journals published by professional societies or other publishers. Conclusions Pediatric OA journals mentioned certain recommendations such as the Uniform Requirements or trial registration more frequently than conventional journals; however, endorsement is still only moderate. Further research should confirm these exploratory findings in other medical fields and should clarify what the motivations and barriers are in implementing such policies. PMID:21477335

Pediatricians' knowledge of current sports concussion legislation and guidelines and comfort with sports concussion management: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Carl, Rebecca L; Kinsella, Sarah B

2014-06-01

Sports-related concussions disproportionately affect young athletes. The primary objective of our study was to determine Illinois pediatricians' level of familiarity with state concussion legislation and with published consensus guidelines for sports concussion diagnosis and treatment. We also sought to determine pediatricians' knowledge regarding concussion management and comfort treating sports concussion patients. This was a cross-sectional survey of pediatrician members of the Illinois Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Few general pediatricians (26.6%, n = 42) were "very familiar" or "somewhat familiar" with the recently passed Illinois state concussion legislation. Only 14.6% (n = 23) of general pediatrician respondents use concussion consensus guidelines in their practice. Pediatricians were generally very knowledgeable about concussions; only 5 out of 19 knowledge-based items were answered incorrectly by more than 25% of the study participants. General pediatricians are knowledgeable about concussions but most are not well aware of state concussion legislation and concussion consensus guidelines. © The Author(s) 2014.

Saudi Oncology Society and Saudi Urology Association combined clinical management guidelines for prostate cancer 2017.

PubMed

Aljubran, Ali; Abusamra, Ashraf; Alkhateeb, Sultan; Alotaibi, Mohammed; Rabah, Danny; Bazarbashi, Shouki; Alkushi, Hussain; Al-Mansour, Mubarak; Alharbi, Hulayel; Eltijani, Amin; Alghamdi, Abdullah; Alsharm, Abdullah; Ahmad, Imran; Murshid, Esam

2018-01-01

This is an update to the previously published Saudi guidelines for the evaluation and medical and surgical management of patients diagnosed with prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is categorized according to the stage of the disease using the tumor node metastasis staging system 7 th edition. The guidelines are presented with supporting evidence levels based on a comprehensive literature review, several internationally recognized guidelines, and the collective expertise of the guidelines committee members (authors) who were selected by the Saudi Oncology Society and Saudi Urological Association. Local factors, such as availability, logistic feasibility, and familiarity of various treatment modalities, have been taken into consideration. These guidelines should serve as a roadmap for the urologists, oncologists, general physicians, support groups, and health-care policymakers in the management of patients diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the prostate.

Author contributions to ecological publications: What does it mean to be an author in modern ecological research?

PubMed Central

Logan, John M.; Bean, Sarah B.; Myers, Andrew E.

2017-01-01

Authorship is a central element of scientific research carrying a variety of rewards and responsibilities, and while various guidelines exist, actual author contributions are often ambiguous. Inconsistent or limited contributions threaten to devalue authorship as intellectual currency and diminish authors’ responsibility for published content. Researchers have assessed author contributions in the medical literature and other research fields, but similar data for the field of ecological research are lacking. Authorship practices in ecological research are broadly representative of a variety of fields due to the cross-disciplinary nature of collaborations in ecological studies. To better understand author contributions to current research, we distributed a survey regarding co-author contributions to a random selection of 996 lead authors of manuscripts published in ecological journals in 2010. We obtained useable responses from 45% of surveyed authors. Reported lead author contributions in ecological research studies consistently included conception of the project idea, data collection, analysis, and writing. Middle and last author contributions instead showed a high level of individual variability. Lead authorship in ecology is well defined while secondary authorship is more ambiguous. Nearly half (48%) of all studies included in our survey had some level of non-compliance with Ecological Society of America (ESA) authorship guidelines and the majority of studies (78%) contained at least one co-author that did not meet International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) requirements. Incidence of non-compliance varied with lead author occupation and author position. The probability of a study including an author that was non-compliant with ESA guidelines was lowest for professor-led studies and highest for graduate student and post doctoral researcher-led studies. Among studies with > two co-authors, all lead authors met ESA guidelines and only 2% failed to meet ICMJE requirements. Middle (24% ESA, 63% ICMJE) and last (37% ESA, 60% ICMJE) authors had higher rates of non-compliance. The probability of a study containing a co-author that did not meet ESA or ICMJE requirements increased significantly with the number of co-authors per study although even studies with only two co-authors had a high probability of non-compliance of approximately 60% (ICMJE) and 15 to 40% (ESA). Given the variable and often limited contributions of authors in our survey and past studies of other research disciplines, institutions, journals, and scientific societies need to implement new approaches to instill meaning in authorship status. A byline approach may not alter author contributions but would better define individual contributions and reduce existing ambiguity regarding the meaning of authorship in modern ecological research. PMID:28650967

NASA Publications Guide for Authors. Revised

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2005-01-01

This document presents guidelines for use by NASA authors for preparing and publishing their scientific and technical information (STI). Section 1 gives an overview. Section 2 describes each type of report in the NASA STI Report Series and other forms of publications. It also discusses dissemination and safeguarding of STI. Section 3 gives technical, data quality, and dissemination reviews, including the mandatory review via NASA Form 1676, NASA Scientific and Technical Information (STI) Document Availability Authorization (DAA). It also describes handling unlimited and limited/restricted STI. Section 4 provides recommended standards for document format, composition, and organization and element of a typical report. Section 5 presents miscellaneous preparation recommendations. Section 6 discusses two required forms, Standard Form 298 and NF-1676. The guide cites additional sources of information of standards, guidelines, and review and approval requirements.

COMP report: CPQR technical quality control guidelines for low-dose-rate permanent seed brachytherapy.

PubMed

Beaulieu, Luc; Radford, Dee-Ann; Eduardo Villarreal-Barajas, J

2018-03-14

The Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists (COMP), in close partnership with the Canadian Partnership for Quality Radiotherapy (CPQR) has developed a series of Technical Quality Control (TQC) guidelines for radiation treatment equipment. These guidelines outline the performance objectives that equipment should meet in order to ensure an acceptable level of radiation treatment quality. The TQC guidelines have been rigorously reviewed and field tested in a variety of Canadian radiation treatment facilities. The development process enables rapid review and update to keep the guidelines current with changes in technology. This article contains detailed performance objectives and safety criteria for low-dose-rate (LDR) permanent seed brachytherapy. © 2018 The Authors. Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

Comparative assessment of bioanalytical method validation guidelines for pharmaceutical industry.

PubMed

Kadian, Naveen; Raju, Kanumuri Siva Rama; Rashid, Mamunur; Malik, Mohd Yaseen; Taneja, Isha; Wahajuddin, Muhammad

2016-07-15

The concepts, importance, and application of bioanalytical method validation have been discussed for a long time and validation of bioanalytical methods is widely accepted as pivotal before they are taken into routine use. United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) guidelines issued in 2001 have been referred for every guideline released ever since; may it be European Medical Agency (EMA) Europe, National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) Brazil, Ministry of Health and Labour Welfare (MHLW) Japan or any other guideline in reference to bioanalytical method validation. After 12 years, USFDA released its new draft guideline for comments in 2013, which covers the latest parameters or topics encountered in bioanalytical method validation and approached towards the harmonization of bioanalytical method validation across the globe. Even though the regulatory agencies have general agreement, significant variations exist in acceptance criteria and methodology. The present review highlights the variations, similarities and comparison between bioanalytical method validation guidelines issued by major regulatory authorities worldwide. Additionally, other evaluation parameters such as matrix effect, incurred sample reanalysis including other stability aspects have been discussed to provide an ease of access for designing a bioanalytical method and its validation complying with the majority of drug authority guidelines. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

An audit of best evidence topic reviews in the International Journal of Surgery.

PubMed

Mabvuure, Nigel Tapiwa; Klimach, Stefan; Eisner, Mark; Rodrigues, Jeremy Neil

2015-05-01

IJS launched best evidence topic reviews (BETs) in 2011, when the guidelines for conducting and reporting these reviews were published in the journal. (1) Audit the adherence of all published BETs in IJS to these guidelines. (2) Assess the reach and impact of BETs published in IJS. BETs published between 2011 and February 2014 were identified from http://www.journal-surgery.net/. Standards audited included: completeness of description of study attrition, and independent verification of searches. Other extracted data included: relevant subspecialty, duration between searches and publication, and between acceptance and publication. Each BET's number of citations (http://scholar.google.co.uk/), number of tweets (http://www.altmetric.com/) and number of Researchgate views (https://www.researchgate.net/) were recorded. Thirty-four BETs were identified: the majority, 19 (56%), relating to upper gastrointestinal surgery and none to cardiothoracic, orthopaedic or paediatric surgery. Twenty-nine BETs (82%) fully described study attrition. Twenty-one (62%) had independently verified search results. The mean times from literature searching to publication and acceptance to publication were 38.5 weeks and 13 days respectively. There were a mean 40 (range 0-89) Researchgate views/article, mean 2 (range 0-7) citations/article and mean 0.36 (range 0-2) tweets/article. Adherence to BET guidelines has been variable. Authors are encouraged to adhere to journal guidelines and reviewers and editors to enforce them. BETs have received similar citation levels to other IJS articles. Means of increasing the visibility of published BETs such as social media sharing, conference presentation and deposition of abstracts in public repositories should be explored. More work is required to encourage more submissions from other surgical subspecialties other than gastrointestinal specialties. Copyright © 2015 IJS Publishing Group Limited. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Author financial conflicts of interest, industry funding, and clinical practice guidelines for anticancer drugs.

PubMed

Tibau, Ariadna; Bedard, Philippe L; Srikanthan, Amirrtha; Ethier, Josee-Lyne; Vera-Badillo, Francisco E; Templeton, Arnoud J; Ocaña, Alberto; Seruga, Bostjan; Barnadas, Agustí; Amir, Eitan

2015-01-01

Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) and consensus statements (CSs) are used to apply evidence-based medicine or expert recommendations to clinical practice. Here we explore author financial conflicts of interest (FCOIs), sources of guideline funding, and their relationship with endorsement of specific drugs. An electronic search of MEDLINE was conducted to identify CPGs and CSs for common solid cancers published between January 2003 and October 2013. The search was restricted to articles evaluating systemic therapy. We extracted data on self-reported author FCOIs, funding sources, use of manuscript writers, and endorsement of specific drugs in the abstract of the article. Of 142 articles evaluated, 64% were CPGs, and 36% were CSs. The proportion of articles reporting FCOIs improved from 11% in 2003 to 93% in 2013 (P for trend < .001). Only 45% of articles explicitly reported funding sources. Of these, 65% disclosed partial or full industry sponsorship. Use of manuscript writers was declared in 13%, but many articles did not explicitly report the role of authors in the writing of the manuscript. Endorsement of specific drugs was significantly associated with author FCOIs (odds ratio [OR], 7.29; P = .001), but not with industry funding (OR, 0.95; P = .37). Reporting of FCOIs in CPGs and CSs has improved over time. Despite prevalent funding of guideline development by industry, such funding is not associated with endorsement of specific drugs. Author FCOIs are prevalent, and endorsement of a specific drug seems to be more common when authors have FCOIs with the pharmaceutical company marketing that drug. © 2014 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Under-reporting of conflicts of interest among trialists: a cross-sectional study

PubMed Central

Schroll, Jeppe; Gøtzsche, Peter C; Lundh, Andreas

2015-01-01

Objectives To determine the prevalence of conflicts of interest (COIs) among Danish physicians who are authors of clinical drug trial reports and determine the extent of undisclosed COIs in trial publications. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting The 100 most recent drug trial reports with at least one Danish non-industry employed physician author published in a journal adhering to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors' (ICMJE) manuscript guidelines. For each article, two observers independently extracted trial characteristics and the authors' COIs. Disclosed COIs were compared to what was registered on the Danish Health and Medicines Authority's public disclosure list. Participants Trial authors who are Danish physicians. Main outcome measures Number of disclosed and undisclosed COIs. Results One observer screened 928 articles and two observers assessed 120 articles for eligibility. The 100 included trials were published from February 2011 to May 2013 and included 318 Danish non-industry employed authors. Eighty-six of the 318 authors (27%) reported one or more COIs in the journal article. We found undisclosed COIs for 40 of 318 authors (13%) related to the trial sponsor or manufacturer of trial drugs. Seventy-nine of 318 authors (25%) had undisclosed COIs related to competing companies manufacturing drugs for the same indication and 136 (43%) had undisclosed COIs with any drug manufacturer. Conclusions Almost half of all authors had undisclosed COIs in clinical trials reported in journals adhering to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors’ manuscript guidelines. Self-declared COIs cannot be trusted, but public registries may assist editors in ensuring that more COIs are being reported. PMID:25389230

[Assessing research productivity in Department of Internal Medicine, University of Zagreb, School of Medicine and University Hospital Centre Zagreb].

PubMed

Petrak, Jelka; Sember, Marijan; Granić, Davorka

2012-01-01

Bibliometric analysis may give an objective information about publishing activity, citation rate and collaboration patterns of individuals, groups and institutions. The publication productivity of the present medical staff (79 with specialist degree and 22 residents) in Department of Internal Medicine, University of Zagreb School of Medicine in University Hospital Centre Zagreb was measured by the number of papers indexed by Medline, their impact was measured by the number of times these papers had subsequently been cited in the medical literature, while the collaboration pattern was estimated by the authors' addresses listed in the papers. PubMed database was a source for verifying the bibliographic data, and the citation data were searched via Thomson Web of Scence (WoS) platform. There were a total of 1182 papers, published from 1974 to date. The number of papers per author ranged from 0 to 252. Sixty of papers were published in English, and 39% in Croatian language. The roughly equal share was published in local and foreign journals. The RCT studies and practice guidelines were among the most cited papers and were at the same time published by the highly ranked journals. The collaboration analysis confirmed the extensive involment in the international multicentric clinical trials as well as in the development of international/local practice guidelines.

Ethical publishing in intensive care medicine: A narrative review

PubMed Central

Wiedermann, Christian J

2016-01-01

Ethical standards in the context of scientific publications are increasingly gaining attention. A narrative review of the literature concerning publication ethics was conducted as found in PubMed, Google Scholar, relevant news articles, position papers, websites and other sources. The Committee on Publication Ethics has produced guidelines and schedules for the handling of problem situations that have been adopted by professional journals and publishers worldwide as guidelines to authors. The defined requirements go beyond the disclosure of conflicts of interest or the prior registration of clinical trials. Recommendations to authors, editors and publishers of journals and research institutions were formulated with regard to issues of authorship, double publications, plagiarism, and conflicts of interest, with special attention being paid to unethical research behavior and data falsification. This narrative review focusses on ethical publishing in intensive care medicine. As scientific misconduct with data falsification damage patients and society, especially if fraudulent studies are considered important or favor certain therapies and downplay their side effects, it is important to ensure that only studies are published that have been carried out with highest integrity according to predefined criteria. For that also the peer review process has to be conducted in accordance with the highest possible scientific standards and making use of available modern information technology. The review provides the current state of recommendations that are considered to be most relevant particularly in the field of intensive care medicine. PMID:27652208

The influence of journal submission guidelines on authors' reporting of statistics and use of open research practices.

PubMed

Giofrè, David; Cumming, Geoff; Fresc, Luca; Boedker, Ingrid; Tressoldi, Patrizio

2017-01-01

From January 2014, Psychological Science introduced new submission guidelines that encouraged the use of effect sizes, estimation, and meta-analysis (the "new statistics"), required extra detail of methods, and offered badges for use of open science practices. We investigated the use of these practices in empirical articles published by Psychological Science and, for comparison, by the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, during the period of January 2013 to December 2015. The use of null hypothesis significance testing (NHST) was extremely high at all times and in both journals. In Psychological Science, the use of confidence intervals increased markedly overall, from 28% of articles in 2013 to 70% in 2015, as did the availability of open data (3 to 39%) and open materials (7 to 31%). The other journal showed smaller or much smaller changes. Our findings suggest that journal-specific submission guidelines may encourage desirable changes in authors' practices.

No. 354-Canadian HIV Pregnancy Planning Guidelines.

PubMed

Loutfy, Mona; Kennedy, V Logan; Poliquin, Vanessa; Dzineku, Frederick; Dean, Nicola L; Margolese, Shari; Symington, Alison; Money, Deborah M; Hamilton, Scot; Conway, Tracey; Khan, Sarah; Yudin, Mark H

2018-01-01

The objective of the Canadian HIV Pregnancy Planning Guidelines is to provide clinical information and recommendations for health care providers to assist Canadians affected by HIV with their fertility, preconception, and pregnancy planning decisions. These guidelines are evidence- and community-based and flexible and take into account diverse and intersecting local/population needs based on the social determinants of health. EVIDENCE: Literature searches were conducted by a librarian using the Medline, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), and Embase databases for published articles in English and French related to HIV and pregnancy and HIV and pregnancy planning for each section of the guidelines. The full search strategy is available upon request. The evidence obtained was reviewed and evaluated by the Infectious Diseases Committee of the SOGC under the leadership of the principal authors, and recommendations were made according to the guidelines developed by the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care and through use of the Appraisal of Guidelines Research and Evaluation instrument for the development of clinical guidelines. Guideline implementation should assist the practitioner in developing an evidence-based approach for the prevention of unplanned pregnancy, preconception, fertility, and pregnancy planning counselling in the context of HIV infection. These guidelines have been reviewed and approved by the Infectious Disease Committee and the Executive and Council of the SOGC. Canadian Institutes of Health Research Grant Planning and Dissemination grant (Funding Reference # 137186), which funded a Development Team meeting in 2016. Crown Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Saudi Oncology Society and Saudi Urology Association combined clinical management guidelines for urothelial cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder 2017.

PubMed

Alharbi, Hulayel; Alkhateeb, Sultan; Murshid, Esam; Alotaibi, Mohammed; Abusamra, Ashraf; Rabah, Danny; Almansour, Mubarak; Alghamdi, Abdullah; Aljubran, Ali; Eltigani, Amin; Alkushi, Hussein; Ahmed, Imran; Alsharm, Abdullah; Bazarbashi, Shouki

2018-01-01

This is an update to the previously published Saudi guidelines for the evaluation and medical/surgical management of patients diagnosed with urothelial cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder. It is categorized according to the stage of the disease using the tumor node metastasis staging system, 7 th edition. The guidelines are presented with their accompanying supporting evidence level, which is based on comprehensive literature review, several internationally recognized guidelines, and the collective expertise of the guidelines committee members (authors) who were selected by the Saudi Oncology Society and Saudi Urological Association. Considerations to the local availability of drugs, technology, and expertise have been regarded. These guidelines should serve as a roadmap for the urologists, oncologists, general physicians, support groups, and health-care policymakers in the management of patients diagnosed with urothelial cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder.

Nutrition management guideline for maple syrup urine disease: an evidence- and consensus-based approach.

PubMed

Frazier, Dianne M; Allgeier, Courtney; Homer, Caroline; Marriage, Barbara J; Ogata, Beth; Rohr, Frances; Splett, Patricia L; Stembridge, Adrya; Singh, Rani H

2014-07-01

In an effort to increase harmonization of care and enable outcome studies, the Genetic Metabolic Dietitians International (GMDI) and the Southeast Regional Newborn Screening and Genetics Collaborative (SERC) are partnering to develop nutrition management guidelines for inherited metabolic disorders (IMD) using a model combining both evidence- and consensus-based methodology. The first guideline to be completed is for maple syrup urine disease (MSUD). This report describes the methodology used in its development: formulation of five research questions; review, critical appraisal and abstraction of peer-reviewed studies and unpublished practice literature; and expert input through Delphi surveys and a nominal group process. This report includes the summary statements for each research question and the nutrition management recommendations they generated. Each recommendation is followed by a standardized rating based on the strength of the evidence and consensus used. The application of technology to build the infrastructure for this project allowed transparency during development of this guideline and will be a foundation for future guidelines. Online open access of the full, published guideline allows utilization by health care providers, researchers, and collaborators who advise, advocate and care for individuals with MSUD and their families. There will be future updates as warranted by developments in research and clinical practice. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Comprehensive Analysis of Authorship in Radiology Journals.

PubMed

Dang, Wilfred; McInnes, Matthew D F; Kielar, Ania Z; Hong, Jiho

2015-01-01

The purpose of our study was to investigate authorship trends in radiology journals, and whether International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommendations have had an impact on these trends. A secondary objective was to explore other variables associated with authorship trends. A retrospective, bibliometric analysis of 49 clinical radiology journals published from 1946-2013 was conducted. The following data was exported from MEDLINE (1946 to May 2014) for each article: authors' full name, year of publication, primary author institution information, language of publication and publication type. Microsoft Excel Visual Basics for Applications scripts were programmed to categorize extracted data. Statistical analysis was performed to determine the overall mean number of authors per article over time, impact of ICMJE guidelines, authorship frequency per journal, country of origin, article type and language of publication. 216,271 articles from 1946-2013 were included. A univariate analysis of the mean authorship frequency per year of all articles yielded a linear relationship between time and authorship frequency. The mean number of authors per article in 1946 (1.42) was found to have increased consistently by 0.07 authors/ article per year (R² = 0.9728, P<0.001) to 5.79 authors/article in 2013. ICMJE guideline dissemination did not have an impact on this rise in authorship frequency. There was considerable variability in mean authors per article and change over time between journals, country of origin, language of publication and article type. Overall authorship for 49 radiology journals across 68 years has increased markedly with no demonstrated impact from ICMJE guidelines. A higher number of authors per article was seen in articles from: higher impact journals, European and Asian countries, original research type, and those journals who explicitly endorse the ICMJE guidelines.

[A brief history of resuscitation - the influence of previous experience on modern techniques and methods].

PubMed

Kucmin, Tomasz; Płowaś-Goral, Małgorzata; Nogalski, Adam

2015-02-01

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is relatively novel branch of medical science, however first descriptions of mouth-to-mouth ventilation are to be found in the Bible and literature is full of descriptions of different resuscitation methods - from flagellation and ventilation with bellows through hanging the victims upside down and compressing the chest in order to stimulate ventilation to rectal fumigation with tobacco smoke. The modern history of CPR starts with Kouwenhoven et al. who in 1960 published a paper regarding heart massage through chest compressions. Shortly after that in 1961Peter Safar presented a paradigm promoting opening the airway, performing rescue breaths and chest compressions. First CPR guidelines were published in 1966. Since that time guidelines were modified and improved numerously by two leading world expert organizations ERC (European Resuscitation Council) and AHA (American Heart Association) and published in a new version every 5 years. Currently 2010 guidelines should be obliged. In this paper authors made an attempt to present history of development of resuscitation techniques and methods and assess the influence of previous lifesaving methods on nowadays technologies, equipment and guidelines which allow to help those women and men whose life is in danger due to sudden cardiac arrest. © 2015 MEDPRESS.

From the Board of Editors: on Plagiarism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2005-03-01

There has been a significant increase in the number of duplicate submissions and plagiarism cases reported in all major journals, including the journals of the Optical Society of America. Duplicate submissions and plagiarism can take many forms, and all of them are violations of professional ethics, the copyright agreement that an author signs along with the submission of a paper, and OSA’s published Author Guidelines. There must be a significant component of new science for a paper to be publishable. The copying of large segments of text from previously published or in-press papers with only minor cosmetic changes is not acceptable and can lead to the rejection of papers. [Please click on the link below to view the full-text.

Arbitrary precision value overlay and alignment system by double positioning of mask and wafer and electronic datum and nano sensor (notice of removal)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bear, Wynn L.; Xiong, Xiang-Wen

2009-03-01

This paper (SPIE Paper 727249) was removed from the SPIE Digital Library on 30 April 2009 upon learning that the two names associated with this publication record, Xiang-Wen Xiong and Wynn L. Bear, are actually the same individual and not two different authors. This is not sanctioned by SPIE. As stated in the SPIE Guidelines for Professional Conduct and Publishing Ethics, "SPIE considers it the professional responsibility of all authors to ensure that the authorship of submitted papers properly reflects the contributions and consent of all authors." A serious violation of these guidelines is evident in this case. It is SPIE policy to remove papers from the SPIE Digital Library where serious professional misconduct has occurred and to impose additional sanctions as appropriate.

PMS2 monoallelic mutation carriers: the known unknown.

PubMed

Goodenberger, McKinsey L; Thomas, Brittany C; Riegert-Johnson, Douglas; Boland, C Richard; Plon, Sharon E; Clendenning, Mark; Win, Aung Ko; Senter, Leigha; Lipkin, Steven M; Stadler, Zsofia K; Macrae, Finlay A; Lynch, Henry T; Weitzel, Jeffrey N; de la Chapelle, Albert; Syngal, Sapna; Lynch, Patrick; Parry, Susan; Jenkins, Mark A; Gallinger, Steven; Holter, Spring; Aronson, Melyssa; Newcomb, Polly A; Burnett, Terrilea; Le Marchand, Loïc; Pichurin, Pavel; Hampel, Heather; Terdiman, Jonathan P; Lu, Karen H; Thibodeau, Stephen; Lindor, Noralane M

2016-01-01

Germ-line mutations in MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, and PMS2 have been shown to cause Lynch syndrome. The penetrance of the cancer and tumor spectrum has been repeatedly studied, and multiple professional societies have proposed clinical management guidelines for affected individuals. Several studies have demonstrated a reduced penetrance for monoallelic carriers of PMS2 mutations compared with the other mismatch repair (MMR) genes, but clinical management guidelines have largely proposed the same screening recommendations for all MMR gene carriers. The authors considered whether enough evidence existed to propose new screening guidelines specific to PMS2 mutation carriers with regard to age at onset and frequency of colonic screening. Published reports of PMS2 germ-line mutations were combined with unpublished cases from the authors' research registries and clinical practices, and a discussion of potential modification of cancer screening guidelines was pursued. A total of 234 monoallelic PMS2 mutation carriers from 170 families were included. Approximately 8% of those with colorectal cancer (CRC) were diagnosed before age 30, and each of these tumors presented on the left side of the colon. As it is currently unknown what causes the early onset of CRC in some families with monoallelic PMS2 germline mutations, the authors recommend against reducing cancer surveillance guidelines in families found having monoallelic PMS2 mutations in spite of the reduced penetrance.Genet Med 18 1, 13-19.

SIOP‐PODC adapted risk stratification and treatment guidelines: Recommendations for neuroblastoma in low‐ and middle‐income settings

PubMed Central

Howard, Scott C.; Chantada, Guillermo; Israels, Trijn; Khattab, Mohammed; Alcasabas, Patricia; Lam, Catherine G.; Faulkner, Lawrence; Park, Julie R.; London, Wendy B.; Matthay, Katherine K.

2015-01-01

Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid tumor in childhood in high‐income countries (HIC), where consistent treatment approaches based on clinical and tumor biological risk stratification have steadily improved outcomes. However, in low‐ and middle‐ income countries (LMIC), suboptimal diagnosis, risk stratification, and treatment may occur due to limited resources and unavailable infrastructure. The clinical practice guidelines outlined in this manuscript are based on current published evidence and expert opinions. Standard risk stratification and treatment explicitly adapted to graduated resource settings can improve outcomes for children with neuroblastoma by reducing preventable toxic death and relapse. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2015;62:1305–1316. © 2015 The Authors. Pediatric Blood & Cancer, published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. PMID:25810263

A case of standardization? Implementing health promotion guidelines in Denmark.

PubMed

Rod, Morten Hulvej; Høybye, Mette Terp

2016-09-01

Guidelines are increasingly used in an effort to standardize and systematize health practices at the local level and to promote evidence-based practice. The implementation of guidelines frequently faces problems, however, and standardization processes may in general have other outcomes than the ones envisioned by the makers of standards. In 2012, the Danish National Health Authorities introduced a set of health promotion guidelines that were meant to guide the decision making and priority setting of Denmark's 98 local governments. The guidelines provided recommendations for health promotion policies and interventions and were structured according to risk factors such as alcohol, smoking and physical activity. This article examines the process of implementation of the new Danish health promotion guidelines. The article is based on qualitative interviews and participant observation, focusing on the professional practices of health promotion officers in four local governments as well as the field of Danish health promotion more generally. The analysis highlights practices and episodes related to the implementation of the guidelines and takes inspiration from Timmermans and Epstein's sociology of standards and standardization. It remains an open question whether or not the guidelines lead to more standardized policies and interventions, but we suggest that the guidelines promote a risk factor-oriented approach as the dominant frame for knowledge, reasoning, decision making and priority setting in health promotion. We describe this process as a case of epistemic standardization. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Palliative Sedation: An Analysis of International Guidelines and Position Statements.

PubMed

Gurschick, Lauren; Mayer, Deborah K; Hanson, Laura C

2015-09-01

To describe the suggested clinical practice of palliative sedation as it is presented in the literature and discuss available guidelines for its use. CINAHL, PubMed, and Web of Science were searched for publications since 1997 for recommended guidelines and position statements on palliative sedation as well as data on its provision. Keywords included palliative sedation, terminal sedation, guidelines, United States, and end of life. Inclusion criteria were palliative sedation policies, frameworks, guidelines, or discussion of its practice, general or oncology patient population, performance of the intervention in an inpatient unit, for humans, and in English. Exclusion criteria were palliative sedation in children, acute illness, procedural, or burns, and predominantly ethical discussions. Guidelines were published by American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine (2000), Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association (2003), American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (2006), American Medical Association (2008), Royal Dutch Medical Association (2009), European Association for Palliative Care (2009), National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (2010), and National Comprehensive Cancer Network (2012). Variances throughout guidelines include definitions of the practice, indications for its use, continuation of life-prolonging therapies, medications used, and timing/prognosis. The development and implementation of institutional-based guidelines with clear stance on the discussed variances is necessary for consistency in practice. Data on provision of palliative sedation after implementation of guidelines needs to be collected and disseminated for a better understanding of the current practice in the United States. © The Author(s) 2014.

Do published studies of educational outreach provide documentation of potentially important characteristics?

PubMed

Van Hoof, Thomas J; Miller, Nicole E; Meehan, Thomas P

2013-01-01

Educational outreach is a common intervention used to translate research findings into practice; however, the intervention has a mixed effect on changing clinician behavior and improving patient outcomes. Based on a published set of characteristics aimed at standardizing the approach to educational outreach, the authors undertook a careful review of the literature to determine the consistency and completeness of documentation. Using a 25-item abstraction tool, the authors reviewed 68 published studies of a recent Cochrane meta-analysis to determine the extent to which educational outreach studies provide recommended documentation of important characteristics. The results indicate that studies are generally inconsistent (documentation range of 0% to 100% across characteristics) and incomplete (documentation average of 43.1% across studies) in their descriptions. Documentation shortcomings of educational outreach studies make understanding the intervention and interpreting its findings particularly challenging. The authors recommend the creation of a guideline to help improve documentation of educational outreach efforts.

[Over- or underestimated? Bibliographic survey of the biomedical periodicals published in Hungary].

PubMed

Berhidi, Anna; Horváth, Katalin; Horváth, Gabriella; Vasas, Lívia

2013-06-30

This publication - based on an article published in 2006 - emphasises the qualities of the current biomedical periodicals of Hungarian editions. The aim of this study was to analyse how Hungarian journals meet the requirements of the scientific aspect and international visibility. Authors evaluated 93 Hungarian biomedical periodicals by 4 viewpoints of the two criteria mentioned above. 35% of the analysed journals complete the attributes of scientific aspect, 5% the international visibility, 6% fulfill all examined criteria, and 25% are indexed in international databases. 6 biomedical Hungarian periodicals covered by each of the three main bibliographic databases (Medline, Scopus, Web of Science) have the best qualities. Authors recommend to improve viewpoints of the scientific aspect and international visibility. The basis of qualitative adequacy are the accurate authors' guidelines, title, abstract, keywords of the articles in English, and the ability to publish on time.

Guidelines of the First International Consensus Conference on Endovenous Thermal Ablation for Varicose Vein Disease--ETAV Consensus Meeting 2012.

PubMed

Pavlović, Miloš D; Schuller-Petrović, Sanja; Pichot, Olivier; Rabe, Eberhard; Maurins, Uldis; Morrison, Nick; Pannier, Felizitas

2015-05-01

Endovenous thermal ablation (ETA) procedures are catheter-directed, ultrasound (US)-guided thermal methods for treatment in varicose veins disease. Radiofrequency, laser or steam energy thermally denatures vein wall collagen, leading first to vein wall inflammation, then fibrosis and finally to occlusion. The aim of this guideline is to give evidence-based recommendations for ETA procedures. These guidelines were drafted during a consensus meeting of a group of experts in the field of ETA in June 2012 (Hvar, Croatia) under the auspices of the International Union of Phlebology (IUP). These guidelines review the present state of knowledge as reflected in peer-reviewed published medical literature. The recommendations of these guidelines are graded according to the American College of Chest Physicians Task Force recommendations on Grading Strength of Recommendations and Quality of Evidence in Clinical Guidelines. Recommendations on the use of ETA procedures were made based on the quality of evidence for efficacy, safety, tolerability, cosmetic outcome, patient satisfaction/preference and, where appropriate, on the experts' opinion. Health economics were not considered, since differences in national health systems and pricing make it difficult to form general conclusions that are relevant at an international level. © The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

A Comprehensive Analysis of Authorship in Radiology Journals

PubMed Central

Dang, Wilfred; McInnes, Matthew D. F.; Kielar, Ania Z.; Hong, Jiho

2015-01-01

Objectives The purpose of our study was to investigate authorship trends in radiology journals, and whether International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommendations have had an impact on these trends. A secondary objective was to explore other variables associated with authorship trends. Methods A retrospective, bibliometric analysis of 49 clinical radiology journals published from 1946–2013 was conducted. The following data was exported from MEDLINE (1946 to May 2014) for each article: authors’ full name, year of publication, primary author institution information, language of publication and publication type. Microsoft Excel Visual Basics for Applications scripts were programmed to categorize extracted data. Statistical analysis was performed to determine the overall mean number of authors per article over time, impact of ICMJE guidelines, authorship frequency per journal, country of origin, article type and language of publication. Results 216,271 articles from 1946–2013 were included. A univariate analysis of the mean authorship frequency per year of all articles yielded a linear relationship between time and authorship frequency. The mean number of authors per article in 1946 (1.42) was found to have increased consistently by 0.07 authors/ article per year (R² = 0.9728, P<0.001) to 5.79 authors/article in 2013. ICMJE guideline dissemination did not have an impact on this rise in authorship frequency. There was considerable variability in mean authors per article and change over time between journals, country of origin, language of publication and article type. Conclusion Overall authorship for 49 radiology journals across 68 years has increased markedly with no demonstrated impact from ICMJE guidelines. A higher number of authors per article was seen in articles from: higher impact journals, European and Asian countries, original research type, and those journals who explicitly endorse the ICMJE guidelines. PMID:26407072

Manpower Aspects of Higher Education in India.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khan, Qamar Uddin

Using data from various published sources, this report reviews the growth of higher education in India over the last 30 years, analyzes employers' needs for higher education graduates since 1950, and suggests guidelines for involving educational planning with manpower planning. The author describes the growth of Indian higher education in the…

Procedural Due Process for Students at Public Colleges and Universities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Golden, Edward J.

1982-01-01

Reports the findings of a study to determine what procedural protections are afforded students at public colleges and universities who are faced with disciplinary or academic dismissal. The data are from 62 of the 85 public postsecondary institutions asked to provide published procedural guidelines. (Author/MLF)

[Care Plan for Resuming the Physical Activity of Patients With Pancreatic Cancer and Diabetes After Surgery].

PubMed

Yang, Hui-Ting; Wu, Mei-Chih; Shun, Shiow-Ching

2018-02-01

Many barriers influence the ability of postoperative cancer patients to reengage in normal physical activities. Training programs have been shown to be effective in helping restore physical activity in patients and in reducing the care burdens of family members. Nurses cannot use physical activity guidelines in their care plan to assess individual needs. The clinical practice guidelines for physical activity in survivorship were published by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) in 2016. These guidelines are used to assess patients' physical status, curable factors, physical barriers, and risk of postoperative pancreatic cancer and diabetes. In line with this assessment tool, the physical activity guidelines, and the recommendations for cancer patients, the authors planned a physical activity training program that addressed the actual needs of patients under their care. Further, the authors provided special notes for a diabetic diet that helped reduce the barriers to resuming physical activity and enhanced independent care efficacy. Meanwhile, the authors encouraged family members to participate in patient-care activities and family mental-health support and to promote patient participation in the training program in order to increase quality of life. The present project demonstrates that this care plan may provide an effective guide for nurses to help other cancer patients resume physical activity.

Health economics and European Renal Best Practice--is it time to bring health economics into evidence-based guideline production in Europe?

PubMed

Haller, Maria C; Vanholder, Raymond; Oberbauer, Rainer; Zoccali, Carmine; Van Biesen, Wim

2014-11-01

Medical management of patients with kidney disease is complex and resource intensive. In times of limited health care budgets, economic evaluations have become more important over the past few years in identifying interventions with a beneficial cost-effectiveness to maximize the benefits served from the available resources. However, integrating evidence from health-economic evaluations into clinical practice guidelines remains a challenge. European Renal Best Practice (ERBP), the official guideline body of the European Renal Association-European Dialysis and Transplant Association (ERA-EDTA) herewith presents some lines of thought that need consideration in the discussion on incorporating health-economic considerations into clinical guideline development. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of ERA-EDTA. All rights reserved.

Reporting Experiments in Homeopathic Basic Research (REHBaR).

PubMed

Stock-Schröer, Beate

2015-10-01

The aim of this study was to develop a criteria catalogue serving as a guideline for authors to improve quality of Reporting Experiments in Homeopathic Basic Research (REHBaR). Main focus was in the field of biochemical and biological experiments. So far, there was no guideline for scientists and authors available, unlike criteria catalogues common in clinical research. A Delphi Process was conducted among experts who published experimental work within the last five years in this field. The process included a total of five rounds, three rounds of adjusting and phrasing plus two consensus conferences. A checklist of 23 items was achieved, augmented with detailed examples how to handle each item while compiling a publication. Background, objectives and possible hypotheses are necessary to be given in the part 'introduction'. The section 'materials and methods' is the most important part, where a detailed description of chosen controls, object of investigation, experimental setup, replication, parameters, intervention, allocation, blinding, and statistical methods is mandatory. In the 'results' section sufficient details on analysed data, descriptive as well as inferential are needed. Moreover, authors should discuss their results and interpret them in the context of current evidence. REHBaR was compiled for authors when preparing their manuscripts, and to be used by scientific journals in the reviewing process. Reporting experiments in basic research in homeopathy is an important issue to state the quality and validity of gained results. A guideline for REHBaR seemed to be the first step to come to a commitment what information is necessary to be given in a paper. More than that, the catalogue can serve as a statement what the standards in good basic research should be. Copyright © 2015 The Faculty of Homeopathy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

GRADE Evidence to Decision (EtD) frameworks for adoption, adaptation, and de novo development of trustworthy recommendations: GRADE-ADOLOPMENT.

PubMed

Schünemann, Holger J; Wiercioch, Wojtek; Brozek, Jan; Etxeandia-Ikobaltzeta, Itziar; Mustafa, Reem A; Manja, Veena; Brignardello-Petersen, Romina; Neumann, Ignacio; Falavigna, Maicon; Alhazzani, Waleed; Santesso, Nancy; Zhang, Yuan; Meerpohl, Jörg J; Morgan, Rebecca L; Rochwerg, Bram; Darzi, Andrea; Rojas, Maria Ximenas; Carrasco-Labra, Alonso; Adi, Yaser; AlRayees, Zulfa; Riva, John; Bollig, Claudia; Moore, Ainsley; Yepes-Nuñez, Juan José; Cuello, Carlos; Waziry, Reem; Akl, Elie A

2017-01-01

Guideline developers can: (1) adopt existing recommendations from others; (2) adapt existing recommendations to their own context; or (3) create recommendations de novo. Monetary and nonmonetary resources, credibility, maximization of uptake, as well as logical arguments should guide the choice of the approach and processes. To describe a potentially efficient model for guideline production based on adoption, adaptation, and/or de novo development of recommendations utilizing the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) Evidence to Decision (EtD) frameworks. We applied the model in a new national guideline program producing 22 practice guidelines. We searched for relevant evidence that informs the direction and strength of a recommendation. We then produced GRADE EtDs for guideline panels to develop recommendations. We produced a total of 80 EtD frameworks in approximately 4 months and 146 EtDs in approximately 6 months in two waves. Use of the EtD frameworks allowed panel members understand judgments of others about the criteria that bear on guideline recommendations and then make their own judgments about those criteria in a systematic approach. The "GRADE-ADOLOPMENT" approach to guideline production combines adoption, adaptation, and, as needed, de novo development of recommendations. If developers of guidelines follow EtD criteria more widely and make their work publically available, this approach should prove even more useful. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Clinical practice guideline for the management of chronic kidney disease in patients infected with HIV: 2014 update by the HIV Medicine Association of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

PubMed

Lucas, Gregory M; Ross, Michael J; Stock, Peter G; Shlipak, Michael G; Wyatt, Christina M; Gupta, Samir K; Atta, Mohamed G; Wools-Kaloustian, Kara K; Pham, Paul A; Bruggeman, Leslie A; Lennox, Jeffrey L; Ray, Patricio E; Kalayjian, Robert C

2014-11-01

It is important to realize that guidelines cannot always account for individual variation among patients. They are not intended to supplant physician judgment with respect to particular patients or special clinical situations. IDSA considers adherence to these guidelines to be voluntary, with the ultimate determination regarding their application to be made by the physician in the light of each patient's individual circumstances. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Understanding the association between pressure ulcers and sitting in adults what does it mean for me and my carers? Seating guidelines for people, carers and health & social care professionals.

PubMed

Stephens, M; Bartley, C A

2018-02-01

The aim of the publication was to develop a practical guide for people, carers and health and social care professionals on how the research and evidence base on pressure ulcer prevention and management can be applied to those who remain seated for extended periods of time. This publication was developed at the request of the Tissue Viability Society in order to revise the original seating guidelines from 2008 as evidence and subsequent care has moved forward in relation to this area. Since 2008, the costs for the prevention and management of pressure ulcers have increased significantly and there is limited published advice from health and social care organisations on seating and preventing pressure ulcers. These guidelines have been written for: Who live or work in primary, secondary, and tertiary settings. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Publishing web-based guidelines using interactive decision models.

PubMed

Sanders, G D; Nease, R F; Owens, D K

2001-05-01

Commonly used methods for guideline development and dissemination do not enable developers to tailor guidelines systematically to specific patient populations and update guidelines easily. We developed a web-based system, ALCHEMIST, that uses decision models and automatically creates evidence-based guidelines that can be disseminated, tailored and updated over the web. Our objective was to demonstrate the use of this system with clinical scenarios that provide challenges for guideline development. We used the ALCHEMIST system to develop guidelines for three clinical scenarios: (1) Chlamydia screening for adolescent women, (2) antiarrhythmic therapy for the prevention of sudden cardiac death; and (3) genetic testing for the BRCA breast-cancer mutation. ALCHEMIST uses information extracted directly from the decision model, combined with the additional information from the author of the decision model, to generate global guidelines. ALCHEMIST generated electronic web-based guidelines for each of the three scenarios. Using ALCHEMIST, we demonstrate that tailoring a guideline for a population at high-risk for Chlamydia changes the recommended policy for control of Chlamydia from contact tracing of reported cases to a population-based screening programme. We used ALCHEMIST to incorporate new evidence about the effectiveness of implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) and demonstrate that the cost-effectiveness of use of ICDs improves from $74 400 per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained to $34 500 per QALY gained. Finally, we demonstrate how a clinician could use ALCHEMIST to incorporate a woman's utilities for relevant health states and thereby develop patient-specific recommendations for BRCA testing; the patient-specific recommendation improved quality-adjusted life expectancy by 37 days. The ALCHEMIST system enables guideline developers to publish both a guideline and an interactive decision model on the web. This web-based tool enables guideline developers to tailor guidelines systematically, to update guidelines easily, and to make the underlying evidence and analysis transparent for users.

A survey of the awareness, knowledge, policies and views of veterinary journal Editors-in-Chief on reporting guidelines for publication of research

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Wider adoption of reporting guidelines by veterinary journals could improve the quality of published veterinary research. The aims of this study were to assess the knowledge and views of veterinary Editors-in-Chief on reporting guidelines, identify the policies of their journals, and determine their information needs. Editors-in-Chief of 185 journals on the contact list for the International Association of Veterinary Editors (IAVE) were surveyed in April 2012 using an online questionnaire which contained both closed and open questions. Results The response rate was 36.8% (68/185). Thirty-six of 68 editors (52.9%) stated they knew what a reporting guideline was before receiving the questionnaire. Editors said they had found out about reporting guidelines primarily through articles in other journals, via the Internet and through their own journal. Twenty of 57 respondents (35.1%) said their journal referred to reporting guidelines in its instructions to authors. CONSORT, REFLECT, and ARRIVE were the most frequently cited. Forty-four of 68 respondents (68.2%) believed that reporting guidelines should be adopted by all refereed veterinary journals. Qualitative analysis of the open questions revealed that lack of knowledge, fear, resistance to change, and difficulty in implementation were perceived as barriers to the adoption of reporting guidelines by journals. Editors suggested that reporting guidelines be promoted through communication and education of the veterinary community, with roles for the IAVE and universities. Many respondents believed a consensus policy on guideline implementation was needed for veterinary journals. Conclusions Further communication and education about reporting guidelines for editors, authors and reviewers has the potential to increase their adoption by veterinary journals in the future. PMID:24410882

The Road to Reproducibility in Animal Research.

PubMed

Jilka, Robert L

2016-07-01

Reproducibility of research findings is the hallmark of scientific advance. However, the recently noted lack of reproducibility and transparency of published research using animal models of human biology and disease has alarmed funders, scientists, and the public. Improved reporting of methodology and better use of statistical tools are needed to enhance the quality and utility of published research. Reporting guidelines like Animal Research: Reporting In Vivo Experiments (ARRIVE) have been devised to achieve these goals, but most biomedical research journals, including the JBMR, have not been able to obtain high compliance. Cooperative efforts among authors, reviewers and editors-empowered by increased awareness of their responsibilities, and enabled by user-friendly guidelines-are needed to solve this problem. © 2016 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research. © 2016 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

No. 357-Immunization in Pregnancy.

PubMed

Castillo, Eliana; Poliquin, Vanessa

2018-04-01

To review the evidence and provide recommendations on immunization in pregnancy. Outcomes evaluated include effectiveness of immunization and risks and benefits for mother and fetus. The Medline and Cochrane databases were searched for articles published up to January 2017 on the topic of immunization in pregnancy. The evidence obtained was reviewed and evaluated by the Infectious Diseases Committee of the SOGC under the leadership of the principal authors, and recommendations were made according to guidelines developed by the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care (Table 1). Implementation of the recommendations in this guideline should result in more appropriate immunization of pregnant and breastfeeding women, decreased risk of contraindicated immunization, and better disease prevention. Copyright © 2018 Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Historical review of and current progress in coal-resource estimation in the United States.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wood, G.H.

1981-01-01

Nine estimates of US coal resources have been published in the past 71yr. Although many details of these estimates differ markedly, those for 1913, 1922, and 1974 are surprisingly similar. Some differences are due to increased data, others reflect changes in terminology, definitions, criteria, guidelines, and methodologies. Thus many early estimates are not particularly useful in modern resource assessments. Preliminary definitions that are being prepared in 1980 by the US Geological Survey are compared with those published in 1976 and currently in use. Anticipated results of the new definitions are: 1) to lessen existing confusion about estimation procedures; 2) to make such procedures easier and more precise; 3) to promote use of a commonly accepted terminology accompanied by standardized definitions, criteria, guidelines, and methodologies for estimating resources. -Author

[Sex and gender equity in research: rationale for the SAGER guidelines and recommended use].

PubMed

Heidari, Shirin; Babor, Thomas F; De Castro, Paola; Tort, Sera; Curno, Mirjam

2018-05-03

Sex and gender differences are often overlooked in research design, study implementation and scientific reporting, as well as in general science communication. This oversight limits the generalizability of research findings and their applicability to clinical practice, in particular for women but also for men. This article describes the rationale for an international set of guidelines to encourage a more systematic approach to the reporting of sex and gender in research across disciplines. A panel of 13 experts representing nine countries developed the guidelines through a series of teleconferences, conference presentations and a 2-day workshop. An internet survey of 716 journal editors, scientists and other members of the international publishing community was conducted as well as a literatura search on sex and gender policies in scientific publishing. The Sex and Gender Equity in Research (SAGER) guidelines are a comprehensive procedure for reporting of sex and gender information in study design, data analyses, results and interpretation of findings. The SAGER guidelines are designed primarily to guide authors in preparing their manuscripts, but they are also useful for editors, as gatekeepers of science, to integrate assessment of sex and gender into all manuscripts as an integral part of the editorial process. Copyright © 2018 SESPAS. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Wishing away Plagiarism in Scientific Publications! Will it work? A situational analysis of Plagiarism policy of journals in PubMed.

PubMed

Debnath, Jyotindu; Cariappa, M P

2018-04-01

Plagiarism remains a scourge for the modern academia. There are inconsistencies in the plagiarism policy scientific journals. The aims of this study was to analyze types of published articles on 'Plagiarism' available on PubMed over last two decades against a backdrop of the plagiarism policy of the journals publishing such articles. A literature search on PubMed (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed) was made using the search term "plagiarism" from 01 January 1997 till 29 March 17. All publications having 'plagiarism' in the title formed the study group. The following were noted: types of articles published, ethical and plagiarism policy of the journal as available in the Instructions to authors and or in the journal home page. A total of 582 publications from 320 journals were studied. Editorials (165, 28.3%) and Letters to the Editor (159, 27.3%) formed the bulk. Research articles (56, 9.6%), Review articles (51, 8.7%) and Commentaries (47, 8%) formed the remainder. Detailed ethical guidelines were present in 221 (69%). Outline ethical guidelines only were present in 15 (4.7%) journals. 49 (15.3%) journals did not have any ethical guidelines. Detailed description of the policy on plagiarism was found in 80 (25%) journals. Only an outline description was found in 29 (9%) journals while a plagiarism policy/statement was totally absent in 176 (55%) journals. There is a need to have a well defined plagiarism policy/statement for all scholarly journals easily visible on their home pages on the internet and also in their Instructions to Authors.

Awareness and enforcement of guidelines for publishing industry-sponsored medical research among publication professionals: the Global Publication Survey

PubMed Central

Wager, Elizabeth; Woolley, Karen; Adshead, Viv; Cairns, Angela; Fullam, Josh; Gonzalez, John; Grant, Tom; Tortell, Stephanie

2014-01-01

Objective To gather information about current practices and implementation of publication guidelines among publication professionals working in or for the pharmaceutical industry. Design/setting Web-based survey publicised via email and social media to members of the International Society for Medical Publication Professionals (ISMPP) and other organisations from November 2012 to February 2013. Participants 469 individuals involved in publishing industry-sponsored research in peer-reviewed journals, mainly working in pharmaceutical or device companies (‘industry’, n=144), communication agencies (‘agency’, n=238), contract research organisations (CRO, n=15) or as freelancers (n=34). Most respondents (78%) had worked on medical publications for ≥5 years and 62% had a PhD/MD. Results Over 90% of industry, agency and CRO respondents routinely refer to Good Publication Practice (GPP2) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors’ Uniform Requirements. Most respondents (78% industry, 79% agency) received mandatory training on ethical publication practices. Over 90% of respondents’ companies had publication guidelines or policies and required medical writing support to be acknowledged in publications (96% industry, 99% agency). Many industry respondents used publication management tools to monitor compliance with company guidelines and about half (46%) stated that their company had formal publication audits. Fewer agencies audited adherence to guidelines but 20% of agency respondents reported audits of employees and 6% audits of freelancers. Of concern, 37% of agency respondents reported requests from authors or sponsors that they believed were unethical, although 93% of these requests were withdrawn after respondents explained the need for compliance with guidelines. Most respondents’ departments (63% industry, 58% agency, 60% CRO) had been involved in publishing studies with negative or inconclusive results. Conclusions Within this sample, most publication professionals working in or for industry were aware of, and applying, major publication guidelines. However, the survey also identified specific areas where education and promotion of guidelines are needed to ensure ethical publication practices. PMID:24747794

Awareness and enforcement of guidelines for publishing industry-sponsored medical research among publication professionals: the Global Publication Survey.

PubMed

Wager, Elizabeth; Woolley, Karen; Adshead, Viv; Cairns, Angela; Fullam, Josh; Gonzalez, John; Grant, Tom; Tortell, Stephanie

2014-04-19

To gather information about current practices and implementation of publication guidelines among publication professionals working in or for the pharmaceutical industry. Web-based survey publicised via email and social media to members of the International Society for Medical Publication Professionals (ISMPP) and other organisations from November 2012 to February 2013. 469 individuals involved in publishing industry-sponsored research in peer-reviewed journals, mainly working in pharmaceutical or device companies ('industry', n=144), communication agencies ('agency', n=238), contract research organisations (CRO, n=15) or as freelancers (n=34). Most respondents (78%) had worked on medical publications for ≥5 years and 62% had a PhD/MD. Over 90% of industry, agency and CRO respondents routinely refer to Good Publication Practice (GPP2) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors' Uniform Requirements. Most respondents (78% industry, 79% agency) received mandatory training on ethical publication practices. Over 90% of respondents' companies had publication guidelines or policies and required medical writing support to be acknowledged in publications (96% industry, 99% agency). Many industry respondents used publication management tools to monitor compliance with company guidelines and about half (46%) stated that their company had formal publication audits. Fewer agencies audited adherence to guidelines but 20% of agency respondents reported audits of employees and 6% audits of freelancers. Of concern, 37% of agency respondents reported requests from authors or sponsors that they believed were unethical, although 93% of these requests were withdrawn after respondents explained the need for compliance with guidelines. Most respondents' departments (63% industry, 58% agency, 60% CRO) had been involved in publishing studies with negative or inconclusive results. Within this sample, most publication professionals working in or for industry were aware of, and applying, major publication guidelines. However, the survey also identified specific areas where education and promotion of guidelines are needed to ensure ethical publication practices.

Reporting of financial conflicts of interest in clinical practice guidelines: a case study analysis of guidelines from the Canadian Medical Association Infobase.

PubMed

Shnier, Adrienne; Lexchin, Joel; Romero, Mirna; Brown, Kevin

2016-08-15

Clinical practice guidelines are widely distributed by medical associations and relied upon by physicians for the best available clinical evidence. International findings report that financial conflicts of interest (FCOI) with drug companies may influence drug recommendations and are common among guideline authors. There is no comparable study on exclusively Canadian guidelines; therefore, we provide a case study of authors' FCOI declarations in guidelines from the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) Infobase. We also assess the financial relationships between guideline-affiliated organizations and drug companies. Using a population approach, we extracted first-line drug recommendations and authors' FCOI disclosures in guidelines from the CMA Infobase. We contacted the corresponding authors on guidelines when FCOI disclosures were missing for some or all authors. We also extracted guideline-affiliated organizations and searched each of their websites to determine if they had financial relationships with drug companies. We analyzed 350 authors from 28 guidelines. Authors were named on one, two, or three guidelines, yielding 400 FCOI statements. In 75.0 % of guidelines at least one author, and in 21.4 % of guidelines all authors, disclosed FCOI with drug companies. In 54.0 % of guidelines at least one author, and in 28.6 % of guidelines over half of the authors, disclosed FCOI with manufacturers of drugs that they recommended. Twenty of 48 authors on multiple guidelines reported different FCOI in their disclosures. Eight guidelines identified affiliated organizations with financial relationships with manufacturers of drugs recommended in those guidelines. This is the first study to systematically describe FCOI disclosures by authors of Canadian guidelines and financial relationships between guideline-affiliated organizations and pharmaceutical companies. These financial relationships are common. Because authoritative value is assigned to guidelines distributed by medical associations, we encourage them to develop formal policies to limit the potential influence of FCOI on guideline recommendations.

Implementation of a teaching programme to improve doctors' awareness of DVLA guidelines: a multicentre study.

PubMed

Maruthappu, Mahiben; Sykes, Mark; Green, Ben L; Watson, Robert; Gollop, Nicholas D; Shalhoub, Joseph; Ng, Ka Ying Bonnie

2017-02-01

Over half of the UK population holds a driver's licence. Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) guidelines are available for conditions from most specialties. Despite this, no focused training occurs in the undergraduate or postgraduate setting. We evaluate the impact of a teaching programme to improve guideline awareness. A 25-point questionnaire was designed using the current DVLA guidelines. Five questions were included for the following fields: neurology, cardiology, drug and alcohol abuse, visual disorders and respiratory. This was distributed to doctors in training at five hospitals. Four weeks later, a single-session teaching programme was implemented. The questionnaire was redistributed. Preintervention and postintervention scores were compared using the Wilcoxon rank sum test. 139 preteaching and 144 post-teaching questionnaires were completed. Implementation of a single-session teaching programme significantly improved the knowledge of DVLA guidelines in all five areas explored. Median scores: neurology, preteaching 40%, post-teaching 100%, p<0.001; cardiology, 0%, 100%, p<0.001; drug and alcohol misuse, 0%, 100%, p<0.001; visual disorders, 40%, 100%, p<0.001; respiratory disorders, 20%, 100%, p<0.001; and overall, 28%, 92%, p<0.001. Knowledge of DVLA guidelines among our cohort was poor. Implementation of a single-session teaching programme can significantly improve guideline knowledge and awareness, serving as a cost-effective intervention. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Asian-Pacific clinical practice guidelines on the management of hepatitis B: a 2015 update.

PubMed

Sarin, S K; Kumar, M; Lau, G K; Abbas, Z; Chan, H L Y; Chen, C J; Chen, D S; Chen, H L; Chen, P J; Chien, R N; Dokmeci, A K; Gane, Ed; Hou, J L; Jafri, W; Jia, J; Kim, J H; Lai, C L; Lee, H C; Lim, S G; Liu, C J; Locarnini, S; Al Mahtab, M; Mohamed, R; Omata, M; Park, J; Piratvisuth, T; Sharma, B C; Sollano, J; Wang, F S; Wei, L; Yuen, M F; Zheng, S S; Kao, J H

2016-01-01

Worldwide, some 240 million people have chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV), with the highest rates of infection in Africa and Asia. Our understanding of the natural history of HBV infection and the potential for therapy of the resultant disease is continuously improving. New data have become available since the previous APASL guidelines for management of HBV infection were published in 2012. The objective of this manuscript is to update the recommendations for the optimal management of chronic HBV infection. The 2015 guidelines were developed by a panel of Asian experts chosen by the APASL. The clinical practice guidelines are based on evidence from existing publications or, if evidence was unavailable, on the experts' personal experience and opinion after deliberations. Manuscripts and abstracts of important meetings published through January 2015 have been evaluated. This guideline covers the full spectrum of care of patients infected with hepatitis B, including new terminology, natural history, screening, vaccination, counseling, diagnosis, assessment of the stage of liver disease, the indications, timing, choice and duration of single or combination of antiviral drugs, screening for HCC, management in special situations like childhood, pregnancy, coinfections, renal impairment and pre- and post-liver transplant, and policy guidelines. However, areas of uncertainty still exist, and clinicians, patients, and public health authorities must therefore continue to make choices on the basis of the evolving evidence. The final clinical practice guidelines and recommendations are presented here, along with the relevant background information.

Patient safety in external beam radiotherapy, results of the ACCIRAD project: Recommendations for radiotherapy institutions and national authorities on assessing risks and analysing adverse error-events and near misses.

PubMed

Malicki, Julian; Bly, Ritva; Bulot, Mireille; Godet, Jean-Luc; Jahnen, Andreas; Krengli, Marco; Maingon, Philippe; Prieto Martin, Carlos; Skrobala, Agnieszka; Valero, Marc; Jarvinen, Hannu

2018-05-02

The ACCIRAD project, commissioned by the European Commission (EC) to develop guidelines for risk analysis of accidental and unintended exposures in external beam radiotherapy (EBRT), was completed in the year 2014. In 2015, the "General guidelines on risk management in external beam radiotherapy" were published as EC report Radiation Protection (RP)-181. The present document is the third and final report of the findings from the ACCIRAD project. The main aim of this paper is to describe the key features of the risk management process and to provide general guidelines for radiotherapy departments and national authorities on risk assessment and analysis of adverse error-events and near misses. The recommendations provided here and in EC report RP-181 are aimed at promoting the harmonisation of risk management systems across Europe, improving patient safety, and enabling more reliable inter-country comparisons. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Latest international guidelines for screening, prevention and treatment of familial breast cancer - implications for the relevant practice in Hungary].

PubMed

Romics, László; Kocsis, Judit; Ormándi, Katalin; Molnár, Béla Ákos

2016-07-01

Screening, prevention and treatment of familial breast cancer require a multidisciplinary approach. New guidelines were published in the United Kingdom for the management of familial breast cancer. The authors summarise these new guidelines and analyse the relevant practice in Hungary. Relevant guidelines of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and Familial Breast Cancer Report (NHS Scotland) are described. New guidelines will increase the number of genetic tests as well as genetic counselling. An increase in the number of breast magnetic resonance imaging is expected, too. Chemoprevention can be offered for individuals with medium risk and above. Promising trials are underway with platinum based chemotherapy and polyADP-ribose polimerase inhibitors for the systemic treatment of familial breast cancer. The increase in the number of genetic tests, counselling, and breast magnetic resonance imaging may have a significant impact on health care budget. These guidelines will change some aspects of the current management of familial breast cancer. Orv. Hetil., 2016, 157(28), 1117-1125.

SCCT guidelines for the performance and acquisition of coronary computed tomographic angiography: A report of the society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography Guidelines Committee: Endorsed by the North American Society for Cardiovascular Imaging (NASCI).

PubMed

Abbara, Suhny; Blanke, Philipp; Maroules, Christopher D; Cheezum, Michael; Choi, Andrew D; Han, B Kelly; Marwan, Mohamed; Naoum, Chris; Norgaard, Bjarne L; Rubinshtein, Ronen; Schoenhagen, Paul; Villines, Todd; Leipsic, Jonathon

In response to recent technological advancements in acquisition techniques as well as a growing body of evidence regarding the optimal performance of coronary computed tomography angiography (coronary CTA), the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography Guidelines Committee has produced this update to its previously established 2009 "Guidelines for the Performance of Coronary CTA" (1). The purpose of this document is to provide standards meant to ensure reliable practice methods and quality outcomes based on the best available data in order to improve the diagnostic care of patients. Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography Guidelines for the Interpretation is published separately (2). The Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography Guidelines Committee ensures compliance with all existing standards for the declaration of conflict of interest by all authors and reviewers for the purpose ofclarity and transparency. Copyright © 2016 Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography. All rights reserved.

A Critical Analysis of Eight Informal Reading Inventories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nilsson, Nina L.

2008-01-01

For this content analysis study, the author examined and cross-compared the various ways in which eight informal reading inventories (IRIs) published from 2004 to 2008 address key issues relevant to new U.S. federal guidelines and the National Reading Panel's five critical components of reading instruction. Results suggest the IRIs range in…

Teaching authorship and publication practices in the biomedical and life sciences.

PubMed

Macrina, Francis L

2011-06-01

Examination of a limited number of publisher's Instructions for Authors, guidelines from two scientific societies, and the widely accepted policy document of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) provided useful information on authorship practices. Three of five journals examined (Nature, Science, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) publish papers across a variety of disciplines. One is broadly focused on topics in medical research (New England Journal of Medicine) and one publishes research reports in a single discipline (Journal of Bacteriology). Similar elements of publication policy and accepted practices were found across the policies of these journals articulated in their Instructions for Authors. A number of these same elements were found in the professional society guidelines of the Society for Neuroscience and the American Chemical Society, as well as the ICMJE Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals. Taken together, these sources provide the basis for articulating best practices in authorship in scientific research. Emerging from this material is a definition of authorship, as well as policy statements on duplicative publication, conflict of interest disclosure, electronic access, data sharing, digital image integrity, and research requiring subjects' protection, including prior registration of clinical trials. These common elements provide a foundation for teaching about scientific authorship and publication practices across biomedical and life sciences disciplines.

Reporting studies on time to diagnosis: proposal of a guideline by an international panel (REST).

PubMed

Launay, Elise; Cohen, Jérémie F; Bossuyt, Patrick M; Buekens, Pierre; Deeks, Jonathan; Dye, Timothy; Feltbower, Richard; Ferrari, Andrea; Kramer, Michael; Leeflang, Mariska; Moher, David; Moons, Karel G; von Elm, Erik; Ravaud, Philippe; Chalumeau, Martin

2016-09-27

Studies on time to diagnosis are an increasing field of clinical research that may help to plan corrective actions and identify inequities in access to healthcare. Specific features of time to diagnosis studies, such as how participants were selected and how time to diagnosis was defined and measured, are poorly reported. The present study aims to derive a reporting guideline for studies on time to diagnosis. Each item of a list previously used to evaluate the completeness of reporting of studies on time to diagnosis was independently evaluated by a core panel of international experts (n = 11) for relevance and readability before an open electronic discussion allowed consensus to be reached on a refined list. The list was then submitted with an explanatory document to first, last and/or corresponding authors (n = 98) of published systematic reviews on time to diagnosis (n = 45) for relevance and readability, and finally approved by the core expert panel. The refined reporting guideline consists of a 19-item checklist: six items are about the process of participant selection (with a suggested flowchart), six about the definition and measurement of time to diagnosis, and three about optional analyses of associations between time to diagnosis and participant characteristics and health outcomes. Of 24 responding authors of systematic reviews, more than 21 (≥88 %) rated the items as relevant, and more than 17 (≥70 %) as readable; 19 of 22 (86 %) authors stated that they would potentially use the reporting guideline in the future. We propose a reporting guideline (REST) that could help authors, reviewers, and editors of time to diagnosis study reports to improve the completeness and the accuracy of their reporting.

Cancer screening in the United States, 2017: A review of current American Cancer Society guidelines and current issues in cancer screening.

PubMed

Smith, Robert A; Andrews, Kimberly S; Brooks, Durado; Fedewa, Stacey A; Manassaram-Baptiste, Deana; Saslow, Debbie; Brawley, Otis W; Wender, Richard C

2017-03-01

Answer questions and earn CME/CNE Each year, the American Cancer Society publishes a summary of its guidelines for early cancer detection, data and trends in cancer screening rates, and select issues related to cancer screening. In this issue of the journal, the authors summarize current American Cancer Society cancer screening guidelines, describe an update of their guideline for using human papillomavirus vaccination for cancer prevention, describe updates in US Preventive Services Task Force recommendations for breast and colorectal cancer screening, discuss interim findings from the UK Collaborative Trial on Ovarian Cancer Screening, and provide the latest data on utilization of cancer screening from the National Health Interview Survey. CA Cancer J Clin 2017;67:100-121. © 2017 American Cancer Society. © 2017 American Cancer Society.

Peri-operative management of the obese surgical patient 2015: Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland Society for Obesity and Bariatric Anaesthesia.

PubMed

Nightingale, C E; Margarson, M P; Shearer, E; Redman, J W; Lucas, D N; Cousins, J M; Fox, W T A; Kennedy, N J; Venn, P J; Skues, M; Gabbott, D; Misra, U; Pandit, J J; Popat, M T; Griffiths, R

2015-07-01

Guidelines are presented for the organisational and clinical peri-operative management of anaesthesia and surgery for patients who are obese, along with a summary of the problems that obesity may cause peri-operatively. The advice presented is based on previously published advice, clinical studies and expert opinion. © 2015 The Authors. Anaesthesia published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland.

Conflicts of Interest in Clinical Guidelines: Lack of Authors and Disclosures in the AAOMS White Papers.

PubMed

Ji, Yisi D; Lahey, Edward T

2018-03-02

The purpose of this study was to evaluate current state of authorship, financial disclosures, and conflicts of interest in position papers published by the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS). This is a cross-sectional review of the position papers published by the AAOMS from 2013 to 2017. Primary outcome variables include position papers published by the AAOMS. Secondary outcome variables include declaration of authorship, financial disclosures, and financial payments. The Open Payments Database for financial disclosures was reviewed for the year the position paper was published and the immediate preceding year. Ten position papers were published by the AAOMS from 2013 to 2017. Of the 10 papers, authorship was listed in 3, and none explicitly addressed the presence or absence of financial disclosures or conflicts of interest. Contributors to 3 of the 3 authored papers were found at review of the Open Payments Database to have received industry funding in the year the position paper was published and the immediate preceding year. The remuneration ranged from less than $1,000 to $554,006.02. Position papers published by the AAOMS lack standardization for authorship and statements on potential financial disclosure. The authors suggest full disclosures of authorship and authors' conflicts of interest should be stated on all position papers to provide transparency to the process. Copyright © 2018 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Empirical Study of Data Sharing by Authors Publishing in PLoS Journals

PubMed Central

Savage, Caroline J.; Vickers, Andrew J.

2009-01-01

Background Many journals now require authors share their data with other investigators, either by depositing the data in a public repository or making it freely available upon request. These policies are explicit, but remain largely untested. We sought to determine how well authors comply with such policies by requesting data from authors who had published in one of two journals with clear data sharing policies. Methods and Findings We requested data from ten investigators who had published in either PLoS Medicine or PLoS Clinical Trials. All responses were carefully documented. In the event that we were refused data, we reminded authors of the journal's data sharing guidelines. If we did not receive a response to our initial request, a second request was made. Following the ten requests for raw data, three investigators did not respond, four authors responded and refused to share their data, two email addresses were no longer valid, and one author requested further details. A reminder of PLoS's explicit requirement that authors share data did not change the reply from the four authors who initially refused. Only one author sent an original data set. Conclusions We received only one of ten raw data sets requested. This suggests that journal policies requiring data sharing do not lead to authors making their data sets available to independent investigators. PMID:19763261

Showcasing a profession: getting nursing on the newsstand.

PubMed

Hobdell, E F; Slusser, M; Patterson, J; Burgess, E

1991-01-01

Interacting with the media is a method of showcasing the nursing profession. Clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) have a variety of opportunities available for these interactions: appearing on television, participating in a radio program or writing to the media. A survey completed by the authors indicated that CNSs had many media interactions, yet overall, only 17% of all nurses surveyed used writing. This paper begins by discussing where to publish and how to prepare and target the audience. General and specific guidelines for publishing feature articles, health tips, letters to the editor, and other publishing possibilities are presented.

Wilderness Medical Society practice guidelines for the use of epinephrine in outdoor education and wilderness settings: 2014 update.

PubMed

Gaudio, Flavio G; Lemery, Jay; Johnson, David E

2014-12-01

The Epinephrine Roundtable took place on July 27, 2008, during the 25th Annual Meeting of the Wilderness Medical Society (WMS) in Snowmass, CO. The WMS convened this roundtable to explore areas of consensus and uncertainty in the field treatment of anaphylaxis. Panelists were selected on the basis of their relevant academic or professional experience. There is a paucity of data that address the treatment of anaphylaxis in the wilderness. Anaphylaxis is a rare disease, with a sudden onset and drastic course that does not lend itself to study in randomized, controlled trials. Therefore, the panel endorsed the following position based on the limited available evidence and review of published articles, as well as expert consensus. The position represents the consensus of the panelists and is endorsed by the WMS. In 2014, the authors reviewed relevant articles published since the Epinephrine Roundtable. The following is an updated version of the original guidelines published in Wilderness & Environmental Medicine 2010;21(4):185-187. Copyright © 2014 Wilderness Medical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Dental radiographic guidelines: a review.

PubMed

Kim, Irene H; Mupparapu, Muralidhar

2009-05-01

The 2004 American Dental Association (ADA)/US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) radiographic selection criteria and guidelines were reviewed and compared with the prior radiographic selection criteria and guidelines. The authors reviewed the publications from the US FDA, US Department of Health and Human Services, and National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements. The positions outlined by the Canadian Dental Association and the European Commission were also reviewed and compared to US guidelines. The FDA guidelines were first published in 1987, and several changes have been made to them over the years. Recent literature reveals that the general compliance of these guidelines is very low, especially within dental schools in the United States and Canada. Little is known about the compliance outside of the dental school environment; however, it is expected to be low for various reasons. In 2007, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) revised its estimates of tissue radiosensitivity, which resulted in effective doses of dental radiographs 32% to 422% higher than the 1990 ICRP guidelines. Flow charts summarizing the latest guidelines were developed to facilitate general compliance among practitioners. Based on the literature reviewed and the recent ICRP findings, it would be prudent for dental health care professionals to follow dental radiographic guidelines.

Childhood lead poisoning and the new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for lead exposure.

PubMed

Schnur, Julie; John, Rita Marie

2014-05-01

This article will give a brief history, review the latest guidelines, discuss risk factors and sources, and discuss screening, diagnosis, and management of lead poisoning in children. Additionally, the role of the nurse practitioner (NP) caring for children will be reviewed. Review of published literature on lead poisoning and the 2012 lead prevention guidelines of the Advisory Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention (ACCLPP) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While lead poisoning levels have decreased over the past several decades, newer research has shown that even low levels of lead in the blood can have negative effects on children's intelligence and neurodevelopment. As a result, ACCLPP of the CDC issued new, stricter lead prevention guidelines in 2012. Lead exposure and lead poisoning are pediatric public health risks. Studies have shown that no level of lead is considered safe, and the emphasis has shifted to primary prevention of lead exposure. Despite the focus on primary prevention, the NP must remain vigilant in history taking, exploring risk factors, and screening children in order to assure the best possible outcome. ©2014 The Author(s) ©2014 American Association of Nurse Practitioners.

[Good practice guidelines for health information].

PubMed

2016-01-01

Evidence-based health information is distinguished by the provision of an unbiased and trustworthy description of the current state of medical knowledge. It enables people to learn more about health and disease, and to make health-related decisions - on their own or together with others - reflecting their attitudes and lifestyle. To adequately serve this purpose, health information must be evidence-based. A working group from the German Network for Evidence-based Medicine (Deutsches Netzwerk Evidenzbasierte Medizin) has developed a first draft of good practice guidelines for health information (Gute Praxis Gesundheitsinformation) with the aim of providing support for authors and publishers of evidence-based health information. The group included researchers, patient representatives, journalists and developers of health information. The criteria for evidence-based health information were developed and agreed upon within this author group, and then made available for public comment. All submitted comments were documented and assessed regarding the need to revise or amend the draft. Changes were subsequently implemented following approval by the author group. Gute Praxis Gesundheitsinformation calls for a transparent methodological approach in the development of health information. To achieve this, evidence-based information must be based on (a) a systematic literature search, (b) a justified selection of evidence, (c) unbiased reporting of relevant results, (d) appropriate factual and linguistic communication of uncertainties, (e) either avoidance of any direct recommendations or a strict division between the reporting of results and the derivation of recommendations, (f) the consideration of current evidence on the communication of figures, risks and probabilities, and (g) transparent information about the authors and publishers of the health information, including their funding sources. Gute Praxis Gesundheitsinformation lists a total of 16 aspects to be addressed in methods papers. Gute Praxis Gesundheitsinformation is a tool that puts forward methodological aspects to be considered when developing health information. In order to be transparent, descriptions of the underlying methods and processes need to be published in easily accessible methods papers describing the general procedure. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

Turkish Thoracic Society asthma management and prevention guideline: key points.

PubMed

Yıldız, Füsun; Oğuzülgen, I Kıvılcım; Dursun, Berna; Mungan, Dilşad; Gemicioğlu, Bilun; Yorgancıoğlu, Arzu

2011-01-01

Asthma still has high morbidity and cost despite all advances in pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment. Although asthma can be controlled with proper diagnosis and treatment, the low rates of control in our country and in the world can not be attributed to the variable course of the disease and patients' psycho-social behaviours for chronic disease. In this context, Turkish Thoracic Society (TTS) has decided to update Asthma Diagnosis and Management Guide latest published in 2000. National data were collected, compiled and prepared by authors, and final form given by the TTS Asthma and Allergy Study Group, after presenting to consultant individuals and institutions. In June 2009, the National Asthma Management and Prevention Guideline were published in Turkish. In this paper, we aimed to present the national guide in English with its basics and individual differences.

Cystic fibrosis on the Internet: a survey of site adherence to AMA guidelines.

PubMed

Anselmo, Mark A; Lash, Katherine M; Stieb, Elisabeth S; Haver, Kenan E

2004-07-01

The Internet permits unprecedented and mostly unrestricted access to medical knowledge; however, concerns exist regarding viewer privacy, accountability of authorship, accuracy of information, and patient safety. To address these issues, the American Medical Association (AMA) has developed guidelines concerning web site content and visitor rights. Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common genetically inherited lethal disease in North America. Many Internet sites that provide information on CF have been developed, although adherence to validated guidelines for online health information is not required. The purpose of this study was to assess systematically web sites with content pertaining to CF for adherence to the published AMA guidelines. The search term "cystic fibrosis" was entered into a commonly used search engine (Google), and the first 100 eligible sites were reviewed. Each site was examined for adherence to the AMA Guidelines for Medical and Health Information Sites on the Internet using a series of adapted questions. There were 15 questions divided into the following main categories: 1) site structure and viewer privacy, 2) author accountability, 3) scientific citation, and 4) patient safety. The number of positives for each question was tabulated. With respect to site structure, fewer than half (45%) of the reviewed sites indicated a date of last revision. Only 11 (11%) carried an explicit privacy policy. A responsible author or group was listed in only 43 (43%) of 100 sites. Presented data regarding CF was supported by references, sources, or expert review in only 38 (38%) of 100 sites. A medical disclaimer noting that information provided does not substitute for evaluation by a health care team was evident in only 37 (37%) sites. The majority of easily accessible CF informational web sites do not adhere to guidelines published by the AMA. Patients and families who use the Internet as a CF information resource should examine the web sites carefully and be familiar with the guidelines established by the AMA. Personal information is not protected, and few sites provide explicit privacy guarantees. Finally, CF care teams should inquire about Internet use by patients and families and be prepared to discuss findings from the Internet to heighten patient safety and awareness.

Design and pilot evaluation of a system to develop computer-based site-specific practice guidelines from decision models.

PubMed

Sanders, G D; Nease, R F; Owens, D K

2000-01-01

Local tailoring of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) requires experts in medicine and evidence synthesis unavailable in many practice settings. The authors' computer-based system enables developers and users to create, disseminate, and tailor CPGs, using normative decision models (DMs). ALCHEMIST, a web-based system, analyzes a DM, creates a CPG in the form of an annotated algorithm, and displays for the guideline user the optimal strategy. ALCHEMIST'S interface enables remote users to tailor the guideline by changing underlying input variables and observing the new annotated algorithm that is developed automatically. In a pilot evaluation of the system, a DM was used to evaluate strategies for staging non-small-cell lung cancer. Subjects (n = 15) compared the automatically created CPG with published guidelines for this staging and critiqued both using a previously developed instrument to rate the CPGs' usability, accountability, and accuracy on a scale of 0 (worst) to 2 (best), with higher scores reflecting higher quality. The mean overall score for the ALCHEMIST CPG was 1.502, compared with the published-CPG score of 0.987 (p = 0.002). The ALCHEMIST CPG scores for usability, accountability, and accuracy were 1.683, 1.393, and 1.430, respectively; the published CPG scores were 1.192, 0.941, and 0.830 (each comparison p < 0.05). On a scale of 1 (worst) to 5 (best), users' mean ratings of ALCHEMIST'S ease of use, usefulness of content, and presentation format were 4.76, 3.98, and 4.64, respectively. The results demonstrate the feasibility of a web-based system that automatically analyzes a DM and creates a CPG as an annotated algorithm, enabling remote users to develop site-specific CPGs. In the pilot evaluation, the ALCHEMIST guidelines met established criteria for quality and compared favorably with national CPGs. The high usability and usefulness ratings suggest that such systems can be a good tool for guideline development.

A survey on the methodological processes and policies of renal guideline groups as a first step to harmonize renal guidelines.

PubMed

Haller, Maria C; van der Veer, Sabine N; Nagler, Evi V; Tomson, Charlie; Lewington, Andrew; Hemmelgarn, Brenda R; Gallagher, Martin; Rocco, Michael; Obrador, Gregorio; Vanholder, Raymond; Craig, Jonathan C; van Biesen, Wim

2015-07-01

Worldwide, several bodies produce renal guidelines, potentially leading to duplication of effort while other topics may remain uncovered. A collaborative work plan could improve efficiency and impact, but requires a common approved methodology. The aim of this study was to identify organizational and methodological similarities and differences among seven major renal guideline bodies to identify methodological barriers to a collaborative effort. An electronic 62-item survey with questions based on the Institute of Medicine standards for guidelines was completed by representatives of seven major organizations producing renal guidelines: the Canadian Society of Nephrology (CSN), European Renal Best Practice (ERBP), Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcome (KDIGO), Kidney Health Australia-Caring for Australians with Renal Insufficiency (KHA-CARI), Kidney Disease Outcome Quality Initiative (KDOQI), Sociedad Latino-Americano de Nefrologia e Hipertension (SLANH) and United Kingdom Renal Association (UK-RA). Five of the seven groups conduct systematic searches for evidence, two include detailed critical appraisal and all use the GRADE framework. Five have public review of the guideline draft. Guidelines are updated as new evidence comes up in all, and/or after a specified time frame has passed (N = 3). Commentaries or position statements on guidelines published by other groups are produced by five, with the ADAPTE framework (N = 1) and the AGREEII (N = 2) used by some. Funding is from their parent organizations (N = 5) or directly from industry (N = 2). None allow funders to influence topic selection or guideline content. The budgets to develop a full guideline vary from $2000 to $500 000. Guideline development groups vary in size from <5 (N = 1) to 13-20 persons (N = 3). Three explicitly seek patient perspectives, for example, by involving patients in the scoping process, and four incorporate health economic considerations. All provide training in methodology for guideline development groups and six make their methods public. All try to avoid overlapping topics already planned or published by others. There is no common conflict of interest policy. Overall, there is considerable commonality in methods and approaches in renal guideline development by the different organizations, although some procedural differences remain. As the financial and human resource costs of guideline production are high, a collaborative approach is required to maximize impact and develop a sustainable work plan. Coming to consensus on methods and procedures is the first step and appears feasible. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of ERA-EDTA. All rights reserved.

Disposal of Chemotherapeutic Agent -- Contaminated Waste

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-03-01

RESTRICTIVE MARKINGS 2a SECURITY CLASSIFICATION AUTHORITY 3 . DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY OF REPORT 2b. DECLASSIFICATION/DOWNGRADING SCHEDULE Approved for Public...AIR .............. 22 INCINERATION SYSTEM 2 CHEMOTHERAPEUTIC WASTE THERMAL ...... 32 DESTRUCTION DISPOSAL SYSTEM 3 FRONT VIEW OF INCINERATION...The Environmental Protection Agency has published a manual (Reference 1) which provides guidelines on handling and 3 disposal of infectious waste from

Reproducing the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fifth Edition: Factor Model Results

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beaujean, A. Alexander

2016-01-01

One of the ways to increase the reproducibility of research is for authors to provide a sufficient description of the data analytic procedures so that others can replicate the results. The publishers of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fifth Edition (WISC-V) do not follow these guidelines when reporting their confirmatory factor…

The Aztec, Frida Kahlo, and Cinco de Mayo: Mexico in Children's Literature

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bauml, Michelle; Field, Sherry L.

2012-01-01

The authors provide an overview of children's books published in the United States during the last decade (2000-2010) that deal with Mexico and Mexican people. Suggested guidelines for selecting quality books and a list of award-winning titles are included as resources for teaching about Mexico. (Contains 2 tables and 4 figures.)

Recommendations for Constructing School Nurses' Offices Designed to Support School Health Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKibben, Cynthia S.; DiPaolo, Sonja J.; Bennett, J. Scott

2005-01-01

When attempting to locate guidelines for designing school nurses' offices, one finds there are minimal resources that address this need. In an effort to solve this concern, the authors were instrumental in writing an article for "The Journal of School Nursing" published in April 1997. The current article is an updated perspective that defines…

Treatment of metastatic breast cancer: a large observational study on adherence to French prescribing guidelines and financial cost of the anti-HER2 antibody trastuzumab.

PubMed

Poncet, Bénédicte; Colin, Cyrille; Bachelot, Thomas; Jaisson-Hot, Isabelle; Derain, Laure; Magaud, Laurent; Fournel-Federico, Cécile; Mousseau, Mireille; Tigaud, Jean-Dominique; Jacquin, Jean-Philippe; Trillet-Lenoir, Véronique

2009-08-01

This observational study aimed at analyzing adherence to prescribing guidelines of anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody trastuzumab treatment for metastatic breast cancer. Efficacy and costs were also evaluated. The adherence to the trastuzumab treatment plan was analyzed according to both the French postlicensing guidelines published in 2001 and clinical guidelines from the regional cancer network in a cohort of 131 consecutive patients. The level of appropriateness to the molecular target was very high (92% of the patients showed a positive HER2 status, defined as HER2 3+ confirmed by immunohistochemistry or 2+ confirmed by fluorescent in situ hybridization). The treatment plan was made according to the French postlicensing guidelines in 41 patients (31.3%) and to the regional clinical guidelines for 109 patients (83.2%). The main reason for the difference was the type of molecules authorized for combination to trastuzumab. The median overall survival of the studied population was 18.6 months and the median progression-free survival rate was 7.7 months. Up to death or end of the study, the overall cost for the treatment of breast cancer with trastuzumab per patient and per year was 47,832 euro. This quite low adherence of clinicians to the French postlicensing guidelines is in contrast with the high level of adherence to the regional clinical guidelines. The reason is that the latter are less rigid about previously received treatments and enlarge the potential associated cytotoxics to vinorelbine. This supports the French National Cancer Institute decision to get expert clinicians involved together with the French agency for sanitary security of health products and the high health authority in a common elaboration of guidelines.

Catch-up validation study of an in vitro skin irritation test method based on an open source reconstructed epidermis (phase II).

PubMed

Groeber, F; Schober, L; Schmid, F F; Traube, A; Kolbus-Hernandez, S; Daton, K; Hoffmann, S; Petersohn, D; Schäfer-Korting, M; Walles, H; Mewes, K R

2016-10-01

To replace the Draize skin irritation assay (OECD guideline 404) several test methods based on reconstructed human epidermis (RHE) have been developed and were adopted in the OECD test guideline 439. However, all validated test methods in the guideline are linked to RHE provided by only three companies. Thus, the availability of these test models is dependent on the commercial interest of the producer. To overcome this limitation and thus to increase the accessibility of in vitro skin irritation testing, an open source reconstructed epidermis (OS-REp) was introduced. To demonstrate the capacity of the OS-REp in regulatory risk assessment, a catch-up validation study was performed. The participating laboratories used in-house generated OS-REp to assess the set of 20 reference substances according to the performance standards amending the OECD test guideline 439. Testing was performed under blinded conditions. The within-laboratory reproducibility of 87% and the inter-laboratory reproducibility of 85% prove a high reliability of irritancy testing using the OS-REp protocol. In addition, the prediction capacity was with an accuracy of 80% comparable to previous published RHE based test protocols. Taken together the results indicate that the OS-REp test method can be used as a standalone alternative skin irritation test replacing the OECD test guideline 404. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Can the publication of guidelines change the management of early rheumatoid arthritis? An interrupted time series analysis from the United Kingdom.

PubMed

Judge, Andrew; Wallace, Gemma; Prieto-Alhambra, Dani; Arden, Nigel K; Edwards, Christopher J

2015-12-01

To assess whether publication of national treatment guidelines improved the management of early RA in the UK. Incident diagnoses of RA in persons aged over 18 years from 1995 to 2010 were identified from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink. Using a natural experimental study design, interrupted time series analysis was used to assess whether trends in the proportion of patients receiving DMARDs, within 3 and 12 months of diagnosis, changed following publication of British Society for Rheumatology guidelines in 2006. Between 1995 and 2010, 11 772 incident cases of RA were identified. There was a progressive increase in the proportion of patients prescribed any DMARD within 12 months from 43.3% in 1995 to 78.5% in 2010. After publication of the British Society for Rheumatology guidelines, the proportion of patients prescribed any DMARD within 12 months increased by 4.2% (P = 0.053). Prior to the guidance, prescribing was increasing by 1.64% per year, compared with 3.55% per year after publication (P < 0.001). Guidelines published by a national body can improve the proportion of patients receiving DMARD treatment in the first year after diagnosis of RA. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Evidence-based practice guidelines: a survey of subcutaneous dexamethasone administration.

PubMed

Walker, Jackie; Lane, Pauline; McKenzie, Clare

2010-10-01

Searching for good evidence to develop clinical practice guidelines can be challenging, as research may not be published or available. A simple question set the authors on a journey to find evidence related to the nursing administration of subcutaneous dexamethasone in the palliative setting. This article outlines the search for evidence and discusses the survey results to gather expert opinion about the nursing administration of dexamethasone. Survey results indicated that only 39% of community services gave dexamethasone via a bolus injection and 88% gave it via a continuous infusion, mainly for site preservation. The diluents used were water for injection or normal saline. Many procedural aspects were supported by current guidelines, with several services using the New Zealand Waitemata District Health Board's (2008) clinical guidelines. Developing and implementing procedural recommendations for nurses to administer this subcutaneous medication will form the next stage of the project.

Modern radiation therapy for primary cutaneous lymphomas: field and dose guidelines from the International Lymphoma Radiation Oncology Group.

PubMed

Specht, Lena; Dabaja, Bouthaina; Illidge, Tim; Wilson, Lynn D; Hoppe, Richard T

2015-05-01

Primary cutaneous lymphomas are a heterogeneous group of diseases. They often remain localized, and they generally have a more indolent course and a better prognosis than lymphomas in other locations. They are highly radiosensitive, and radiation therapy is an important part of the treatment, either as the sole treatment or as part of a multimodality approach. Radiation therapy of primary cutaneous lymphomas requires the use of special techniques that form the focus of these guidelines. The International Lymphoma Radiation Oncology Group has developed these guidelines after multinational meetings and analysis of available evidence. The guidelines represent an agreed consensus view of the International Lymphoma Radiation Oncology Group steering committee on the use of radiation therapy in primary cutaneous lymphomas in the modern era. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

How to report a research study.

PubMed

Cronin, Paul; Rawson, James V; Heilbrun, Marta E; Lee, Janie M; Kelly, Aine M; Sanelli, Pina C; Bresnahan, Brian W; Paladin, Angelisa M

2014-09-01

Incomplete reporting hampers the evaluation of results and bias in clinical research studies. Guidelines for reporting study design and methods have been developed to encourage authors and journals to include the required elements. Recent efforts have been made to standardize the reporting of clinical health research including clinical guidelines. In this article, the reporting of diagnostic test accuracy studies, screening studies, therapeutic studies, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, cost-effectiveness assessments (CEA), recommendations and/or guidelines, and medical education studies is discussed. The available guidelines, many of which can be found at the Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research network, on how to report these different types of health research are also discussed. We also hope that this article can be used in academic programs to educate the faculty and trainees of the available resources to improve our health research. Copyright © 2014 AUR. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Added value of involving patients in the first step of multidisciplinary guideline development: a qualitative interview study among infertile patients.

PubMed

den Breejen, Elvira M E; Hermens, Rosella P M G; Galama, Wienke H; Willemsen, Wim N P; Kremer, Jan A M; Nelen, Willianne L D M

2016-06-01

Patient involvement in scoping the guideline is emphasized, but published initiatives actively involving patients are generally limited to the writing and reviewing phase. To assess patients' added value to the scoping phase of a multidisciplinary guideline on infertility. Qualitative interview study. We conducted interviews among 12 infertile couples and 17 professionals. We listed and compared the couples' and professionals' key clinical issues (=care aspects that need improvement) to be addressed in the guideline according to four domains: current guidelines, professionals, patients and organization of care. Main key clinical issues suggested by more than three quarters of the infertile couples and/or at least two professionals were identified and compared. Overall, we identified 32 key clinical issues among infertile couples and 23 among professionals. Of the defined main key clinical issues, infertile couples mentioned eight issues that were not mentioned by the professionals. These main key clinical issues mainly concerned patient-centred (e.g. poor information provision and poor alignment of care) aspects of care on the professional and organizational domain. Both groups mentioned two main key clinical issues collectively that were interpreted differently: the lack of emotional support and respect for patients' values. Including patients from the first phase of the guideline development process leads to valuable additional main key clinical issues for the next step of a multidisciplinary guideline development process and broadens the scope of the guideline, particularly regarding patient-centredness and organizational issues from a patients' perspective. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press in association with the International Society for Quality in Health Care; all rights reserved.

Elevating the quality of disability and rehabilitation research: mandatory use of the reporting guidelines.

PubMed

Chan, Leighton; Heinemann, Allen W; Roberts, Jason

2014-01-01

Note from the AJOT Editor-in-Chief: Since 2010, the American Journal of Occupational Therapy (AJOT) has adopted reporting standards based on the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) Statement and American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines in an effort to publish transparent clinical research that can be easily evaluated for methodological and analytical rigor (APA Publications and Communications Board Working Group on Journal Article Reporting Standards, 2008; Moher, Schulz, & Altman, 2001). AJOT has now joined 28 other major rehabilitation and disability journals in a collaborative initiative to enhance clinical research reporting standards through adoption of the EQUATOR Network reporting guidelines, described below. Authors will now be required to use these guidelines in the preparation of manuscripts that will be submitted to AJOT. Reviewers will also use these guidelines to evaluate the quality and rigor of all AJOT submissions. By adopting these standards we hope to further enhance the quality and clinical applicability of articles to our readers. Copyright © 2014 by the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.

Standards and guidelines for observational studies: quality is in the eye of the beholder.

PubMed

Morton, Sally C; Costlow, Monica R; Graff, Jennifer S; Dubois, Robert W

2016-03-01

Patient care decisions demand high-quality research. To assist those decisions, numerous observational studies are being performed. Are the standards and guidelines to assess observational studies consistent and actionable? What policy considerations should be considered to ensure decision makers can determine if an observational study is of high-quality and valid to inform treatment decisions? Based on a literature review and input from six experts, we compared and contrasted nine standards/guidelines using 23 methodological elements involved in observational studies (e.g., study protocol, data analysis, and so forth). Fourteen elements (61%) were addressed by at least seven standards/guidelines; 12 of these elements disagreed in the approach. Nine elements (39%) were addressed by six or fewer standards/guidelines. Ten elements (43%) were not actionable in at least one standard/guideline that addressed the element. The lack of observational study standard/guideline agreement may contribute to variation in study conduct; disparities in what is considered credible research; and ultimately, what evidence is adopted. A common set of agreed on standards/guidelines for conducting observational studies will benefit funders, researchers, journal editors, and decision makers. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Diagnosis and Management of Uncomplicated Chlamydia trachomatis Infections in Adolescents and Adults: Summary of Evidence Reviewed for the 2015 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Sexually Transmitted Diseases Treatment Guidelines.

PubMed

Geisler, William M

2015-12-15

In preparation for the 2015 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) Treatment Guidelines, the CDC convened an advisory group in 2013 to examine recent abstracts and published literature addressing the epidemiology, diagnosis, and management of STDs. This article summarizes the key questions, evidence, and recommendations for the diagnosis and management of uncomplicated Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) infection in adolescents and adults that were considered in development of the 2015 CDC STD Treatment Guidelines. The evidence reviewed primarily focused on CT infection risk factors in women, clinical significance of oropharyngeal CT detection, acceptability and performance of CT testing on self-collected specimens in men, performance of CT point-of-care tests, efficacy of recommended and investigational CT infection treatments, and timing of test of cure following CT infection treatment in pregnant women. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

[Guidelines in Practice: The New S3 Guideline "Sleeping Disorders - Sleep-Related Abnormal Breathing"].

PubMed

Gerlach, Martin; Sanner, Bernd

2017-10-01

Sleep related breathing disorders include central sleep apnea (CSA), obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), sleep-related hypoventilation, and sleep-related hypoxia. These disorders are frequent and growing in clinical relevance. The related chapter of the S3 guideline "Non-restorative sleep/Sleep disorders", published by the German Sleep Society (DGSM), has recently been updated in November 2016. Epidemiology, diagnostics, therapeutic procedures, and classification of sleep related disorders have been revised. Concerning epidemiology, a considerably higher mortality rate among pregnant women with OSA has been emphasized. With regards to diagnostics, the authors point out that respiratory polygraphy may be sufficient in diagnosing OSA, if a typical clinical condition is given. For CSA, recommendations were changed to diagnose CSA with low apnea rates present. Significant changes for treating CSA in patients with left ventricular dysfunction have been introduced. In addition, there is now to be differentiated between sleep-related hypoventilation and sleep-related hypoxaemia. Obesity hypoventilation syndrome is discussed in more detail. This article sums up and comments on the published changes. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

[Guidelines in Practice: The New S3 Guideline "Sleeping Disorders - Sleep-Related Abnormal Breathing"].

PubMed

Gerlach, M; Sanner, B

2017-08-01

Sleep related breathing disorders include central sleep apnea (CSA), obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), sleep-related hypoventilation, and sleep-related hypoxia. These disorders are frequent and growing in clinical relevance. The related chapter of the S3 guideline "Non-restorative sleep/Sleep disorders", published by the German Sleep Society (DGSM), has recently been updated in November 2016. Epidemiology, diagnostics, therapeutic procedures, and classification of sleep related disorders have been revised. Concerning epidemiology, a considerably higher mortality rate among pregnant women with OSA has been emphasized. With regards to diagnostics, the authors point out that respiratory polygraphy may be sufficient in diagnosing OSA, if a typical clinical condition is given. For CSA, recommendations were changed to diagnose CSA with low apnea rates present. Significant changes for treating CSA in patients with left ventricular dysfunction have been introduced. In addition, there is now to be differentiated between sleep-related hypoventilation and sleep-related hypoxaemia. Obesity hypoventilation syndrome is discussed in more detail. This article sums up and comments on the published changes. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Prior Publication and Redundancy in Contemporary Science: Are Authors and Editors at the Crossroads?

PubMed

de Vasconcelos, Sonia Maria Ramos; Roig, Miguel

2015-10-01

We discuss prior publication and redundancy in contemporary science in the context of changing perceptions of originality in the communication of research results. These perceptions have been changing in the publication realm, particularly in the last 15 years. Presenting a brief overview of the literature, we address some of the conflicts that are likely to arise between authors and editors. We illustrate our approach with conference presentations that are later published as journal articles and focus on a recent retraction of an article that had been previously published as a conference proceedings. Although we do not make definitive pronouncements on the matter-as many concepts are evolving-we do argue that conference papers that contain sufficient details for others to attempt a replication and are indexed in scientific databases such as PubMed, challenge some currently held assumptions of prior publication and originality in the sciences. Our view is that these important issues are in need of further clarification and harmonization within the science publishing community. This need is more evident when we consider current notions of research integrity when it comes to communication to peers. Revisiting long-standing views about what constitutes prior publication and developing a clearer set of guidelines for authors and editors to follow should reduce conflicts in the research environment, which already exerts considerable pressure, especially on newcomers in academia. However, while clearer guidelines are timely, developing them is only part of the challenge. The present times seem to call for deeper changes in the research and publication systems.

Of lamp posts, keys, and fabled drunkards: A perspectival tale of 4 guidelines.

PubMed

Greenhalgh, Trisha

2018-04-15

Evidence-based medicine is the application of research findings to inform individual clinical decisions. There is a tension-both philosophical and practical-between the average result from a population study and the circumstances and needs of an individual patient. This personal account of "evidence-based" trauma care illustrates and explores this tension. The author, a keen athlete, describes her experience of a high-impact cycle accident that led to limb fractures (which were diagnosed and treated according to evidence-based guidelines) and also an occult injury to the cervical spine (which was not diagnosed at the time). Some evidence-based guidelines are reviewed and applied to the case. The clinical record described the cycle accident as a "fall." Initial assessment directed the clinicians' gaze to the obvious injuries, whose treatment was straightforward. On admission, the patient (aged 55 years at the time) was offered "falls prevention" via a guideline-based checklist. Several months later, neurological sequelae indicated possible damage to the cervical spine. But the NICE Guideline recommending cervical spine imaging in cases of high-impact trauma had not been considered-perhaps because the clinical narrative had been prematurely assigned to the script of "older person with fall." Furthermore, the author, who was (appropriately) treated with neurosurgery, was surprised at the response of clinical colleagues, based on application of an irrelevant section of a guideline, that her cervical discectomy was "nonevidence based." Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for postoperative pain were indicated in this patient even though they were not recommended for the average patient. As Sir John Grimley Evans' warned, we should avoid using evidence-based guidelines in the manner of the fabled drunkard who searched under the lamp post for his key because that was where the light was, even though he knew he had lost his key somewhere else. © 2018 The Authors Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

[Using new media for online consensus conferences and open external review of guidelines - results of two pilot studies].

PubMed

Nast, Alexander; Rosumeck, Stefanie; Sporbeck, Birte; Rzany, Berthold

2012-01-01

The development of guidelines almost always requires considerable time and financial resources. An important task is therefore to identify and evaluate online methods that facilitate guideline work. ONLINE CONSENSUS CONFERENCE: During the development of the S2k guideline for the management of staphylococcus aureus infections an online consensus conference was held using an online tool provided by the Deutsche Forschungsnetz in combination with a telephone conference. During the 2-hour meeting, no technical difficulties occurred. A survey among the participants showed that this format had a high rate of acceptance. ONLINE REVIEW: During the development of the update of the German S3-Guidelines for the therapy of psoriasis an external open review was performed. An online platform allowing direct visible commenting was chosen. During the five week period of commenting, 26 users added 160 comments. After the review process, the comments were assessed by the editors and the original authors. The selected instrument provides a suitable means for online commenting of guidelines and facilitates the revision of the text. Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

The Good Clinical Practice guideline and its interpretation - perceptions of clinical trial teams in sub-Saharan Africa.

PubMed

Vischer, N; Pfeiffer, C; Joller, A; Klingmann, I; Ka, A; Kpormegbe, S K; Burri, C

2016-08-01

To explore the advantages and challenges of working with the Good Clinical Practice (GCP)-International Conference of Harmonization (ICH) E6 guideline and its interpretation from the perspective of clinical trial teams based in sub-Saharan Africa. We conducted 60 key informant interviews with clinical trial staff at different levels in clinical research centres in Kenya, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Senegal and thematically analysed the responses. Clinical trial teams perceived working with ICH-GCP as highly advantageous and regarded ICH-GCP as applicable to their setting and efficiently applied. Only for informed consent did some clinical trial staff (one-third) perceive the guideline as insufficiently applicable. Specific challenges included meeting the requirements for written and individual consent, conditions for impartial witnesses for illiterates or legally acceptable representatives for children, guaranteeing voluntary participation and ensuring full understanding of the consent given. It was deemed important to have ICH-GCP compliance monitored by relevant ethics committees and regulatory authorities, without having guidelines applied overcautiously. Clinical trial teams in sub-Saharan Africa perceived GCP as a helpful guideline, despite having been developed by northern organisations and despite the high administrative burden of implementing it. To mitigate consent challenges, we suggest adapting GCP and making use of the flexibility it offers. © 2016 The Authors. Tropical Medicine & International Health Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PMS2 monoallelic mutation carriers: the known unknown

PubMed Central

Goodenberger, McKinsey L.; Thomas, Brittany C.; Riegert-Johnson, Douglas; Boland, C. Richard; Plon, Sharon E.; Clendenning, Mark; Ko Win, Aung; Senter, Leigha; Lipkin, Steven M.; Stadler, Zsofia K.; Macrae, Finlay A.; Lynch, Henry T.; Weitzel, Jeffrey N.; de la Chapelle, Albert; Syngal, Sapna; Lynch, Patrick; Parry, Susan; Jenkins, Mark A.; Gallinger, Steven; Holter, Spring; Aronson, Melyssa; Newcomb, Polly A.; Burnett, Terrilea; Le Marchand, Loïc; Pichurin, Pavel; Hampel, Heather; Terdiman, Jonathan P.; Lu, Karen H.; Thibodeau, Stephen; Lindor, Noralane M.

2016-01-01

Germline mutations in MLH1, MSH2, MSH6 and PMS2 have been shown to cause Lynch syndrome. The penetrance for cancer and tumor spectrum has been repeatedly studied and multiple professional societies have proposed clinical management guidelines for affected individuals. Several studies have demonstrated a reduced penetrance for monoallelic carriers of PMS2 mutations compared to the other mismatch repair (MMR) genes, but clinical management guidelines have largely proposed the same screening recommendations for all MMR gene carriers. The authors considered whether enough evidence existed to propose new screening guidelines specific to PMS2 mutation carriers with regard to age of onset and frequency of colonic screening. Published reports of PMS2 germline mutations were combined with unpublished cases from the authors’ research registries and clinical practices, and a discussion of potential modification of cancer screening guidelines was pursued. A total of 234 monoallelic PMS2 mutation carriers from 170 families were included. Approximately 8% of those with CRC were diagnosed under age 30 and each of these tumors presented on the left-side of the colon. As it is currently unknown what causes the early-onset of CRC in some families with monoallelic PMS2 germline mutations, the authors recommend against reducing cancer surveillance guidelines in families found having monoallelic PMS2 mutations in spite of the documented reduced penetrance. PMID:25856668

Revised guidelines for good practice in IVF laboratories (2015).

PubMed

De los Santos, Maria José; Apter, Susanna; Coticchio, Giovanni; Debrock, Sophie; Lundin, Kersti; Plancha, Carlos E; Prados, Fernando; Rienzi, Laura; Verheyen, Greta; Woodward, Bryan; Vermeulen, Nathalie

2016-04-01

Which recommendations can be provided by the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology Special Interest Group (ESHRE SIG) Embryology to support laboratory specialists in the organization and management of IVF laboratories and the optimization of IVF patient care? Structured in 13 sections, the guideline development group formulated recommendations for good practice in the organization and management of IVF laboratories, and for good practice of the specific procedures performed within the IVF laboratory. NA. The guideline was produced by a group of 10 embryologists representing different European countries, settings and levels of expertise. The group evaluated the document of 2008, and based on this assessment, each group member rewrote one or more sections. Two 2-day meetings were organized during which each of the recommendations was discussed and rewritten until consensus within the guideline group was reached. After finalizing the draft, the members of the ESHRE SIG embryology were invited to review the guideline. NA. The guideline provides recommendations on the general organization of an IVF laboratory (staffing and direction, quality management, laboratory safety), and on the specific aspects of the procedures performed in IVF laboratories (Identification of patients and traceability of their reproductive cells, consumables, handling of biological material, oocyte retrieval, sperm preparation, insemination of oocytes, scoring for fertilization, embryo culture and transfer, and cryopreservation). A last section provides recommendations regarding an Emergency plan for IVF laboratories. Evidence on most of the issues described is scarce, and therefore it was decided not to perform a formal search for and assessment of scientific evidence. However, recommendations published in the EUTCD and relevant and recent documents, manuals and consensus papers were taken into account when formulating the recommendations. Despite the limitations, the guideline group is confident that this document will be helpful to directors and managers involved in the management and organization of IVF laboratories, but also to embryologists and laboratory technicians performing daily tasks. The guideline was developed and funded by ESHRE, covering expenses associated with the guideline meetings. The guideline group members did not receive payment. Dr Coticchio reports speaker's fees from IBSA and Cook, outside the submitted work; Dr Lundin reports grants from Vitrolife, personal fees from Merck Serono, non-financial support from Unisense, outside the submitted work; Dr. Rienzi reports personal fees from Merck Serono, personal fees from MSD, grants from GFI, outside the submitted work; the other authors had nothing to disclose. NA. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE): recommendations (2009) on clinical use of video capsule endoscopy to investigate small-bowel, esophageal and colonic diseases.

PubMed

Ladas, S D; Triantafyllou, K; Spada, C; Riccioni, M E; Rey, J-F; Niv, Y; Delvaux, M; de Franchis, R; Costamagna, G

2010-03-01

These recommendations on video capsule endoscopy, an emerging technology with an impact on the practice of endoscopy, were developed by the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) Guidelines Committee. The first draft of each section was prepared by one or two members of the writing team, who were selected as experts on the content of that section on the basis of their published work. They used evidence-based methodology, performing MEDLINE and PubMed literature searches to identify relevant clinical studies. Abstracts from scientific meetings were included only if there was no published full paper on a particular topic. If there was disagreement, the first author of the Guideline made the final decision. Recommendations were graded according to the strength of the supporting evidence. The draft guideline was critically reviewed by all authors and submitted to the ESGE councillors for their critical review before approval of the final document. The ESGE Guidelines Committee acknowledges that this document is based on a critical review of the data available at the time of preparation and that further studies may be needed to clarify some aspects. Moreover, this Guideline may be revised as necessary to account for changes in technology, new data, or other aspects of clinical practice. This document should be regarded as supplying recommendations only to gastroenterologists in providing care to their patients. It is not a set of rules and should not be construed as establishing a legal standard of care, or as encouraging, advocating, requiring, or discouraging any particular treatment. These recommendations must be interpreted according to the clinician's knowledge, expertise, and clinical judgment in the management of individual patients and, if necessary, a course of action that varies from recommendations must be undertaken. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart. New York.

Tracheotomy in the intensive care unit: Guidelines from a French expert panel: The French Intensive Care Society and the French Society of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine.

PubMed

Trouillet, Jean-Louis; Collange, Olivier; Belafia, Fouad; Blot, François; Capellier, Gilles; Cesareo, Eric; Constantin, Jean-Michel; Demoule, Alexandre; Diehl, Jean-Luc; Guinot, Pierre-Grégoire; Jegoux, Franck; L'Her, Erwan; Luyt, Charles-Edouard; Mahjoub, Yazine; Mayaux, Julien; Quintard, Hervé; Ravat, François; Vergez, Sébastien; Amour, Julien; Guillot, Max

2018-06-01

Tracheotomy is widely used in intensive care units, albeit with great disparities between medical teams in terms of frequency and modality. Indications and techniques are, however, associated with variable levels of evidence based on inhomogeneous or even contradictory literature. Our aim was to conduct a systematic analysis of the published data in order to provide guidelines. We present herein recommendations for the use of tracheotomy in adult critically ill patients developed using the grading of recommendations assessment, development and evaluation (GRADE) method. These guidelines were conducted by a group of experts from the French Intensive Care Society (Société de réanimation de langue française) and the French Society of Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine (Société francaise d'anesthésie réanimation) with the participation of the French Emergency Medicine Association (Société française de médecine d'urgence), the French Society of Otorhinolaryngology. Sixteen experts and two coordinators agreed to consider questions concerning tracheotomy and its practical implementation. Five topics were defined: indications and contraindications for tracheotomy in intensive care, tracheotomy techniques in intensive care, modalities of tracheotomy in intensive care, management of patients undergoing tracheotomy in intensive care, and decannulation in intensive care. The summary made by the experts and the application of GRADE methodology led to the drawing up of 8 formal guidelines, 10 recommendations, and 3 treatment protocols. Among the 8 formal guidelines, 2 have a high level of proof (Grade 1±) and 6 a low level of proof (Grade 2±). For the 10 recommendations, GRADE methodology was not applicable and instead 10 expert opinions were produced. Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.. All rights reserved.

Do newspaper reports of suicides comply with standard suicide reporting guidelines? A study from Bangalore, India.

PubMed

Chandra, Prabha S; Doraiswamy, Padmavathy; Padmanabh, Anuroopa; Philip, Mariamma

2014-11-01

Several countries have prescribed standard guidelines for media professionals on suicide reporting. However, the implementation of these guidelines has been varied. Suicide rates in South Asia are one of the highest in the world, and it is known that media guidelines for suicide reporting are not followed adequately. However, there are no published reports available from this region. This study aimed at assessing newspaper reports of suicide for quality of reporting based on standard reporting guidelines and to study differences between English and vernacular (Kannada) newspapers in Bangalore, South India. A total of 341 newspaper reports of suicide from 550 newspapers (3 English and 3 Kannada) over 3 months were systematically assessed for compliance with reporting guidelines. Each report was evaluated on 2 domains and 36 parameters. Data were analyzed for frequency of inappropriate reporting and patterns compared between vernacular and English newspapers. In all, 87% of the reports were those of completed suicide. Non-compliant reporting - method of suicide was reported in 89% and 32% of reports were in prominent pages of the newspaper, 95% mentioned gender, 90% reported the name, 80% reported age and suicide location, 75% reported life events related to suicide, 70% reported occupation, 69% had headline explicity on suicide and 61% reported monocausality. Only 16% reported mental disorder related to suicide, and less than 3% included information on suicide prevention and helplines. Vernacular papers showed significantly better compliance in 16 of the 20 areas. However, protective characteristics were better reported in English newspapers. Majority of reports on suicides in newspapers from Bangalore did not comply with standard guidelines of reporting. There is a strong need to evolve local guidelines and mechanisms for ensuring responsible reporting which have important implications in prevention of suicide. © The Author(s) 2013.

Correction to: Applicability and accuracy of pretest probability calculations implemented in the NICE clinical guideline for decision making about imaging in patients with chest pain of recent onset.

PubMed

Roehle, Robert; Wieske, Viktoria; Schuetz, Georg M; Gueret, Pascal; Andreini, Daniele; Meijboom, Willem Bob; Pontone, Gianluca; Garcia, Mario; Alkadhi, Hatem; Honoris, Lily; Hausleiter, Jörg; Bettencourt, Nuno; Zimmermann, Elke; Leschka, Sebastian; Gerber, Bernhard; Rochitte, Carlos; Schoepf, U Joseph; Shabestari, Abbas Arjmand; Nørgaard, Bjarne; Sato, Akira; Knuuti, Juhani; Meijs, Matthijs F L; Brodoefel, Harald; Jenkins, Shona M M; Øvrehus, Kristian Altern; Diederichsen, Axel Cosmus Pyndt; Hamdan, Ashraf; Halvorsen, Bjørn Arild; Rodriguez, Vladimir Mendoza; Wan, Yung Liang; Rixe, Johannes; Sheikh, Mehraj; Langer, Christoph; Ghostine, Said; Martuscelli, Eugenio; Niinuma, Hiroyuki; Scholte, Arthur; Nikolaou, Konstantin; Ulimoen, Geir; Zhang, Zhaoqi; Mickley, Hans; Nieman, Koen; Kaufmann, Philipp A; Buechel, Ronny Ralf; Herzog, Bernhard A; Clouse, Melvin; Halon, David A; Leipsic, Jonathan; Bush, David; Jakamy, Reda; Sun, Kai; Yang, Lin; Johnson, Thorsten; Laissy, Jean-Pierre; Marcus, Roy; Muraglia, Simone; Tardif, Jean-Claude; Chow, Benjamin; Paul, Narinder; Maintz, David; Hoe, John; de Roos, Albert; Haase, Robert; Laule, Michael; Schlattmann, Peter; Dewey, Marc

2018-06-01

The original version of this article, published on 19 March 2018, unfortunately contained a mistake. The following correction has therefore been made in the original: The names of the authors Philipp A. Kaufmann, Ronny Ralf Buechel and Bernhard A. Herzog were presented incorrectly.

Tuberculosis screening in patients with HIV: An audit against UK national guidelines to assess current practice and the effectiveness of an electronic tuberculosis-screening prompt.

PubMed

Fox-Lewis, A; Brima, N; Muniina, P; Grant, A D; Edwards, S G; Miller, R F; Pett, S L

2016-09-01

A retrospective clinical audit was performed to assess if the British HIV Association 2011 guidelines on routine screening for tuberculosis in HIV are being implemented in a large UK urban clinic, and if a tuberculosis-screening prompt on the electronic patient record for new attendees was effective. Of 4658 patients attending during the inclusion period, 385 were newly diagnosed first-time attendees and routine tuberculosis screening was recommended in 165. Of these, only 6.1% of patients had a completed tuberculosis screening prompt, and 12.1% underwent routine tuberculosis screening. This audit represents the first published UK data on routine screening rates for tuberculosis in HIV and demonstrates low rates of tuberculosis screening despite an electronic screening prompt designed to simplify adherence to the national guideline. Reasons why tuberculosis screening rates were low, and the prompt ineffective, are unclear. A national audit is ongoing, and we await the results to see if our data reflect a lack of routine tuberculosis screening in HIV-infected patients at a national level. © The Author(s) 2016.

Evidence-based medicine meets democracy: the role of evidence-based public health guidelines in local government.

PubMed

Kelly, M P; Atkins, L; Littleford, C; Leng, G; Michie, S

2017-12-01

In 2013, many public health functions transferred from the National Health Service to local government in England. From 2006 NICE had produced public health guidelines based on the principles of evidence-based medicine. This study explores how the guidelines were received in the new environment in local government and related issues raised relating to the use of evidence in local authoritites. In depth, interviews with 31 elected members and officers, including Directors of Public Health, from four very different local government organizations ('local authorities'). Participants reported that (i) there were tensions between evidence-based, and political decision-making; (ii) there were differences in views about what constituted 'good' evidence and (iii) that organizational life is an important mediator in the way evidence is used. Democratic political decision-making does not necessarily naturally align with decision-making based on evidence from the international scientific literature, and local knowledge and local evidence are very important in the ways that public health decisions are made. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health.

A novel material processing and manufacturing measurement system by using electronic datum (notice of removal)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bear, Wynn L.; Xiong, Xiang-Wen; Roth, John T.; Schoen, Marco P.

2008-03-01

This paper (SPIE Paper 68251G) was removed from the SPIE Digital Library on 19 August 2008 upon learning that two individuals listed as additional co-authors on the manuscript had no prior knowledge of the paper, did not contribute to it, and did not consent to having their names included as co-authors. The names of these two individuals have been or will be deleted from this and all other bibliographic records as far as possible since they have no connection to this paper. Additionally, the names now associated with this publication record, Xiang-Wen Xiong and Wynn L. Bear, are actually the same individual and not two different authors. This is not sanctioned by SPIE. As stated in the SPIE Guidelines for Professional Conduct and Publishing Ethics, "SPIE considers it the professional responsibility of all authors to ensure that the authorship of submitted papers properly reflects the contributions and consent of all authors." A serious violation of these guidelines is evident in this case. It is SPIE policy to remove papers from the SPIE Digital Library where serious professional misconduct has occurred and to impose additional sanctions as appropriate.

Ultra-accuracy parallel electronic datum optical metrology system of systems (notice of removal)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiong, Xiang-Wen; Bear, Wynn L.; Roth, John T.; Schoen, Marco P.

2008-03-01

This paper (SPIE Paper 682925) was removed from the SPIE Digital Library on 19 August 2008 upon learning that two individuals listed as additional co-authors on the manuscript had no prior knowledge of the paper, did not contribute to it, and did not consent to having their names included as co-authors. The names of these two individuals have been or will be deleted from this and all other bibliographic records as far as possible since they have no connection to this paper. Additionally, the remaining names associated with this publication record, Xiang-Wen Xiong and Wynn L. Bear, are actually the same individual and not two different authors. This is not sanctioned by SPIE. As stated in the SPIE Guidelines for Professional Conduct and Publishing Ethics, "SPIE considers it the professional responsibility of all authors to ensure that the authorship of submitted papers properly reflects the contributions and consent of all authors." A serious violation of these guidelines is evident in this case. It is SPIE policy to remove papers from the SPIE Digital Library where serious professional misconduct has occurred and to impose additional sanctions as appropriate.

Results of an Integrative Analysis: A Call for Contextualizing HIV and AIDS Clinical Practice Guidelines to Support Evidence-Based Practice.

PubMed

Edwards, Nancy; Kahwa, Eulalia; Hoogeveen, Katie

2017-12-01

Practice guidelines aim to improve the standard of care for people living with HIV/AIDS. Successfully implementing guidelines requires tailoring them to populations served and to social and organizational influences on care. To examine dimensions of context, which nurses and midwives described as having a significant impact on their care of patients living with HIV/AIDS in Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, and Jamaica and to determine whether HIV/AIDS guidelines include adaptations congruent with these dimensions of context. Two sets of data were used. The first came from a qualitative study. In-depth interviews were conducted with purposively selected nurses, midwives, and nurse managers from 21 districts in four study countries. A coding framework was iteratively developed and themes inductively identified. Context dimensions were derived from these themes. A second data set of published guidelines for HIV/AIDS care was then assembled. Guidelines were identified through Google and PubMed searches. Using a deductive integrative analysis approach, text related to context dimensions was extracted from guidelines and categorized into problem and strategy statements. Ninety-six individuals participated in qualitative interviews. Four discrete dimensions of context were identified: health workforce adequacy, workplace exposure risk, workplace consequences for nurses living with HIV/AIDS, and the intersection of work and family life. Guidelines most often acknowledged health human resource constraints and presented mitigation strategies to offset them, and least often discussed workplace consequences and the intersections of family and work life. Guidelines should more consistently acknowledge diverse implementation contexts, propose how recommendations can be adapted to these realities, and suggest what role frontline healthcare providers have in realizing the structural changes necessary for healthier work environments and better patient care. Guideline recommendations should include more explicit advice on adapting their recommendations to different care conditions. © 2017 The Authors. Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Sigma Theta Tau International The Honor Society of Nursing.

Guidelines for Composing and Assessing a Paper on Treatment of Pain.

PubMed

Bogduk, Nikolai; Kennedy, David J; Vorobeychik, Yakov; Engel, Andrew

2017-11-01

Authors, readers, and editors share a common focus. Authors want to publish their work. Readers want to see high-quality, new information. Referees and editors serve to ensure that authors provide valid conclusions based on the quality of information that readers want.Common to each of these roles are instructions to authors. However, these are typically written in an uninspiring, legalistic style, as if they are a set of rules that authors must obey if they expect to get published. This renders the instructions boring and oppressive, if not forbidding. Yet they need not be so, if they are set in context.Instructions to authors can be cast in a way as to reflect common purpose. They can remind authors what perceptive readers want to see in a paper and, thereby, prompt authors to include all necessary information. If cast in this way, instructions to authors are not a set of rules by which to satisfy publishers; they become guidelines for the etiquette of communication between authors and their readers.Against this background, the present article has been composed to serve several purposes. Foremost, it amplifies instructions to authors beyond the conventional technicalities such as headings, layout, font size, and line spacing. It prescribes the type of information that should be communicated and explains the reasons for those recommendations. Doing so not only informs authors about what to write, but also informs readers and referees about what to look for in a good paper. Secondarily, the article publicizes examples of errors and deficiencies of manuscripts submitted to the Journal in the past that have delayed their acceptance and publication, which could have been avoided had the forthcoming recommendations been followed. The recommendations also reprise the elements taught in courses conducted by the Spine Intervention Society in their extended program on evidence-based medicine. Doing so underscores that instructions for authors are not a procedural technicality but a way to ensure that what authors write, what readers read, and what the Journal publishes comply with contemporary precepts of good evidence.Some 20 years ago, the Journal of the American Medical Association published a comprehensive series of articles with a common title: "Users' Guides to the Medical Literature" [1,2]. These articles focused on the science of statistical tests and critical appraisal, and their importance for properly understanding the literature. The present article differs in that it does not presume to teach technicalities. Instead, it describes and explains, step by step, the critical components of an article, what authors should include, and what readers should look for, so that the Journal can ensure that consistent, high-quality information is shared between its authors and readers.The present article focuses on articles concerning treatment of pain, largely because this type of article is more commonly submitted than articles on reliability or validity of diagnostic procedures. Although the present article principally focuses on papers for the Spine Section of the Journal, the same principles, appropriately adapted, serve for other sections. © 2017 American Academy of Pain Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Reporting Guidelines for Survey Research: An Analysis of Published Guidance and Reporting Practices

PubMed Central

Bennett, Carol; Khangura, Sara; Brehaut, Jamie C.; Graham, Ian D.; Moher, David; Potter, Beth K.; M. Grimshaw, Jeremy

2011-01-01

Background Research needs to be reported transparently so readers can critically assess the strengths and weaknesses of the design, conduct, and analysis of studies. Reporting guidelines have been developed to inform reporting for a variety of study designs. The objective of this study was to identify whether there is a need to develop a reporting guideline for survey research. Methods and Findings We conducted a three-part project: (1) a systematic review of the literature (including “Instructions to Authors” from the top five journals of 33 medical specialties and top 15 general and internal medicine journals) to identify guidance for reporting survey research; (2) a systematic review of evidence on the quality of reporting of surveys; and (3) a review of reporting of key quality criteria for survey research in 117 recently published reports of self-administered surveys. Fewer than 7% of medical journals (n = 165) provided guidance to authors on survey research despite a majority having published survey-based studies in recent years. We identified four published checklists for conducting or reporting survey research, none of which were validated. We identified eight previous reviews of survey reporting quality, which focused on issues of non-response and accessibility of questionnaires. Our own review of 117 published survey studies revealed that many items were poorly reported: few studies provided the survey or core questions (35%), reported the validity or reliability of the instrument (19%), defined the response rate (25%), discussed the representativeness of the sample (11%), or identified how missing data were handled (11%). Conclusions There is limited guidance and no consensus regarding the optimal reporting of survey research. The majority of key reporting criteria are poorly reported in peer-reviewed survey research articles. Our findings highlight the need for clear and consistent reporting guidelines specific to survey research. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary PMID:21829330

From course assignment paper to publishable manuscript.

PubMed

Rew, Lynn

2012-12-01

Both undergraduate and graduate nursing students are expected to write numerous papers in their educational programs; however, most of these papers are never published. Many students and faculty lack the skills needed to convert a course assignment paper to a publishable manuscript. The purpose of this article is to describe 10 steps that can transform a course assignment paper into a publishable manuscript. These steps include outlining, clarifying the topic, clearly stating the purpose, identifying an appropriate audience, revising with faculty's feedback, querying journal editors, revising to conform to journal's author guidelines, requesting and responding to peer feedback, and finally editing and proofreading prior to submitting the manuscript. Faculty members are encouraged to make writing assignments that students can then convert to publishable manuscripts. Such publications form an essential cornerstone of professional holistic nursing.

An empirical analysis of journal policy effectiveness for computational reproducibility.

PubMed

Stodden, Victoria; Seiler, Jennifer; Ma, Zhaokun

2018-03-13

A key component of scientific communication is sufficient information for other researchers in the field to reproduce published findings. For computational and data-enabled research, this has often been interpreted to mean making available the raw data from which results were generated, the computer code that generated the findings, and any additional information needed such as workflows and input parameters. Many journals are revising author guidelines to include data and code availability. This work evaluates the effectiveness of journal policy that requires the data and code necessary for reproducibility be made available postpublication by the authors upon request. We assess the effectiveness of such a policy by ( i ) requesting data and code from authors and ( ii ) attempting replication of the published findings. We chose a random sample of 204 scientific papers published in the journal Science after the implementation of their policy in February 2011. We found that we were able to obtain artifacts from 44% of our sample and were able to reproduce the findings for 26%. We find this policy-author remission of data and code postpublication upon request-an improvement over no policy, but currently insufficient for reproducibility.

An empirical analysis of journal policy effectiveness for computational reproducibility

PubMed Central

Seiler, Jennifer; Ma, Zhaokun

2018-01-01

A key component of scientific communication is sufficient information for other researchers in the field to reproduce published findings. For computational and data-enabled research, this has often been interpreted to mean making available the raw data from which results were generated, the computer code that generated the findings, and any additional information needed such as workflows and input parameters. Many journals are revising author guidelines to include data and code availability. This work evaluates the effectiveness of journal policy that requires the data and code necessary for reproducibility be made available postpublication by the authors upon request. We assess the effectiveness of such a policy by (i) requesting data and code from authors and (ii) attempting replication of the published findings. We chose a random sample of 204 scientific papers published in the journal Science after the implementation of their policy in February 2011. We found that we were able to obtain artifacts from 44% of our sample and were able to reproduce the findings for 26%. We find this policy—author remission of data and code postpublication upon request—an improvement over no policy, but currently insufficient for reproducibility. PMID:29531050

Implementing evidence-based practices in an emergency department: contradictions exposed when prioritising a flow culture.

PubMed

Kirk, Jeanette W; Nilsen, Per

2016-02-01

An emergency department is typically a place of high activity where practitioners care for unanticipated presentations, which yields a flow culture so that actions that secure available beds are prioritised by the practitioners. How does the flow culture in an emergency department influence nurses' use of a research-based clinical guideline and a nutrition screening routine. Ethnographic fieldwork was carried out over three months. The first author followed nurses, medical secretaries and doctors in the emergency department. Data were also collected by means of semi-structured interviews. An activity system analysis, as described in the Cultural Historical Activity Theory, was conducted to identify various contradictions that could exist between different parts of the activity system. The main contradiction identified was that guidelines and screening routines provided a flow stop. Four associated contradictions were identified: insufficient time to implement guidelines; guilty conscience due to perceived nonadherence to evidence-based practices; newcomers having different priorities; and conflicting views of what constituted being a professional. We found that research-supported guidelines and screening routines were not used if they were perceived to stop the patient flow, suggesting that the practice was not fully evidence based. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Clinical Nursing Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Human motion capturing system with MEMS accelerometers (notice of removal)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, Baoping; Xu, Chang; Xu, Lijun; Ouyang, Shuigeng

2007-11-01

This paper (672413) was removed from the SPIE Digital Library on 13 April 2010 to discovery of plagiarism. As stated in the SPIE Guidelines for Professional Conduct and Publishing Ethics, SPIE defines plagiarism as the reuse of someone else's prior ideas, processes, results, or words without explicit attribution of the original author and source, or falsely representing someone else's work as one's own. SPIE considers plagiarism in any form, at any level, to be unacceptable and a serious breach of professional conduct. It is SPIE policy to remove such papers and to take appropriate corrective or disciplinary action against the offending author(s).

Research on a real-time scanning tunneling microscope data acquisition system (notice of removal)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Chang; Xiao, Baoping; Xu, Lijun

2007-11-01

This paper (67233A) was removed from the SPIE Digital Library on 13 April 2010 to discovery of plagiarism. As stated in the SPIE Guidelines for Professional Conduct and Publishing Ethics, SPIE defines plagiarism as the reuse of someone else's prior ideas, processes, results, or words without explicit attribution of the original author and source, or falsely representing someone else's work as one's own. SPIE considers plagiarism in any form, at any level, to be unacceptable and a serious breach of professional conduct. It is SPIE policy to remove such papers and to take appropriate corrective or disciplinary action against the offending author(s).

Neuron network training system for Robot responding intelligently to input light stimuli (notice of removal)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, Baoping; Xu, Chang; Xu, Lijun; Luo, Qinhua

2007-11-01

This paper (672414) was removed from the SPIE Digital Library on 13 April 2010 to discovery of plagiarism. As stated in the SPIE Guidelines for Professional Conduct and Publishing Ethics, SPIE defines plagiarism as the reuse of someone else's prior ideas, processes, results, or words without explicit attribution of the original author and source, or falsely representing someone else's work as one's own. SPIE considers plagiarism in any form, at any level, to be unacceptable and a serious breach of professional conduct. It is SPIE policy to remove such papers and to take appropriate corrective or disciplinary action against the offending author(s).

A rapid and accurate solar tracker (notice of removal)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, Baoping; Xu, Lijun

2008-12-01

This paper (713043) was removed from the SPIE Digital Library on 13 April 2010 due to discovery of plagiarism. As stated in the SPIE Guidelines for Professional Conduct and Publishing Ethics, SPIE defines plagiarism as the reuse of someone else's prior ideas, processes, results, or words without explicit attribution of the original author and source, or falsely representing someone else's work as one's own. SPIE considers plagiarism in any form, at any level, to be unacceptable and a serious breach of professional conduct. It is SPIE policy to remove such papers and to take appropriate corrective or disciplinary action against the offending author(s).

National Working Group Meeting on ALK diagnostics in lung cancer.

PubMed

Cooper, Wendy; Fox, Stephen; O'Toole, Sandra; Morey, Adrienne; Frances, Glenn; Pavlakis, Nick; O'Byrne, Kenneth; Dettrick, Andrew; Leong, Trishe; Rathi, Vivek; Spagnolo, Dominic; Hemmings, Chris; Singh, Mahendra; Moffat, David; Tsao, Ming-Sound; Wilner, Keith; Buller, Richard; Pitman Lowenthal, Susan; Arifeen, Shams; Binko, Justin; Alam, Mahmood

2014-04-01

The global landscape of molecular testing is rapidly changing, with the recent publication of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC)/College of American Pathologists (CAP) guidelines and the ALK Atlas. The IASLC/CAP guidelines recommend that tumors from patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) be tested for ALK rearrangements in addition to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations. The spur for this recommendation is the availability of novel therapies that target these rearrangements. This article is based on coverage of a Pfizer-sponsored National Working Group Meeting on ALK Diagnostics in Lung Cancer, held around the 15th World Lung Cancer Conference, in Sydney on October 31, 2013. It is based on the presentations given by the authors at the meeting and the discussion that ensued. The content for this article was discussed and agreed on by the authors. © 2014 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Correct machine learning on protein sequences: a peer-reviewing perspective.

PubMed

Walsh, Ian; Pollastri, Gianluca; Tosatto, Silvio C E

2016-09-01

Machine learning methods are becoming increasingly popular to predict protein features from sequences. Machine learning in bioinformatics can be powerful but carries also the risk of introducing unexpected biases, which may lead to an overestimation of the performance. This article espouses a set of guidelines to allow both peer reviewers and authors to avoid common machine learning pitfalls. Understanding biology is necessary to produce useful data sets, which have to be large and diverse. Separating the training and test process is imperative to avoid over-selling method performance, which is also dependent on several hidden parameters. A novel predictor has always to be compared with several existing methods, including simple baseline strategies. Using the presented guidelines will help nonspecialists to appreciate the critical issues in machine learning. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

A retrospective analysis of 10-year authorship trends in biomedical engineering journals.

PubMed

Foo, Jong Yong Abdiel

2011-03-01

Studies have indicated that academic research has become increasingly complex and multidisciplinary. There seems to be an increasing trend of multiple author articles published across most journals. As the field of biomedical engineering also encompasses multidisciplinary-based knowledge, it is interesting to understand the authorship trend over time. In this study, six journals were carefully chosen from the Journal Citation Report of the Thomson Scientific based on predefined criteria (year 1999 to 2008). The data pertaining to authorships for the articles published in these journals were then acquired from the PubMed database. The results show that there is a general upward trend for the number of author per article, but it is not significant (p > .01) despite a 64.5% increase in the total number of article published in the six chosen journals. Thus, the expected increase is not observed in this field, and it may be due to the stringent guidelines by journals in defining the contributions of an author. Particularly, contributing factors like the impact of authorship irregularities is discussed herein.

"Echo attributions" and other risks when publishing on novel therapies without peer review.

PubMed

Rosen, G M; Davison, G C

2001-10-01

A special series on Thought Field Therapy in the Journal of Clinical Psychology provides an opportunity for psychologists to learn about techniques and theories outside the mainstream of our field. Unfortunately, by publishing this series of manuscripts without meeting the standards of peer review, the Journal also provides an avenue for the misuse of its good reputation and the improper promotion of untested methods. "Echo attributions" can be made whereby an author attributes the source of his own words to the professional journal in which the text appears. Historical examples illustrate that such misuse of scientific journals and institutions occurs. A formal statement of guidelines is needed to instruct authors on appropriate versus unethical representations of their publications. Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The impact of the rising colorectal cancer incidence in young adults on the optimal age to start screening: Microsimulation analysis I to inform the American Cancer Society colorectal cancer screening guideline.

PubMed

Peterse, Elisabeth F P; Meester, Reinier G S; Siegel, Rebecca L; Chen, Jennifer C; Dwyer, Andrea; Ahnen, Dennis J; Smith, Robert A; Zauber, Ann G; Lansdorp-Vogelaar, Iris

2018-05-30

In 2016, the Microsimulation Screening Analysis-Colon (MISCAN-Colon) model was used to inform the US Preventive Services Task Force colorectal cancer (CRC) screening guidelines. In this study, 1 of 2 microsimulation analyses to inform the update of the American Cancer Society CRC screening guideline, the authors re-evaluated the optimal screening strategies in light of the increase in CRC diagnosed in young adults. The authors adjusted the MISCAN-Colon model to reflect the higher CRC incidence in young adults, who were assumed to carry forward escalated disease risk as they age. Life-years gained (LYG; benefit), the number of colonoscopies (COL; burden) and the ratios of incremental burden to benefit (efficiency ratio [ER] = ΔCOL/ΔLYG) were projected for different screening strategies. Strategies differed with respect to test modality, ages to start (40 years, 45 years, and 50 years) and ages to stop (75 years, 80 years, and 85 years) screening, and screening intervals (depending on screening modality). The authors then determined the model-recommended strategies in a similar way as was done for the US Preventive Services Task Force, using ER thresholds in accordance with the previously accepted ER of 39. Because of the higher CRC incidence, model-predicted LYG from screening increased compared with the previous analyses. Consequently, the balance of burden to benefit of screening improved and now 10-yearly colonoscopy screening starting at age 45 years resulted in an ER of 32. Other recommended strategies included fecal immunochemical testing annually, flexible sigmoidoscopy screening every 5 years, and computed tomographic colonography every 5 years. This decision-analysis suggests that in light of the increase in CRC incidence among young adults, screening may be offered earlier than has previously been recommended. Cancer 2018. © 2018 The Authors. Cancer published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Cancer Society. © 2018 The Authors. Cancer published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Cancer Society.

State of the science on implementation research in early child development and future directions.

PubMed

Aboud, Frances E; Yousafzai, Aisha K; Nores, Milagros

2018-05-01

We summarize the state of the field of implementation research and practice for early child development and propose recommendations. First, conclusions are drawn regarding what is generally known about the implementation of early childhood development programs, based on papers and discussions leading to a published series on the topic. Second, recommendations for short-term activities emphasize the use of newly published guidelines for reporting data collection methods and results for implementation processes; knowledge of the guidelines and a menu of measures allows for planning ahead. Additional recommendations include careful documentation of early-stage implementation, such as adapting a program to a different context and assessing feasibility, as well as the process of sustaining and scaling up a program. Using existing implementation information by building on and improving past programs and translating them into policy are recommended. Longer term goals are to identify implementation characteristics of effective programs and determinants of these characteristics. © 2018 The Authors. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences published by Wiley Periodicals Inc. on behalf of The New York Academy of Sciences.

No. 341-Diagnosis and Management of Adnexal Torsion in Children, Adolescents, and Adults.

PubMed

Kives, Sari; Gascon, Suzy; Dubuc, Élise; Van Eyk, Nancy

2017-02-01

To review the evidence and provide recommendations on the diagnosis and management of adnexal torsion in children, adolescents, and women. Elements evaluated include the risk factors, diagnostic accuracy, management options, and outcomes of adnexal torsion. Published literature was retrieved through searches of MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Library using appropriate controlled vocabulary and key words ("adnexal torsion," "ovarian torsion"). Results were restricted to systematic reviews, randomized control trials/controlled clinical trials, and observational studies. Searches were updated on a regular basis and new material incorporated in the guideline to December 2014. Grey (unpublished) literature was identified through searching the websites of health technology assessment and related agencies, clinical practice guideline collections, clinical trial registries, and national and international medical specialty societies. The evidence obtained was reviewed and evaluated by the Canadian Paediatric and Adolescent Gynaecology and Obstetrics Committee of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC) under the leadership of the principal authors. Recommendations were made according to guidelines developed by the Canadian Task Force on the Periodic Health Examination. Guideline implementation should assist the practitioner in developing an optimal approach to the diagnosis and management of adnexal torsion while minimizing harm and improving patient outcomes. These guidelines have been reviewed and approved by the Gynaecology Committee of the SOGC and approved by the council of the SOGC. The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada SUMMARY STATEMENTS: RECOMMENDATIONS. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Developing Creativity and Promoting Social Harmony: The Relationship between Government, School and Parents' Perceptions of Children's Creativity in Macao-SAR in China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vong, Keang-Ieng

2008-01-01

The promotion of creativity in young children has been included in the agenda of the educational authorities in mainland China since 2001. Since then, attempts to implement this policy have appeared in different forms. The educational bureaux take measures by publishing documents and guidelines on the subject. While some kindergartens endeavour to…

Guideline of guidelines: asymptomatic microscopic haematuria.

PubMed

Linder, Brian J; Bass, Edward J; Mostafid, Hugh; Boorjian, Stephen A

2018-02-01

The aim of the present study was to review major organizational guidelines on the evaluation and management of asymptomatic microscopic haematuria (AMH). We reviewed the haematuria guidelines from: the American Urological Association; the consensus statement by the Canadian Urological Association, Canadian Urologic Oncology Group and Bladder Cancer Canada; the American College of Physicians; the Joint Consensus Statement of the Renal Association and British Association of Urological Surgeons; and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. All guidelines reviewed recommend evaluation for AMH in the absence of potential benign aetiologies, with the evaluation including cystoscopy and upper urinary tract imaging. Existing guidelines vary in their definition of AMH (role of urine dipstick vs urine microscopy), the age threshold for recommending evaluation, and the optimal imaging method (computed tomography vs ultrasonography). Of the reviewed guidelines, none recommended the use of urine cytology or urine markers during the initial AMH evaluation. Patients should have ongoing follow-up after a negative initial AMH evaluation. Significant variation exists among current guidelines for AMH with respect to who should be evaluated and in what manner. Given the patient and health system implications of balancing appropriately focused and effective diagnostic evaluation, AMH represents a valuable future research opportunity. © 2017 The Authors BJU International © 2017 BJU International Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Guidelines for vaccination of dogs and cats in Korea.

PubMed

Song, Woo-Jin; Kim, Hyun-Tae; Yoo, Han-Sang; Youn, Hwa-Young

2014-07-01

This guideline contains the recommended vaccination schedules of dogs and cats from World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) and American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA). In 2010, WSAVA published guidelines for the vaccination of dogs and cats. And, in 2011, AAHA also published guidelines for vaccination of dogs. In Korea, there is no published guideline for vaccination of dogs and cats yet. Therefore, the plane of vaccination also reports the present situation of vaccination schedule of dogs and cats in Korean animal hospitals.

Relation of completeness of reporting of health research to journals’ endorsement of reporting guidelines: systematic review

PubMed Central

Stevens, Adrienne; Shamseer, Larissa; Weinstein, Erica; Yazdi, Fatemeh; Turner, Lucy; Thielman, Justin; Altman, Douglas G; Hirst, Allison; Hoey, John; Palepu, Anita; Schulz, Kenneth F

2014-01-01

Objective To assess whether the completeness of reporting of health research is related to journals’ endorsement of reporting guidelines. Design Systematic review. Data sources Reporting guidelines from a published systematic review and the EQUATOR Network (October 2011). Studies assessing the completeness of reporting by using an included reporting guideline (termed “evaluations”) (1990 to October 2011; addendum searches in January 2012) from searches of either Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Methodology Register or Scopus, depending on reporting guideline name. Study selection English language reporting guidelines that provided explicit guidance for reporting, described the guidance development process, and indicated use of a consensus development process were included. The CONSORT statement was excluded, as evaluations of adherence to CONSORT had previously been reviewed. English or French language evaluations of included reporting guidelines were eligible if they assessed the completeness of reporting of studies as a primary intent and those included studies enabled the comparisons of interest (that is, after versus before journal endorsement and/or endorsing versus non-endorsing journals). Data extraction Potentially eligible evaluations of included guidelines were screened initially by title and abstract and then as full text reports. If eligibility was unclear, authors of evaluations were contacted; journals’ websites were consulted for endorsement information where needed. The completeness of reporting of reporting guidelines was analyzed in relation to endorsement by item and, where consistent with the authors’ analysis, a mean summed score. Results 101 reporting guidelines were included. Of 15 249 records retrieved from the search for evaluations, 26 evaluations that assessed completeness of reporting in relation to endorsement for nine reporting guidelines were identified. Of those, 13 evaluations assessing seven reporting guidelines (BMJ economic checklist, CONSORT for harms, PRISMA, QUOROM, STARD, STRICTA, and STROBE) could be analyzed. Reporting guideline items were assessed by few evaluations. Conclusions The completeness of reporting of only nine of 101 health research reporting guidelines (excluding CONSORT) has been evaluated in relation to journals’ endorsement. Items from seven reporting guidelines were quantitatively analyzed, by few evaluations each. Insufficient evidence exists to determine the relation between journals’ endorsement of reporting guidelines and the completeness of reporting of published health research reports. Journal editors and researchers should consider collaborative prospectively designed, controlled studies to provide more robust evidence. Systematic review registration Not registered; no known register currently accepts protocols for methodology systematic reviews. PMID:24965222

A systematic review of recommendations and guidelines for the management of osteoarthritis: The chronic osteoarthritis management initiative of the U.S. bone and joint initiative.

PubMed

Nelson, Amanda E; Allen, Kelli D; Golightly, Yvonne M; Goode, Adam P; Jordan, Joanne M

2014-06-01

Although a number of osteoarthritis (OA) management guidelines exist, uptake has been suboptimal. Our aim was to review and critically evaluate existing OA management guidelines to better understand potential issues and barriers. A systematic review of the literature in MEDLINE published from January 1, 2000 to April 1, 2013 was performed and supplemented by bibliographic reviews, following PRISMA guidelines and a written protocol. Following initial title and abstract screening, 2 authors independently reviewed full-text articles; a third settled disagreements. Two independent reviewers extracted data into a standardized form. Two authors independently assessed guideline quality using the AGREE II instrument; three generated summary recommendations based on the extracted guideline data. Overall, 16 articles were included in the final review. There was broad agreement on recommendations by the various organizations. For non-pharmacologic modalities, education/self-management, exercise, weight loss if overweight, walking aids as indicated, and thermal modalities were widely recommended. For appropriate patients, joint replacement was recommended; arthroscopy with debridement was not recommended for symptomatic knee OA. Pharmacologic modalities most recommended included acetaminophen/paracetamol (first line) and NSAIDs (topical or oral, second line). Intra-articular corticosteroids were generally recommended for hip and knee OA. Controversy remains about the use of acupuncture, knee braces, heel wedges, intra-articular hyaluronans, and glucosamine/chondroitin. The relative agreement on many OA management recommendations across organizations indicates a problem with dissemination and implementation rather than a lack of quality guidelines. Future efforts should focus on optimizing implementation in primary care settings, where the majority of OA care occurs. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Diabetes and Ramadan: Practical guidelines.

PubMed

Hassanein, Mohamed; Al-Arouj, Monira; Hamdy, Osama; Bebakar, Wan Mohamad Wan; Jabbar, Abdul; Al-Madani, Abdulrazzaq; Hanif, Wasim; Lessan, Nader; Basit, Abdul; Tayeb, Khaled; Omar, Mak; Abdallah, Khalifa; Al Twaim, Abdulaziz; Buyukbese, Mehmet Akif; El-Sayed, Adel A; Ben-Nakhi, Abdullah

2017-04-01

Ramadan fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam and is compulsory for all healthy Muslims from puberty onwards. Exemptions exist for people with serious medical conditions, including many with diabetes, but a large number will participate, often against medical advice. Ensuring the optimal care of these patients during Ramadan is crucial. The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and Diabetes and Ramadan (DAR) International Alliance have come together to deliver comprehensive guidelines on this subject. The key areas covered include epidemiology, the physiology of fasting, risk stratification, nutrition advice and medication adjustment. The IDF-DAR Practical Guidelines should enhance knowledge surrounding the issue of diabetes and Ramadan fasting, thereby empowering healthcare professionals to give the most up-to-date advice and the best possible support to their patients during Ramadan. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Management of immune thrombocytopenia: Korean experts recommendation in 2017.

PubMed

Jang, Jun Ho; Kim, Ji Yoon; Mun, Yeung-Chul; Bang, Soo-Mee; Lim, Yeon Jung; Shin, Dong-Yeop; Choi, Young Bae; Yhim, Ho-Young; Lee, Jong Wook; Kook, Hoon

2017-12-01

Management options for patients with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) have evolved substantially over the past decades. The American Society of Hematology published a treatment guideline for clinicians referring to the management of ITP in 2011. This evidence-based practice guideline for ITP enables the appropriate treatment of a larger proportion of patients and the maintenance of normal platelet counts. Korean authority operates a unified mandatory national health insurance system. Even though we have a uniform standard guideline enforced by insurance reimbursement, there are several unsolved issues in real practice in ITP treatment. To optimize the management of Korean ITP patients, the Korean Society of Hematology Aplastic Anemia Working Party (KSHAAWP) reviewed the consensus and the Korean data on the clinical practices of ITP therapy. Here, we report a Korean expert recommendation guide for the management of ITP.

WHO consultation on clinical evaluation of vaccines, 17-18 July 2014, WHO Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland.

PubMed

Knezevic, Ivana; Moorthy, Vasee; Sheets, Rebecca

2015-04-21

A World Health Organization (WHO) consultation on guidelines for National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) and vaccine manufacturers on clinical evaluation of vaccines was held from 17 to 18 July 2014, to review key scientific challenges that regulators have been facing since the establishment of the WHO Guidelines on Clinical Evaluation of Vaccines. The guidelines, adopted by the WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardization (ECBS) in 2001, have served as the basis for setting or updating national requirements for the evaluation and licensing of a broad range of vaccines as well as for WHO vaccine prequalification. Regulators from Australia, Brazil, China, Canada, Germany, India, Republic of Korea, South Africa, United States of America and the United Kingdom were represented. The International Federation for Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Association (IFPMA) and the Developing Country Vaccine Manufacturers' Network (DCVMN) provided industry representation. The consultation concluded that the guidelines should be revised to address issues that were raised in the context of vaccines that were the subject of clinical development in the past decade. Although the current guidelines have served well over time, it was recognized that an update would further increase their utility and would help regulators, manufacturers, vaccine developers and academia to respond to the challenging questions regarding the safety, immunogenicity, efficacy and effectiveness of vaccines intended for global use. A summary of the main outcomes of the consultation and proposals for the next steps regarding the guidelines and beyond are provided in this report. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

British Society of Gastroenterology guidelines on the diagnosis and management of Barrett's oesophagus.

PubMed

Fitzgerald, Rebecca C; di Pietro, Massimiliano; Ragunath, Krish; Ang, Yeng; Kang, Jin-Yong; Watson, Peter; Trudgill, Nigel; Patel, Praful; Kaye, Philip V; Sanders, Scott; O'Donovan, Maria; Bird-Lieberman, Elizabeth; Bhandari, Pradeep; Jankowski, Janusz A; Attwood, Stephen; Parsons, Simon L; Loft, Duncan; Lagergren, Jesper; Moayyedi, Paul; Lyratzopoulos, Georgios; de Caestecker, John

2014-01-01

These guidelines provide a practical and evidence-based resource for the management of patients with Barrett's oesophagus and related early neoplasia. The Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE II) instrument was followed to provide a methodological strategy for the guideline development. A systematic review of the literature was performed for English language articles published up until December 2012 in order to address controversial issues in Barrett's oesophagus including definition, screening and diagnosis, surveillance, pathological grading for dysplasia, management of dysplasia, and early cancer including training requirements. The rigour and quality of the studies was evaluated using the SIGN checklist system. Recommendations on each topic were scored by each author using a five-tier system (A+, strong agreement, to D+, strongly disagree). Statements that failed to reach substantial agreement among authors, defined as >80% agreement (A or A+), were revisited and modified until substantial agreement (>80%) was reached. In formulating these guidelines, we took into consideration benefits and risks for the population and national health system, as well as patient perspectives. For the first time, we have suggested stratification of patients according to their estimated cancer risk based on clinical and histopathological criteria. In order to improve communication between clinicians, we recommend the use of minimum datasets for reporting endoscopic and pathological findings. We advocate endoscopic therapy for high-grade dysplasia and early cancer, which should be performed in high-volume centres. We hope that these guidelines will standardise and improve management for patients with Barrett's oesophagus and related neoplasia.

A survey of manufacturing and handling practices for monoclonal antibodies by pharmacy, nursing and medical personnel.

PubMed

Alexander, M; King, J; Lingaratnam, S; Byrne, J; MacMillan, K; Mollo, A; Kirsa, S; Green, M

2016-04-01

There is a paucity of data available to assess the occupational health and safety risk associated with exposure to monoclonal antibodies. Industry standards and published guidelines are conflicting or outdated. Guidelines offer contrary recommendations based on an array of methodological approaches. This survey aimed to describe current practices, beliefs and attitudes relating to the handling of monoclonal antibodies by Australian medical, nursing and pharmacy clinicians. An electronic survey was distributed between June and September 2013. Respondents were surveyed on three focus areas: institutional guideline availability and content, current practices and attitudes. Demographic data relating to respondent and primary place of practice were also collected. A total of 222 clinicians completed the survey, with representation from all targeted professional groups and from a variety of geographic locations. 92% of respondents reported that their institution prepared or administered monoclonal antibodies, with 87% specifically handling anti-cancer monoclonal antibodies. Monoclonal antibodies were mostly prepared onsite (84-90%) and mostly within pharmacy clean-rooms (75%) and using cytotoxic cabinets (61%). 43% of respondents reported access to institutional monoclonal antibody handling guidelines with risk reduction strategies including training and education (71%), spill and waste management (71%), procedures for transportation (57%) and restricted handling (50%). Nurses had a stronger preference towards pharmacy manufacturing than both doctors and pharmacists for a range of clinical scenarios. 95% of all respondents identified that professional or regulatory body guidelines are an important resource when considering handling practices. Monoclonal antibodies are most commonly handled according to cytotoxic drug standards and often in the absence of formal guidelines. © The Author(s) 2014.

Relevance and reliability of experimental data in human health risk assessment of pesticides.

PubMed

Kaltenhäuser, Johanna; Kneuer, Carsten; Marx-Stoelting, Philip; Niemann, Lars; Schubert, Jens; Stein, Bernd; Solecki, Roland

2017-08-01

Evaluation of data relevance, reliability and contribution to uncertainty is crucial in regulatory health risk assessment if robust conclusions are to be drawn. Whether a specific study is used as key study, as additional information or not accepted depends in part on the criteria according to which its relevance and reliability are judged. In addition to GLP-compliant regulatory studies following OECD Test Guidelines, data from peer-reviewed scientific literature have to be evaluated in regulatory risk assessment of pesticide active substances. Publications should be taken into account if they are of acceptable relevance and reliability. Their contribution to the overall weight of evidence is influenced by factors including test organism, study design and statistical methods, as well as test item identification, documentation and reporting of results. Various reports make recommendations for improving the quality of risk assessments and different criteria catalogues have been published to support evaluation of data relevance and reliability. Their intention was to guide transparent decision making on the integration of the respective information into the regulatory process. This article describes an approach to assess the relevance and reliability of experimental data from guideline-compliant studies as well as from non-guideline studies published in the scientific literature in the specific context of uncertainty and risk assessment of pesticides. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Methods used in adaptation of health-related guidelines: A systematic survey.

PubMed

Abdul-Khalek, Rima A; Darzi, Andrea J; Godah, Mohammad W; Kilzar, Lama; Lakis, Chantal; Agarwal, Arnav; Abou-Jaoude, Elias; Meerpohl, Joerg J; Wiercioch, Wojtek; Santesso, Nancy; Brax, Hneine; Schünemann, Holger; Akl, Elie A

2017-12-01

Adaptation refers to the systematic approach for considering the endorsement or modification of recommendations produced in one setting for application in another as an alternative to de novo development. To describe and assess the methods used for adapting health-related guidelines published in peer-reviewed journals, and to assess the quality of the resulting adapted guidelines. We searched Medline and Embase up to June 2015. We assessed the method of adaptation, and the quality of included guidelines. Seventy-two papers were eligible. Most adapted guidelines and their source guidelines were published by professional societies (71% and 68% respectively), and in high-income countries (83% and 85% respectively). Of the 57 adapted guidelines that reported any detail about adaptation method, 34 (60%) did not use a published adaptation method. The number (and percentage) of adapted guidelines fulfilling each of the ADAPTE steps ranged between 2 (4%) and 57 (100%). The quality of adapted guidelines was highest for the "scope and purpose" domain and lowest for the "editorial independence" domain (respective mean percentages of the maximum possible scores were 93% and 43%). The mean score for "rigor of development" was 57%. Most adapted guidelines published in peer-reviewed journals do not report using a published adaptation method, and their adaptation quality was variable.

Ethical regulations for innovative surgery: the last frontier?

PubMed

Reitsma, Angelique M; Moreno, Jonathan D

2002-06-01

There are no clear federal regulations governing innovative surgery, even though general guidelines regulating research with human subjects do exist. We hypothesized that US surgeons are unaware of Department of Health and Human Services regulations, rarely seek IRB review, generally oppose outside regulation of innovative surgery, and are uncertain what constitutes innovation and research. These circumstances, if true, would pose a significant ethical problem and present potential harm to patients as unwitting subjects of research. In a pilot study we reviewed 527 issues of US surgical and medical journals, selecting 59 articles published between 1992 and 2000, that described innovative surgery. Corresponding authors from university hospitals (71%) and other facilities (29%) were sent an anonymous questionnaire. The survey was conducted between November 2000 and May 2001. Twenty-one questionnaires were returned, completed with responses, constituting a 35% overall response rate. Fourteen authors confirmed their work was research, yet only six had sought prior IRB review. The majority of authors (15 of 21) did not submit their protocol to IRB. Only seven authors had mentioned the innovative nature of the procedure in the informed consent form. Seven authors claimed familiarity with Office for Human Research Protections definitions of research and human subject. Two-thirds of the respondents stated that government regulations for the protection of human subjects of innovative surgery would not be appropriate. The current system of definitions, ethical theories, and voluntary professional guidelines may be inadequate to meet the challenge of surgical innovation. Further research is proposed to examine the adequacy of the existing guidelines.

Endorsement of the CONSORT Statement by High-Impact Medical Journals in China: A Survey of Instructions for Authors and Published Papers

PubMed Central

Zhou, Qing-hui; Moher, David; Chen, Hong-yun; Wang, Fu-zhe; Ling, Chang-quan

2012-01-01

Background The CONSORT Statement is a reporting guideline for authors when reporting randomized controlled trials (RCTs). It offers a standard way for authors to prepare RCT reports. It has been endorsed by many high-impact medical journals and by international editorial groups. This study was conducted to assess the endorsement of the CONSORT Statement by high-impact medical journals in China by reviewing their instructions for authors. Methodology/Principal Findings A total of 200 medical journals were selected according to the Chinese Science and Technology Journal Citation Reports, 195 of which publish clinical research papers. Their instructions for authors were reviewed and all texts mentioning the CONSORT Statement or CONSORT extension papers were extracted. Any mention of the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (URM) developed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) or ‘clinical trial registration’ was also extracted. For journals endorsing the CONSORT Statement, their most recently published RCT reports were retrieved and evaluated to assess whether the journals have followed what the CONSORT Statement required. Out of the 195 medical journals publishing clinical research papers, only six (6/195, 3.08%) mentioned ‘CONSORT’ in their instructions for authors; out of the 200 medical journals surveyed, only 14 (14/200, 7.00%) mentioned ‘ICMJE’ or ‘URM’ in their instructions for authors, and another five journals stated in their instructions for authors that clinical trials should have trial registration numbers and that priority would be given to clinical trials which had been registered. Among the 62 RCT reports published in the six journals endorsing the CONSORT Statement, 20 (20/62, 32.26%) contained flow diagrams and only three (3/62, 4.84%) provided trial registration information. Conclusions/Significance Medical journals in China endorsing either the CONSORT Statement or the ICMJE's URM constituted a small percentage of the total; all of these journals used ambiguous language regarding what was expected of authors. PMID:22348017

Identifying Inconsistencies and Reporting Deficits in Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (TMB) Case Reports Authored by TMB Practitioners: a TMB-Adapted CAse REport (CARE) Guidelines Audit Through 2014.

PubMed

Munk, Niki; Shue, Sarah; Freeland, Emilee; Ralston, Rick; Boulanger, Karen T

2016-09-01

Case reports are a fundamental tool through which therapeutic massage and bodywork (TMB) practitioners can inform research and impact their field by detailing the presentation, treatment, and follow-up of a single individual encountered in practice. Inconsistencies in case reporting limit their impact as fundamental sources of clinical evidence. Using the TMB-adapted CAse REport (CARE) guidelines, the current study sought to provide a rich description regarding the reporting quality of TMB practitioner authored TMB case reports in the literature. 1) Systematic identification of published, peer-reviewed TMB case reports authored by TMB practitioners following PRISMA recommendations; 2) audit development based on TMB-adapted CARE guidelines; 3) audit implementation; and 4) descriptive analysis of audit scores. Our search identified 977 articles and 35 met study inclusion criteria. On average, TMB case reports included approximately 58% of the total items identified as necessary by the TMB-adapted CARE guidelines. Introduction sections of case reports had the best item reporting (80% on average), while Case Presentation (54%) and Results (52%) sections scored moderately overall, with only 20% of necessary Practitioner Description items included on average. Audit scores revealed inconsistent abstract reporting and few audited case reports including client race (20%), perspective (26%), and occupation/activities (40%); practitioner practice setting (12%), training (12%), scope-of-practice (29%), and credentialing (20%); adverse events or lack thereof (17%); and some aspect of informed consent (34%). Treatment descriptor item reporting varied from high to low. Various implications of concern are discussed. The current audit and descriptive analysis highlight several reporting inconsistencies in TMB case reports prior to 2015. Reporting guidelines for case reports are important if standards for, and impact of, TMB case reports are desired. Adherence to reporting specifications outlined by the TMB-adapted CARE guidelines could improve the impact and usability of TMB case reports in research, education, and practice.

Identifying Inconsistencies and Reporting Deficits in Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (TMB) Case Reports Authored by TMB Practitioners: a TMB-Adapted CAse REport (CARE) Guidelines Audit Through 2014†

PubMed Central

Munk, Niki; Shue, Sarah; Freeland, Emilee; Ralston, Rick; Boulanger, Karen T.

2016-01-01

Introduction Case reports are a fundamental tool through which therapeutic massage and bodywork (TMB) practitioners can inform research and impact their field by detailing the presentation, treatment, and follow-up of a single individual encountered in practice. Inconsistencies in case reporting limit their impact as fundamental sources of clinical evidence. Using the TMB-adapted CAse REport (CARE) guidelines, the current study sought to provide a rich description regarding the reporting quality of TMB practitioner authored TMB case reports in the literature. Methods 1) Systematic identification of published, peer-reviewed TMB case reports authored by TMB practitioners following PRISMA recommendations; 2) audit development based on TMB-adapted CARE guidelines; 3) audit implementation; and 4) descriptive analysis of audit scores. Results Our search identified 977 articles and 35 met study inclusion criteria. On average, TMB case reports included approximately 58% of the total items identified as necessary by the TMB-adapted CARE guidelines. Introduction sections of case reports had the best item reporting (80% on average), while Case Presentation (54%) and Results (52%) sections scored moderately overall, with only 20% of necessary Practitioner Description items included on average. Audit scores revealed inconsistent abstract reporting and few audited case reports including client race (20%), perspective (26%), and occupation/activities (40%); practitioner practice setting (12%), training (12%), scope-of-practice (29%), and credentialing (20%); adverse events or lack thereof (17%); and some aspect of informed consent (34%). Treatment descriptor item reporting varied from high to low. Various implications of concern are discussed. Conclusion The current audit and descriptive analysis highlight several reporting inconsistencies in TMB case reports prior to 2015. Reporting guidelines for case reports are important if standards for, and impact of, TMB case reports are desired. Adherence to reporting specifications outlined by the TMB-adapted CARE guidelines could improve the impact and usability of TMB case reports in research, education, and practice. PMID:27648108

Recommendations for harmonization of data collection and analysis of developmental neurotoxicity endpoints in regulatory guideline studies: Proceedings of workshops presented at Society of Toxicology and joint Teratology Society and Neurobehavioral Teratology Society meetings.

PubMed

Li, Abby A; Sheets, Larry P; Raffaele, Kathleen; Moser, Virginia; Hofstra, Angela; Hoberman, Alan; Makris, Susan L; Garman, Robert; Bolon, Brad; Kaufmann, Wolfgang; Auer, Roland; Lau, Edmund; Vidmar, Thomas; Bowers, Wayne J

2017-09-01

The potential for developmental neurotoxicity (DNT) of environmental chemicals may be evaluated using specific test guidelines from the US Environmental Protection Agency or the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). These guidelines generate neurobehavioral, neuropathological, and morphometric data that are evaluated by regulatory agencies globally. Data from these DNT guideline studies, or the more recent OECD extended one-generation reproductive toxicity guideline, play a pivotal role in children's health risk assessment in different world areas. Data from the same study may be interpreted differently by regulatory authorities in different countries resulting in inconsistent evaluations that may lead to inconsistencies in risk assessment decisions internationally, resulting in regional differences in public health protection or in commercial trade barriers. These issues of data interpretation and reporting are also relevant to juvenile and pre-postnatal studies conducted more routinely for pharmaceuticals and veterinary medicines. There is a need for development of recommendations geared toward the operational needs of the regulatory scientific reviewers who apply these studies in risk assessments, as well as the scientists who generate DNT data sets. The workshops summarized here draw upon the experience of the authors representing government, industry, contract research organizations, and academia to discuss the scientific issues that have emerged from diverse regulatory evaluations. Although various regulatory bodies have different risk management decisions and labeling requirements that are difficult to harmonize, the workshops provided an opportunity to work toward more harmonized scientific approaches for evaluating DNT data within the context of different regulatory frameworks. Five speakers and their coauthors with neurotoxicology, neuropathology, and regulatory toxicology expertise discussed issues of variability, data reporting and analysis, and expectations in DNT data that are encountered by regulatory authorities. In addition, principles for harmonized evaluation of data were suggested using guideline DNT data as case studies. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Adherence of hip and knee arthroplasty studies to RSA standardization guidelines. A systematic review.

PubMed

Madanat, Rami; Mäkinen, Tatu J; Aro, Hannu T; Bragdon, Charles; Malchau, Henrik

2014-09-01

Guidelines for standardization of radiostereometry (RSA) of implants were published in 2005 to facilitate comparison of outcomes between various research groups. In this systematic review, we determined how well studies have adhered to these guidelines. We carried out a literature search to identify all articles published between January 2000 and December 2011 that used RSA in the evaluation of hip or knee prosthesis migration. 2 investigators independently evaluated each of the studies for adherence to the 13 individual guideline items. Since some of the 13 points included more than 1 criterion, studies were assessed on whether each point was fully met, partially met, or not met. 153 studies that met our inclusion criteria were identified. 61 of these were published before the guidelines were introduced (2000-2005) and 92 after the guidelines were introduced (2006-2011). The methodological quality of RSA studies clearly improved from 2000 to 2011. None of the studies fully met all 13 guidelines. Nearly half (43) of the studies published after the guidelines demonstrated a high methodological quality and adhered at least partially to 10 of the 13 guidelines, whereas less than one-fifth (11) of the studies published before the guidelines had the same methodological quality. Commonly unaddressed guideline items were related to imaging methodology, determination of precision from double examinations, and also mean error of rigid-body fitting and condition number cutoff levels. The guidelines have improved methodological reporting in RSA studies, but adherence to these guidelines is still relatively low. There is a need to update and clarify the guidelines for clinical hip and knee arthroplasty RSA studies.

2017 publication guidelines for structural modelling of small-angle scattering data from biomolecules in solution: an update

PubMed Central

Duff, Anthony P.; Durand, Dominique; Gabel, Frank; Hendrickson, Wayne A.; Hura, Greg L.; Jacques, David A.; Kirby, Nigel M.; Kwan, Ann H.; Pérez, Javier; Pollack, Lois; Ryan, Timothy M.; Sali, Andrej; Schneidman-Duhovny, Dina; Vachette, Patrice; Westbrook, John

2017-01-01

In 2012, preliminary guidelines were published addressing sample quality, data acquisition and reduction, presentation of scattering data and validation, and modelling for biomolecular small-angle scattering (SAS) experiments. Bio­molecular SAS has since continued to grow and authors have increasingly adopted the preliminary guidelines. In parallel, integrative/hybrid determination of biomolecular structures is a rapidly growing field that is expanding the scope of structural biology. For SAS to contribute maximally to this field, it is essential to ensure open access to the information required for evaluation of the quality of SAS samples and data, as well as the validity of SAS-based structural models. To this end, the preliminary guidelines for data presentation in a publication are reviewed and updated, and the deposition of data and associated models in a public archive is recommended. These guidelines and recommendations have been prepared in consultation with the members of the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) Small-Angle Scattering and Journals Commissions, the Worldwide Protein Data Bank (wwPDB) Small-Angle Scattering Validation Task Force and additional experts in the field. PMID:28876235

Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS)--explanation and elaboration: a report of the ISPOR Health Economic Evaluation Publication Guidelines Good Reporting Practices Task Force.

PubMed

Husereau, Don; Drummond, Michael; Petrou, Stavros; Carswell, Chris; Moher, David; Greenberg, Dan; Augustovski, Federico; Briggs, Andrew H; Mauskopf, Josephine; Loder, Elizabeth

2013-01-01

Economic evaluations of health interventions pose a particular challenge for reporting because substantial information must be conveyed to allow scrutiny of study findings. Despite a growth in published reports, existing reporting guidelines are not widely adopted. There is also a need to consolidate and update existing guidelines and promote their use in a user-friendly manner. A checklist is one way to help authors, editors, and peer reviewers use guidelines to improve reporting. The task force's overall goal was to provide recommendations to optimize the reporting of health economic evaluations. The Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) statement is an attempt to consolidate and update previous health economic evaluation guidelines into one current, useful reporting guidance. The CHEERS Elaboration and Explanation Report of the ISPOR Health Economic Evaluation Publication Guidelines Good Reporting Practices Task Force facilitates the use of the CHEERS statement by providing examples and explanations for each recommendation. The primary audiences for the CHEERS statement are researchers reporting economic evaluations and the editors and peer reviewers assessing them for publication. The need for new reporting guidance was identified by a survey of medical editors. Previously published checklists or guidance documents related to reporting economic evaluations were identified from a systematic review and subsequent survey of task force members. A list of possible items from these efforts was created. A two-round, modified Delphi Panel with representatives from academia, clinical practice, industry, and government, as well as the editorial community, was used to identify a minimum set of items important for reporting from the larger list. Out of 44 candidate items, 24 items and accompanying recommendations were developed, with some specific recommendations for single study-based and model-based economic evaluations. The final recommendations are subdivided into six main categories: 1) title and abstract, 2) introduction, 3) methods, 4) results, 5) discussion, and 6) other. The recommendations are contained in the CHEERS statement, a user-friendly 24-item checklist. The task force report provides explanation and elaboration, as well as an example for each recommendation. The ISPOR CHEERS statement is available online via Value in Health or the ISPOR Health Economic Evaluation Publication Guidelines Good Reporting Practices - CHEERS Task Force webpage (http://www.ispor.org/TaskForces/EconomicPubGuidelines.asp). We hope that the ISPOR CHEERS statement and the accompanying task force report guidance will lead to more consistent and transparent reporting, and ultimately, better health decisions. To facilitate wider dissemination and uptake of this guidance, we are copublishing the CHEERS statement across 10 health economics and medical journals. We encourage other journals and groups to consider endorsing the CHEERS statement. The author team plans to review the checklist for an update in 5 years. Copyright © 2013 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Differences in delineation guidelines for head and neck cancer result in inconsistent reported dose and corresponding NTCP.

PubMed

Brouwer, Charlotte L; Steenbakkers, Roel J H M; Gort, Elske; Kamphuis, Marije E; van der Laan, Hans Paul; Van't Veld, Aart A; Sijtsema, Nanna M; Langendijk, Johannes A

2014-04-01

To test the hypothesis that delineation of swallowing organs at risk (SWOARs) based on different guidelines results in differences in dose-volume parameters and subsequent normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) values for dysphagia-related endpoints. Nine different SWOARs were delineated according to five different delineation guidelines in 29 patients. Reference delineation was performed according to the guidelines and NTCP-models of Christianen et al. Concordance Index (CI), dosimetric consequences, as well as differences in the subsequent NTCPs were calculated. The median CI of the different delineation guidelines with the reference guidelines was 0.54 for the pharyngeal constrictor muscles, 0.56 for the laryngeal structures and 0.07 for the cricopharyngeal muscle and esophageal inlet muscle. The average difference in mean dose to the SWOARs between the guidelines with the largest difference (maxΔD) was 3.5±3.2Gy. A mean ΔNTCP of 2.3±2.7% was found. For two patients, ΔNTCP exceeded 10%. The majority of the patients showed little differences in NTCPs between the different delineation guidelines. However, large NTCP differences >10% were found in 7% of the patients. For correct use of NTCP models in individual patients, uniform delineation guidelines are of great importance. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Systematic review of recent dementia practice guidelines.

PubMed

Ngo, Jennifer; Holroyd-Leduc, Jayna M

2015-01-01

dementia is a highly prevalent acquired cognitive disorder that interferes with activities of daily living, relationships and quality of life. Recognition and effective management strategies are necessary to provide comprehensive care for these patients and their families. High-quality clinical practice guidelines can improve the quality and consistency of care in all aspects of dementia diagnosis and management by clarifying interventions supported by sound evidence and by alerting clinicians to interventions without proven benefit. we aimed to offer a synthesis of existing practice recommendations for the diagnosis and management of dementia, based upon moderate-to-high quality dementia guidelines. we performed a systematic search in EMBASE and MEDLINE as well as the grey literature for guidelines produced between 2008 and 2013. thirty-nine retrieved practice guidelines were included for quality appraisal by the Appraisal of Guidelines Research and Evaluation II (AGREE-II) tool, performed by two independent reviewers. From the 12 moderate-to-high quality guidelines included, specific practice recommendations for the diagnosis and/or management of any aspect of dementia were extracted for comparison based upon the level of evidence and strength of recommendation. there was a general agreement between guidelines for many practice recommendations. However, direct comparisons between guidelines were challenging due to variations in grading schemes. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Optimal clinical management of children receiving dietary therapies for epilepsy: Updated recommendations of the International Ketogenic Diet Study Group.

PubMed

Kossoff, Eric H; Zupec-Kania, Beth A; Auvin, Stéphane; Ballaban-Gil, Karen R; Christina Bergqvist, A G; Blackford, Robyn; Buchhalter, Jeffrey R; Caraballo, Roberto H; Cross, J Helen; Dahlin, Maria G; Donner, Elizabeth J; Guzel, Orkide; Jehle, Rana S; Klepper, Joerg; Kang, Hoon-Chul; Lambrechts, Danielle A; Liu, Y M Christiana; Nathan, Janak K; Nordli, Douglas R; Pfeifer, Heidi H; Rho, Jong M; Scheffer, Ingrid E; Sharma, Suvasini; Stafstrom, Carl E; Thiele, Elizabeth A; Turner, Zahava; Vaccarezza, Maria M; van der Louw, Elles J T M; Veggiotti, Pierangelo; Wheless, James W; Wirrell, Elaine C

2018-06-01

Ketogenic dietary therapies (KDTs) are established, effective nonpharmacologic treatments for intractable childhood epilepsy. For many years KDTs were implemented differently throughout the world due to lack of consistent protocols. In 2009, an expert consensus guideline for the management of children on KDT was published, focusing on topics of patient selection, pre-KDT counseling and evaluation, diet choice and attributes, implementation, supplementation, follow-up, side events, and KDT discontinuation. It has been helpful in outlining a state-of-the-art protocol, standardizing KDT for multicenter clinical trials, and identifying areas of controversy and uncertainty for future research. Now one decade later, the organizers and authors of this guideline present a revised version with additional authors, in order to include recent research, especially regarding other dietary treatments, clarifying indications for use, side effects during initiation and ongoing use, value of supplements, and methods of KDT discontinuation. In addition, authors completed a survey of their institution's practices, which was compared to responses from the original consensus survey, to show trends in management over the last 10 years.

Addressing the vexed issue of authorship and author order: A discussion paper.

PubMed

McCann, Terence V; Polacsek, Meg

2018-05-23

To review and discuss authorship and author order in the context of nursing and midwifery publications and to present a set of principles to guide and justify author order. Variation in author order trends is evident across different authors, disciplines and countries. Confusion and conflict between authors give rise to important issues concerning ethics and collaboration and may delay publication. Lack of transparency in authorship practices also impedes judgements when individual contributions are used in support of employment, promotion, tenure and/or research funding applications. Discussion paper. A literature search of BioMed Central, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), MEDLINE with Full Text and PubMed for original peer-reviewed papers published in English between 2007 - 2017, in the disciplines of nursing and midwifery. Much is written about authorship practices across disciplines and countries. Despite existing authorship guidelines, author order remains an area of confusion and contention. Disputes about authorship and author order have the potential to cause distrust and breakdowns in research relationships, thereby disrupting nursing and midwifery scholarship and research. The main issues concern honorary and ghost authorship, authorship versus acknowledgement, confusion regarding collaboration, author order, research students as co-authors, equal author credit and the need for explicit guidelines. Good communication and mutual respect are crucial to the authorship process. However, clear instructions are needed to guide decisions on authorship and author order. It is recommended that the 'first-last-author-emphasis' be adopted uniformly internationally across nursing and midwifery research. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Bridging the guideline implementation gap: a systematic, document-centered approach to guideline implementation.

PubMed

Shiffman, Richard N; Michel, George; Essaihi, Abdelwaheb; Thornquist, Elizabeth

2004-01-01

A gap exists between the information contained in published clinical practice guidelines and the knowledge and information that are necessary to implement them. This work describes a process to systematize and make explicit the translation of document-based knowledge into workflow-integrated clinical decision support systems. This approach uses the Guideline Elements Model (GEM) to represent the guideline knowledge. Implementation requires a number of steps to translate the knowledge contained in guideline text into a computable format and to integrate the information into clinical workflow. The steps include: (1) selection of a guideline and specific recommendations for implementation, (2) markup of the guideline text, (3) atomization, (4) deabstraction and (5) disambiguation of recommendation concepts, (6) verification of rule set completeness, (7) addition of explanations, (8) building executable statements, (9) specification of origins of decision variables and insertions of recommended actions, (10) definition of action types and selection of associated beneficial services, (11) choice of interface components, and (12) creation of requirement specification. The authors illustrate these component processes using examples drawn from recent experience translating recommendations from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's guideline on management of chronic asthma into a workflow-integrated decision support system that operates within the Logician electronic health record system. Using the guideline document as a knowledge source promotes authentic translation of domain knowledge and reduces the overall complexity of the implementation task. From this framework, we believe that a better understanding of activities involved in guideline implementation will emerge.

Side effects are incompletely reported among systematic reviews in gastroenterology.

PubMed

Mahady, Suzanne E; Schlub, Timothy; Bero, Lisa; Moher, David; Tovey, David; George, Jacob; Craig, Jonathan C

2015-02-01

Systematic reviews are an integral component of evidence-based health care. However, little is known on how well they report the potential harms of interventions. We assessed the reporting of harms in recently published systematic reviews of interventions relevant to clinical gastroenterology. We identified all systematic reviews of randomized trials of gastroenterology interventions published from 2008 to 2012 in highly cited gastroenterology and general medical journals. We adapted the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials guidelines for harms and assessed qualitative and quantitative parameters of harms reporting. Regression analyses determined predictors of more comprehensive harms reporting. In total, 78 systematic reviews were identified, with 72 published in gastroenterology journals and six in general medical journals. Overall, one in three systematic reviews (26/78, 33%) did not refer to harms of the intervention anywhere in the article. Less than half of the studies included adverse events as an outcome measure, and data on absolute rates of adverse events were only provided in 28%. Most (65%) did not include any figures or tables on adverse event; however, all included these on efficacy outcomes (mean, 3 and range, 1-7). Regression analyses indicated that the use of reporting guidelines was significantly associated with better harms reporting (P = 0.04). The reporting of harms in gastroenterology systematic reviews is largely inadequate and highly asymmetrical compared with the reporting of benefits. We suggest that review authors routinely assess both efficacy and harms outcomes of an intervention and that reporting guidelines specifically targeting harms reporting be developed. Crown Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Financial Relationships With Industry Among National Comprehensive Cancer Network Guideline Authors.

PubMed

Mitchell, Aaron P; Basch, Ethan M; Dusetzina, Stacie B

2016-12-01

Financial conflicts of interest (FCOIs) among authors of clinical practice guidelines have the potential to influence treatment recommendations. To quantify FCOIs with industry among authors of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines. We assessed FCOIs occurring during 2014 among NCCN guideline authors in the United States. All were physician members of the NCCN guideline committees for lung, breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer as of the end of 2014. The data source for FCOIs was Open Payments, which is publically reported by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. This study was cross-sectional. The proportion of NCCN authors having FCOIs with industry; the average amount received from industry sources per author. Of 125 guideline authors, 108 (86%) had at least 1 reported FCOI. Authors received an average of $10 011 (range, $0-$106 859) in general payments (GPs), which include consulting, meals, lodging, and similar transfers of value, and $236 066 (range $0-$2 756 713) in industry research payments (RPs), including funding associated with clinical trials. Approximately 84% of authors received GPs, while 47% received RPs. Eight (6%) had FCOIs in excess of the $50 000 net and/or $20 000 single-company maximums stipulated by NCCN. Among NCCN guideline authors, FCOIs involving RPs were of greater value, while those involving GPs were more prevalent. Although FCOIs may result from engaging in important scholarship, FCOIs may still influence guideline authors in counterproductive ways. Research is needed to understand how best to manage author FCOIs during guideline creation.

Adherence of hip and knee arthroplasty studies to RSA standardization guidelines

PubMed Central

Mäkinen, Tatu J; Aro, Hannu T; Bragdon, Charles; Malchau, Henrik

2014-01-01

Background and purpose Guidelines for standardization of radiostereometry (RSA) of implants were published in 2005 to facilitate comparison of outcomes between various research groups. In this systematic review, we determined how well studies have adhered to these guidelines. Methods We carried out a literature search to identify all articles published between January 2000 and December 2011 that used RSA in the evaluation of hip or knee prosthesis migration. 2 investigators independently evaluated each of the studies for adherence to the 13 individual guideline items. Since some of the 13 points included more than 1 criterion, studies were assessed on whether each point was fully met, partially met, or not met. Results 153 studies that met our inclusion criteria were identified. 61 of these were published before the guidelines were introduced (2000–2005) and 92 after the guidelines were introduced (2006–2011). The methodological quality of RSA studies clearly improved from 2000 to 2011. None of the studies fully met all 13 guidelines. Nearly half (43) of the studies published after the guidelines demonstrated a high methodological quality and adhered at least partially to 10 of the 13 guidelines, whereas less than one-fifth (11) of the studies published before the guidelines had the same methodological quality. Commonly unaddressed guideline items were related to imaging methodology, determination of precision from double examinations, and also mean error of rigid-body fitting and condition number cutoff levels. Interpretation The guidelines have improved methodological reporting in RSA studies, but adherence to these guidelines is still relatively low. There is a need to update and clarify the guidelines for clinical hip and knee arthroplasty RSA studies. PMID:24954489

Guidelines for a U.S. Counterpropaganda Strategy to Defeat Al-Qaeda Recruiting

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-06-01

the press, the church, the cinema , the education system (universities, pubic and primary schools), and recruiting the best authors to publish books...1945 Ideology and Purpose. President Roosevelt delivered a speech to Congress nearly a year before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and...Nazi propaganda.79 Third, the foreign campaign concentrated efforts to counter German and Japanese propaganda to the Allies.80 The propaganda

Reported Knowledge and Management of Acute Low Back Pain by United States Army Nurse Practitioners as Compared to Clinical Practice Guidelines Published by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-05-01

learning theory is cited as the foundation for their proposed evidence - based medicine curriculum. The authors selected adult learning theory for this...North America, 22: 263-271. Green, M. & Ellis, P. (1997, December). Impact of an evidence - based medicine curriculum based on adult learning theory

Reported Knowledge and Management of Acute Low Back Pain by United States Army Nurse Practitioners as Compared to Clinical Practice Guidelines Published by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-05-01

evidence - based medicine curriculum. The authors selected adult learning theory for this purpose based on its ability to encompass self-initiation, self...Impact of an evidence - based medicine curriculum based on adult learning theory. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 12(12), 742-750. Hart, L. G

Ongoing ethical issues concerning authorship in biomedical journals: an integrative review

PubMed Central

Kornhaber, Rachel Anne; McLean, Loyola M; Baber, Rodney J

2015-01-01

Health professionals publishing within the field of health sciences continue to experience issues concerning appropriate authorship, which have clinical, ethical, and academic implications. This integrative review sought to explore the key issues concerning authorship from a bioethical standpoint, aiming to explore the key features of the authorship debate. Studies were identified through an electronic search, using the PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and Scopus databases of peer-reviewed research, published between 2009 and 2014, limited to English language research, with search terms developed to reflect the current issues of authorship. From among the 279 papers identified, 20 research papers met the inclusion criteria. Findings were compiled and then arranged to identify themes and relationships. The review incorporated a wide range of authorship issues encompassing equal-credited authors, honorary (guest/gift) and ghost authorship, perception/experiences of authorship, and guidelines/policies. This review suggests that the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors’ (ICMJE) recommended guidelines for authorship are not reflected in current authorship practices within the domain of health sciences in both low-and high-impact-factor journals. This devaluing of the true importance of authorship has the potential to affect the validity of authorship, diminish the real contributions of the true authors, and negatively affect patient care. PMID:26257520

Ongoing ethical issues concerning authorship in biomedical journals: an integrative review.

PubMed

Kornhaber, Rachel Anne; McLean, Loyola M; Baber, Rodney J

2015-01-01

Health professionals publishing within the field of health sciences continue to experience issues concerning appropriate authorship, which have clinical, ethical, and academic implications. This integrative review sought to explore the key issues concerning authorship from a bioethical standpoint, aiming to explore the key features of the authorship debate. Studies were identified through an electronic search, using the PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and Scopus databases of peer-reviewed research, published between 2009 and 2014, limited to English language research, with search terms developed to reflect the current issues of authorship. From among the 279 papers identified, 20 research papers met the inclusion criteria. Findings were compiled and then arranged to identify themes and relationships. The review incorporated a wide range of authorship issues encompassing equal-credited authors, honorary (guest/gift) and ghost authorship, perception/experiences of authorship, and guidelines/policies. This review suggests that the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors' (ICMJE) recommended guidelines for authorship are not reflected in current authorship practices within the domain of health sciences in both low-and high-impact-factor journals. This devaluing of the true importance of authorship has the potential to affect the validity of authorship, diminish the real contributions of the true authors, and negatively affect patient care.

Preparing images for publication: part 2.

PubMed

Bengel, Wolfgang; Devigus, Alessandro

2006-08-01

The transition from conventional to digital photography presents many advantages for authors and photographers in the field of dentistry, but also many complexities and potential problems. No uniform procedures for authors and publishers exist at present for producing high-quality dental photographs. This two-part article aims to provide guidelines for preparing images for publication and improving communication between these two parties. Part 1 provided information about basic color principles, factors that can affect color perception, and digital color management. Part 2 describes the camera setup, discusses how to take a photograph suitable for publication, and outlines steps for the image editing process.

How GPs implement clinical guidelines in everyday clinical practice--a qualitative interview study.

PubMed

Le, Jette V; Hansen, Helle P; Riisgaard, Helle; Lykkegaard, Jesper; Nexøe, Jørgen; Bro, Flemming; Søndergaard, Jens

2015-12-01

Clinical guidelines are considered to be essential for improving quality and safety of health care. However, interventions to promote implementation of guidelines have demonstrated only partial effectiveness and the reasons for this apparent failure are not yet fully understood. To investigate how GPs implement clinical guidelines in everyday clinical practice and how implementation approaches differ between practices. Individual semi-structured open-ended interviews with seven GPs who were purposefully sampled with regard to gender, age and practice form. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and then analysed using systematic text condensation. Analysis of the interviews revealed three different approaches to the implementation of guidelines in clinical practice. In some practices the GPs prioritized time and resources on collective implementation activities and organized their everyday practice to support these activities. In other practices GPs discussed guidelines collectively but left the application up to the individual GP whilst others again saw no need for discussion or collective activities depending entirely on the individual GP's decision on whether and how to manage implementation. Approaches to implementation of clinical guidelines vary substantially between practices. Supporting activities should take this into account. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Comparison of national gestational weight gain guidelines and energy intake recommendations.

PubMed

Alavi, N; Haley, S; Chow, K; McDonald, S D

2013-01-01

Although data showing adverse effects with high and low gestational weight gain (GWG) come from a large number of countries, a variety of guidelines about the GWG exist. Our objectives were to compare existing GWG and energy recommendations across various countries, as well as the rationale or evidence on which they were based. We used the United Nations' Human Developmental Index to determine the ranking of the country to ensure broad sampling and then searched for guidelines. We first searched the national government websites, and if necessary searched Medline and EMBASE, Global Health databases, and bibliographies of published articles for both guidelines and the studies on which they were based. We found guidelines for 31% of the countries, and 59% of these had a GWG recommendation, 68% had an energy intake recommendation (EIR), and 36% had both. About half of the GWG guidelines are similar to the 2009 American Institutes of Medicine (IOM) and 73% of the EIRs are similar to the 2006 IOM. Despite the documented relationship between both high GWG and adverse outcomes for women and infants and low GWG and adverse outcomes in infants, there are a wide variety of guidelines for GWG and energy recommendations by different countries around the world. © 2012 The Authors. obesity reviews © 2012 International Association for the Study of Obesit.

Screening for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in children: do guidelines provide enough guidance?

PubMed

Koot, B G P; Nobili, V

2017-09-01

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common chronic liver disease in the industrialized world in children. Its high prevalence and important health risks make NAFLD highly suitable for screening. In practice, screening is widely, albeit not consistently, performed. To review the recommendations on screening for NAFLD in children. Recommendations on screening were reviewed from major paediatric obesity guidelines and NAFLD guidelines. A literature overview is provided on open questions and controversies. Screening for NAFLD is advocated in all obesity and most NAFLD guidelines. Guidelines are not uniform in whom to screen, and most guidelines do not specify how screening should be performed in practice. Screening for NAFLD remains controversial, due to lack of a highly accurate screening tool, limited knowledge to predict the natural course of NAFLD and limited data on its cost effectiveness. Guidelines provide little guidance on how screening should be performed. Screening for NAFLD remains controversial because not all conditions for screening are fully met. Consensus is needed on the optimal use of currently available screening tools. Research should focus on new accurate screening tool, the natural history of NAFLD and the cost effectiveness of different screening strategies in children. © 2017 The Authors. Obesity Reviews published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of World Obesity Federation.

Review of achievements of the OECD Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials' Testing and Assessment Programme. From exploratory testing to test guidelines.

PubMed

Rasmussen, Kirsten; González, Mar; Kearns, Peter; Sintes, Juan Riego; Rossi, François; Sayre, Phil

2016-02-01

This paper charts the almost ten years of history of OECD's work on nanosafety, during which the programme of the OECD on the Testing and Assessment of Manufactured Nanomaterials covered the testing of eleven nanomaterials for about 59 end-points addressing physical-chemical properties, mammalian and environmental toxicity, environmental fate and material safety. An overview of the materials tested, the test methods applied and the discussions regarding the applicability of the OECD test guidelines, which are recognised methods for regulatory testing of chemicals, are given. The results indicate that many existing OECD test guidelines are suitable for nanomaterials and consequently, hazard data collected using such guidelines will fall under OECD's system of Mutual Acceptance of Data (MAD) which is a legally binding instrument to facilitate the international acceptance of information for the regulatory safety assessment of chemicals. At the same time, some OECD test guidelines and guidance documents need to be adapted to address nanomaterials while new test guidelines and guidance documents may be needed to address endpoints that are more relevant to nanomaterials. This paper presents examples of areas where test guidelines or guidance for nanomaterials are under development. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Castration-resistant prostate cancer: AUA guideline amendment.

PubMed

Cookson, Michael S; Lowrance, William T; Murad, Mohammad H; Kibel, Adam S

2015-02-01

The purpose of this amendment is to incorporate relevant newly-published literature to better provide a rational basis for the management of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer. The original systematic review and meta-analysis of the published literature yielded 303 articles published from 1996 through 2013. This review formed a majority of the guideline statements. Clinical Principles and Expert Opinions were used for guideline statements lacking sufficient evidence-based data. In April 2014, the CRPC guideline underwent amendment based on a second comprehensive literature search, which retrieved additional studies published between February 2013 and February 2014. Thirty-seven studies from this search provided data relevant to the specific treatment modalities for CRPC. Guideline statements based on six index patients developed to represent the most common scenarios encountered in clinical practice were amended appropriately. The additional literature provided the basis for an update of current supporting text as well as the incorporation of new guideline statements. Specifically, the addition of Radium-223 was placed in the guidelines related to the treatment of CRPC. Given the rapidly evolving nature of this field, this guideline should be used in conjunction with recent systematic literature reviews and an understanding of the individual patient's treatment goals. Patients' preferences and personal goals should be considered when choosing management strategies. The newly incorporated evidence-based statements supplement the original guideline published in 2013, which provided guidance for the treatment of men with CRPC. This guideline will be continually updated as new literature emerges in the field. Copyright © 2015 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[How to write an article: formal aspects].

PubMed

Corral de la Calle, M A; Encinas de la Iglesia, J

2013-06-01

Scientific research and the publication of the results of the studies go hand in hand. Exquisite research methods can only be adequately reflected in formal publication with the optimum structure. To ensure the success of this process, it is necessary to follow orderly steps, including selecting the journal in which to publish and following the instructions to authors strictly as well as the guidelines elaborated by diverse societies of editors and other institutions. It is also necessary to structure the contents of the article in a logical and attractive way and to use an accurate, clear, and concise style of language. Although not all the authors are directly involved in the actual writing, elaborating a scientific article is a collective undertaking that does not finish until the article is published. This article provides practical advice about formal and not-so-formal details to take into account when writing a scientific article as well as references that will help readers find more information in greater detail. Copyright © 2012 SERAM. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer: AUA Guideline Amendment 2015.

PubMed

Lowrance, William T; Roth, Bruce J; Kirkby, Erin; Murad, Mohammad Hassan; Cookson, Michael S

2016-05-01

The purpose of this amendment is to incorporate relevant newly-published literature to better provide a rational basis for the management of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer. The original systematic review and meta-analysis of the published literature yielded 303 studies published from 1996 through 2013. This review informed the majority of the guideline statements. Clinical Principles and Expert Opinions were used for guideline statements lacking sufficient evidence. In April 2014, the CRPC guideline underwent amendment based on an additional literature search, which retrieved additional studies published between February 2013 and February 2014. Thirty-seven studies from this search provided data relevant to the specific treatment modalities for CRPC. In March 2015, the CRPC guideline underwent a second amendment, which incorporated 10 additional studies into the evidence base published through February 2015. Guideline statements based on six index patients developed to represent the most common scenarios encountered in clinical practice were amended appropriately. The additional literature provided the basis for an update of current supporting text as well as the incorporation of new guideline statements for multiple index patients. Given the rapidly evolving nature of this field, this guideline should be used in conjunction with recent systematic literature reviews and an understanding of the individual patient's treatment goals. Patients' preferences and personal goals should be considered when choosing management strategies. This guideline will be continually updated as new literature emerges in the field. Copyright © 2016 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

SATB2-associated syndrome: Mechanisms, phenotype, and practical recommendations.

PubMed

Zarate, Yuri A; Fish, Jennifer L

2017-02-01

The SATB2-associated syndrome is a recently described syndrome characterized by developmental delay/intellectual disability with absent or limited speech development, craniofacial abnormalities, behavioral problems, dysmorphic features, and palatal and dental abnormalities. Alterations of the SATB2 gene can result from a variety of different mechanisms that include contiguous deletions, intragenic deletions and duplications, translocations with secondary gene disruption, and point mutations. The multisystemic nature of this syndrome demands a multisystemic approach and we propose evaluation and management guidelines. The SATB2-associated syndrome registry has now been started and that will allow gathering further clinical information and refining the provided surveillance recommendations. © 2016 The Authors. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 The Authors. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

ResistoMap-online visualization of human gut microbiota antibiotic resistome.

PubMed

Yarygin, Konstantin S; Kovarsky, Boris A; Bibikova, Tatyana S; Melnikov, Damir S; Tyakht, Alexander V; Alexeev, Dmitry G

2017-07-15

We created ResistoMap—a Web-based interactive visualization of the presence of genetic determinants conferring resistance to antibiotics, biocides and heavy metals in human gut microbiota. ResistoMap displays the data on more than 1500 published gut metagenomes of world populations including both healthy subjects and patients. Multiparameter display filters allow visual assessment of the associations between the meta-data and proportions of resistome. The geographic map navigation layer allows to state hypotheses regarding the global trends of antibiotic resistance and correlates the gut resistome variations with the national clinical guidelines on antibiotics application. ResistoMap was implemented using AngularJS, CoffeeScript, D3.js and TopoJSON. The tool is publicly available at http://resistomap.rcpcm.org. yarygin@phystech.edu. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

The Single-Case Reporting guideline In BEhavioural interventions (SCRIBE) 2016 statement.

PubMed

Tate, Robyn L; Perdices, Michael; Rosenkoetter, Ulrike; Shadish, William; Vohra, Sunita; Barlow, David H; Horner, Robert; Kazdin, Alan; Kratochwill, Thomas; McDonald, Skye; Sampson, Margaret; Shamseer, Larissa; Togher, Leanne; Albin, Richard; Backman, Catherine; Douglas, Jacinta; Evans, Jonathan J; Gast, David; Manolov, Rumen; Mitchell, Geoffrey; Nickels, Lyndsey; Nikles, Jane; Ownsworth, Tamara; Rose, Miranda; Schmid, Christopher H; Wilson, Barbara

2016-06-01

We developed a reporting guideline to provide authors with guidance about what should be reported when writing a paper for publication in a scientific journal using a particular type of research design: the single-case experimental design. This report describes the methods used to develop the Single-Case Reporting guideline In BEhavioural interventions (SCRIBE) 2016. As a result of 2 online surveys and a 2-day meeting of experts, the SCRIBE 2016 checklist was developed, which is a set of 26 items that authors need to address when writing about single-case research. This article complements the more detailed SCRIBE 2016 Explanation and Elaboration article (Tate et al., 2016) that provides a rationale for each of the items and examples of adequate reporting from the literature. Both these resources will assist authors to prepare reports of single-case research with clarity, completeness, accuracy, and transparency. They will also provide journal reviewers and editors with a practical checklist against which such reports may be critically evaluated. We recommend that the SCRIBE 2016 is used by authors preparing manuscripts describing single-case research for publication, as well as journal reviewers and editors who are evaluating such manuscripts. Reporting guidelines, such as the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) Statement, improve the reporting of research in the medical literature (Turner et al., 2012). Many such guidelines exist and the CONSORT Extension to Nonpharmacological Trials (Boutron et al., 2008) provides suitable guidance for reporting between-groups intervention studies in the behavioral sciences. The CONSORT Extension for N-of-1 Trials (CENT 2015) was developed for multiple crossover trials with single individuals in the medical sciences (Shamseer et al., 2015; Vohra et al., 2015), but there is no reporting guideline in the CONSORT tradition for single-case research used in the behavioral sciences. We developed the Single-Case Reporting guideline In BEhavioural interventions (SCRIBE) 2016 to meet this need. This Statement article describes the methodology of the development of the SCRIBE 2016, along with the outcome of 2 Delphi surveys and a consensus meeting of experts. We present the resulting 26-item SCRIBE 2016 checklist. The article complements the more detailed SCRIBE 2016 Explanation and Elaboration article (Tate et al., 2016) that provides a rationale for each of the items and examples of adequate reporting from the literature. Both these resources will assist authors to prepare reports of single-case research with clarity, completeness, accuracy, and transparency. They will also provide journal reviewers and editors with a practical checklist against which such reports may be critically evaluated. Supplemental materials: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/arc0000026.supp. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Do guidelines offer implementation advice to target users? A systematic review of guideline applicability.

PubMed

Gagliardi, Anna R; Brouwers, Melissa C

2015-02-18

Providers and patients are most likely to use and benefit from guidelines accompanied by implementation support. Guidelines published in 2007 and earlier assessed with the Appraisal of Guidelines, Research and Evaluation (AGREE) instrument scored poorly for applicability, which reflects the inclusion of implementation instructions or tools. The purpose of this study was to examine the applicability of guidelines published in 2008 or later and identify factors associated with applicability. Systematic review of studies that used AGREE to assess guidelines published in 2008 or later. MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched from 2008 to July 2014, and the reference lists of eligible items. Two individuals independently screened results for English language studies that reviewed guidelines using AGREE and reported all domain scores, and extracted data. Descriptive statistics were calculated across all domains. Multilevel regression analysis with a mixed effects model identified factors associated with applicability. Of 245 search results, 53 were retrieved as potentially relevant and 20 studies were eligible for review. The mean and median domain scores for applicability across 137 guidelines published in 2008 or later were 43.6% and 42.0% (IQR 21.8-63.0%), respectively. Applicability scored lower than all other domains, and did not markedly improve compared with guidelines published in 2007 or earlier. Country (UK) and type of developer (disease-specific foundation, non-profit healthcare system) appeared to be associated with applicability when assessed with AGREE II (not original AGREE). Despite increasing recognition of the need for implementation tools, guidelines continue to lack such resources. To improve healthcare delivery and associated outcomes, further research is needed to establish the type of implementation tools needed and desired by healthcare providers and consumers, and methods for developing high-quality tools. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids 2016 Debate: For Science-Based Dietary Guidelines on Fats, Meta-Analysis and Systematic Reviews Are Decisive.

PubMed

Nettleton, Joyce A; von Schacky, Clemens; Brouwer, Ingeborg A; Koletzko, Berthold

2017-01-01

This paper summarizes a debate on whether meta-analyses and systematic reviews are decisive in formulating guidelines for dietary fat. Held during the 12th congress of the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids in Stellenbosch, South Africa, September 7, 2016, the debate was hosted by the International Union of Nutritional Sciences and the International Expert Movement to Improve Dietary Fat Quality (IEM, www.theiem.org). Clemens von Schacky, Ludwig Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, supported the statement, describing the types of weaknesses in individual studies and clinical trials. With examples of how to overcome such limitations, he concluded that nutritional guidelines on fat need a proper scientific basis in which randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with clinical endpoints and their meta-analyses are essential and decisive. In contention, Ingeborg Brouwer, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, declared that recommendations on dietary fat intake should always be based on the totality of the evidence, including physiologic and biochemical knowledge and associations from observational epidemiology. RCTs and meta-analyses have their shortcomings, but well-conducted systematic reviews and meta-analyses support a transparent process for developing dietary fat guidelines. Participants agreed that evidence-based decision-making for dietary guidance should consider all the best available evidence using a transparent, systematic review. © 2017 The Author(s) Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.

International Guidelines for the Management and Treatment of Morquio A Syndrome

PubMed Central

Hendriksz, Christian J; Berger, Kenneth I; Giugliani, Roberto; Harmatz, Paul; Kampmann, Christoph; Mackenzie, William G; Raiman, Julian; Villarreal, Martha Solano; Savarirayan, Ravi

2015-01-01

Morquio A syndrome (mucopolysaccharidosis IVA) is a lysosomal storage disorder associated with skeletal and joint abnormalities and significant non-skeletal manifestations including respiratory disease, spinal cord compression, cardiac disease, impaired vision, hearing loss, and dental problems. The clinical presentation, onset, severity and progression rate of clinical manifestations of Morquio A syndrome vary widely between patients. Because of the heterogeneous and progressive nature of the disease, the management of patients with Morquio A syndrome is challenging and requires a multidisciplinary approach, involving an array of specialists. The current paper presents international guidelines for the evaluation, treatment and symptom-based management of Morquio A syndrome. These guidelines were developed during two expert meetings by an international panel of specialists in pediatrics, genetics, orthopedics, pulmonology, cardiology, and anesthesia with extensive experience in managing Morquio A syndrome. © 2014 The Authors. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. PMID:25346323

Systematic review of practice guideline dissemination and implementation strategies for healthcare teams and team-based practice.

PubMed

Medves, Jennifer; Godfrey, Christina; Turner, Carly; Paterson, Margo; Harrison, Margaret; MacKenzie, Lindsay; Durando, Paola

2010-06-01

To synthesis the literature relevant to guideline dissemination and implementation strategies for healthcare teams and team-based practice. Systematic approach utilising Joanna Briggs Institute methods. Two reviewers screened all articles and where there was disagreement, a third reviewer determined inclusion. Initial search revealed 12,083 of which 88 met the inclusion criteria. Ten dissemination and implementation strategies identified with distribution of educational materials the most common. Studies were assessed for patient or practitioner outcomes and changes in practice, knowledge and economic outcomes. A descriptive analysis revealed multiple approaches using teams of healthcare providers were reported to have statistically significant results in knowledge, practice and/or outcomes for 72.7% of the studies. Team-based care using practice guidelines locally adapted can affect positively patient and provider outcomes. © 2010 The Authors. Journal Compilation © Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Reporting guidance considerations from a statistical perspective: overview of tools to enhance the rigour of reporting of randomised trials and systematic reviews.

PubMed

Hutton, Brian; Wolfe, Dianna; Moher, David; Shamseer, Larissa

2017-05-01

Research waste has received considerable attention from the biomedical community. One noteworthy contributor is incomplete reporting in research publications. When detailing statistical methods and results, ensuring analytic methods and findings are completely documented improves transparency. For publications describing randomised trials and systematic reviews, guidelines have been developed to facilitate complete reporting. This overview summarises aspects of statistical reporting in trials and systematic reviews of health interventions. A narrative approach to summarise features regarding statistical methods and findings from reporting guidelines for trials and reviews was taken. We aim to enhance familiarity of statistical details that should be reported in biomedical research among statisticians and their collaborators. We summarise statistical reporting considerations for trials and systematic reviews from guidance documents including the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) Statement for reporting of trials, the Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials (SPIRIT) Statement for trial protocols, the Statistical Analyses and Methods in the Published Literature (SAMPL) Guidelines for statistical reporting principles, the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Statement for systematic reviews and PRISMA for Protocols (PRISMA-P). Considerations regarding sharing of study data and statistical code are also addressed. Reporting guidelines provide researchers with minimum criteria for reporting. If followed, they can enhance research transparency and contribute improve quality of biomedical publications. Authors should employ these tools for planning and reporting of their research. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Promoting transparent and accurate reporting of research studies in rheumatology: endorsement of reporting guidelines in rheumatology journals.

PubMed

Marušić, Ana; Gasparyan, Armen Yuri; Kitas, George D

2013-10-01

To adequately translate research into practice, research results should be reported in a way that is useful to practicing clinicians and policymakers. Based on evidence from systematic reviews, the implementation of reporting guidelines, such as CONSORT for randomized controlled trials, may improve the quality of research reporting. We assessed the endorsement of reporting guidelines in rheumatology journals. We analyzed guidelines for authors of all (n = 28) journals indexed in the "Rheumatology" Subject Category of the Journal Citation Reports published in 2012. Journal websites were reviewed for information relevant to reporting guidelines. Out of 28 indexed journals, only about a third (n = 10) endorsed 1 or more reporting guidelines, most commonly CONSORT. General editorial policies, such as those from the International Committee of Medical Journal editors (ICMJE), were endorsed by 19 journals (all 10 journals with and 9 out of 18 without reporting guidelines). Two rheumatology journals introduced specific reporting guidelines about economic studies and genetic association studies. The endorsement of reporting guidelines is low in rheumatology journals. To continue to serve their research community, rheumatology journals should provide the platform for the discussion on most relevant reporting guidelines and adopt them as a group, especially those specific for rheumatology research. Coordinated action of journals and other stakeholders in rheumatology research in the promotion of accurate and transparent reporting of health research studies would be an important part of knowledge translation into practice and well-being of rheumatology patients. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

No. 233-Antibiotic Therapy in Preterm Premature Rupture of the Membranes.

PubMed

Yudin, Mark H; van Schalkwyk, Julie; Van Eyk, Nancy

2017-09-01

To review the evidence and provide recommendations on the use of antibiotics in preterm premature rupture of the membranes (PPROM). Outcomes evaluated include the effect of antibiotic treatment on maternal infection, chorioamnionitis, and neonatal morbidity and mortality. Published literature was retrieved through searches of Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, and The Cochrane Library, using appropriate controlled vocabulary and key words (PPROM, infection, and antibiotics). Results were restricted to systematic reviews, randomized control trials/controlled clinical trials, and observational studies. There were no date or language restrictions. Searches were updated on a regular basis and new material incorporated in the guideline to July 2008. Grey (unpublished) literature was identified through searching the websites of health technology assessment and health technology assessment-related agencies, clinical practice guideline collections, clinical trial registries, and national and international medical specialty societies. The evidence obtained was reviewed and evaluated by the Infectious Diseases Committee of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC) under the leadership of the principal authors, and recommendations were made according to guidelines developed by the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care. Guideline implementation should assist the practitioner in developing an approach to the use of antibiotics in women with PPROM. Patients will benefit from appropriate management of this condition. This guideline has been reviewed and approved by the Infectious Diseases Committee and the Maternal Fetal Medicine Committee of the SOGC, and approved by the Executive and Council of the SOGC. The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

A writer's guide to education scholarship: Quantitative methodologies for medical education research (part 1).

PubMed

Thoma, Brent; Camorlinga, Paola; Chan, Teresa M; Hall, Andrew Koch; Murnaghan, Aleisha; Sherbino, Jonathan

2018-01-01

Quantitative research is one of the many research methods used to help educators advance their understanding of questions in medical education. However, little research has been done on how to succeed in publishing in this area. We conducted a scoping review to identify key recommendations and reporting guidelines for quantitative educational research and scholarship. Medline, ERIC, and Google Scholar were searched for English-language articles published between 2006 and January 2016 using the search terms, "research design," "quantitative," "quantitative methods," and "medical education." A hand search was completed for additional references during the full-text review. Titles/abstracts were reviewed by two authors (BT, PC) and included if they focused on quantitative research in medical education and outlined reporting guidelines, or provided recommendations on conducting quantitative research. One hundred articles were reviewed in parallel with the first 30 used for calibration and the subsequent 70 to calculate Cohen's kappa coefficient. Two reviewers (BT, PC) conducted a full text review and extracted recommendations and reporting guidelines. A simple thematic analysis summarized the extracted recommendations. Sixty-one articles were reviewed in full, and 157 recommendations were extracted. The thematic analysis identified 86 items, 14 categories, and 3 themes. Fourteen quality evaluation tools and reporting guidelines were found. Discussion This paper provides guidance for junior researchers in the form of key quality markers and reporting guidelines. We hope that quantitative researchers in medical education will be informed by the results and that further work will be done to refine the list of recommendations.

2016 American Thyroid Association Guidelines for Diagnosis and Management of Hyperthyroidism and Other Causes of Thyrotoxicosis.

PubMed

Ross, Douglas S; Burch, Henry B; Cooper, David S; Greenlee, M Carol; Laurberg, Peter; Maia, Ana Luiza; Rivkees, Scott A; Samuels, Mary; Sosa, Julie Ann; Stan, Marius N; Walter, Martin A

2016-10-01

Thyrotoxicosis has multiple etiologies, manifestations, and potential therapies. Appropriate treatment requires an accurate diagnosis and is influenced by coexisting medical conditions and patient preference. This document describes evidence-based clinical guidelines for the management of thyrotoxicosis that would be useful to generalist and subspecialty physicians and others providing care for patients with this condition. The American Thyroid Association (ATA) previously cosponsored guidelines for the management of thyrotoxicosis that were published in 2011. Considerable new literature has been published since then, and the ATA felt updated evidence-based guidelines were needed. The association assembled a task force of expert clinicians who authored this report. They examined relevant literature using a systematic PubMed search supplemented with additional published materials. An evidence-based medicine approach that incorporated the knowledge and experience of the panel was used to update the 2011 text and recommendations. The strength of the recommendations and the quality of evidence supporting them were rated according to the approach recommended by the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation Group. Clinical topics addressed include the initial evaluation and management of thyrotoxicosis; management of Graves' hyperthyroidism using radioactive iodine, antithyroid drugs, or surgery; management of toxic multinodular goiter or toxic adenoma using radioactive iodine or surgery; Graves' disease in children, adolescents, or pregnant patients; subclinical hyperthyroidism; hyperthyroidism in patients with Graves' orbitopathy; and management of other miscellaneous causes of thyrotoxicosis. New paradigms since publication of the 2011 guidelines are presented for the evaluation of the etiology of thyrotoxicosis, the management of Graves' hyperthyroidism with antithyroid drugs, the management of pregnant hyperthyroid patients, and the preparation of patients for thyroid surgery. The sections on less common causes of thyrotoxicosis have been expanded. One hundred twenty-four evidence-based recommendations were developed to aid in the care of patients with thyrotoxicosis and to share what the task force believes is current, rational, and optimal medical practice.

Towards local implementation of Dutch health policy guidelines: a concept-mapping approach.

PubMed

Kuunders, Theo J M; van Bon-Martens, Marja J H; van de Goor, Ien A M; Paulussen, Theo G W M; van Oers, Hans A M

2017-02-22

To develop a targeted implementation strategy for a municipal health policy guideline, implementation targets of two guideline users [Regional Health Services (RHSs)] and guideline developers of leading national health institutes were made explicit. Therefore, characteristics of successful implementation of the guideline were identified. Differences and similarities in perceptions of these characteristics between RHSs and developers were explored. Separate concept mapping procedures were executed in two RHSs, one with representatives from partner local health organizations and municipalities, the second with RHS members only. A third map was conducted with the developers of the guideline. All mapping procedures followed the same design of generating statements up to interpretation of results with participants. Concept mapping, as a practical implementation tool, will be discussed in the context of international research literature on guideline implementation in public health. Guideline developers consider implementation successful when substantive components (health issues) of the guidelines, content are visible in local policy practice. RHSs, local organizations and municipalities view the implementation process itself within and between organizations as more relevant, and state that usability of the guideline for municipal policy and commitment by officials and municipal managers are critical targets for successful implementation. Between the RHSs, differences in implementation targets were smaller than between RHSs and guideline developers. For successful implementation, RHSs tend to focus on process targets while developers focus more on the thematic contents of the guideline. Implications of these different orientations for implementation strategies are dealt with in the discussion. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

Ethics in Online Publications.

PubMed

Vervaart, Peter

2014-10-01

Journals have been publishing the results of scientific investigations since the founding of Philosophical Transactions in 1665. Since then we have witnessed a massive expansion in the number of journals to the point that there are now approximately 28,000 active, peer reviewed journals collectively publishing more than 1.8 million articles per year. Before the mid-1990s, these journals were only available on paper but by the end of the 20th century, most journals had moved to online platforms. Online publication has also served as the impetus for the move to 'open-access' to the information contained in journals. The fact that a publication is 'on-line' and 'open-access' does not negate the responsibility of the author and the publisher to publish in an ethical way. [1] The document produced by the IFCC Ethics Task Force (TF-E) on publication ethics states that 'Ethics in Science at its broadest level encompasses research ethics, medical ethics, publication ethics, conflicts of interest, ethical responsibilities as educator, plus many other areas.' Thus publication ethics is a continuum from the first step of research design through to the information being read by the reader. In general terms 'publication ethics' includes the ethical behaviour of the authors in writing and submitting a scientific manuscript to a publisher for the purpose of publication, thus any discussion of publication ethics must include the role of the authors, referees, publisher and reader and the issues of authorship (and the use of 'ghosts'), plagiarism, duplicate publication (including in different languages), image manipulation (particularly in the era of digitisation), and conflict of interest [2]. To aid the authors, and others involved in the process of publication, a number of resources are now available particularly those from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) [3] and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) [4]. More recently the issue of 'publisher ethics' has also been raised, particularly with the sudden increase of what could be termed 'predatory' publishers utilising the open access model to publish low quality articles, which often do not adhere to the guidelines mentioned above, utilising an author-pays model of open-access publishing for their own profit [5].

More for less: Analysis of the performance of avian acute oral guideline OECD 223 from empirical data.

PubMed

Edwards, Peter J; Leopold, Annegaaike; Beavers, Joann B; Springer, Timothy A; Chapman, Peter; Maynard, Samuel K; Hubbard, Patrick

2017-09-01

Since the publication of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) avian acute oral guideline, OECD 223, empirical data have become available to compare the performance of OECD 223 with statistical simulations used to validate this guideline and with empirical data for US Environmental Protection Agency Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (USEPA OCSPP) guideline OCSPP 850.2100. Empirical studies comprised 244 for Northern bobwhite, of which 73 were dose-response tests and 171 were limit tests. Of the dose-response tests, 26 were conducted to OECD 223 (using 3-4 stages) and 33 to OCSPP 850.2100 (using the single 50-bird design). Data were collected from 5 avian testing laboratories from studies performed between 2006 and 2013. The success with which the LD50 and slope could be determined was 100% and 96% for OECD 223 (mean 26 birds per test) and 100% and 51% for OCSPP 850.2100 (mean 50 birds per test). This was consistent with the statistical simulations. Control mortality across all species and designs amounted to 0.26% (n = 2655) with only single mortalities occurring in any 1 study and <1% for any 1 species. The simulations used to validate the OECD 223 design showed that control mortality up to 1% will have no observable impact on the performance. The distribution of time to death for Northern bobwhite, zebra finch, and canary were obtained from 90, 29, and 17 studies, and mortalities appeared within 3 d for 71%, 95%, and 91% of birds tested, respectively. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2017;13:906-914. © 2017 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC). © 2017 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

Care management of the agitation or aggressiveness crisis in patients with TBI. Systematic review of the literature and practice recommendations.

PubMed

Luauté, Jacques; Plantier, David; Wiart, Laurent; Tell, Laurence

2016-02-01

The agitation crisis in the awakening phase after traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the most difficult behavioral disorders to alleviate. Current treatment options are heterogeneous and may involve excessive sedation. Practice guidelines are required by professionals in charge of TBI patients. Few reviews were published but those are old and based on expert opinions. The purpose of this work is to propose evidence-based guidelines to treat the agitation crisis. The elaboration of these guidelines followed the procedure validated by the French health authority for good practice recommendations, close to the Prisma statement. Guidelines were elaborated on the basis of a systematic and critical review of the literature. Twenty-eight articles concerning 376 patients were analyzed. Recommendations are: when faced with an agitation crisis, the management strategy implies to search for an underlying factor that should be treated such as pain, acute sepsis, and drug adverse effect (expert opinion). Physical restraints should be discarded when possible (expert opinion). Neuroleptic agent with a marketing authorization can be used in order to obtain a quick sedation so as to protect the patient from himself, closed ones or the healthcare team but the duration should be as short as possible (expert opinion). The efficacy of beta-blockers and antiepileptics with mood regulation effects like carbamazepine and valproate yield the most compelling evidence and should be preferably used when a background regimen is envisioned (grade B for beta-blocker and C for antiepileptics). Neuroleptics, antidepressants, benzodiazepines, buspirone may be prescribed but are considered second-line treatments (expert opinion). This study provides a strategy for treating the agitation crisis based on scientific data and expert opinion. The level of evidence remains low and published data are often old. New studies are essential to validate results from previous studies and test new drugs and non-pharmaceutical therapies. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Deriving a water quality guideline for protection of aquatic communities exposed to triclosan in the Canadian environment.

PubMed

Hill, Katie L; Breton, Roger L; Manning, Gillian E; Teed, R Scott; Capdevielle, Marie; Slezak, Brian

2018-07-01

Triclosan is an antibacterial and antifungal chemical used in a variety of consumer products, including soaps, detergents, moisturizers, and cosmetics. Aquatic ecosystems may be exposed to triclosan following the release of remaining residues in wastewater effluents and biosolids. In December 2017, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) released a federal environmental quality guideline (FEQG) report that contained a federal water quality guideline (FWQG) for triclosan. This guideline will be used as an adjunct to the risk assessment and risk management of priority chemicals identified under the Government of Canada's Chemicals Management Plan (CMP). The FWQG value for triclosan (0.47 μg/L) was derived by ECCC using a hazardous concentration for 5% of species (HC5) from a species sensitivity distribution (SSD). We recalculated the FWQG after performing an independent analysis and evaluation of the available aquatic toxicity data for triclosan and compared our results with the ECCC FWQG value. Our independent analysis of the available aquatic toxicity data entailed conducting a literature search of all available and relevant studies, evaluating the quality and reliability of all studies considered using thorough and consistent study evaluation criteria, and thereby generating a data set of high-quality toxicity values. The selected data set includes 22 species spanning 5 taxonomic groups. An SSD was developed using this data set following the ECCC approaches. The HC5 from the SSD derived based on our validated data set is 0.76 μg/L. This HC5 value is slightly greater (i.e., less sensitive) than the value presented in ECCC's final FWQG. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2018;14:437-441. © 2018 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC). © 2018 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

Adapting a large database of point of care summarized guidelines: a process description.

PubMed

Delvaux, Nicolas; Van de Velde, Stijn; Aertgeerts, Bert; Goossens, Martine; Fauquert, Benjamin; Kunnamo, Ilka; Van Royen, Paul

2017-02-01

Questions posed at the point of care (POC) can be answered using POC summarized guidelines. To implement a national POC information resource, we subscribed to a large database of POC summarized guidelines to complement locally available guidelines. Our challenge was in developing a sustainable strategy for adapting almost 1000 summarized guidelines. The aim of this paper was to describe our process for adapting a database of POC summarized guidelines. An adaptation process based on the ADAPTE framework was tailored to be used by a heterogeneous group of participants. Guidelines were assessed on content and on applicability to the Belgian context. To improve efficiency, we chose to first aim our efforts towards those guidelines most important to primary care doctors. Over a period of 3 years, we screened about 80% of 1000 international summarized guidelines. For those guidelines identified as most important for primary care doctors, we noted that in about half of the cases, remarks were made concerning content. On the other hand, at least two-thirds of all screened guidelines required no changes when evaluating their local usability. Adapting a large body of POC summarized guidelines using a formal adaptation process is possible, even when faced with limited resources. This can be done by creating an efficient and collaborative effort and ensuring user-friendly procedures. Our experiences show that even though in most cases guidelines can be adopted without adaptations, careful review of guidelines developed in a different context remains necessary. Streamlining international efforts in adapting international POC information resources and adopting similar adaptation processes may lessen duplication efforts and prove more cost-effective. © 2015 The Authors. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Medication and monitoring in palliative sedation therapy: a systematic review and quality assessment of published guidelines.

PubMed

Schildmann, Eva Katharina; Schildmann, Jan; Kiesewetter, Isabel

2015-04-01

Palliative sedation therapy (PST) is increasingly used in patients at the end of life. However, consensus about medications and monitoring is lacking. To assess published PST guidelines with regard to quality and recommendations on drugs and monitoring. We searched CINAHL, the Cochrane Library, Embase, PsycINFO, PubMed, and references of included articles until July 2014. Search terms included "palliative sedation" or "sedation" and "guideline" or "policy" or "framework." Guideline selection was based on English or German publications that included a PST guideline. Two investigators independently assessed the quality of the guidelines according to the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II instrument (AGREE II) and extracted information on drug selection and monitoring. Nine guidelines were eligible. Eight guidelines received high quality scores for the domain "scope and purpose" (median 69%, range 28-83%), whereas in the other domains the guidelines' quality differed considerably. The majority of guidelines suggest midazolam as drug of first choice. Recommendations on dosage and alternatives vary. The guidelines' recommendations regarding monitoring of PST show wide variation in the number and details of outcome parameters and methods of assessment. The published guidelines on PST vary considerably regarding their quality and content on drugs and monitoring. Given the need for clear guidance regarding PST in patients at the end of life, this comparative analysis may serve as a starting point for further improvement. Copyright © 2015 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Educational Intervention Improves Compliance With AAN Guidelines for Return Epilepsy Visits: A Quality Improvement Project.

PubMed

Nelson, Gary R; Filloux, Francis M; Kerr, Lynne M

2016-10-01

In 2011, the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) released guidelines for return seizure visits detailing 8 points that should be addressed during such visits. These guidelines are designed to improve routine follow-up care for epilepsy patients. The authors performed a quality improvement project aimed at increasing compliance with these guidelines after educating providers about them. The authors performed a chart review before and after an intervention which included: education regarding the guidelines, providing materials to remind providers of the guidelines, and templates to facilitate compliance. The authors reviewed charts at 2 and 6 months after the intervention. Significant improvement in documentation of 4 of the 8 measures was observed after this educational intervention. This suggests that simple educational interventions may help providers change practice and can improve compliance with new guidelines while requiring minimal time and resources to implement. © The Author(s) 2016.

Framework for enhancing clinical practice guidelines through continuous patient engagement.

PubMed

Armstrong, Melissa J; Rueda, Juan-David; Gronseth, Gary S; Mullins, C Daniel

2017-02-01

Patient engagement in clinical practice guideline (CPG) development is recommended by multiple institutions and instruments measuring guideline quality. Approaches to engaging patients, however, vary between oversight organizations, quality tools and guideline developers. We propose a ten-step framework outlining steps and options for patient engagement in guideline development with the goal of highlighting steps for patient engagement and methods by which this can be achieved. This framework provides a model for continuous patient engagement in CPGs by outlining ten steps of guideline development occurring at the levels of the developer/committee and the individual guideline project. At the developer level, patients can assist in topic nomination (step 1), topic prioritization (step 2) and guideline development group selection (step 3). Within specific guideline projects, patients' opinions may be incorporated when framing the question (step 4), creating an analytic framework and research plan (step 5), conducting the systematic review and conclusion formation (step 6), development of recommendations (step 7) and dissemination and implementation (step 8). At the end of process, patients can again be engaged at the developer level by helping determine when guidelines need updating (step 9) and evaluating the developer's approach to patient engagement (step 10). Patient engagement at each CPG development step has different purposes, mechanisms, advantages and disadvantages, and implications for resource utilization. This framework can serve as a resource for guideline developers desiring to increase patient engagement and reference for researchers investigating engagement methodology at different steps of the CPG lifecycle. © 2016 The Authors. Health Expectations Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Bridging the Guideline Implementation Gap: A Systematic, Document-Centered Approach to Guideline Implementation

PubMed Central

Shiffman, Richard N.; Michel, George; Essaihi, Abdelwaheb; Thornquist, Elizabeth

2004-01-01

Objective: A gap exists between the information contained in published clinical practice guidelines and the knowledge and information that are necessary to implement them. This work describes a process to systematize and make explicit the translation of document-based knowledge into workflow-integrated clinical decision support systems. Design: This approach uses the Guideline Elements Model (GEM) to represent the guideline knowledge. Implementation requires a number of steps to translate the knowledge contained in guideline text into a computable format and to integrate the information into clinical workflow. The steps include: (1) selection of a guideline and specific recommendations for implementation, (2) markup of the guideline text, (3) atomization, (4) deabstraction and (5) disambiguation of recommendation concepts, (6) verification of rule set completeness, (7) addition of explanations, (8) building executable statements, (9) specification of origins of decision variables and insertions of recommended actions, (10) definition of action types and selection of associated beneficial services, (11) choice of interface components, and (12) creation of requirement specification. Results: The authors illustrate these component processes using examples drawn from recent experience translating recommendations from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's guideline on management of chronic asthma into a workflow-integrated decision support system that operates within the Logician electronic health record system. Conclusion: Using the guideline document as a knowledge source promotes authentic translation of domain knowledge and reduces the overall complexity of the implementation task. From this framework, we believe that a better understanding of activities involved in guideline implementation will emerge. PMID:15187061

MIRO: guidelines for minimum information for the reporting of an ontology.

PubMed

Matentzoglu, Nicolas; Malone, James; Mungall, Chris; Stevens, Robert

2018-01-18

Creation and use of ontologies has become a mainstream activity in many disciplines, in particular, the biomedical domain. Ontology developers often disseminate information about these ontologies in peer-reviewed ontology description reports. There appears to be, however, a high degree of variability in the content of these reports. Often, important details are omitted such that it is difficult to gain a sufficient understanding of the ontology, its content and method of creation. We propose the Minimum Information for Reporting an Ontology (MIRO) guidelines as a means to facilitate a higher degree of completeness and consistency between ontology documentation, including published papers, and ultimately a higher standard of report quality. A draft of the MIRO guidelines was circulated for public comment in the form of a questionnaire, and we subsequently collected 110 responses from ontology authors, developers, users and reviewers. We report on the feedback of this consultation, including comments on each guideline, and present our analysis on the relative importance of each MIRO information item. These results were used to update the MIRO guidelines, mainly by providing more detailed operational definitions of the individual items and assigning degrees of importance. Based on our revised version of MIRO, we conducted a review of 15 recently published ontology description reports from three important journals in the Semantic Web and Biomedical domain and analysed them for compliance with the MIRO guidelines. We found that only 41.38% of the information items were covered by the majority of the papers (and deemed important by the survey respondents) and a large number of important items are not covered at all, like those related to testing and versioning policies. We believe that the community-reviewed MIRO guidelines can contribute to improving significantly the quality of ontology description reports and other documentation, in particular by increasing consistent reporting of important ontology features that are otherwise often neglected.

Non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants and atrial fibrillation guidelines in practice: barriers to and strategies for optimal implementation.

PubMed

Camm, A John; Pinto, Fausto J; Hankey, Graeme J; Andreotti, Felicita; Hobbs, F D Richard

2015-07-01

Stroke is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an independent risk factor for stroke, increasing the risk five-fold. Strokes in patients with AF are more likely than other embolic strokes to be fatal or cause severe disability and are associated with higher healthcare costs, but they are also preventable. Current guidelines recommend that all patients with AF who are at risk of stroke should receive anticoagulation. However, despite this guidance, registry data indicate that anticoagulation is still widely underused. With a focus on the 2012 update of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines for the management of AF, the Action for Stroke Prevention alliance writing group have identified key reasons for the suboptimal implementation of the guidelines at a global, regional, and local level, with an emphasis on access restrictions to guideline-recommended therapies. Following identification of these barriers, the group has developed an expert consensus on strategies to augment the implementation of current guidelines, including practical, educational, and access-related measures. The potential impact of healthcare quality measures for stroke prevention on guideline implementation is also explored. By providing practical guidance on how to improve implementation of the ESC guidelines, or region-specific modifications of these guidelines, the aim is to reduce the potentially devastating impact that stroke can have on patients, their families and their carers. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology.

[Survey of the prescriptions of proton pump inhibitors in patients admitted in an internal medicine ward: how is the compliance to the French guidelines?].

PubMed

Sauvaget, L; Rolland, L; Dabadie, S; Desblaches, J; Bernard, N; Vandenhende, M-A; Bonnet, F; Pédeboscq, S; Morlat, P

2015-10-01

In June 2009, the national French authority for Health reported many off-label uses of proton pump inhibitors (PPI). Our objective was to analyse the justification and modalities of PPI prescriptions in patients before their admission in a department of internal medicine. Data were prospectively collected during 5months. At admission, all prescriptions of PPI by general practitioners (GP) were recorded. The accordance of the prescriptions with the marketing authorization indications and the French guidelines in terms of duration of treatment or dosage was analyzed. These informations were obtained from computerized medical records and, if necessary, by contacting GPs. We collected 173 prescriptions. Fifty-six (32%) were in accordance with marketing authorization indications and, among them, 15 prescriptions (9% of all) respected the French guidelines about dosage and duration of treatment. One hundred and six prescriptions (61%) were not adequate and among them an off-label use was notified in 91 (53% of all); among them 33% for simple dyspeptic disorders, 23% for the prevention of NSAID-induced lesions in patients without risk factors, and finally 17% for the prevention of stress ulcer. Fifty-two prescriptions (30%) were unclassified due to incomplete data. Our study showed that a vast majority of the prescriptions for PPIs are not in accordance with French guidelines. Preventive actions against abusive prescriptions, withdrawal strategies or replacement of already prescribed PPIs should be implemented to reduce the risk of side effects and the economic impact of long term use of PPIs. Copyright © 2015 Société nationale française de médecine interne (SNFMI). Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

GRADE equity guidelines 3: considering health equity in GRADE guideline development: rating the certainty of synthesized evidence.

PubMed

Welch, Vivian A; Akl, Elie A; Pottie, Kevin; Ansari, Mohammed T; Briel, Matthias; Christensen, Robin; Dans, Antonio; Dans, Leonila; Eslava-Schmalbach, Javier; Guyatt, Gordon; Hultcrantz, Monica; Jull, Janet; Katikireddi, Srinivasa Vittal; Lang, Eddy; Matovinovic, Elizabeth; Meerpohl, Joerg J; Morton, Rachael L; Mosdol, Annhild; Murad, M Hassan; Petkovic, Jennifer; Schünemann, Holger; Sharaf, Ravi; Shea, Bev; Singh, Jasvinder A; Solà, Ivan; Stanev, Roger; Stein, Airton; Thabaneii, Lehana; Tonia, Thomy; Tristan, Mario; Vitols, Sigurd; Watine, Joseph; Tugwell, Peter

2017-10-01

The aim of this paper is to describe a conceptual framework for how to consider health equity in the Grading Recommendations Assessment and Development Evidence (GRADE) guideline development process. Consensus-based guidance developed by the GRADE working group members and other methodologists. We developed consensus-based guidance to help address health equity when rating the certainty of synthesized evidence (i.e., quality of evidence). When health inequity is determined to be a concern by stakeholders, we propose five methods for explicitly assessing health equity: (1) include health equity as an outcome; (2) consider patient-important outcomes relevant to health equity; (3) assess differences in the relative effect size of the treatment; (4) assess differences in baseline risk and the differing impacts on absolute effects; and (5) assess indirectness of evidence to disadvantaged populations and/or settings. The most important priority for research on health inequity and guidelines is to identify and document examples where health equity has been considered explicitly in guidelines. Although there is a weak scientific evidence base for assessing health equity, this should not discourage the explicit consideration of how guidelines and recommendations affect the most vulnerable members of society. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Systematic Review of Guidelines for the Management of Asymptomatic and Symptomatic Carotid Stenosis.

PubMed

Abbott, Anne L; Paraskevas, Kosmas I; Kakkos, Stavros K; Golledge, Jonathan; Eckstein, Hans-Henning; Diaz-Sandoval, Larry J; Cao, Longxing; Fu, Qiang; Wijeratne, Tissa; Leung, Thomas W; Montero-Baker, Miguel; Lee, Byung-Chul; Pircher, Sabine; Bosch, Marije; Dennekamp, Martine; Ringleb, Peter

2015-11-01

We systematically compared and appraised contemporary guidelines on management of asymptomatic and symptomatic carotid artery stenosis. We systematically searched for guideline recommendations on carotid endarterectomy (CEA) or carotid angioplasty/stenting (CAS) published in any language between January 1, 2008, and January 28, 2015. Only the latest guideline per writing group was selected. Each guideline was analyzed independently by 2 to 6 authors to determine clinical scenarios covered, recommendations given, and scientific evidence used. Thirty-four eligible guidelines were identified from 23 different regions/countries in 6 languages. Of 28 guidelines with asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis procedural recommendations, 24 (86%) endorsed CEA (recommended it should or may be provided) for ≈50% to 99% average-surgical-risk asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis, 17 (61%) endorsed CAS, 8 (29%) opposed CAS, and 1 (4%) endorsed medical treatment alone. For asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis patients considered high-CEA-risk because of comorbidities, vascular anatomy, or undefined reasons, CAS was endorsed in 13 guidelines (46%). Thirty-one of 33 guidelines (94%) with symptomatic carotid artery stenosis procedural recommendations endorsed CEA for patients with ≈50% to 99% average-CEA-risk symptomatic carotid artery stenosis, 19 (58%) endorsed CAS and 9 (27%) opposed CAS. For high-CEA-risk symptomatic carotid artery stenosis because of comorbidities, vascular anatomy, or undefined reasons, CAS was endorsed in 27 guidelines (82%). Guideline procedural recommendations were based only on results of trials in which patients were randomized 12 to 34 years ago, rarely reflected medical treatment improvements and often understated potential CAS hazards. Qualifying terminology summarizing recommendations or evidence lacked standardization, impeding guideline interpretation, and comparison. This systematic review has identified many opportunities to modernize and otherwise improve carotid stenosis management guidelines. © 2015 American Heart Association, Inc.

[Evaluation of the prescription of proton pump inhibitors in persons aged 75years and older in a geriatric acute-care unit].

PubMed

Dipanda, Mélanie; Pioro, Laureline; Buttard, Maxime; d'Athis, Philippe; Asgassou, Sanaa; Putot, Sophie; Deïdda, Martha; Laborde, Caroline; Putot, Alain; Manckoundia, Patrick

2017-12-01

Proton pump inhibitors (PPI) are widely prescribed in France and could be responsible for adverse drug reactions especially in elderly persons (EP). In order to reduce the misuse of PPI and the excess cost to the Social Security Agency, the French health authorities (Haute Autorité de santé [HAS]) have published strict guidelines for their prescription. We conducted a study in EP to determine the proportion of PPI prescriptions outside HAS guidelines. This was a prospective, single-centre observational study in persons aged≥75 years admitted to a geriatric acute-care unit over a period of 6months. The prevalence of prescriptions for PPI and the proportion of prescriptions outside the guidelines were calculated. The sociodemographic and medical characteristics of EP treated with PPI were studied as were the reasons for the prescription of PPI. Among the 818 patients hospitalized during the study period, 270 were taking PPI on admission (33%). Among these prescriptions, 60% were outside the HAS guidelines. Gastro-oesophageal reflux was the leading indication for PPI (30%), followed by dyspepsia (19%). This study confirms the high prevalence of prescriptions for PPI and their misuse. As these drugs are apparently well tolerated, prescriptions are often renewed with no medical re-evaluation. Copyright © 2017 Société française de pharmacologie et de thérapeutique. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) statement.

PubMed

Husereau, Don; Drummond, Michael; Petrou, Stavros; Carswell, Chris; Moher, David; Greenberg, Dan; Augustovski, Federico; Briggs, Andrew H; Mauskopf, Josephine; Loder, Elizabeth

2013-01-01

Economic evaluations of health interventions pose a particular challenge for reporting. There is also a need to consolidate and update existing guidelines and promote their use in a user friendly manner. The Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) statement is an attempt to consolidate and update previous health economic evaluation guidelines efforts into one current, useful reporting guidance. The primary audiences for the CHEERS statement are researchers reporting economic evaluations and the editors and peer reviewers assessing them for publication. The need for new reporting guidance was identified by a survey of medical editors. A list of possible items based on a systematic review was created. A two round, modified Delphi panel consisting of representatives from academia, clinical practice, industry, government, and the editorial community was conducted. Out of 44 candidate items, 24 items and accompanying recommendations were developed. The recommendations are contained in a user friendly, 24 item checklist. A copy of the statement, accompanying checklist, and this report can be found on the ISPOR Health Economic Evaluations Publication Guidelines Task Force website: (www.ispor.org/TaskForces/EconomicPubGuidelines.asp). We hope CHEERS will lead to better reporting, and ultimately, better health decisions. To facilitate dissemination and uptake, the CHEERS statement is being co-published across 10 health economics and medical journals. We encourage other journals and groups, to endorse CHEERS. The author team plans to review the checklist for an update in five years. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) statement.

PubMed

Husereau, Don; Drummond, Michael; Petrou, Stavros; Carswell, Chris; Moher, David; Greenberg, Dan; Augustovski, Federico; Briggs, Andrew H; Mauskopf, Josephine; Loder, Elizabeth

2013-04-01

Economic evaluations of health interventions pose a particular challenge for reporting. There is also a need to consolidate and update existing guidelines and promote their use in a user friendly manner. The Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) statement is an attempt to consolidate and update previous health economic evaluation guidelines efforts into one current, useful reporting guidance. The primary audiences for the CHEERS statement are researchers reporting economic evaluations and the editors and peer reviewers assessing them for publication. The need for new reporting guidance was identified by a survey of medical editors. A list of possible items based on a systematic review was created. A two round, modified Delphi panel consisting of representatives from academia, clinical practice, industry, government, and the editorial community was conducted. Out of 44 candidate items, 24 items and accompanying recommendations were developed. The recommendations are contained in a user friendly, 24 item checklist. A copy of the statement, accompanying checklist, and this report can be found on the ISPOR Health Economic Evaluations Publication Guidelines Task Force website: (www.ispor.org/TaskForces/EconomicPubGuidelines.asp). We hope CHEERS will lead to better reporting, and ultimately, better health decisions. To facilitate dissemination and uptake, the CHEERS statement is being co-published across 10 health economics and medical journals. We encourage other journals and groups, to endorse CHEERS. The author team plans to review the checklist for an update in five years. Copyright © 2013. Published by EM Inc USA.

Critical Care Delivery: The Importance of Process of Care and ICU Structure to Improved Outcomes: An Update From the American College of Critical Care Medicine Task Force on Models of Critical Care.

PubMed

Weled, Barry J; Adzhigirey, Lana A; Hodgman, Tudy M; Brilli, Richard J; Spevetz, Antoinette; Kline, Andrea M; Montgomery, Vicki L; Puri, Nitin; Tisherman, Samuel A; Vespa, Paul M; Pronovost, Peter J; Rainey, Thomas G; Patterson, Andrew J; Wheeler, Derek S

2015-07-01

In 2001, the Society of Critical Care Medicine published practice model guidelines that focused on the delivery of critical care and the roles of different ICU team members. An exhaustive review of the additional literature published since the last guideline has demonstrated that both the structure and process of care in the ICU are important for achieving optimal patient outcomes. Since the publication of the original guideline, several authorities have recognized that improvements in the processes of care, ICU structure, and the use of quality improvement science methodologies can beneficially impact patient outcomes and reduce costs. Herein, we summarize findings of the American College of Critical Care Medicine Task Force on Models of Critical Care: 1) An intensivist-led, high-performing, multidisciplinary team dedicated to the ICU is an integral part of effective care delivery; 2) Process improvement is the backbone of achieving high-quality ICU outcomes; 3) Standardized protocols including care bundles and order sets to facilitate measurable processes and outcomes should be used and further developed in the ICU setting; and 4) Institutional support for comprehensive quality improvement programs as well as tele-ICU programs should be provided.

Adolescent muscle dysmorphia and family-based treatment: a case report.

PubMed

Murray, Stuart B; Griffiths, Scott

2015-04-01

A growing body of evidence suggests that the prevalence of male body dissatisfaction and muscle dysmorphia is rising. To date, however, there is no published evidence on the efficacy of treatments for muscle dysmorphia. We present the case of a 15-year-old boy who met full diagnostic criteria for muscle dysmorphia, whose symptoms were treated into remission with eating disorder-focused, family-based treatment. The age of this patient fell within the time period in which symptoms of muscle dysmorphia are most likely to develop and this case represents the first published case report of family-based treatment for muscle dysmorphia in this age group. Thus, this case report has important implications for clinicians considering treatment options for presentations of muscle dysmorphia when first presenting in adolescence. Implications for the development of treatment guidelines for muscle dysmorphia and for the diagnostic debate surrounding muscle dysmorphia are also discussed. © The Author(s) 2014.

Challenges in the research ethics review of cluster randomized trials: international survey of investigators.

PubMed

Chaudhry, Shazia H; Brehaut, Jamie C; Grimshaw, Jeremy M; Weijer, Charles; Boruch, Robert; Donner, Allan; Eccles, Martin P; McRae, Andrew D; Saginur, Raphael; Skea, Zoë C; Zwarenstein, Merrick; Taljaard, Monica

2013-04-01

Cluster randomized trials (CRTs) complicate the interpretation of standard research ethics guidelines for several reasons. For one, the units of allocation, intervention, and observation often may differ within a single trial. In the absence of tailored and internationally accepted ethics guidelines for CRTs, researchers and research ethics committees have no common standard by which to judge ethically appropriate practices in CRTs. Moreover, lack of familiarity with and consideration of the unique features of the CRT design by research ethics committees may cause difficulties in the research ethics review process, and amplify problems such as variability in the requirements and decisions reached by different research ethics committees. We aimed to characterize research ethics review of CRTs, examine investigator experiences with the ethics review process, and assess the need for ethics guidelines for CRTs. An electronic search strategy implemented in MEDLINE was used to identify and randomly sample 300 CRTs published in English language journals from 2000 to 2008. A web-based survey with closed- and open-ended questions was administered to corresponding authors in a series of six contacts. The survey response rate was 64%. Among 182 of 285 eligible respondents, 91% indicated that they had sought research ethics approval for the identified CRT, although only 70% respondents reported research ethics approval in the published article. Nearly one-third (31%) indicated that they have had to meet with ethics committees to explain aspects of their trials, nearly half (46%) experienced variability in the ethics review process in multijurisdictional trials, and 38% experienced negative impacts of the ethics review process on their trials, including delays in trial initiation (28%), increased costs (10%), compromised ability to recruit participants (16%), and compromised methodological quality (9%). Most respondents (74%; 95% confidence interval (CI): 67%-80%) agreed or strongly agreed that there is a need to develop ethics guidelines for CRTs, and (70%; 95% CI: 63%-77%) that ethics committees could be better informed about distinct ethical issues surrounding CRTs. Thirty-six percent of authors did not respond to the survey. Due to the absence of comparable results from a representative sample of authors of individually randomized trials, it is unclear to what extent the reported challenges result from the CRT design. CRT investigators are experiencing challenges in the research ethics review of their trials, including excessive delays, variability in process and outcome, and imposed requirements that can have negative consequences for study conduct. Investigators identified a clear need for ethics guidelines for CRTs and education of research ethics committees about distinct ethical issues in CRTs.

Notices and Policies for Retractions, Expressions of Concern, Errata and Corrigenda: Their Importance, Content, and Context.

PubMed

Teixeira da Silva, Jaime A; Dobránszki, Judit

2017-04-01

A retraction notice is an essential scientific historical document because it should outline the reason(s) why a scientific manuscript was retracted, culpability (if any) and any other factors that have given reason for the authors, editors, or publisher, to remove a piece of the literature from science's history books. Unlike an expression of concern (EoC), erratum or corrigendum, a retraction will usually result in a rudimentary vestige of the work. Thus, any retraction notice that does not fully indicate a set of elements related to the reason and background for the retraction serves as a poor historical document. Moreover, poorly or incompletely worded retraction notices in fact do not serve their intended purpose, i.e., to hold all parties accountable, and to inform the scientific and wider public of the problem and reason for the paper's demise. This paper takes a look at the definitions and the policies of clauses for retractions, EoCs, errata and corrigenda in place by 15 leading science, technology and medicine (STM) publishers and four publishing-related bodies that we believe have the greatest influence on the current fields of science, technology and medicine. The primary purpose was to assess whether there is a consistency among these entities and publishers. Using an arbitrary 5-scale classification system, and evaluating the different categories of policies separately, we discovered that in almost all cases (88.9 %), the wording used to define these four categories of polices differs from that of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), which is generally considered to be the guiding set of definitions in science publishing. In addition, as much as 61 % deviation in policies (wording and meaning), relative to COPE guidelines, was discovered. When considering the average pooled deviation across all categories of policies, we discovered that there was either no deviation or a small deviation, only in the wording, in the definition of policies when compared to the COPE guidelines in 1 out of 3 ethical bodies, and in 40 % (6 out of 15) STM publishers. Moderate deviation from the COPE guidelines was detected in 26.7 % of STM publishers and one ethical body but a large deviation in one ethical body and 20 % of STM publishers was observed. Two STM publishers (13.3 %) did not report any information about these policies. Even though in practice, editors and publishers may deviate from these written definitions when dealing with case-by-case issues, we believe that it is essential, to serve as a consistent guide for authors and editors, that the wording be standardized across these entities. COPE and these entities also have the responsibility of making it clear that these definitions are merely suggestions and that their application may be subjected to subjective interpretation and application.

Suboptimal Antituberculosis Drug Concentrations and Outcomes in Small and HIV-Coinfected Children in India: Recommendations for Dose Modifications.

PubMed

Guiastrennec, Benjamin; Ramachandran, Geetha; Karlsson, Mats O; Kumar, A K Hemanth; Bhavani, Perumal Kannabiran; Gangadevi, N Poorana; Swaminathan, Soumya; Gupta, Amita; Dooley, Kelly E; Savic, Radojka M

2017-12-16

This work aimed to evaluate the once-daily antituberculosis treatment as recommended by the new Indian pediatric guidelines. Isoniazid, rifampin, and pyrazinamide concentration-time profiles and treatment outcome were obtained from 161 Indian children with drug-sensitive tuberculosis undergoing thrice-weekly dosing as per previous Indian pediatric guidelines. The exposure-response relationships were established using a population pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic approach. Rifampin exposure was identified as the unique predictor of treatment outcome. Consequently, children with low body weight (4-7 kg) and/or HIV infection, who displayed the lowest rifampin exposure, were associated with the highest probability of unfavorable treatment (therapy failure, death) outcome (P unfavorable ). Model-based simulation of optimized (P unfavorable ≤ 5%) rifampin once-daily doses were suggested per treatment weight band and HIV coinfection status (33% and 190% dose increase, respectively, from the new Indian guidelines). The established dose-exposure-response relationship could be pivotal in the development of future pediatric tuberculosis treatment guidelines. © 2017, The Authors Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

Pushing Traditional Publishing Boundaries in the Journal of Astronomy & Earth Science Education JAESE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Slater, T. F.

2017-12-01

Responding to the community's need for an archival journal to document program evaluation and educational impact of programs and innovations, the Journal of Astronomy & Earth Science Education (JAESE.org) is a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal designed to serve the discipline-based astronomy, planetary, and geosciences education research community. JAESE's first issue was published on December 31, 2014 and has published four volumes and seven issues since that time. By far, the median article topic has been focused on planetarium education research, while there have only been a few articles on conventional solid-Earth geosciences education research. Although there is not yet an even distribution of topics across the field, there is a relatively even distribution among author demographics. Authors include a range of both junior and senior members of the field. There have been significantly more female authors than male authors. Submissions are distributed as blind-copies to two or three peer reviewers with authors' names and identifying information redacted from the manuscript. The average time to complete the first round of peer-review reviewers is 6.2-weeks. There have been too few manuscripts to reliably publish a "percentage acceptance rate." Taken together, JAESE's guiding Editorial Advisory Board judges this to be a successful first few years. In a purposeful effort to make JAESE authors' scholarly works as widely accessible as possible, JAESE adopted an open-access business model. JAESE articles are available to read free-of-charge over the Internet, delivered as PDFs. To date, the most common way articles are downloaded by readers is through Google Scholar. Instead of charging readers and libraries recurring subscription fees, JAESE charges authors a nominal submission fee and a small open-access fee, averaging about $700 USD. These charges are far lower than the traditional page charges and gold-package open-access fees typically charged to authors or their institutions by typical scientific journals, making JAESE an attractive publishing venue for many scholars to make their work as widely read as possible. Author guidelines and Reviewer Applications are available at http://www.jaese.org

The Coalition for Publishing Data in the Earth and Space Sciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lehnert, Kerstin; Hanson, Brooks; Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Joel

2015-04-01

Scholarly publishing remains a key high-value point in making data available and will for the foreseeable future be tied to the availability of science data. Data need to be included in or released as part of publications to make the science presented in an article reproducible, and most publishers have statements related to the inclusion of data, recognizing that such release enhances the value and is part of the integrity of the research. Unfortunately, practices for reporting and documenting data in the scientific literature are inconsistent and inadequate, and the vast majority of data submitted along with publications is still in formats and forms of storage that make discovery and reuse difficult or impossible. Leading earth and space science repositories on the other hand are eager and set up to provide persistent homes for these data, and also ensure quality, enhancing their value, access, and reusability. Unfortunately only a small fraction of the data associated with scientific publications makes it to these data facilities. Connecting scholarly publication more firmly with data facilities is essential in meeting the expectations of open, accessible and useful data as aspired by all stakeholders and expressed in position statements, policies, and guidelines. To strengthen these connections, a new initiative was launched in Fall 2014 at a conference that brought together major publishers, data facilities, and consortia in the Earth and space sciences, as well as governmental, association, and foundation funders. The aim of this initiative is to foster consensus and consistency among publishers, editors, funders, and data repositories on how data that are part of scholarly publications should be curated and published, and guide the development of practical resources based on those guidelines that will help authors and publishers support open data policies, facilitate proper data archiving, and support the linking of data to publications. The most relevant outcome of the conference is the formation of a working group: Coalition for Publishing Data in the Earth and Space Sciences by publishers and data facilities and consortia that will establish a permanent international coordinating conference on Earth science data publication. Marking the launch of the partnership is a joint statement of commitment (to be be released in January 2015), signed by the major Earth and space science publishers and many data facilities, to ensure that Earth science data will, to the greatest extent possible, be stored in community approved repositories that can provide additional data services. The development of a functional directory of Earth and space science repositories is underway that can be used by journals as part of their information to authors, and by authors to identify rapidly which repositories are the best homes for specific data types and how to structure such deposition.

Public Data Archiving in Ecology and Evolution: How Well Are We Doing?

PubMed Central

Roche, Dominique G.; Kruuk, Loeske E. B.; Lanfear, Robert; Binning, Sandra A.

2015-01-01

Policies that mandate public data archiving (PDA) successfully increase accessibility to data underlying scientific publications. However, is the data quality sufficient to allow reuse and reanalysis? We surveyed 100 datasets associated with nonmolecular studies in journals that commonly publish ecological and evolutionary research and have a strong PDA policy. Out of these datasets, 56% were incomplete, and 64% were archived in a way that partially or entirely prevented reuse. We suggest that cultural shifts facilitating clearer benefits to authors are necessary to achieve high-quality PDA and highlight key guidelines to help authors increase their data’s reuse potential and compliance with journal data policies. PMID:26556502

Protecting scientists, science, and case protagonists: a discussion of the Taus v. Loftus commentaries.

PubMed

Dalenberg, Constance J

2014-12-01

This article is a discussion of the articles by Nicole Taus Kluemper, Erna Olafson, Frank Putnam, Laura Brown, Ross Cheit, and Gerald Koocher. The papers center on the issues raised by a decision by two psychologists to break the confidentiality of a case study published by David Corwin and Erna Olafson to gather information to support an alternative theoretical view of the case. The article reviews best understandings of the justifications proposed by the psychologists, who saw themselves as investigative reporters, discusses the papers that have been submitted, and proposes enhanced ethical guidelines and increased professional discussion of these issues. © The Author(s) 2014.

[A standardised German translation of the STAndards for Reporting of Diagnostic accuracy studies (STARD statement)*: Methodological aspects].

PubMed

Breuer, Jan-Philipp; Seeling, Matthes; Barz, Michael; Baldini, Timo; Scholtz, Kathrin; Spies, Claudia

2012-01-01

In order to be comprehensible and comparable scientific data should be reported according to a certain standard. One example is the 'STAndards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy (STARD) Statement', a 25-item checklist for the appropriate conduct and reporting of diagnostic studies. Usually such scientific standards are published in English. The International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcome Research (ISPOR) has developed guidelines for the translation and cultural adaptation of written medical instruments. The aim was to apply these ISPOR criteria to the German translation of the STARD Statement in order to allow for authorisation to be conferred by the original authors. In cooperation with the original authors the STARD statement was translated according to the ISPOR steps: (1) Preparation, (2) Forward Translation, (3) Reconciliation, (4) Back Translation, (5) Back Translation Review, (6) Harmonisation, (7) Cognitive Debriefing, which evaluated comprehensiveness and linguistic style with marks from 1 (very good) to 6 (insufficient), and (8) Review of Cognitive Debriefing Results and Finalisation. Die ISPOR criteria applied reasonably to the translation process, which required the work input and energy of four scientists and one professional translator and 177 accumulated working hours. The cognitive debriefing resulted in average grades 1.62±0.33 and 1.72±0.39 for comprehensiveness and linguistic style, respectively. Finally, the German STARD version was authorised by the original authors. Die ISPOR guidelines seem to be a suitable means to facilitate the structured adaptation of defined criteria for the reporting of studies, such as the STARD statement, to other languages. Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

Unprofessional content on Facebook accounts of US urology residency graduates.

PubMed

Koo, Kevin; Ficko, Zita; Gormley, E Ann

2017-06-01

To characterize unprofessional content on public Facebook accounts of contemporary US urology residency graduates. Facebook was queried with the names of all urologists who graduated from US urology residency programmes in 2015 to identify publicly accessible profiles. Profiles were assessed for unprofessional or potentially objectionable content using a prospectively designed rubric, based on professionalism guidelines by the American Urological Association, the American Medical Association, and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Content authorship (self vs other) was determined, and profiles were reviewed for self-identification as a urologist. Of 281 graduates, 223 (79%) were men and 267 (95%) held MD degrees. A total of 201 graduates (72%) had publicly identifiable Facebook profiles. Of these, 80 profiles (40%) included unprofessional or potentially objectionable content, including 27 profiles (13%) reflecting explicitly unprofessional behaviour, such as depictions of intoxication, uncensored profanity, unlawful behaviour, and confidential patient information. When unprofessional content was found, the content was self-authored in 82% of categories. Among 85 graduates (42%) who self-identified as a urologist on social media, nearly half contained concerning content. No differences in content were found between men and women, MD and DO degree-holders, or those who did or did not identify as a urologist (all P > 0.05). The majority of recent residency graduates had publicly accessible Facebook profiles, and a substantial proportion contained self-authored unprofessional content. Of those identifying as urologists on Facebook, approximately half violated published professionalism guidelines. Greater awareness of trainees' online identities is needed. © 2017 The Authors BJU International © 2017 BJU International Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Recommendations for modeling disaster responses in public health and medicine: a position paper of the society for medical decision making.

PubMed

Brandeau, Margaret L; McCoy, Jessica H; Hupert, Nathaniel; Holty, Jon-Erik; Bravata, Dena M

2009-01-01

Mathematical and simulation models are increasingly used to plan for and evaluate health sector responses to disasters, yet no clear consensus exists regarding best practices for the design, conduct, and reporting of such models. The authors examined a large selection of published health sector disaster response models to generate a set of best practice guidelines for such models. . The authors reviewed a spectrum of published disaster response models addressing public health or health care delivery, focusing in particular on the type of disaster and response decisions considered, decision makers targeted, choice of outcomes evaluated, modeling methodology, and reporting format. They developed initial recommendations for best practices for creating and reporting such models and refined these guidelines after soliciting feedback from response modeling experts and from members of the Society for Medical Decision Making. . The authors propose 6 recommendations for model construction and reporting, inspired by the most exemplary models: health sector disaster response models should address real-world problems, be designed for maximum usability by response planners, strike the appropriate balance between simplicity and complexity, include appropriate outcomes that extend beyond those considered in traditional cost-effectiveness analyses, and be designed to evaluate the many uncertainties inherent in disaster response. Finally, good model reporting is particularly critical for disaster response models. . Quantitative models are critical tools for planning effective health sector responses to disasters. The proposed recommendations can increase the applicability and interpretability of future models, thereby improving strategic, tactical, and operational aspects of preparedness planning and response.

RAPADAPTE for rapid guideline development: high-quality clinical guidelines can be rapidly developed with limited resources.

PubMed

Alper, Brian S; Tristan, Mario; Ramirez-Morera, Anggie; Vreugdenhil, Maria M T; Van Zuuren, Esther J; Fedorowicz, Zbys

2016-06-01

Guideline development is challenging, expensive and labor-intensive. A high-quality guideline with 90 recommendations for breast cancer treatment was developed within 6 months with limited resources in Costa Rica. We describe the experience and propose a process others can use and adapt.The ADAPTE method (using existing guidelines to minimize repeating work that has been done) was used but existing guidelines were not current. The method was extended to use databases that systematically identify, appraise and synthesize evidence for clinical application (DynaMed, EBM Guidelines) to provide current evidence searches and critical appraisal of evidence. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach was used to rate the quality of evidence and the strength of recommendations. Draft recommendations with supporting evidence were provided to panel members for facilitated voting to target panel discussion to areas necessary for reaching consensus.Training panelists in guideline development methodology facilitated rapid consensus development. Extending 'guideline adaptation' to 'evidence database adaptation' was highly effective and efficient. Methods were created to simplify mapping DynaMed evidence ratings to GRADE ratings. Twelve steps are presented to facilitate rapid guideline development and enable further adaptation by others.This is a case report and the RAPADAPTE method was retrospectively derived. Prospective replication and validation will support advances for the guideline development community. If guideline development can be accelerated without compromising validity and relevance of the resulting recommendations this would greatly improve our ability to impact clinical care. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press in association with the International Society for Quality in Health Care; all rights reserved.

Meta-analysis of outcomes of the 2005 and 2010 cardiopulmonary resuscitation guidelines for adults with in-hospital cardiac arrest.

PubMed

Zhu, Aiqun; Zhang, Jingping

2016-06-01

The post-cardiac arrest survival rate has remained low since the 2010 cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) guidelines were published. The present study aimed to review the 2010 vs 2005 CPR guideline outcomes in adults with in-hospital cardiac arrest. The Pub Med, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases were searched for articles published between January 2006 and July 2015. We extracted the following from observational studies and intervention studies: first author's name, publication year, study duration, age of study population, and sample size. The primary outcome variables were return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) and survival to discharge. The data were divided into 2005 (data collected before December 2010) and 2010 (data collected in December 2010 or later) CPR guidelines groups. Twenty-four original articles (77,605 patients) were included. Statistically significant heterogeneity (ROSC: P<.01, I(2)=97.9%; survival to discharge: P<.01, I(2)=98.3%) was seen, and a random-effects model was used to pool the outcomes. The pooled ROSC rate for the 2010 group (n=5; mean, 48%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.38-0.58) was only slightly higher than that of the 2005 group (n=19; mean, 47%; 95% CI, 0.38-0.57). The opposite result was noted in the pooled survival to discharge rates (2010: n=5, mean, 14%; 95% CI, 0.08-0.20 vs 2005: n=19; mean, 15%; 95% CI, 0.10-0.20). There was actually no significant difference in ROSC or survival to discharge outcomes between the 2 groups. The 2010 CPR guidelines emphasized that high-quality chest compressions can increase the ROSC rate but did not show to improve long-term results. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) statement.

PubMed

Husereau, D; Drummond, M; Petrou, S; Carswell, C; Moher, D; Greenberg, D; Augustovski, F; Briggs, A H; Mauskopf, J; Loder, E

2013-05-01

Economic evaluations of health interventions pose a particular challenge for reporting. There is also a need to consolidate and update existing guidelines and promote their use in a user friendly manner. The Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) statement is an attempt to consolidate and update previous health economic evaluation guidelines efforts into one current, useful reporting guidance.The primary audiences for the CHEERS statement are researchers reporting economic evaluations and the editors and peer reviewers assessing them for publication. The need for new reporting guidance was identified by a survey of medical editors. A list of possible items based on a systematic review was created. A two round, modified Delphi panel consisting of representatives from academia, clinical practice, industry, government, and the editorial community was conducted. Out of 44 candidate items, 24 items and accompanying recommendations were developed. The recommendations are contained in a user friendly, 24 item checklist. A copy of the statement, accompanying checklist, and this report can be found on the ISPOR Health Economic Evaluations Publication Guidelines Task Force website (www.ispor.org/TaskForces/EconomicPubGuidelines.asp). We hope CHEERS will lead to better reporting, and ultimately, better health decisions. To facilitate dissemination and uptake, the CHEERS statement is being co-published across 10 health economics and medical journals. We encourage other journals and groups, to endorse CHEERS. The author team plans to review the checklist for an update in 5 years. © 2013 The Authors BJOG An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology © 2013 RCOG.

A review of national health policies and professional guidelines on maternal obesity and weight gain in pregnancy.

PubMed

Schumann, N L; Brinsden, H; Lobstein, T

2014-08-01

Maternal obesity creates an additional demand for health-care services, as the routine obstetric care pathway requires alterations to ensure the most optimal care for obese women of childbearing age. This review examines the extent to which relevant national health documents reflect and respond to the health implications of maternal obesity and excessive gestational weight gain. A targeted search of peer-reviewed publications and grey literature was conducted for each country to identify national health documents, which were subsequently content analyzed according to an adapted framework. A total of 37 documents were identified, including one policy, 10 strategies and 26 guidelines, published within the last 10 years. Out of the 31 countries investigated, only 13 countries address maternal obesity while none address excessive gestational weight gain. We found inconsistencies and gaps in the recommendations to health-care service providers for the management of maternal obesity and weight gain in pregnancy. The findings show that only limited guidance on maternal obesity and gestational weight gain exists. The authors recommend that international, evidence-based guidelines on the management of maternal obesity and excessive gestational weight gain should be developed to reduce the associated health-care and economic costs. © 2014 The Authors. Clinical Obesity © 2014 World Obesity.

Medical Physics Practice Guideline 4.a: Development, implementation, use and maintenance of safety checklists

PubMed Central

de los Santos, E. Fong; Evans, Suzanne; Ford, Eric C.; Gaiser, James E.; Hayden, Sandra E.; Huffman, Kristina E.; Johnson, Jennifer L.; Mechalakos, James G.; Stern, Robin L.; Terezakis, Stephanie; Thomadsen, Bruce R.; Pronovost, Peter J.; Fairobent, Lynne A.

2015-01-01

The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) is a nonprofit professional society whose primary purposes are to advance the science, education and professional practice of medical physics. The AAPM has more than 8,000 members and is the principal organization of medical physicists in the United States. The AAPM will periodically define new practice guidelines for medical physics practice to help advance the science of medical physics and to improve the quality of service to patients throughout the United States. Existing medical physics practice guidelines will be reviewed for the purpose of revision or renewal, as appropriate, on their fifth anniversary or sooner. Each medical physics practice guideline represents a policy statement by the AAPM, has undergone a thorough consensus process in which it has been subjected to extensive review, and requires the approval of the Professional Council. The medical physics practice guidelines recognize that the safe and effective use of diagnostic and therapeutic radiology requires specific training, skills, and techniques, as described in each document. Reproduction or modification of the published practice guidelines and technical standards by those entities not providing these services is not authorized. The following terms are used in the AAPM practice guidelines: Must and Must Not: Used to indicate that adherence to the recommendation is considered necessary to conform to this practice guideline.Should and Should Not: Used to indicate a prudent practice to which exceptions may occasionally be made in appropriate circumstances. PMID:26103502

Medical Physics Practice Guideline 4.a: Development, implementation, use and maintenance of safety checklists.

PubMed

Fong de Los Santos, Luis E; Evans, Suzanne; Ford, Eric C; Gaiser, James E; Hayden, Sandra E; Huffman, Kristina E; Johnson, Jennifer L; Mechalakos, James G; Stern, Robin L; Terezakis, Stephanie; Thomadsen, Bruce R; Pronovost, Peter J; Fairobent, Lynne A

2015-05-08

The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) is a nonprofit professional society whose primary purposes are to advance the science, education and professional practice of medical physics. The AAPM has more than 8,000 members and is the principal organization of medical physicists in the United States.The AAPM will periodically define new practice guidelines for medical physics practice to help advance the science of medical physics and to improve the quality of service to patients throughout the United States. Existing medical physics practice guidelines will be reviewed for the purpose of revision or renewal, as appropriate, on their fifth anniversary or sooner.Each medical physics practice guideline represents a policy statement by the AAPM, has undergone a thorough consensus process in which it has been subjected to extensive review, and requires the approval of the Professional Council. The medical physics practice guidelines recognize that the safe and effective use of diagnostic and therapeutic radiology requires specific training, skills, and techniques, as described in each document. Reproduction or modification of the published practice guidelines and technical standards by those entities not providing these services is not authorized.The following terms are used in the AAPM practice guidelines:Must and Must Not: Used to indicate that adherence to the recommendation is considered necessary to conform to this practice guideline.Should and Should Not: Used to indicate a prudent practice to which exceptions may occasionally be made in appropriate circumstances.

AAPM Medical Physics Practice Guideline 5.a.: Commissioning and QA of Treatment Planning Dose Calculations — Megavoltage Photon and Electron Beams

PubMed Central

Das, Indra J.; Feygelman, Vladimir; Fraass, Benedick A.; Kry, Stephen F.; Marshall, Ingrid R.; Mihailidis, Dimitris N.; Ouhib, Zoubir; Ritter, Timothy; Snyder, Michael G.; Fairobent, Lynne

2015-01-01

The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) is a nonprofit professional society whose primary purposes are to advance the science, education and professional practice of medical physics. The AAPM has more than 8,000 members and is the principal organization of medical physicists in the United States. The AAPM will periodically define new practice guidelines for medical physics practice to help advance the science of medical physics and to improve the quality of service to patients throughout the United States. Existing medical physics practice guidelines will be reviewed for the purpose of revision or renewal, as appropriate, on their fifth anniversary or sooner. Each medical physics practice guideline represents a policy statement by the AAPM, has undergone a thorough consensus process in which it has been subjected to extensive review, and requires the approval of the Professional Council. The medical physics practice guidelines recognize that the safe and effective use of diagnostic and therapeutic radiology requires specific training, skills, and techniques, as described in each document. Reproduction or modification of the published practice guidelines and technical standards by those entities not providing these services is not authorized. The following terms are used in the AAPM practice guidelines: Must and Must Not: Used to indicate that adherence to the recommendation is considered necessary to conform to this practice guideline.Should and Should Not: Used to indicate a prudent practice to which exceptions may occasionally be made in appropriate circumstances. PMID:26699330

Basic Exploratory Research versus Guideline-Compliant Studies Used for Hazard Evaluation and Risk Assessment: Bisphenol A as a Case Study

PubMed Central

Tyl, Rochelle W.

2009-01-01

Background Myers et al. [Environ Health Perspect 117:309–315 (2009)] argued that Good Laboratory Practices (GLPs) cannot be used as a criterion for selecting data for risk assessment, using bisphenol A (BPA) as a case study. They did not discuss the role(s) of guideline-compliant studies versus basic/exploratory research studies, and they criticized both GLPs and guideline-compliant studies and their roles in formal hazard evaluation and risk assessment. They also specifically criticized our published guideline-compliant dietary studies on BPA in rats and mice and 17β-estradiol (E2) in mice. Objectives As the study director/first author of the criticized E2 and BPA studies, I discuss the uses of basic research versus guideline-compliant studies, how testing guidelines are developed and revised, how new end points are validated, and the role of GLPs. I also provide an overview of the BPA guideline-compliant and exploratory research animal studies and describe BPA pharmacokinetics in rats and humans. I present responses to specific criticisms by Myers et al. Discussion and conclusions Weight-of-evidence evaluations have consistently concluded that low-level BPA oral exposures do not adversely affect human developmental or reproductive health, and I encourage increased validation efforts for “new” end points for inclusion in guideline studies, as well as performance of robust long-term studies to follow early effects (observed in small exploratory studies) to any adverse consequences. PMID:20049112

AAPM Medical Physics Practice Guideline 5.a.: Commissioning and QA of Treatment Planning Dose Calculations - Megavoltage Photon and Electron Beams.

PubMed

Smilowitz, Jennifer B; Das, Indra J; Feygelman, Vladimir; Fraass, Benedick A; Kry, Stephen F; Marshall, Ingrid R; Mihailidis, Dimitris N; Ouhib, Zoubir; Ritter, Timothy; Snyder, Michael G; Fairobent, Lynne

2015-09-08

The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) is a nonprofit professional society whose primary purposes are to advance the science, education and professional practice of medical physics. The AAPM has more than 8,000 members and is the principal organization of medical physicists in the United States. The AAPM will periodically define new practice guidelines for medical physics practice to help advance the science of medical physics and to improve the quality of service to patients throughout the United States. Existing medical physics practice guidelines will be reviewed for the purpose of revision or renewal, as appropriate, on their fifth anniversary or sooner. Each medical physics practice guideline represents a policy statement by the AAPM, has undergone a thorough consensus process in which it has been subjected to extensive review, and requires the approval of the Professional Council. The medical physics practice guidelines recognize that the safe and effective use of diagnostic and therapeutic radiology requires specific training, skills, and techniques, as described in each document. Reproduction or modification of the published practice guidelines and technical standards by those entities not providing these services is not authorized. The following terms are used in the AAPM practice guidelines:• Must and Must Not: Used to indicate that adherence to the recommendation is considered necessary to conform to this practice guideline.• Should and Should Not: Used to indicate a prudent practice to which exceptions may occasionally be made in appropriate circumstances.

AAPM Medical Physics Practice Guideline 3.a: Levels of supervision for medical physicists in clinical training.

PubMed

Seibert, J Anthony; Clements, Jessica B; Halvorsen, Per H; Herman, Michael G; Martin, Melissa C; Palta, Jatinder; Pfeiffer, Douglas E; Pizzutiello, Robert J; Schueler, Beth A; Shepard, S Jeff; Fairobrent, Lynne A

2015-05-08

The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) is a nonprofit professional society whose primary purposes are to advance the science, education and professional practice of medical physics. The AAPM has more than 8,000 members and is the principal organization of medical physicists in the United States.The AAPM will periodically define new practice guidelines for medical physics practice to help advance the science of medical physics and to improve the quality of service to patients throughout the United States. Existing medical physics practice guidelines will be reviewed for the purpose of revision or renewal, as appropriate, on their fifth anniversary or sooner.Each medical physics practice guideline represents a policy statement by the AAPM, has undergone a thorough consensus process in which it has been subjected to extensive review, and requires the approval of the Professional Council. The medical physics practice guidelines recognize that the safe and effective use of diagnostic and therapeutic radiology requires specific training, skills, and techniques, as described in each document. Reproduction or modification of the published practice guidelines and technical standards by those entities not providing these services is not authorized.The following terms are used in the AAPM practice guidelines:Must and Must Not: Used to indicate that adherence to the recommendation is considered necessary to conform to this practice guideline.Should and Should Not: Used to indicate a prudent practice to which exceptions may occasionally be made in appropriate circumstances.

Why articles are retracted: a retrospective cross-sectional study of retraction notices at BioMed Central.

PubMed

Moylan, Elizabeth C; Kowalczuk, Maria K

2016-11-23

To assess why articles are retracted from BioMed Central journals, whether retraction notices adhered to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines, and are becoming more frequent as a proportion of published articles. Retrospective cross-sectional analysis of 134 retractions from January 2000 to December 2015. 134 retraction notices were published during this timeframe. Although they account for 0.07% of all articles published (190 514 excluding supplements, corrections, retractions and commissioned content), the rate of retraction is rising. COPE guidelines on retraction were adhered to in that an explicit reason for each retraction was given. However, some notices did not document who retracted the article (eight articles, 6%) and others were unclear whether the underlying cause was honest error or misconduct (15 articles, 11%). The largest proportion of notices was issued by the authors (47 articles, 35%). The majority of retractions were due to some form of misconduct (102 articles, 76%), that is, compromised peer review (44 articles, 33%), plagiarism (22 articles, 16%) and data falsification/fabrication (10 articles, 7%). Honest error accounted for 17 retractions (13%) of which 10 articles (7%) were published in error. The median number of days from publication to retraction was 337.5 days. The most common reason to retract was compromised peer review. However, the majority of these cases date to March 2015 and appear to be the result of a systematic attempt to manipulate peer review across several publishers. Retractions due to plagiarism account for the second largest category and may be reduced by screening manuscripts before publication although this is not guaranteed. Retractions due to problems with the data may be reduced by appropriate data sharing and deposition before publication. Adopting a checklist (linked to COPE guidelines) and templates for various classes of retraction notices would increase transparency of retraction notices in future. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Quality of reporting in abstracts of randomized controlled trials published in leading journals of periodontology and implant dentistry: a survey.

PubMed

Faggion, Clovis Mariano; Giannakopoulos, Nikolaos Nikitas

2012-10-01

Most readers, reviewers, and editors rely on abstracts to decide whether to assess the full text of an article. A research abstract should, therefore, be as informative as possible. The standard of reporting in abstracts of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in periodontology and implant dentistry has not yet been assessed. The objectives of this review are: 1) to assess the quality of reporting in abstracts of RCTs in periodontology and implant dentistry, and 2) to investigate changes in the quality of reporting by comparing samples from different periods. The authors searched the PubMed electronic database, independently and in duplicate, for abstracts of RCTs published in seven leading journals of periodontology and implant dentistry from 2005 to 2007 and from 2009 to 2011. The quality of reporting in selected abstracts with reference to the CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) for Abstracts checklist published in January 2008 was assessed independently and in duplicate. Cohen κ statistic was used to determine the extent of agreement of the reviewers. Pearson χ(2) test and/or Fisher exact test were used to assess differences in reporting in the two samples. Level of significance was set at P <0.05. Three hundred ninety-two abstracts are included in this review. Three items (intervention, objective, and conclusions) were almost fully reported in both samples. In contrast, other items (randomization, trial registration, and funding) were never reported. There were significant changes in reporting for only two items, trial design and title (items better reported in the pre- and post-CONSORT samples, respectively). Most topics, however, were similarly poorly reported in both samples of abstracts. The quality of reporting in abstracts of RCTs in periodontology and implant dentistry can be improved. Authors should follow the CONSORT for Abstracts guidelines, and journal editors should promote clear rules to improve authors' adherence to these guidelines.

Why articles are retracted: a retrospective cross-sectional study of retraction notices at BioMed Central

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Objectives To assess why articles are retracted from BioMed Central journals, whether retraction notices adhered to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines, and are becoming more frequent as a proportion of published articles. Design/setting Retrospective cross-sectional analysis of 134 retractions from January 2000 to December 2015. Results 134 retraction notices were published during this timeframe. Although they account for 0.07% of all articles published (190 514 excluding supplements, corrections, retractions and commissioned content), the rate of retraction is rising. COPE guidelines on retraction were adhered to in that an explicit reason for each retraction was given. However, some notices did not document who retracted the article (eight articles, 6%) and others were unclear whether the underlying cause was honest error or misconduct (15 articles, 11%). The largest proportion of notices was issued by the authors (47 articles, 35%). The majority of retractions were due to some form of misconduct (102 articles, 76%), that is, compromised peer review (44 articles, 33%), plagiarism (22 articles, 16%) and data falsification/fabrication (10 articles, 7%). Honest error accounted for 17 retractions (13%) of which 10 articles (7%) were published in error. The median number of days from publication to retraction was 337.5 days. Conclusions The most common reason to retract was compromised peer review. However, the majority of these cases date to March 2015 and appear to be the result of a systematic attempt to manipulate peer review across several publishers. Retractions due to plagiarism account for the second largest category and may be reduced by screening manuscripts before publication although this is not guaranteed. Retractions due to problems with the data may be reduced by appropriate data sharing and deposition before publication. Adopting a checklist (linked to COPE guidelines) and templates for various classes of retraction notices would increase transparency of retraction notices in future. PMID:27881524

Significant Published Articles for Pharmacy Nutrition Support Practice in 2014 and 2015.

PubMed

Dickerson, Roland N; Kumpf, Vanessa J; Blackmer, Allison B; Bingham, Angela L; Tucker, Anne M; Ybarra, Joseph V; Kraft, Michael D; Canada, Todd W

2016-07-01

To assist the pharmacy clinician engaged in nutrition support in staying current with the most pertinent literature. Several experienced board-certified clinical pharmacists engaged in nutrition support therapy compiled a list of articles published in 2014 and 2015 that they considered to be important to their practice. Only those articles available in print format were considered for potential inclusion. Articles available only in preprint electronic format were not evaluated. The citation list was compiled into a single spreadsheet where the author participants were asked to ascertain whether they considered the paper important to nutrition support pharmacy practice. A culled list of publications was then identified whereby the majority of author participants (at least 5 out of 8) considered the paper to be important. A total of 108 articles were identified; 36 of which were considered to be of high importance. An important guideline article published in early 2016, but not ranked, was also included. The top-ranked articles from the primary literature were reviewed. It is recommended that the informed pharmacist, who is engaged in nutrition support therapy, be familiar with the majority of these articles.

2013 ACC/AHA Cholesterol Guideline Versus 2004 NCEP ATP III Guideline in the Prediction of Coronary Artery Calcification Progression in a Korean Population.

PubMed

Cho, Yun Kyung; Jung, Chang Hee; Kang, Yu Mi; Hwang, Jenie Yoonoo; Kim, Eun Hee; Yang, Dong Hyun; Kang, Joon-Won; Park, Joong-Yeol; Kim, Hong-Kyu; Lee, Woo Je

2016-08-19

Since the release of the 2013 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) guidelines, significant controversy has surrounded the applicability of the new cholesterol guidelines and the Pooled Cohort Equations. In this present study, we investigated whether eligibility for statin therapy determined by the 2013 ACC/AHA guidelines on the management of blood cholesterol is better aligned with the progression of coronary artery calcification (CAC) detected by coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) than the previously recommended 2004 National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Adult Treatment Panel (ATP) III guidelines. We enrolled 1246 asymptomatic participants who underwent repeated CAC score measurement during routine health examinations. The CAC score progression was defined as either incident CAC in a population free of CAC at baseline or increase ≥2.5 units between the baseline and final square root of CAC scores participants who had detectable CAC at baseline examination. Application of the ACC/AHA guidelines to the study population increased the proportion of statin-eligible subjects from 20.5% (according to ATP III) to 54.7%. Statin-eligible subjects, as defined by ACC/AHA guidelines, showed a higher odds ratio for CAC score progression than those considered statin eligible according to ATP III guidelines (2.73 [95% CI, 2.07-3.61] vs 2.00 [95% CI, 1.49-2.68]). Compared with the ATP III guidelines, the new ACC/AHA guidelines result in better discrimination of subjects with cardiovascular risk detected by CAC score progression in an Asian population. © 2016 The Authors. Published on behalf of the American Heart Association, Inc., by Wiley Blackwell.

Adapting clinical guidelines in low-resources countries: a study on the guideline on the management and prevention of type 2 diabetes mellitus in Indonesia.

PubMed

Widyahening, Indah S; Wangge, Grace; van der Graaf, Yolanda; van der Heijden, Geert J M G

2017-02-01

Most of the clinical guidelines in low-resource countries are adaptations from preexisting international guidelines. This adaptation can be problematic when those international guidelines are not based on current evidence or original evidence-based international guidelines are not followed. This study aims to evaluate the quality of an Indonesian type 2 diabetes mellitus guideline adapted from selected international guidelines. The "Consensus on the Management and Prevention of type 2 Diabetes in Indonesia 2011" is a guideline by the Indonesian Society of Endocrinology (Perkeni). Four parent guidelines identified from its list of references were from the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), American Association of Clinical Endocrinologist (AACE), American Diabetes Association (ADA), and one jointly released by ADA and European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD). Two reviewers independently assessed its quality using the Appraisal of Guidelines, Research and Evaluation Collaboration (AGREE II) instrument. Six recommendations were compared: (1) screening for diabetes; (2) diagnosis; (3) control of hyperglycemia; (4) target blood glucose; (5) target blood pressure; and (6) treatment of dyslipidemia. Perkeni's guideline satisfied 55% of the AGREE II items, while its parent guidelines satisfied 59% to 74%. Perkeni's shows low score on "rigor of development" and "applicability" and the lowest score in the "scope and purpose" domain. Differences were found in 4 recommendations: the screening of diabetes, control of hyperglycemia, target blood glucose, and treatment of dyslipidemia. In 3 of 4, Perkeni followed the ADA's recommendation. Derivation of recommendations from parent guidelines and their adaptation to the context of Indonesian health care lacks transparency. When guidelines are either derived from other guidelines or adapted for use in different context, evidence-based practice principles should be followed and adhered to. © 2016 The Authors Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Dissemination of Clinical Practice Guidelines: A Content Analysis of Patient Versions.

PubMed

Santesso, Nancy; Morgano, Gian Paolo; Jack, Susan M; Haynes, R Brian; Hill, Sophie; Treweek, Shaun; Schünemann, Holger J

2016-08-01

Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) are typically written for health care professionals but are meant to assist patients with health care decisions. A number of guideline producers have started to develop patient versions of CPGs to reach this audience. To describe the content and purpose of patient versions of CPGs and compare with patient and public views of CPGs. A descriptive qualitative study with a directed content analysis of a sample of patient versions of CPGs published and freely available in English from 2012 to 2014. We included 34 patient versions of CPGs from 17 guideline producers. Over half of the patient versions were in dedicated patient sections of national/professional agency websites. There was essentially no information about how to manage care in the health care system. The most common purpose was to equip people with information about disease, tests or treatments, and recommendations, but few provided quantitative data about benefits and harms of treatments. Information about beliefs, values and preferences, accessibility, costs, or feasibility of the interventions was rarely addressed. Few provided personal stories or scenarios to personalize the information. Three versions described the strength of the recommendation or the level of evidence. Our search for key institutions that produce patient versions of guidelines was comprehensive, but we only included English and freely available versions. Future work will include other languages. This review describes the current landscape of patient versions of CPGs and suggests that these versions may not address the needs of their targeted audience. Research is needed about how to personalize information, provide information about factors contributing to the recommendations, and provide access. © The Author(s) 2016.

Alignment of Children's Food Advertising With Proposed Federal Guidelines.

PubMed

Hingle, Melanie D; Castonguay, Jessica S; Ambuel, Danielle A; Smith, Rachel M; Kunkel, Dale

2015-06-01

It is well established that children are exposed to food marketing promoting calorically dense, low-nutrient products. Reducing exposure to obesogenic marketing presents an opportunity to improve children's health. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which televised food advertising practices targeting children (aged ≤12 years) were consistent with guidelines proposed by a coalition of federal authorities known as the Interagency Working Group on Foods Marketed to Children (IWG). A sample of children's TV programming aired on five national broadcast networks and two cable channels (N=103 shows) was recorded February to April 2013. The sample contained 354 food ads. Advertised products were identified and categorized using industry classification codes and nutrient data obtained from manufacturers. Product compliance with IWG saturated fat, trans fat, added sugar, and sodium guidelines was evaluated. Analyses conducted in 2013 revealed that nearly all food ads (94%) met guidelines for trans fats; 68% and 62% met guidelines for sodium and saturated fat, respectively; and 20% complied with added sugar guidelines. Overall, 1.4% of all child-targeted food ads met all aspects of IWG guidelines. Nearly all food advertisements exceeded guidelines for at least one recommended nutrient to limit. Individually, conformity was high for guidelines for trans fats, moderate for sodium and saturated fats, and poor for added sugar. These findings suggest that child-targeted food advertising remains strongly biased toward less healthy options. Policymakers wishing to regulate food marketing should understand the amount and types of advertisements that children view. Copyright © 2015 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Paperless Transaction for Publication Incentive System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ibrahim, Rosziati; Madon, Hamiza Diana; Nazri, Nurul Hashida Amira Mohd; Saarani, Norhafizah; Mustapha, Aida

2017-08-01

Within the Malaysian context, incentive system in scientific publishing rewards authors for publishing journal articles or conference papers that are indexed by Scopus. At Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, the incentive system is going into its third year in operational. The main challenge lies in preparing the evidences as required by the application guideline. This paper presents an online module for publication incentive within the University Publication Information System (SMPU). The module was developed using the Scrum methodology based on the existing workflow of paper-based application. The module is hoped to increase the quality of the system deliverables of SMPU as well as having the ability to cope with change of university requirements in the future.

International consensus guidelines for the diagnosis and management of food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome: Executive summary-Workgroup Report of the Adverse Reactions to Foods Committee, American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.

PubMed

Nowak-Węgrzyn, Anna; Chehade, Mirna; Groetch, Marion E; Spergel, Jonathan M; Wood, Robert A; Allen, Katrina; Atkins, Dan; Bahna, Sami; Barad, Ashis V; Berin, Cecilia; Brown Whitehorn, Terri; Burks, A Wesley; Caubet, Jean-Christoph; Cianferoni, Antonella; Conte, Marisa; Davis, Carla; Fiocchi, Alessandro; Grimshaw, Kate; Gupta, Ruchi; Hofmeister, Brittany; Hwang, J B; Katz, Yitzhak; Konstantinou, George N; Leonard, Stephanie A; Lightdale, Jennifer; McGhee, Sean; Mehr, Sami; Sopo, Stefano Miceli; Monti, Giovanno; Muraro, Antonella; Noel, Stacey Katherine; Nomura, Ichiro; Noone, Sally; Sampson, Hugh A; Schultz, Fallon; Sicherer, Scott H; Thompson, Cecilia C; Turner, Paul J; Venter, Carina; Westcott-Chavez, A Amity; Greenhawt, Matthew

2017-04-01

Food protein-induced enterocolitis (FPIES) is a non-IgE cell- mediated food allergy that can be severe and lead to shock. Despite the potential seriousness of reactions, awareness of FPIES is low; high-quality studies providing insight into the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management are lacking; and clinical outcomes are poorly established. This consensus document is the result of work done by an international workgroup convened through the Adverse Reactions to Foods Committee of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology and the International FPIES Association advocacy group. These are the first international evidence-based guidelines to improve the diagnosis and management of patients with FPIES. Research on prevalence, pathophysiology, diagnostic markers, and future treatments is necessary to improve the care of patients with FPIES. These guidelines will be updated periodically as more evidence becomes available. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The influence of journal submission guidelines on authors' reporting of statistics and use of open research practices

PubMed Central

Cumming, Geoff; Fresc, Luca; Boedker, Ingrid; Tressoldi, Patrizio

2017-01-01

From January 2014, Psychological Science introduced new submission guidelines that encouraged the use of effect sizes, estimation, and meta-analysis (the “new statistics”), required extra detail of methods, and offered badges for use of open science practices. We investigated the use of these practices in empirical articles published by Psychological Science and, for comparison, by the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, during the period of January 2013 to December 2015. The use of null hypothesis significance testing (NHST) was extremely high at all times and in both journals. In Psychological Science, the use of confidence intervals increased markedly overall, from 28% of articles in 2013 to 70% in 2015, as did the availability of open data (3 to 39%) and open materials (7 to 31%). The other journal showed smaller or much smaller changes. Our findings suggest that journal-specific submission guidelines may encourage desirable changes in authors’ practices. PMID:28414751

Vitamin D: Current Guidelines and Future Outlook.

PubMed

Pilz, Stefan; Trummer, Christian; Pandis, Marlene; Schwetz, Verena; Aberer, Felix; Grübler, Martin; Verheyen, Nicolas; Tomaschitz, Andreas; März, Winfried

2018-02-01

Vitamin D is of public health interest because its deficiency is common and is associated with musculoskeletal diseases, as well as extraskeletal diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and infections. Several health authorities have reviewed the existing literature and published nutritional vitamin D guidelines for the general population. There was a wide consensus that serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentration should be used to assess vitamin D status and intake, and that musculoskeletal, and not extraskeletal, effects of vitamin D should be the basis for nutritional vitamin D guidelines. Recommended target levels for 25(OH)D range from 25 to 50 nmol/l (10 to 20 ng/ml), corresponding to a vitamin D intake of 400 to 800 International Units (10 to 20 μg) per day. It is of concern that significant sections of the general population do not meet these recommended vitamin D levels. This definitely requires action from a public health perspective. Copyright© 2018, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.

Systematic review of traditional Chinese medicine for geriatrics.

PubMed

Takayama, Shin; Iwasaki, Koh

2017-05-01

The Japan Geriatrics Society revised its criteria for the medical treatment and safety of the elderly in 2015. The Japan Geriatrics Society guidelines contain a chapter for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM; traditional medicines in East Asian countries, such as China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam and Singapore), because it is widely used for elderly patients and is sometimes covered by national medical insurance in Japan. The updated guidelines should be improved based on a comprehensive, systematic review and evidence grading. TCM is rapidly expanding in the literature, and is under intensive investigation in clinical trials. The objective of the present trial was to review TCM systematically and reflect the results to update the TCM chapter of the Japan Geriatrics Society guidelines. Here, we introduce the results of the systemic review of TCM for geriatrics. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 679-688. © 2016 The Authors. Geriatrics & Gerontology International published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Japan Geriatrics Society.

Explanation and elaboration of the Standards for UNiversal reporting of patient Decision Aid Evaluations (SUNDAE) guidelines: examples of reporting SUNDAE items from patient decision aid evaluation literature

PubMed Central

Hoffman, Aubri S; Abhyankar, Purva; Sheridan, Stacey; Bekker, Hilary; LeBlanc, Annie; Levin, Carrie; Ropka, Mary; Shaffer, Victoria; Stacey, Dawn; Stalmeier, Peep; Vo, Ha; Wills, Celia; Thomson, Richard

2018-01-01

This Explanation and Elaboration (E&E) article expands on the 26 items in the Standards for UNiversal reporting of Decision Aid Evaluations guidelines. The E&E provides a rationale for each item and includes examples for how each item has been reported in published papers evaluating patient decision aids. The E&E focuses on items key to reporting studies evaluating patient decision aids and is intended to be illustrative rather than restrictive. Authors and reviewers may wish to use the E&E broadly to inform structuring of patient decision aid evaluation reports, or use it as a reference to obtain details about how to report individual checklist items. PMID:29467235

Management Strategies for CLN2 Disease.

PubMed

Williams, Ruth E; Adams, Heather R; Blohm, Martin; Cohen-Pfeffer, Jessica L; de Los Reyes, Emily; Denecke, Jonas; Drago, Kristen; Fairhurst, Charlie; Frazier, Margie; Guelbert, Norberto; Kiss, Szilárd; Kofler, Annamaria; Lawson, John A; Lehwald, Lenora; Leung, Mary-Anne; Mikhaylova, Svetlana; Mink, Jonathan W; Nickel, Miriam; Shediac, Renée; Sims, Katherine; Specchio, Nicola; Topcu, Meral; von Löbbecke, Ina; West, Andrea; Zernikow, Boris; Schulz, Angela

2017-04-01

CLN2 disease (neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis type 2) is a rare, autosomal recessive, pediatric-onset, rapidly progressive neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disorder caused by tripeptidyl peptidase 1 (TPP1) enzyme deficiency, and is characterized by language delay, seizures, rapid cognitive and motor decline, blindness, and early death. No management guidelines exist and there is a paucity of published disease-specific evidence to inform clinical practice, which currently draws upon experience from the field of childhood neurodisability. Twenty-four disease experts were surveyed on CLN2 disease management and a subset met to discuss current practice. Management goals and strategies are consistent among experts globally and are guided by the principles of pediatric palliative care. Goals and interventions evolve as the disease progresses, with a shift in focus from maintenance of function early in the disease to maintenance of quality of life. A multidisciplinary approach is critical for optimal patient care. This work represents an initial step toward the development of consensus-based management guidelines for CLN2 disease. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Summary of the British Transplantation Society Guidelines for Management of the Failing Kidney Transplant.

PubMed

Andrews, Peter A

2014-12-15

The British Transplantation Society "Guideline for Transplantation Management of the Failing Kidney Transplant" was published in May 2014. This is the first national guideline in this field. In line with previous guidelines published by the British Transplantation Society, the guideline has used the GRADE system to rate the strength of evidence and recommendations.This article summarizes the Statements of Recommendation contained in the guideline, which provide a framework for the management of the failing kidney graft in the United Kingdom and may be of wide international interest. It is recommended that the full guideline document is consulted for details of the relevant references and evidence base. This may be accessed at: http://www.bts.org.uk/MBR/Clinical/Guidelines/Current/Member/Clinical/Current_Guidelines.aspx.

Quality of clinical practice guidelines in delirium: a systematic appraisal.

PubMed

Bush, Shirley H; Marchington, Katie L; Agar, Meera; Davis, Daniel H J; Sikora, Lindsey; Tsang, Tammy W Y

2017-03-10

To determine the accessibility and currency of delirium guidelines, guideline summary papers and evaluation studies, and critically appraise guideline quality. Systematic literature search for formal guidelines (in English or French) with focus on delirium assessment and/or management in adults (≥18 years), guideline summary papers and evaluation studies.Full appraisal of delirium guidelines published between 2008 and 2013 and obtaining a 'Rigour of Development' domain screening score cut-off of >40% using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE II) instrument. Multiple bibliographic databases, guideline organisation databases, complemented by a grey literature search. 3327 database citations and 83 grey literature links were identified. A total of 118 retrieved delirium guidelines and related documents underwent full-text screening. A final 21 delirium guidelines (with 10 being >5 years old), 12 guideline summary papers and 3 evaluation studies were included. For 11 delirium guidelines published between 2008 and 2013, the screening AGREE II 'Rigour' scores ranged from 3% to 91%, with seven meeting the cut-off score of >40%. Overall, the highest rating AGREE II domains were 'Scope and Purpose' (mean 80.1%, range 64-100%) and 'Clarity and Presentation' (mean 76.7%, range 38-97%). The lowest rating domains were 'Applicability' (mean 48.7%, range 8-81%) and 'Editorial Independence' (mean 53%, range 2-90%). The three highest rating guidelines in the 'Applicability' domain incorporated monitoring criteria or audit and costing templates, and/or implementation strategies. Delirium guidelines are best sourced by a systematic grey literature search. Delirium guideline quality varied across all six AGREE II domains, demonstrating the importance of using a formal appraisal tool prior to guideline adaptation and implementation into clinical settings. Adding more knowledge translation resources to guidelines may improve their practical application and effective monitoring. More delirium guideline evaluation studies are needed to determine their effect on clinical practice. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Assessing Clinical Microbiology Practice Guidelines: American Society for Microbiology Ad Hoc Committee on Evidence-Based Laboratory Medicine Practice Guidelines Assessment

PubMed Central

Kirn, Thomas J.; Westblade, Lars F.; Humphries, Romney

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT As part of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Evidence-Based Laboratory Medicine Practice Guidelines Committee of the Professional Practice Committee, an ad hoc committee was formed in 2014 to assess guidelines published by the committee using an assessment tool, Appraisal of Guidelines for Research Evaluation II (AGREE II). The AGREE II assessment helps reviewers determine whether published guidelines are robust, transparent, and clear in presenting practice recommendations in a standardized manner. Identifying strengths and weaknesses of practice guidelines by ad hoc assessments helps with improving future guidelines through the participation of key stakeholders. This minireview describes the development of the ad hoc committee and results from their review of several ASM best practices guidelines and a non-ASM practice guideline from the Emergency Nurses Association. PMID:28835476

False gold: Safely navigating open access publishing to avoid predatory publishers and journals.

PubMed

McCann, Terence V; Polacsek, Meg

2018-04-01

The aim of this study was to review and discuss predatory open access publishing in the context of nursing and midwifery and develop a set of guidelines that serve as a framework to help clinicians, educators and researchers avoid predatory publishers. Open access publishing is increasingly common across all academic disciplines. However, this publishing model is vulnerable to exploitation by predatory publishers, posing a threat to nursing and midwifery scholarship and practice. Guidelines are needed to help researchers recognize predatory journals and publishers and understand the negative consequences of publishing in them. Discussion paper. A literature search of BioMed Central, CINAHL, MEDLINE with Full Text and PubMed for terms related to predatory publishing, published in the period 2007-2017. Lack of awareness of the risks and pressure to publish in international journals, may result in nursing and midwifery researchers publishing their work in dubious open access journals. Caution should be taken prior to writing and submitting a paper, to avoid predatory publishers. The advantage of open access publishing is that it provides readers with access to peer-reviewed research as soon as it is published online. However, predatory publishers use deceptive methods to exploit open access publishing for their own profit. Clear guidelines are needed to help researchers navigate safely open access publishing. A deeper understanding of the risks of predatory publishing is needed. Clear guidelines should be followed by nursing and midwifery researchers seeking to publish their work in open access journals. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Environmental Assessment for the Replacement of the JP-8 Transfer Pipeline between the 6000 Area and 400 Area at Tyndall Air Force Base Bay County, Florida

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-01

AFB are essentially the same as those published by the Federal Interagency Committee on Urban Noise in the June 1980 publication, Guidelines for...Florida 32765 407.409.5256 stephen.rice@arcadis-us.com Professional Wetland Scientist (SWS # 1980 ) Florida Authorized Gopher Tortoise Agent (GTA...University of Florida Figure 13. Eastern Indigo Snake showing maroon chin coloration. Credits: Natalie Hyslop , University of Georgia, Feb 2005

Alphabet soup: making sense of genetic testing in CMT.

PubMed

Lawson, Victoria; Gharibshahi, Shahram

2010-09-01

The diagnosis of inherited neuropathies can be challenging in several ways. First, a hereditary neuropathy must be suspected. Although some family histories are clear with multiple members affected, other families require directed inquiry. Second, even when a hereditary neuropathy is clear, it can be difficult to make a genetic characterization. The field of genotyping is expanding so rapidly, it is difficult to know what tests to order. The authors share their guidelines for the diagnosis of inherited neuropathies. © Thieme Medical Publishers.

iPads, droids, and bugs: Infection prevention for mobile handheld devices at the point of care.

PubMed

Manning, Mary Lou; Davis, James; Sparnon, Erin; Ballard, Raylene M

2013-11-01

Health care providers are increasingly using wireless media tablets, such as the Apple iPad, especially in the hospital setting. In the absence of specific tablet disinfection guidelines the authors applied what is known about the contamination of other nonmedical mobile communication devices to create a "common sense" bundle to guide wireless media tablet infection prevention practices. Copyright © 2013 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Endorsement of PRISMA statement and quality of systematic reviews and meta-analyses published in nursing journals: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Tam, Wilson W S; Lo, Kenneth K H; Khalechelvam, Parames

2017-02-07

Systematic reviews (SRs) often poorly report key information, thereby diminishing their usefulness. Previous studies evaluated published SRs and determined that they failed to meet explicit criteria or characteristics. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement was recommended as a reporting guideline for SR and meta-analysis (MA), but previous studies showed that adherence to the statement was not high for SRs published in different medical fields. Thus, the aims of this study are twofold: (1) to investigate the number of nursing journals that have required or recommended the use of the PRISMA statement for reporting SR, and (2) to examine the adherence of SRs and/or meta-analyses to the PRISMA statement published in nursing journals. A cross-sectional study. Nursing journals listed in the ISI journal citation report were divided into 2 groups based on the recommendation of PRISMA statement in their 'Instruction for Authors'. SRs and meta-analyses published in 2014 were searched in 3 databases. 37 SRs and meta-analyses were randomly selected in each group. The adherence of each item to the PRISMA was examined and summarised using descriptive statistics. The quality of the SRs was assessed by Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews. The differences between the 2 groups were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test. Out of 107 nursing journals, 30 (28.0%) recommended or required authors to follow the PRISMA statement when they submit SRs or meta-analyses. The median rates of adherence to the PRISMA statement for reviews published in journals with and without PRISMA endorsement were 64.9% (IQR: 17.6-92.3%) and 73.0% (IQR: 59.5-94.6%), respectively. No significant difference was observed in any of the items between the 2 groups. The median adherence of SRs and meta-analyses in nursing journals to PRISMA is low at 64.9% and 73.0%, respectively. Nonetheless, the adherence level of nursing journals to the PRISMA statement does not significantly vary whether they endorse or recommend such a guideline. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Implementing guidelines: Proposed definitions of neuropsychology services in pediatric oncology.

PubMed

Baum, Katherine T; Powell, Stephanie K; Jacobson, Lisa A; Gragert, Marsha N; Janzen, Laura A; Paltin, Iris; Rey-Casserly, Celiane M; Wilkening, Greta N

2017-08-01

Several organizations have published guidelines for the neuropsychological care of survivors of childhood cancer. However, there is limited consensus in how these guidelines are applied. The model of neuropsychology service delivery is further complicated by the variable terminology used to describe recommended services. In an important first step to translate published guidelines into clinical practice, this paper proposes definitions for specific neuropsychological processes and services, with the goal of facilitating consistency across sites to foster future clinical program development and to clarify clinical practice guidelines. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Findings from a novel approach to publication guideline revision: user road testing of a draft version of SQUIRE 2.0.

PubMed

Davies, Louise; Donnelly, Kyla Z; Goodman, Daisy J; Ogrinc, Greg

2016-04-01

The Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence (SQUIRE) Guideline was published in 2008 (SQUIRE 1.0) and was the first publication guideline specifically designed to advance the science of healthcare improvement. Advances in the discipline of improvement prompted us to revise it. We adopted a novel approach to the revision by asking end-users to 'road test' a draft version of SQUIRE 2.0. The aim was to determine whether they understood and implemented the guidelines as intended by the developers. Forty-four participants were assigned a manuscript section (ie, introduction, methods, results, discussion) and asked to use the draft Guidelines to guide their writing process. They indicated the text that corresponded to each SQUIRE item used and submitted it along with a confidential survey. The survey examined usability of the Guidelines using Likert-scaled questions and participants' interpretation of key concepts in SQUIRE using open-ended questions. On the submitted text, we evaluated concordance between participants' item usage/interpretation and the developers' intended application. For the survey, the Likert-scaled responses were summarised using descriptive statistics and the open-ended questions were analysed by content analysis. Consistent with the SQUIRE Guidelines' recommendation that not every item be included, less than one-third (n=14) of participants applied every item in their section in full. Of the 85 instances when an item was partially used or was omitted, only 7 (8.2%) of these instances were due to participants not understanding the item. Usage of Guideline items was highest for items most similar to standard scientific reporting (ie, 'Specific aim of the improvement' (introduction), 'Description of the improvement' (methods) and 'Implications for further studies' (discussion)) and lowest (<20% of the time) for those unique to healthcare improvement (ie, 'Assessment methods for context factors that contributed to success or failure' and 'Costs and strategic trade-offs'). Items unique to healthcare improvement, specifically 'Evolution of the improvement', 'Context elements that influenced the improvement', 'The logic on which the improvement was based', 'Process and outcome measures', demonstrated poor concordance between participants' interpretation and developers' intended application. User testing of a draft version of SQUIRE 2.0 revealed which items have poor concordance between developer intent and author usage, which will inform final editing of the Guideline and development of supporting supplementary materials. It also identified the items that require special attention when teaching about scholarly writing in healthcare improvement. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Guidelines for the treatment of childhood-onset Graves' disease in Japan, 2016.

PubMed

Minamitani, Kanshi; Sato, Hirokazu; Ohye, Hidemi; Harada, Shohei; Arisaka, Osamu

2017-01-01

Purpose behind developing these guidelines: Over one decade ago, the "Guidelines for the Treatment of Graves' Disease with Antithyroid Drug, 2006" (Japan Thyroid Association (JTA)) were published as the standard drug therapy protocol for Graves' disease. The "Guidelines for the Treatment of Childhood-Onset Graves' Disease with Antithyroid Drug in Japan, 2008" were published to provide guidance on the treatment of pediatric patients. Based on new evidence, a revised version of the "Guidelines for the Treatment of Graves' Disease with Antithyroid Drug, 2006" (JTA) was published in 2011, combined with the "Handbook of Radioiodine Therapy for Graves' Disease 2007" (JTA). Subsequently, newer findings on pediatric Graves' disease have been reported. Propylthiouracil (PTU)-induced serious hepatopathy is an important problem in pediatric patients. The American Thyroid Association's guidelines suggest that, in principle, physicians must not administer PTU to children. On the other hand, the "Guidelines for the Treatment of Graves' Disease with Antithyroid Drug, 2011" (JTA) state that radioiodine therapy is no longer considered a "fundamental contraindication" in children. Therefore, the "Guidelines for the Treatment of Childhood-Onset Graves' Disease with Antithyroid Drug in Japan, 2008" required revision.

The International College of Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP) Treatment Guidelines for Bipolar Disorder in Adults (CINP-BD-2017), Part 1: Background and Methods of the Development of Guidelines.

PubMed

Fountoulakis, Konstantinos N; Young, Allan; Yatham, Lakshmi; Grunze, Heinz; Vieta, Eduard; Blier, Pierre; Moeller, Hans Jurgen; Kasper, Siegfried

2017-02-01

This paper includes a short description of the important clinical aspects of Bipolar Disorder with emphasis on issues that are important for the therapeutic considerations, including mixed and psychotic features, predominant polarity, and rapid cycling as well as comorbidity. The workgroup performed a review and critical analysis of the literature concerning grading methods and methods for the development of guidelines. The workgroup arrived at a consensus to base the development of the guideline on randomized controlled trials and related meta-analyses alone in order to follow a strict evidence-based approach. A critical analysis of the existing methods for the grading of treatment options was followed by the development of a new grading method to arrive at efficacy and recommendation levels after the analysis of 32 distinct scenarios of available data for a given treatment option. The current paper reports details on the design, method, and process for the development of CINP guidelines for the treatment of Bipolar Disorder. The rationale and the method with which all data and opinions are combined in order to produce an evidence-based operationalized but also user-friendly guideline and a specific algorithm are described in detail in this paper. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of CINP.

European Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Cervical Cancer Screening. Second edition--summary document.

PubMed

Arbyn, M; Anttila, A; Jordan, J; Ronco, G; Schenck, U; Segnan, N; Wiener, H; Herbert, A; von Karsa, L

2010-03-01

European Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Cervical Cancer Screening have been initiated in the Europe Against Cancer Programme. The first edition established the principles of organised population-based screening and stimulated numerous pilot projects. The second multidisciplinary edition was published in 2008 and comprises approximately 250 pages divided into seven chapters prepared by 48 authors and contributors. Considerable attention has been devoted to organised, population-based programme policies which minimise adverse effects and maximise benefits of screening. It is hoped that this expanded guidelines edition will have a greater impact on countries in which screening programmes are still lacking and in which opportunistic screening has been preferred in the past. Other methodological aspects such as future prospects of human papillomavirus testing and vaccination in cervical cancer control have also been examined in the second edition; recommendations for integration of the latter technologies into European guidelines are currently under development in a related project supported by the European Union Health Programme. An overview of the fundamental points and principles that should support any quality-assured screening programme and key performance indicators are presented here in a summary document of the second guidelines edition in order to make these principles and standards known to a wider scientific community.

Urinary tract infection in children: Diagnosis, treatment, imaging - Comparison of current guidelines.

PubMed

Okarska-Napierała, M; Wasilewska, A; Kuchar, E

2017-12-01

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a frequent disorder of childhood, yet the proper approach for a child with UTI is still a matter of controversy. The objective of this study was to critically compare current guidelines for the diagnosis and management of UTI in children, in light of new scientific data. An analysis was performed of the guidelines from: American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), Italian Society of Pediatric Nephrology, Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS), Polish Society of Pediatric Nephrology, and European Association of Urology (EAU)/European Society for Pediatric Urology (ESPU). Separate aspects of the approach for a child with UTI, including diagnosis, treatment and further imaging studies, were compared, with allowance for recent research in each field. The analyzed guidelines tried to reconcile recent reports about diagnosis, treatment, and further diagnostics in pediatric UTI with prior practices and opinions, and economic capabilities. There was still a lack of sufficient data to formulate coherent, unequivocal guidelines on UTI management in children, with imaging tests remaining the main area of controversy. As a result, the authors formulated their own proposal for UTI management in children. Copyright © 2017 Journal of Pediatric Urology Company. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reporting Guidelines: Optimal Use in Preventive Medicine and Public Health

PubMed Central

Popham, Karyn; Calo, William A.; Carpentier, Melissa Y.; Chen, Naomi E.; Kamrudin, Samira A.; Le, Yen-Chi L.; Skala, Katherine A.; Thornton, Logan R.; Mullen, Patricia Dolan

2012-01-01

Numerous reporting guidelines are available to help authors write higher quality manuscripts more efficiently. Almost 200 are listed on the EQUATOR (Enhancing the Quality and Transparency of Health Research) Network’s website and they vary in authority, usability, and breadth, making it difficult to decide which one(s) to use. This paper provides consistent information about guidelines for preventive medicine and public health and a framework and sequential approach for selecting them. EQUATOR guidelines were reviewed for relevance to target audiences; selected guidelines were classified as “core” (frequently recommended) or specialized, and the latter were grouped by their focus. Core and specialized guidelines were coded for indicators of authority (simultaneous publication in multiple journals, rationale, scientific background supporting each element, expertise of designers, permanent website/named group), usability (presence of checklists and examples of good reporting), and breadth (manuscript sections covered). Discrepancies were resolved by consensus. Selected guidelines are presented in four tables arranged to facilitate selection: core guidelines, all of which pertain to major research designs; guidelines for additional study designs, topical guidelines, and guidelines for particular manuscript sections. A flow diagram provides an overview. The framework and sequential approach will enable authors as well as editors, peer reviewers, researchers, and systematic reviewers to make optimal use of available guidelines to improve the transparency, clarity, and rigor of manuscripts and research protocols and the efficiency of conducing systematic reviews and meta-analyses. PMID:22992369

Palliative radiation therapy for bone metastases: Update of an ASTRO Evidence-Based Guideline.

PubMed

Lutz, Stephen; Balboni, Tracy; Jones, Joshua; Lo, Simon; Petit, Joshua; Rich, Shayna E; Wong, Rebecca; Hahn, Carol

The purpose is to provide an update the Bone Metastases Guideline published in 2011 based on evidence complemented by expert opinion. The update will discuss new high-quality literature for the 8 key questions from the original guideline and implications for practice. A systematic PubMed search from the last date included in the original Guideline yielded 414 relevant articles. Ultimately, 20 randomized controlled trials, 32 prospective nonrandomized studies, and 4 meta-analyses/pooled analyses were selected and abstracted into evidence tables. The authors synthesized the evidence and reached consensus on the included recommendations. Available literature continues to support pain relief equivalency between single and multiple fraction regimens for bone metastases. High-quality data confirm single fraction radiation therapy may be delivered to spine lesions with acceptable late toxicity. One prospective, randomized trial confirms both peripheral and spine-based painful metastases can be successfully and safely palliated with retreatment for recurrence pain with adherence to published dosing constraints. Advanced radiation therapy techniques such as stereotactic body radiation therapy lack high-quality data, leading the panel to favor its use on a clinical trial or when results will be collected in a registry. The panel's conclusion remains that surgery, radionuclides, bisphosphonates, and kyphoplasty/vertebroplasty do not obviate the need for external beam radiation therapy. Updated data analysis confirms that radiation therapy provides excellent palliation for painful bone metastases and that retreatment is safe and effective. Although adherence to evidence-based medicine is critical, thorough expert radiation oncology physician judgment and discretion regarding number of fractions and advanced techniques are also essential to optimize outcomes when considering the patient's overall health, life expectancy, comorbidities, tumor biology, anatomy, previous treatment including prior radiation at or near current site of treatment, tumor and normal tissue response history to local and systemic therapies, and other factors related to the patient, tumor characteristics, or treatment. Copyright © 2016 American Society for Radiation Oncology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Assessment of clinical practice guideline methodology for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis with intra-articular hyaluronic acid.

PubMed

Altman, Roy D; Schemitsch, Emil; Bedi, Asheesh

2015-10-01

Clinical practice guidelines are of increasing importance in the decision making for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis. Inconsistent recommendations regarding the use of intra-articular hyaluronic acid for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis have led to confusion among treating physicians. Literature search to identify clinical practice guidelines that provide recommendations regarding the use of intra-articular hyaluronic acid treatment for knee osteoarthritis was conducted. Included guidelines were appraised using the AGREE II instrument. Guideline development methodologies, how the results were assessed, the recommendation formation, and work group composition were summarized. Overall, 10 clinical practice guidelines were identified that met our inclusion criteria. AGREE II domain scores were variable across the included guidelines. The methodology utilized across the guidelines was heterogeneous regarding the evidence inclusion criteria, analysis of evidence results, formulation of clinical practice recommendations, and work group composition. The recommendations provided by the guidelines for intra-articular hyaluronic acid treatment for knee osteoarthritis are highly inconsistent as a result of the variability in guideline methodology. Overall, 30% of the included guidelines recommended against the use of intra-articular hyaluronic acid in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis, while 30% deemed the treatment an appropriate intervention under certain scenarios. The remaining 40% of the guidelines provided either an uncertain recommendation or no recommendation at all, based on the high variability in reviewed evidence regarding efficacy and trial quality. There is a need for a standard "appropriate methodology" that is agreed upon for osteoarthritis clinical practice guidelines in order to prevent the development of conflicting recommendations for intra-articular hyaluronic acid treatment for knee osteoarthritis, and to assure that treating physicians who are utilizing these guidelines are making their clinical decisions on the best available evidence. At present, the inconsistent recommendations provided for intra-articular hyaluronic acid treatment make it difficult for clinical professionals to determine its appropriateness when treating patients with knee osteoarthritis. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A benchmarking project on the quality of previous guidelines about the management of malignant pleural effusion from the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons (ESTS) Pleural Diseases Working Group.

PubMed

Bertolaccini, Luca; Bedetti, Benedetta; Brunelli, Alessandro; Marinova, Katerina; Raveglia, Federico; Rocco, Gaetano; Shargall, Yaron; Solli, Piergiorgio; Varela, Gonzalo; Papagiannopoulos, Kostas; Kuzdzal, Jaroslaw; Massard, Gilbert; Ruffini, Enrico; Falcoz, Pierre-Emmanuel; Martinez-Barenys, Carlos; Opitz, Isabelle; Batirel, Hasan F; Toker, Alper; Scarci, Marco

2017-08-01

In the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons (ESTS) survey about management of malignant pleural effusions (MPE), 56% of respondents are not informed of any relevant clinical guidelines and 52%, who are aware of the existence of guidelines, declared that they are in need of updating or revision. The ESTS Pleural Diseases Working Group developed a benchmarking project on quality of previous guidelines on the management of MPE. The Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE) II instrument was used to assess each guideline. Each item was scored on a 7-point scale. Scores for each domain were calculated. Economic data for the nations which have issued the guidelines were collected from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development health statistics database. Six guidelines fitted the inclusion criteria and were assessed. Five out of 6 guidelines were produced by a multinational collaboration. Observers would recommend only 2 guidelines with minimal modification. Two areas that received the best score were clarity of presentation and scope and purpose (objectives and health questions target population). The applicability of guideline domain had the lowest score. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that clarity of presentation, international guidelines and publication through medical journal were related to improved scores. A strong correlation was observed between the measures of economic status. The quality of guidelines assessed by the AGREE II criteria was found to be extremely variable. Guidelines achieving higher AGREE II scores were more likely to come from the European Union with the direct involvement of scientific societies in their development. It was also recognized that some fundamental unanswered questions remain about the management of MPE. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.

Growing concerns with the flow of misinformation from electronic books.

PubMed

Takahashi, Kenzo; Kanda, Hideyuki; Mizushima, Shunsaku

2013-05-24

In 2012, several kinds of electronic books (e-books) became available in Japan. Since several major book retailers launched e-book businesses, it is expected that e-books will become a popular source of information in the country. However, we are concerned that e-books may also be a source of misinformation. In examining 24 available materials published by anti-vaccinists, "atopy businesses", and "wellness maintenance" authors, each was found to contain inaccuracies or misinformation. Thus far, such information is only available in printed books. If these books are scanned and circulated, or published in e-book format, this misinformation may circulate rapidly as e-book devices are becoming popular, and, consequently, harm people's health. We think that it is important for the government to formulate ethical guidelines for the publishing e-books with due consideration to freedom of expression.

The safety of bone allografts used in dentistry: a review.

PubMed

Holtzclaw, Dan; Toscano, Nicholas; Eisenlohr, Lisa; Callan, Don

2008-09-01

Recent media reports concerning "stolen body parts" have shaken the public's trust in the safety of and the use of ethical practices involving human allografts. The authors provide a comprehensive review of the safety aspects of human bone allografts. The authors reviewed U.S. government regulations, industry standards, independent industry association guidelines, company guidelines and scientific articles related to the use of human bone allografts in the practice of dentistry published in the English language. The use of human bone allografts in the practice of dentistry involves the steps of procurement, processing, use and tracking. Rigorous donor screening and aseptic proprietary processing programs have rendered the use of human bone allografts safe and effective as a treatment option. When purchasing human bone allografts for the practice of dentistry, one should choose products accredited by the American Association of Tissue Banks for meeting uniformly high safety and quality control measures. Knowledge of human bone allograft procurement, processing, use and tracking procedures may allow dental clinicians to better educate their patients and address concerns about this valuable treatment option.

HER2 testing of gastro-oesophageal adenocarcinoma: a commentary and guidance document from the Association of Clinical Pathologists Molecular Pathology and Diagnostics Committee.

PubMed

Wong, Newton A C S; Amary, Fernanda; Butler, Rachel; Byers, Richard; Gonzalez, David; Haynes, Harry R; Ilyas, Mohammad; Salto-Tellez, Manuel; Taniere, Philippe

2018-05-01

The use of biologics targeted to the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) protein is the latest addition to the armamentarium used to fight advanced gastric or gastro-oesophageal junction adenocarcinoma. The decision to treat with the biologic trastuzumab is completely dependent on HER2 testing of tumour tissue. In 2017, the College of American Pathologists, American Society for Clinical Pathology and the American Society of Clinical Oncology jointly published guidelines for HER2 testing and clinical decision making in gastro-oesophageal adenocarcinoma. The Association of Clinical Pathologists Molecular Pathology and Diagnostics Committee has issued the following document as a commentary of these guidelines and, in parallel, to provide guidance on HER2 testing in National Health Service pathology departments within the UK. This guidance covers issues related to case selection, preanalytical aspects, analysis and interpretation of such HER2 testing. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Guidelines for performing systematic reviews in the development of toxicity factors.

PubMed

Schaefer, Heather R; Myers, Jessica L

2017-12-01

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) developed guidance on conducting systematic reviews during the development of chemical-specific toxicity factors. Using elements from publicly available frameworks, the TCEQ systematic review process was developed in order to supplement the existing TCEQ Guidelines for developing toxicity factors (TCEQ Regulatory Guidance 442). The TCEQ systematic review process includes six steps: 1) Problem Formulation; 2) Systematic Literature Review and Study Selection; 3) Data Extraction; 4) Study Quality and Risk of Bias Assessment; 5) Evidence Integration and Endpoint Determination; and 6) Confidence Rating. This document provides guidance on conducting a systematic literature review and integrating evidence from different data streams when developing chemical-specific reference values (ReVs) and unit risk factors (URFs). However, this process can also be modified or expanded to address other questions that would benefit from systematic review practices. The systematic review and evidence integration framework can improve regulatory decision-making processes, increase transparency, minimize bias, improve consistency between different risk assessments, and further improve confidence in toxicity factor development. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Assessing Clinical Microbiology Practice Guidelines: American Society for Microbiology Ad Hoc Committee on Evidence-Based Laboratory Medicine Practice Guidelines Assessment.

PubMed

Nachamkin, Irving; Kirn, Thomas J; Westblade, Lars F; Humphries, Romney

2017-11-01

As part of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Evidence-Based Laboratory Medicine Practice Guidelines Committee of the Professional Practice Committee, an ad hoc committee was formed in 2014 to assess guidelines published by the committee using an assessment tool, Appraisal of Guidelines for Research Evaluation II (AGREE II). The AGREE II assessment helps reviewers determine whether published guidelines are robust, transparent, and clear in presenting practice recommendations in a standardized manner. Identifying strengths and weaknesses of practice guidelines by ad hoc assessments helps with improving future guidelines through the participation of key stakeholders. This minireview describes the development of the ad hoc committee and results from their review of several ASM best practices guidelines and a non-ASM practice guideline from the Emergency Nurses Association. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.

Five-step authorship framework to improve transparency in disclosing contributors to industry-sponsored clinical trial publications.

PubMed

Marušić, Ana; Hren, Darko; Mansi, Bernadette; Lineberry, Neil; Bhattacharya, Ananya; Garrity, Maureen; Clark, Juli; Gesell, Thomas; Glasser, Susan; Gonzalez, John; Hustad, Carolyn; Lannon, Mary-Margaret; Mooney, LaVerne A; Peña, Teresa

2014-10-24

Authorship guidelines have established criteria to guide author selection based on significance of contribution and helped to define associated responsibilities and accountabilities for the published findings. However, low awareness, variable interpretation, and inconsistent application of these guidelines can lead to confusion and a lack of transparency when recognizing those who merit authorship. This article describes a research project led by the Medical Publishing Insights and Practices (MPIP) Initiative to identify current challenges when determining authorship for industry-sponsored clinical trials and develop an improved approach to facilitate decision-making when recognizing authors from related publications. A total of 498 clinical investigators, journal editors, publication professionals and medical writers were surveyed to understand better how they would adjudicate challenging, real-world authorship case scenarios, determine the perceived frequency of each scenario and rate their confidence in the responses provided. Multiple rounds of discussions about these results with journal editors, clinical investigators and industry representatives led to the development of key recommendations intended to enhance transparency when determining authorship. These included forming a representative group to establish authorship criteria early in a trial, having all trial contributors agree to these criteria and documenting trial contributions to objectively determine who warrants an invitation to participate in the manuscript development process. The resulting Five-step Authorship Framework is designed to create a more standardized approach when determining authorship for clinical trial publications. Overall, these recommendations aim to facilitate more transparent authorship decisions and help readers better assess the credibility of results and perspectives of the authors for medical research more broadly. Please see related article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/12/214.

From Paper to Practice; Indexing Systems and Ethical Standards.

PubMed

Astaneh, Behrooz; Masoumi, Sarah

2018-04-01

Currently one of the main goals of editors is to attain a higher visibility for their journals. On the other hand, authors strive to publish their research in journals indexed in eminent databases such as Scopus, Thompson Reuters' Web of Science (ISI), Medline, etc. Therefore, clarifying the standards of indexing is of great importance. One of the most important issues in publication is the ethical considerations, which are mainly described by organizations, such as the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors and the Committee on Publication Ethics. In this study, we examined the ethical requirements of high impact databases for indexing journals to investigate whether they mention or mandate journals to adhere to publication ethics. We found that only Scopus mandated journals to state clear ethical policies on their website as a criterion for being indexed while Medline and Directory of Open Access Journals advised journals to adhere to ethics, not mandated, and Web of Science (ISI) and PubMed Central made no mention of ethics as a required criterion for indexing. Based on this short review, there seems to be a gap between the requirements of indexing systems and international guidelines for publication ethics. Currently, most indexing systems have only partially recommended journals to consider ethical issues. In such an atmosphere, we cannot expect journals or as a result, authors to professionally, completely, and whole heartedly implement ethical guidelines as a mandatory rule in their journals and research, when the indexing systems that most editors want to be indexed in and most authors want to be cited in do not mandate such guidelines.

A novel approach to measuring response and remission in schizophrenia in clinical trials.

PubMed

Aboraya, Ahmed; Leucht, Stefan; Nasrallah, Henry A; Samara, Myrto; Haro, Josep Maria; Elshazly, Ahmed; Zangeneh, Masood

2017-12-01

Pharmaceutical companies conduct clinical trials to show the efficacy and safety of new medications for the treatment of schizophrenia. After the new medications are marketed, clinicians treating patients with schizophrenia discover that a considerable number of patients do not respond to these new medications. The goals of the review are to examine the methodology and design of recent antipsychotic clinical trials, identify common flaws, and propose guidelines to fix the flaws and improve the quality of future clinical trials of antipsychotic medications. A review of recent antipsychotic clinical trials was conducted using a PubMed search. Ten recent trials published in the past four years were reviewed and their methods analyzed and critiqued. The authors identified six major methodological flaws that may explain the suboptimal response in many patients after a drug is approved. Most of the flaws are related to eligibility criteria, the misuse of the Positive and Negative Syndromes Scale (PANSS) and the lack of consensus on how to define remission, response and exacerbation in schizophrenia. Proposed guidelines for a more rigorous use of the PANSS are presented and recommendations are proposed for using uniform criteria for remission, response and exacerbation in schizophrenia. The authors recommend using standardized diagnostic interviews to screen patients for eligibility criteria and using the PANSS according to the author's recommendations and the proposed guidelines. Uniform criteria to define remission, response and exacerbation are recommended for clinical trials examining the efficacy and safety of antipsychotic drugs in schizophrenia. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Guidelines for the management of hypertension].

PubMed

Prieto-Díaz, Miguel Ángel

2014-09-01

In the last year, several scientific societies have published guidelines for the management of arterial hypertension. In Spain, two clinical practice guidelines have had a strong impact and have been closely followed in the last few years: the first is the Guideline of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, although their last report (JNC 7) was published in 2003; the second is the clinical practice guideline for the management of arterial hypertension of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the European Society of Hypertension (ESH), whose latest version was published in 2007, although an update was published in 2009. A new ESC/ESH document, published in 2013, adopts a mainly educational stance, closely rooted in clinical practice. Many of the recommendations maintain the same criteria as previous guidelines. However, the new publication shows greater rigor and contains major contributions such as specification of the level of evidence and grade of recommendation for each recommendation, which was lacking in the previous guidelines of these societies. The document is both practical and easy to consult, consisting of 17 tables, 5 figures and 18 blocks of recommendations. The JNC 8 report, however, has a single objective: to respond to three questions that are considered a priority and which refer exclusively to drug therapy. Nine recommendations are made relating to these three questions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier España, S.L.U. y Sociedad Española de Medicina Rural y Generalista (SEMERGEN). All rights reserved.

Endorsement of CONSORT by Chinese medical journals: a survey of "instruction to authors".

PubMed

Xiao, Lu; Hu, Jing; Zhang, Li; Shang, Hong-cai

2014-07-01

To determine the extent to which Chinese medical (CM) journals incorporate Consolidated Standards for Reporting of Trials (CONSORT) into their "instruction to authors". We reviewed the latest "instruction to authors" of the CM journals in China which indexed by MEDLINE in 2010 or Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE) in 2012 and extracted all information of CONSORT, International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), other reporting guidelines or clinical trial registration. By reading the instructions to authors and reviewing recent studies published in those journals, those that do not publish clinical trials were excluded. We also contacted each of journals by telephone on contributor's status to ask them whether mentioned CONSORT in their instructions and incorporated it into their editorial and peer-review process. Full-text papers of randomized controlled trials (RCTs, from January 2011 to March 2012) published in the journals which mentioned "CONSORT" in their instructions for authors were downloaded. Seven CM journals were included. Three of these journals mentioned CONSORT in its instructions. By telephone survey, all journals gave responses and all respondents knew CONSORT statement. Three of 7 journals required authors to comply with the CONSORT statement and provide the CONSORT checklist and a flow chart of the trial. The rest 4 journals recommended authors of RCTs to refer to the CONSORT statement. From January 2011 to March 2012, a total of 50 RCTs were obtained from the 3 journals endorsing the CONSORT statement; 17 (17/50, 34%) contained a flow diagram in their manuscript, and none of those RCTs had mentioned the trial registration information. The endorsement of CONSORT by CM journals' "instruction to authors" was not satisfactory. The spread of CONSORT endorsement should be wider in instructing the performance of CM clinical trials in the future. Chinese journals should introduce CONSORT to their authors and require authors to comply with CONSORT when they submit their research.

A critical appraisal of clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of lower-limb osteoarthritis

PubMed Central

Pencharz, James N; Grigoriadis, Elizabeth; Jansz, Gwenderlyn F; Bombardier, Claire

2002-01-01

Clinical practice guidelines are important tools to assist clinical decision-making. Recently, several guidelines addressing the management of osteoarthritis (OA) have been published. Clinicians treating patients with OA must ensure that these guidelines are developed with consistency and methodological rigour. We undertook a qualitative summary and critical appraisal of six medical treatment guidelines for the management of lower-limb OA published in the medical literature within the past 5 years. A review of these six guidelines revealed that each possesses strengths and weakness. While most described the scope and intended patient populations, the guidelines varied considerably in the rigour of their development, coverage of implementation issues, and disclosure of conflicts of interest. PMID:11879536

Diagnostic and therapeutic strategy in Menière's disease. Guidelines of the French Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Society (SFORL).

PubMed

Nevoux, J; Franco-Vidal, V; Bouccara, D; Parietti-Winkler, C; Uziel, A; Chays, A; Dubernard, X; Couloigner, V; Darrouzet, V; Mom, T

2017-12-01

The authors present the guidelines of the French Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Society (Société française d'oto-rhino-laryngologie et de chirurgie de la face et du cou: SFORL) for diagnostic and therapeutic strategy in Menière's disease. A work group was entrusted with a review of the scientific literature on the above topic. Guidelines were drawn up, then read over by an editorial group independent of the work group. The guidelines were graded according to the literature analysis and recommendations grading guide published by the French National Agency for Accreditation and Evaluation in Health (January 2000). Menière's disease is diagnosed in the presence of the association of four classical clinical items and after eliminating differential diagnoses on MRI. In case of partial presentation, objective audiovestibular tests are recommended. Therapy comprises medical treatment and surgery, either conservative or sacrificing vestibular function. Medical treatment is based on lifestyle improvement, betahistine, diuretics or transtympanic injection of corticosteroids or gentamicin. The main surgical treatments, in order of increasing aggressiveness, are endolymphatic sac surgery, vestibular neurotomy and labyrinthectomy. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

2017 HIVMA of IDSA Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Chronic Pain in Patients Living With HIV.

PubMed

Bruce, R Douglas; Merlin, Jessica; Lum, Paula J; Ahmed, Ebtesam; Alexander, Carla; Corbett, Amanda H; Foley, Kathleen; Leonard, Kate; Treisman, Glenn Jordan; Selwyn, Peter

2017-10-30

Pain has always been an important part of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease and its experience for patients. In this guideline, we review the types of chronic pain commonly seen among persons living with HIV (PLWH) and review the limited evidence base for treatment of chronic noncancer pain in this population. We also review the management of chronic pain in special populations of PLWH, including persons with substance use and mental health disorders. Finally, a general review of possible pharmacokinetic interactions is included to assist the HIV clinician in the treatment of chronic pain in this population.It is important to realize that guidelines cannot always account for individual variation among patients. They are not intended to supplant physician judgment with respect to particular patients or special clinical situations. The Infectious Diseases Society of American considers adherence to these guidelines to be voluntary, with the ultimate determination regarding their application to be made by the physician in the light of each patient's individual circumstances. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Analysis of the time and workers needed to conduct systematic reviews of medical interventions using data from the PROSPERO registry.

PubMed

Borah, Rohit; Brown, Andrew W; Capers, Patrice L; Kaiser, Kathryn A

2017-02-27

To summarise logistical aspects of recently completed systematic reviews that were registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) registry to quantify the time and resources required to complete such projects. Meta-analysis. All of the 195 registered and completed reviews (status from the PROSPERO registry) with associated publications at the time of our search (1 July 2014). All authors extracted data using registry entries and publication information related to the data sources used, the number of initially retrieved citations, the final number of included studies, the time between registration date to publication date and number of authors involved for completion of each publication. Information related to funding and geographical location was also recorded when reported. The mean estimated time to complete the project and publish the review was 67.3 weeks (IQR=42). The number of studies found in the literature searches ranged from 27 to 92 020; the mean yield rate of included studies was 2.94% (IQR=2.5); and the mean number of authors per review was 5, SD=3. Funded reviews took significantly longer to complete and publish (mean=42 vs 26 weeks) and involved more authors and team members (mean=6.8 vs 4.8 people) than those that did not report funding (both p<0.001). Systematic reviews presently take much time and require large amounts of human resources. In the light of the ever-increasing volume of published studies, application of existing computing and informatics technology should be applied to decrease this time and resource burden. We discuss recently published guidelines that provide a framework to make finding and accessing relevant literature less burdensome. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

RECORDS: improved Reporting of montE CarlO RaDiation transport Studies: Report of the AAPM Research Committee Task Group 268.

PubMed

Sechopoulos, Ioannis; Rogers, D W O; Bazalova-Carter, Magdalena; Bolch, Wesley E; Heath, Emily C; McNitt-Gray, Michael F; Sempau, Josep; Williamson, Jeffrey F

2018-01-01

Studies involving Monte Carlo simulations are common in both diagnostic and therapy medical physics research, as well as other fields of basic and applied science. As with all experimental studies, the conditions and parameters used for Monte Carlo simulations impact their scope, validity, limitations, and generalizability. Unfortunately, many published peer-reviewed articles involving Monte Carlo simulations do not provide the level of detail needed for the reader to be able to properly assess the quality of the simulations. The American Association of Physicists in Medicine Task Group #268 developed guidelines to improve reporting of Monte Carlo studies in medical physics research. By following these guidelines, manuscripts submitted for peer-review will include a level of relevant detail that will increase the transparency, the ability to reproduce results, and the overall scientific value of these studies. The guidelines include a checklist of the items that should be included in the Methods, Results, and Discussion sections of manuscripts submitted for peer-review. These guidelines do not attempt to replace the journal reviewer, but rather to be a tool during the writing and review process. Given the varied nature of Monte Carlo studies, it is up to the authors and the reviewers to use this checklist appropriately, being conscious of how the different items apply to each particular scenario. It is envisioned that this list will be useful both for authors and for reviewers, to help ensure the adequate description of Monte Carlo studies in the medical physics literature. © 2017 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

[Comparative evaluation of clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of schizophrenia].

PubMed

Delessert, D; Pomini, V; Grasset, F; Baumann, P

2008-01-01

Many clinical practice guidelines (CPG) have been published in reply to the development of the concept of "evidence-based medicine" (EBM) and as a solution to the difficulty of synthesizing and selecting relevant medical literature. Taking into account the expansion of new CPG, the question of choice arises: which CPG to consider in a given clinical situation? It is of primary importance to evaluate the quality of the CPG, but until recently, there has been no standardized tool of evaluation or comparison of the quality of the CPG. An instrument of evaluation of the quality of the CPG, called "AGREE" for appraisal of guidelines for research and evaluation was validated in 2002. The six principal CPG concerning the treatment of schizophrenia are compared with the help of the "AGREE" instrument: (1) "the Agence nationale pour le développement de l'évaluation médicale (ANDEM) recommendations"; (2) "The American Psychiatric Association (APA) practice guideline for the treatment of patients with schizophrenia"; (3) "The quick reference guide of APA practice guideline for the treatment of patients with schizophrenia"; (4) "The schizophrenia patient outcomes research team (PORT) treatment recommendations"; (5) "The Texas medication algorithm project (T-MAP)" and (6) "The expert consensus guideline for the treatment of schizophrenia". The results of our study were then compared with those of a similar investigation published in 2005, structured on 24 CPG tackling the treatment of schizophrenia. The "AGREE" tool was also used by two investigators in their study. In general, the scores of the two studies differed little and the two global evaluations of the CPG converged; however, each of the six CPG is perfectible. The rigour of elaboration of the six CPG was in general average. The consideration of the opinion of potential users was incomplete, and an effort made in the presentation of the recommendations would facilitate their clinical use. Moreover, there was little consideration by the authors regarding the applicability of the recommendations. Globally, two CPG are considered as strongly recommended: "the quick reference guide of the APA practice guideline for the treatment of patients with schizophrenia" and "the T-MAP".

Agreement with guidelines from a large database for management of systemic sclerosis: results from the Canadian Scleroderma Research Group.

PubMed

Pope, Janet; Harding, Sarah; Khimdas, Sarit; Bonner, Ashley; Baron, Murray

2012-03-01

We determined congruence with published guidelines from the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR)/EULAR Scleroderma Trials and Research group, for systemic sclerosis (SSc) investigations and treatment practices within the Canadian Scleroderma Research Group (CSRG). Investigations and medication use for SSc complications were obtained from records of patients with SSc in the CSRG to determine adherence to guidelines for patients enrolled before and after the guidelines were published. The CSRG database of 1253 patients had 992 patients with SSc enrolled before publication of the guidelines and 261 after. For pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) treatment, there were no differences in use before and after the guidelines, yet annual echocardiograms for PAH screening were done in 95% of patients enrolled before the guidelines and in only 86% of those enrolled after (p <0.0001), and fewer followup echocardiograms were done 1 year later in the latter group (88% vs 59%). No differences were found for the frequency of PAH-specific treatment; 60% had ever used calcium channel blockers for Raynaud's phenomenon, with no differences in the groups before and after the guidelines. But the use of phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (which does not have guidelines) was increased in the after-guidelines group. Proton pump inhibitors were used in > 80% with gastroesophageal reflux disease before and after the guidelines. One-quarter with gastrointestinal symptoms were taking prokinetic drugs. For those with past SSc renal crisis, use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors was not different before and after the guidelines. For early diffuse SSc < 2 years, ever-use of methotrexate was similar (one-quarter of each group); and for symptomatic interstitial lung disease, 19% had ever used cyclophosphamide before the guidelines and 9% after (p = nonsignificant). CSRG practices were generally comparable to recently published guidelines; however, use of iloprost and bosentan was low for digital ulcers because these drugs are not approved for use in Canada. There did not seem to be an increase in adherence to recommendations once the guidelines were published. For many guidelines, 25% to 40% of patients who would qualify received the recommended treatment.

COPDESS (Coalition for Publishing Data in the Earth & Space Sciences): An Update on Progress and Next Steps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lehnert, Kerstin; Hanson, Brooks; Sallans, Andrew; Elger, Kirsten

2016-04-01

The Coalition for Publishing Data in the Earth and Space Sciences (http://www.copdess.org/) formed in October 2014 to provide an organizational framework for Earth and space science publishers and data facilities to jointly implement and promote common policies and procedures for the publication and citation of data across Earth Science journals. Since inception, it has worked to develop and promote adoption of data citation standards (e.g. FORCE11 Joint Declaration of Data Citation Principles), integrate community tools and services for greater discovery and adoption (e.g. COPDESS Directory of Repositories, https://copdessdirectory.osf.io/), and connect with related community efforts for greater transparency in research community (e.g. the Transparency and Openness Promotion Guidelines, http://cos.io/top). Following a second COPDESS workshop in Fall 2015, COPDESS is undertaking several concrete steps to increase participation and integration of efforts more deeply into the publishing and data facility workflows and to expand international participation. This talk will focus on details of specific initiatives, collection of feedback, and a call for new members. Specifically, we will present progress on the development of guidelines that aim to standardize publishers' recommended best practices by establishing "Best practices for best practices" that will allow a journal or data facility to tailor these practices to the sub-disciplines that they serve. COPDESS will further work to advance implementation of these best practices through increased outreach to and education of editors and authors. COPDESS plans to offer a Town Hall meeting at the EGU General Assembly as a forum for further information and discussion.

Choosing the right journal for your systematic review.

PubMed

Betini, Marluci; Volpato, Enilze S N; Anastácio, Guilherme D J; de Faria, Renata T B G; El Dib, Regina

2014-12-01

The importance of systematic reviews (SRs) as an aid to decision making in health care has led to an increasing interest in the development of this type of study. When selecting a target journal for publication, authors generally seek out higher impact factor journals. This study aimed to determine the percentage of scientific medical journals that publish SRs according to their impact factors (>2.63) and to determine whether those journals require tools that aim to improve SR reporting and meta-analyses. In our cross-sectional study showing how to choose the right journal for a SR, we selected and analysed scientific journals available in a digital library with a minimum Institute for Scientific Information impact factor of 2.63. We analysed 622 scientific journals, 435 (69.94%) of which publish SRs. Of those 435 journals, 135 (21.60%) provide instructions for authors that mention SRs. Three hundred journals (48.34%) do not discuss criteria for article acceptance in the instructions for authors section, but do publish SRs. Only 118 (27.00%) scientific journals require items to be reported in accordance with the specific SR reporting forms. The majority of the journals do not mention the acceptance of SRs in the instructions for authors section. Only a few journals require that SRs meet specific reporting guidelines, making interpretation of their findings across studies challenging. There is no correlation between the impact factor of the journal and its acceptance of SRs for publication. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Use of Systematic Reviews and Reporting Guidelines to Advance the Implementation of the 3Rs

PubMed Central

Avey, Marc T; Fenwick, Nicole; Griffin, Gilly

2015-01-01

In 1959, Russell and Burch published The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique, which included concrete advice on factors that they considered would govern progress in the implementation of these principles (enunciated as the 3Rs [Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement in animal-based studies]). One challenge to the implementation of the 3Rs was identified as information retrieval. Here, we further explore this challenge—the need for ‘research on research’—and the role that systematic reviews and reporting guidelines can play in implementation of the 3Rs. First, we examine the 2-fold nature of the challenge of information retrieval: 1) the identification of relevant publications spread throughout a large population of nonrelevant publications and 2) the incomplete reporting of relevant details within those publications. Second, we evaluate how systematic reviews and reporting guidelines can be used generally to address this challenge. Third, we assess the explicit reporting of the 3Rs in a cohort of preclinical animal systematic reviews. Our results show that Reduction methods are the most commonly reported by authors of systematic reviews but that, in general, reporting on how findings relate to the 3Rs is limited at best. Although systematic reviews are excellent tools for resolving the challenge of information retrieval, their utility for making progress in implementation of the 3Rs may be limited unless authors improve their reporting of these principles. PMID:25836961

A guide to writing case reports for the Journal of Medical Case Reports and BioMed Central Research Notes

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Case reports are a time-honored, important, integral, and accepted part of the medical literature. Both the Journal of Medical Case Reports and the Case Report section of BioMed Central Research Notes are committed to case report publication, and each have different criteria. Journal of Medical Case Reports was the world’s first international, PubMed-listed medical journal devoted to publishing case reports from all clinical disciplines and was launched in 2007. The Case Report section of BioMed Central Research Notes was created and began publishing case reports in 2012. Between the two of them, thousands of peer-reviewed case reports have now been published with a worldwide audience. Authors now also have Cases Database, a continually updated, freely accessible database of thousands of medical case reports from multiple publishers. This informal editorial outlines the process and mechanics of how and when to write a case report, and provides a brief look into the editorial process behind each of these complementary journals along with the author’s anecdotes in the hope of inspiring all authors (both novice and experienced) to write and continue writing case reports of all specialties. Useful hyperlinks are embedded throughout for easy and quick reference to style guidelines for both journals. PMID:24283456

Gardening Activities and Physical Health Among Older Adults: A Review of the Evidence.

PubMed

Nicklett, Emily J; Anderson, Lynda A; Yen, Irene H

2016-06-01

Few studies have examined the health-related consequences of gardening among older adults. This scoping review summarizes and characterizes current research that examines the relationship between physical health and participation in planned gardening activities, including establishing, maintaining, or caring for plants. Six databases were searched. Eligible studies were published between 2000 and 2013, were published in English, and assessed different aspects of physical health (e.g., functional ability, energy expenditure, injury) for older adults who had participated in a planned gardening activity. Of the eight eligible studies identified with these criteria, four assessed energy expenditures and four assessed physical functioning. Studies assessing energy expenditures documented that the majority of gardening tasks were classified into low-to-moderate intensity physical activity. The current literature does not provide sufficient evidence of the physical functioning consequences of gardening. Future studies should consider how specific gardening interventions help older adults meet physical activity guidelines. © The Author(s) 2014.

Patient reported outcomes (PROs) in clinical trials: is 'in-trial' guidance lacking? a systematic review.

PubMed

Kyte, Derek G; Draper, Heather; Ives, Jonathan; Liles, Clive; Gheorghe, Adrian; Calvert, Melanie

2013-01-01

Patient reported outcomes (PROs) are increasingly assessed in clinical trials, and guidelines are available to inform the design and reporting of such trials. However, researchers involved in PRO data collection report that specific guidance on 'in-trial' activity (recruitment, data collection and data inputting) and the management of 'concerning' PRO data (i.e., data which raises concern for the well-being of the trial participant) appears to be lacking. The purpose of this review was to determine the extent and nature of published guidelines addressing these areas. Systematic review of 1,362 articles identified 18 eligible papers containing 'in-trial' guidelines. Two independent authors undertook a qualitative content analysis of the selected papers. Guidelines presented in each of the articles were coded according to an a priori defined coding frame, which demonstrated reliability (pooled Kappa 0.86-0.97), and validity (<2% residual category coding). The majority of guidelines present were concerned with 'pre-trial' activities (72%), for example, outcome measure selection and study design issues, or 'post-trial' activities (16%) such as data analysis, reporting and interpretation. 'In-trial' guidelines represented 9.2% of all guidance across the papers reviewed, with content primarily focused on compliance, quality control, proxy assessment and reporting of data collection. There were no guidelines surrounding the management of concerning PRO data. The findings highlight there are minimal in-trial guidelines in publication regarding PRO data collection and management in clinical trials. No guidance appears to exist for researchers involved with the handling of concerning PRO data. Guidelines are needed, which support researchers to manage all PRO data appropriately and which facilitate unbiased data collection.

Patient Reported Outcomes (PROs) in Clinical Trials: Is ‘In-Trial’ Guidance Lacking? A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Kyte, Derek G.; Draper, Heather; Ives, Jonathan; Liles, Clive; Gheorghe, Adrian; Calvert, Melanie

2013-01-01

Background Patient reported outcomes (PROs) are increasingly assessed in clinical trials, and guidelines are available to inform the design and reporting of such trials. However, researchers involved in PRO data collection report that specific guidance on ‘in-trial’ activity (recruitment, data collection and data inputting) and the management of ‘concerning’ PRO data (i.e., data which raises concern for the well-being of the trial participant) appears to be lacking. The purpose of this review was to determine the extent and nature of published guidelines addressing these areas. Methods and Findings Systematic review of 1,362 articles identified 18 eligible papers containing ‘in-trial’ guidelines. Two independent authors undertook a qualitative content analysis of the selected papers. Guidelines presented in each of the articles were coded according to an a priori defined coding frame, which demonstrated reliability (pooled Kappa 0.86–0.97), and validity (<2% residual category coding). The majority of guidelines present were concerned with ‘pre-trial’ activities (72%), for example, outcome measure selection and study design issues, or ‘post-trial’ activities (16%) such as data analysis, reporting and interpretation. ‘In-trial’ guidelines represented 9.2% of all guidance across the papers reviewed, with content primarily focused on compliance, quality control, proxy assessment and reporting of data collection. There were no guidelines surrounding the management of concerning PRO data. Conclusions The findings highlight there are minimal in-trial guidelines in publication regarding PRO data collection and management in clinical trials. No guidance appears to exist for researchers involved with the handling of concerning PRO data. Guidelines are needed, which support researchers to manage all PRO data appropriately and which facilitate unbiased data collection. PMID:23560103

2014 UK national guideline for the management of anogenital herpes.

PubMed

Patel, Raj; Green, John; Clarke, Emily; Seneviratne, Kanchana; Abbt, Naomi; Evans, Ceri; Bickford, Jane; Nicholson, Marian; O'Farrell, Nigel; Barton, Simon; FitzGerald, Mark; Foley, Elizabeth

2015-10-01

These guidelines concern the management of anogenital herpes simplex virus infections in adults and give advice on diagnosis, management, and counselling of patients. This guideline replaces the 2007 BASHH herpes guidelines and includes new sections on herpes proctitis, key points to cover with patients regarding transmission and removal of advice on the management of HSV in pregnancy which now has a separate joint BASHH/RCOG guideline. © The Author(s) 2015.

European guidelines for workplace drug testing in urine.

PubMed

Taskinen, Sanna; Beck, Olof; Bosch, Tessa; Brcak, Michaela; Carmichael, Duncan; Fucci, Nadia; George, Claire; Piper, Mark; Salomone, Alberto; Schielen, Wim; Steinmeyer, Stefan; Weinmann, Wolfgang

2017-06-01

These European Guidelines for Workplace Drug Testing in Urine have been prepared and updated by the European Workplace Drug Testing Society (EWDTS). The first version of these urine guidelines was published in 2002. Since then, the guidelines have been followed by many laboratories in different European countries and their role has been essential particularly in countries lacking legislation for workplace drug testing. In 2014, the EWDTS started a guidelines updating project and published a new version of the urine guidelines in 2015. Here we represent this updated version of the urine guidelines. The European Guidelines are designed to establish best practice procedures whilst allowing individual countries to operate within the requirements of national customs and legislation. The EWDTS recommends that all European laboratories that undertake legally defensible workplace drug testing should use these guidelines as a template for accreditation. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

2011 update to the Society of Thoracic Surgeons and the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists blood conservation clinical practice guidelines.

PubMed

Ferraris, Victor A; Brown, Jeremiah R; Despotis, George J; Hammon, John W; Reece, T Brett; Saha, Sibu P; Song, Howard K; Clough, Ellen R; Shore-Lesserson, Linda J; Goodnough, Lawrence T; Mazer, C David; Shander, Aryeh; Stafford-Smith, Mark; Waters, Jonathan; Baker, Robert A; Dickinson, Timothy A; FitzGerald, Daniel J; Likosky, Donald S; Shann, Kenneth G

2011-03-01

Practice guidelines reflect published literature. Because of the ever changing literature base, it is necessary to update and revise guideline recommendations from time to time. The Society of Thoracic Surgeons recommends review and possible update of previously published guidelines at least every three years. This summary is an update of the blood conservation guideline published in 2007. The search methods used in the current version differ compared to the previously published guideline. Literature searches were conducted using standardized MeSH terms from the National Library of Medicine PUBMED database list of search terms. The following terms comprised the standard baseline search terms for all topics and were connected with the logical 'OR' connector--Extracorporeal circulation (MeSH number E04.292), cardiovascular surgical procedures (MeSH number E04.100), and vascular diseases (MeSH number C14.907). Use of these broad search terms allowed specific topics to be added to the search with the logical 'AND' connector. In this 2011 guideline update, areas of major revision include: 1) management of dual anti-platelet therapy before operation, 2) use of drugs that augment red blood cell volume or limit blood loss, 3) use of blood derivatives including fresh frozen plasma, Factor XIII, leukoreduced red blood cells, platelet plasmapheresis, recombinant Factor VII, antithrombin III, and Factor IX concentrates, 4) changes in management of blood salvage, 5) use of minimally invasive procedures to limit perioperative bleeding and blood transfusion, 6) recommendations for blood conservation related to extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and cardiopulmonary perfusion, 7) use of topical hemostatic agents, and 8) new insights into the value of team interventions in blood management. Much has changed since the previously published 2007 STS blood management guidelines and this document contains new and revised recommendations. Copyright © 2011 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Assessing the reporting of categorised quantitative variables in observational epidemiological studies.

PubMed

Mabikwa, Onkabetse V; Greenwood, Darren C; Baxter, Paul D; Fleming, Sarah J

2017-03-14

One aspect to consider when reporting results of observational studies in epidemiology is how quantitative risk factors are analysed. The STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) guidelines recommend that researchers describe how they handle quantitative variables when analysing data. For categorised quantitative variables, the authors are required to provide reasons and justifications informing their practice. We investigated and assessed the practices and reporting of categorised quantitative variables in epidemiology. The assessment was based on five medical journals that publish epidemiological research. Observational studies published between April and June 2015 and investigating the relationships between quantitative exposures (or risk factors) and the outcomes were considered for assessment. A standard form was used to collect the data, and the reporting patterns amongst eligible studies were quantified and described. Out of 61 articles assessed for eligibility, 23 observational studies were included in the assessment. Categorisation of quantitative exposures occurred in 61% of these studies and reasons informing the practice were rarely provided. Only one article explained the choice of categorisation in the analysis. Transformation of quantitative exposures into four or five groups was common and dominant amongst studies using equally spaced categories. Dichotomisation was not popular; the practice featured in one article. Overall, the majority (86%) of the studies preferred ordered or arbitrary group categories. Other criterions used to decide categorical boundaries were based on established guidelines such as consensus statements and WHO standards. Categorisation of continuous variables remains a dominant practice in epidemiological studies. The reasons informing the practice of categorisation within published work are limited and remain unknown in most articles. The existing STROBE guidelines could provide stronger recommendations on reporting quantitative risk factors in epidemiology.

Lipid Management Guidelines from the Departments of Veteran Affairs and Defense: A Critique.

PubMed

Bennet, Catherine S; Dahagam, Chanukya R; Virani, Salim S; Martin, Seth S; Blumenthal, Roger S; Michos, Erin D; McEvoy, John W

2016-09-01

In December 2014, the US Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense (VA/DoD) published an independent clinical practice guideline for the management of dyslipidemia and cardiovascular disease risk, adding to the myriad of recently published guidelines on this topic. The VA/DoD guidelines differ from major US guidelines published by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association in 2013 in the following ways: recommending moderate-intensity statins for the majority of patients with statin indications regardless of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk; advocating for limited on-treatment lipid monitoring; and deemphasizing ancillary data, such as coronary artery calcium testing, to improve atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk estimation. In the context of manifold treatment recommendations from numerous guideline committees, the VA/DoD recommendations may generate further confusion and mixed messages among healthcare providers about the optimal treatment of dyslipidemia. In this review, we critically appraise the VA/DoD recommendations with a focus on the evidence base for each area where the VA/DoD guidelines differ from the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guidelines. We also call for harmonization of lipid treatment guidelines to ensure high-quality and consistent care for patients with, and at risk for, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Using AGREE II to Evaluate the Quality of Traditional Medicine Clinical Practice Guidelines in China.

PubMed

Deng, Wei; Li, Le; Wang, Zixia; Chang, Xiaonan; Li, Rui; Fang, Ziye; Wei, Dang; Yao, Liang; Wang, Xiaoqin; Wang, Qi; An, Guanghui

2016-03-15

To evaluate/assess the quality of the Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) of traditional medicine in China. We systematically searched the literature databases WanFang Data, VIP, CNKI and CBM for studies published between 1978 and 2012 to identify and select CPGs of traditional medicine. We used the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II (AGREE II) instrument to evaluate these guidelines. A total of 75 guidelines were included, of which 46 guidelines (62%) were on Traditional Chinese Medicine, 19 (25%) on Chinese Integrated Medicine, and 10 (13%) on Uyghur Medicine. Most traditional medicine CPGs published in domestic journals scored <20% (range: 0-63%). Eleven (14%) CPGs were developed following the methodology of evidence-based medicine. In each domain of AGREE II, traditional Medicine CPGs performed clearly better than international CPGs. The same trend was seen in guidelines of Modern Medicine. An increasing amount of CPGs are being published, but their quality is low. Referring to the key points of international guidelines development, supervision through AGREE II, cooperating with international groups and exploring the strategy of guideline development could improve the quality of CPGs on traditional medicine. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

What Affects Authors’ and Editors’ Use of Reporting Guidelines? Findings from an Online Survey and Qualitative Interviews

PubMed Central

Fuller, Thomas; Pearson, Mark; Peters, Jaime; Anderson, Rob

2015-01-01

Objectives To identify and understand, through data from multiple sources, some of the factors that affect authors’ and editors’ decisions to use reporting guidelines in the publication of health research. Design Mixed methods study comprising an online survey and semi-structured interviews with a sample of authors (online survey: n = 56; response rate = 32%; semi-structured interviews: n = 5) and journal editors (online survey: n = 43; response rate = 27%; semi-structured interviews: n = 6) involved in publishing health and medical research. Participants were recruited from an earlier study examining the effectiveness of the TREND reporting guideline. Results Four types of factors interacted to affect authors’ and editors’ likelihood of reporting guideline use; individual (e.g. having multiple reasons for use of reporting guidelines); the professional culture in which people work; environmental (e.g. policies of journals); and, practical (e.g. having time to use reporting guidelines). Having multiple reasons for using reporting guidelines was a particularly salient factor in facilitating reporting guidelines use for both groups of participants. Conclusions Improving the completeness and consistency of reporting of research studies is critical to the integrity and synthesis of health research. The use of reporting guidelines offers one potentially efficient and effective means for achieving this, but decisions to use (or not use) reporting guidelines take many factors into account. These findings could be used to inform future studies that might, for example, test the factors that we have identified within a wider theoretical framework for understanding changes in professional practices. The use of reporting guidelines by senior professionals appears to shape the expectations of what constitutes best practice and can be assimilated into the culture of a field or discipline. Without evidence of effectiveness of reporting guidelines, and sustained, multifaceted efforts to improve reporting, little progress seems likely to be made. PMID:25875918

Analysis of the time and workers needed to conduct systematic reviews of medical interventions using data from the PROSPERO registry

PubMed Central

Borah, Rohit; Brown, Andrew W; Capers, Patrice L; Kaiser, Kathryn A

2017-01-01

Objectives To summarise logistical aspects of recently completed systematic reviews that were registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) registry to quantify the time and resources required to complete such projects. Design Meta-analysis. Data sources and study selection All of the 195 registered and completed reviews (status from the PROSPERO registry) with associated publications at the time of our search (1 July 2014). Data extraction All authors extracted data using registry entries and publication information related to the data sources used, the number of initially retrieved citations, the final number of included studies, the time between registration date to publication date and number of authors involved for completion of each publication. Information related to funding and geographical location was also recorded when reported. Results The mean estimated time to complete the project and publish the review was 67.3 weeks (IQR=42). The number of studies found in the literature searches ranged from 27 to 92 020; the mean yield rate of included studies was 2.94% (IQR=2.5); and the mean number of authors per review was 5, SD=3. Funded reviews took significantly longer to complete and publish (mean=42 vs 26 weeks) and involved more authors and team members (mean=6.8 vs 4.8 people) than those that did not report funding (both p<0.001). Conclusions Systematic reviews presently take much time and require large amounts of human resources. In the light of the ever-increasing volume of published studies, application of existing computing and informatics technology should be applied to decrease this time and resource burden. We discuss recently published guidelines that provide a framework to make finding and accessing relevant literature less burdensome. PMID:28242767

Guidelines to the Practice of Anesthesia - Revised Edition 2018.

PubMed

Dobson, Gregory; Chong, Matthew; Chow, Lorraine; Flexman, Alana; Kurrek, Matthew; Laflamme, Claude; Lagacé, Annie; Stacey, Shean; Thiessen, Barton

2018-01-01

The Guidelines to the Practice of Anesthesia Revised Edition 2018 (the Guidelines) were prepared by the Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society (CAS), which reserves the right to determine their publication and distribution. The Guidelines are subject to revision and updated versions are published annually. The Guidelines to the Practice of Anesthesia Revised Edition 2018 supersedes all previously published versions of this document. Although the CAS encourages Canadian anesthesiologists to adhere to its practice guidelines to ensure high-quality patient care, the CAS cannot guarantee any specific patient outcome. Anesthesiologists should exercise their own professional judgement in determining the proper course of action for any patient's circumstances. The CAS assumes no responsibility or liability for any error or omission arising from the use of any information contained in its Guidelines to the Practice of Anesthesia.

Clinical practice guidelines for delirium management: potential application in palliative care.

PubMed

Bush, Shirley H; Bruera, Eduardo; Lawlor, Peter G; Kanji, Salmaan; Davis, Daniel H J; Agar, Meera; Wright, David Kenneth; Hartwick, Michael; Currow, David C; Gagnon, Bruno; Simon, Jessica; Pereira, José L

2014-08-01

Delirium occurs in patients across a wide array of health care settings. The extent to which formal management guidelines exist or are adaptable to palliative care is unclear. This review aims to 1) source published delirium management guidelines with potential relevance to palliative care settings, 2) discuss the process of guideline development, 3) appraise their clinical utility, and 4) outline the processes of their implementation and evaluation and make recommendations for future guideline development. We searched PubMed (1990-2013), Scopus, U.S. National Guideline Clearinghouse, Google, and relevant reference lists to identify published guidelines for the management of delirium. This was supplemented with multidisciplinary input from delirium researchers and other relevant stakeholders at an international delirium study planning meeting. There is a paucity of high-level evidence for pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions in the management of delirium in palliative care. However, multiple delirium guidelines for clinical practice have been developed, with recommendations derived from "expert opinion" for areas where research evidence is lacking. In addition to their potential benefits, limitations of clinical guidelines warrant consideration. Guidelines should be appraised and then adapted for use in a particular setting before implementation. Further research is needed on the evaluation of guidelines, as disseminated and implemented in a clinical setting, focusing on measurable outcomes in addition to their impact on quality of care. Delirium clinical guidelines are available but the level of evidence is limited. More robust evidence is required for future guideline development. Copyright © 2014 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Best Practice Guidelines on Publication Ethics: a Publisher's Perspective

PubMed Central

Graf, Chris; Wager, Elizabeth; Bowman, Alyson; Fiack, Suzan; Scott-Lichter, Diane; Robinson, Andrew

2007-01-01

These Best Practice Guidelines on Publication Ethics describe Blackwell Publishing's position on the major ethical principles of academic publishing and review factors that may foster ethical behavior or create problems. The aims are to encourage discussion, to initiate changes where they are needed, and to provide practical guidance, in the form of Best Practice statements, to inform these changes. Blackwell Publishing recommends that editors adapt and adopt the suggestions outlined to best fit the needs of their own particular publishing environment. PMID:17206953

Best Practice Guidelines on Publication Ethics: a publisher's perspective.

PubMed

Graf, Chris; Wager, Elizabeth; Bowman, Alyson; Fiack, Suzan; Scott-Lichter, Diane; Robinson, Andrew

2007-01-01

These Best Practice Guidelines on Publication Ethics describe Blackwell Publishing's position on the major ethical principles of academic publishing and review factors that may foster ethical behavior or create problems. The aims are to encourage discussion, to initiate changes where they are needed, and to provide practical guidance, in the form of Best Practice statements, to inform these changes. Blackwell Publishing recommends that editors adapt and adopt the suggestions outlined to best fit the needs of their own particular publishing environment.

A systematic review and appraisal of the quality of practice guidelines for the management of Neisseria gonorrhoeae infections.

PubMed

Dickson, Catherine; Arnason, Trevor; Friedman, Dara Spatz; Metz, Gila; Grimshaw, Jeremy M

2017-11-01

Clinical guidelines help ensure consistent care informed by current evidence. As shifts in antimicrobial resistance continue to influence first-line treatment, up-to-date guidelines are important for preventing treatment failure. A guideline's development process will influence its recommendations and users' trust. To assess the quality of current gonorrhoea guidelines' development processes. Multiple databases. Original and current English-language guidelines targeting health professionals and containing treatment recommendations for uncomplicated gonorrhoea in the general adult population. Two appraisers assessed the guidelines independently using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II (AGREE II) tool. Scores were combined as per the AGREE II users' manual. We identified 10 guidelines meeting the inclusion criteria. The quality of the gonorrhoea treatment guidelines varied. Most scored poorly on Rigour of Development ; information on the evidence review process and methods for formulating recommendations was often missing. The WHO Guidelines for the Treatment of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and UK National Guideline for the Management of Gonorrhoea in Adults scored the highest on Rigour of Development . Methods to address conflicts of interest were often not described in the materials reviewed. Implementation of recommendations was often not addressed. By limiting our study to English-language guidelines, a small number of guidelines we identified were excluded. Our analysis was limited to either published or online materials that were readily available to users. We could not differentiate between items addressed in the development process but not documented from items that were not addressed. Gonorrhoea treatment guidelines may slow antimicrobial resistance. Many current guidelines are not in line with the current guideline development best practices; this might undermine the perceived trustworthiness of guidelines. By identifying current limitations, this study can help improve the quality of future guidelines. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

28 CFR 42.404 - Guidelines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 28 Judicial Administration 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Guidelines. 42.404 Section 42.404... Guidelines. (a) Federal agencies shall publish title VI guidelines for each type of program to which they extend financial assistance, where such guidelines would be appropriate to provide detailed information...

Korean Medication Algorithm for Depressive Disorder: Comparisons with Other Treatment Guidelines

PubMed Central

Wang, Hee Ryung; Bahk, Won-Myong; Seo, Jeong Seok; Woo, Young Sup; Park, Young-Min; Jeong, Jong-Hyun; Kim, Won; Shim, Se-Hoon; Lee, Jung Goo; Jon, Duk-In; Min, Kyung Joon

2017-01-01

In this review, we compared recommendations from the Korean Medication Algorithm Project for Depressive Disorder 2017 (KMAP-DD 2017) to other global treatment guidelines for depression. Six global treatment guidelines were reviewed; among the six, 4 were evidence-based guidelines, 1 was an expert consensus-based guideline, and 1 was an amalgamation of both evidence and expert consensus-based recommendations. The recommendations in the KMAP-DD 2017 were generally similar to those in other global treatment guidelines, although there were some differences between the guidelines. The KMAP-DD 2017 appeared to reflect current changes in the psychopharmacology of depression quite well, like other recently published evidence-based guidelines. As an expert consensus-based guideline, the KMAP-DD 2017 had some limitations. However, considering there are situations in which clinical evidence cannot be drawn from planned clinical trials, the KMAP-DD 2017 may be helpful for Korean psychiatrists making decisions in the clinical settings by complementing previously published evidence-based guidelines. PMID:28783928

Growing Concerns With the Flow of Misinformation From Electronic Books

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

In 2012, several kinds of electronic books (e-books) became available in Japan. Since several major book retailers launched e-book businesses, it is expected that e-books will become a popular source of information in the country. However, we are concerned that e-books may also be a source of misinformation. In examining 24 available materials published by anti-vaccinists, "atopy businesses", and "wellness maintenance" authors, each was found to contain inaccuracies or misinformation. Thus far, such information is only available in printed books. If these books are scanned and circulated, or published in e-book format, this misinformation may circulate rapidly as e-book devices are becoming popular, and, consequently, harm people’s health. We think that it is important for the government to formulate ethical guidelines for the publishing e-books with due consideration to freedom of expression. PMID:23709125

User involvement in adolescents' mental healthcare: protocol for a systematic review.

PubMed

Viksveen, Petter; Bjønness, Stig Erlend; Berg, Siv Hilde; Cardenas, Nicole Elizabeth; Game, Julia Rose; Aase, Karina; Storm, Marianne

2017-12-21

User involvement has become a growing importance in healthcare. The United Nations state that adolescents have a right to be heard, and user involvement in healthcare is a legal right in many countries. Some research provides an insight into the field of user involvement in somatic and mental healthcare for adults, but little is known about user involvement in adolescents' mental healthcare, and no overview of the existing research evidence exists. The aim of this systematic review is to provide an overview of existing research reporting on experiences with and the effectiveness and safety issues associated with user involvement for adolescents' mental healthcare at the individual and organisational level. A systematic literature search and assessment of published research in the field of user involvement in adolescents' mental healthcare will be carried out. Established guidelines will be used for data extraction (Cochrane Collaboration guidelines, Strengthening the Reporting of Observational studies in Epidemiology and Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP)), critical appraisal (Cochrane Collaboration guidelines and Pragmatic-Explanatory Continuum Indicator Summary) and reporting of results (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses, Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials and CASP). Confidence in the research evidence will be assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach. Adolescents are included as coresearchers for the planning and carrying out of this systematic review. This systematic review will provide an overview of the existing research literature and thereby fill a knowledge gap. It may provide various stakeholders, including decision-makers, professionals, individuals and their families, with an overview of existing knowledge in an underexplored field of research. Ethics approval is not required for this systematic review as we are not collecting primary data. The results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and at conference presentations and will be shared with stakeholder groups. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Proposal for defining the relevance of drug accumulation derived from single dose study data for modified release dosage forms

PubMed Central

Scheerans, Christian; Heinig, Roland; Mueck, Wolfgang

2015-01-01

Recently, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) published the new draft guideline on the pharmacokinetic and clinical evaluation of modified release (MR) formulations. The draft guideline contains the new requirement of performing multiple dose (MD) bioequivalence studies, in the case when the MR formulation is expected to show ‘relevant’ drug accumulation at steady state (SS). This new requirement reveals three fundamental issues, which are discussed in the current work: first, measurement for the extent of drug accumulation (MEDA) predicted from single dose (SD) study data; second, its relationship with the percentage residual area under the plasma concentration–time curve (AUC) outside the dosing interval (τ) after SD administration, %AUC(τ-∞)SD; and third, the rationale for a threshold of %AUC(τ-∞)SD that predicts ‘relevant’ drug accumulation at SS. This work revealed that the accumulation ratio RA,AUC, derived from the ratio of the time-averaged plasma concentrations during τ at SS and after SD administration, respectively, is the ‘preferred’ MEDA for MR formulations. A causal relationship was derived between %AUC(τ-∞)SD and RA,AUC, which is valid for any drug (product) that shows (dose- and time-) linear pharmacokinetics regardless of the shape of the plasma concentration–time curve. Considering AUC thresholds from other guidelines together with the causal relationship between %AUC(τ-∞)SD and RA,AUC indicates that values of %AUC(τ-∞)SD ≤ 20%, resulting in RA,AUC ≤ 1.25, can be considered as leading to non-relevant drug accumulation. Hence, the authors suggest that 20% for %AUC(τ-∞)SD is a reasonable threshold and selection criterion between SD or MD study designs for bioequivalence studies of new MR formulations. © 2014 The Authors Biopharmaceutics & Drug Disposition Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. PMID:25327367

EMQN best practice guidelines for the molecular genetic testing and reporting of chromosome 11p15 imprinting disorders: Silver–Russell and Beckwith–Wiedemann syndrome

PubMed Central

Eggermann, Katja; Bliek, Jet; Brioude, Frédéric; Algar, Elizabeth; Buiting, Karin; Russo, Silvia; Tümer, Zeynep; Monk, David; Moore, Gudrun; Antoniadi, Thalia; Macdonald, Fiona; Netchine, Irène; Lombardi, Paolo; Soellner, Lukas; Begemann, Matthias; Prawitt, Dirk; Maher, Eamonn R; Mannens, Marcel; Riccio, Andrea; Weksberg, Rosanna; Lapunzina, Pablo; Grønskov, Karen; Mackay, Deborah JG; Eggermann, Thomas

2016-01-01

Molecular genetic testing for the 11p15-associated imprinting disorders Silver–Russell and Beckwith–Wiedemann syndrome (SRS, BWS) is challenging because of the molecular heterogeneity and complexity of the affected imprinted regions. With the growing knowledge on the molecular basis of these disorders and the demand for molecular testing, it turned out that there is an urgent need for a standardized molecular diagnostic testing and reporting strategy. Based on the results from the first external pilot quality assessment schemes organized by the European Molecular Quality Network (EMQN) in 2014 and in context with activities of the European Network of Imprinting Disorders (EUCID.net) towards a consensus in diagnostics and management of SRS and BWS, best practice guidelines have now been developed. Members of institutions working in the field of SRS and BWS diagnostics were invited to comment, and in the light of their feedback amendments were made. The final document was ratified in the course of an EMQN best practice guideline meeting and is in accordance with the general SRS and BWS consensus guidelines, which are in preparation. These guidelines are based on the knowledge acquired from peer-reviewed and published data, as well as observations of the authors in their practice. However, these guidelines can only provide a snapshot of current knowledge at the time of manuscript submission and readers are advised to keep up with the literature. PMID:27165005

Organizational culture affecting quality of care: guideline adherence in perioperative antibiotic use.

PubMed

Ukawa, Naoto; Tanaka, Masayuki; Morishima, Toshitaka; Imanaka, Yuichi

2015-02-01

The objective of this work was to elucidate aspects of organizational culture associated with hospital performance in perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis using quantitative data in a multicenter and multidimensional study. Cross-sectional retrospective study using a survey data and administrative data. Eighty-three acute hospitals in Japan. A total of 4856 respondents in the organizational culture study, and 23 172 patients for the quality indicator analysis. Multilevel models of various cultural dimensions were used to analyze the association between hospital organizational culture and guideline adherence. The dependent variable was adherence or non-adherence to Japanese and CDC guidelines at the patient level and main independent variable was hospital groups categorized according to organizational culture score. Other control variables included hospital characteristics such as ownership, bed capacity, region and urbanization level of location. The multilevel analysis showed that hospitals with a high score in organizational culture were more likely to adhere to the Japanese and CDC guidelines when compared with lower scoring hospitals. In particular, the hospital group with high scores in the 'collaboration' and 'professional growth' dimensions had three times the odds for Japanese guideline adherence in comparison with low-scoring hospitals. Our study revealed that various aspects of organizational culture were associated with adherence to guidelines for perioperative antibiotic use. Hospital managers aiming to improve quality of care may benefit from improving hospital organizational culture. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press in association with the International Society for Quality in Health Care; all rights reserved.

Control and prevention of tuberculosis in the United Kingdom: Code of Practice 2000

PubMed Central

Joint, T

2000-01-01

BACKGROUND—The guidelines on control and prevention of tuberculosis in the United Kingdom have been reviewed and updated.
METHODS—A subcommittee was appointed by the Joint Tuberculosis Committee (JTC) of the British Thoracic Society to revise the guidelines published in 1994 by the JTC, including representatives of the Royal College of Nursing, Public Health Medicine Environmental Group, and Medical Society for Study of Venereal Diseases. In preparing the revised guidelines the authors took account of new published evidence and graded the strength of evidence for their recommendations. The guidelines have been approved by the JTC and the Standards of Care Committee of the British Thoracic Society.
RECOMMENDATIONS—Tuberculosis services in each district should have staffing and resources to fulfil both the control and prevention recommendations in this document and to ensure adequate treatment monitoring. Notification of tuberculosis is required for surveillance and to initiate contact tracing (where appropriate). The following areas are discussed and recommendations made where appropriate: (1) public health law in relation to tuberculosis; (2) the organisational requirements for tuberculosis services; (3) measures for control of tuberculosis in hospitals, including segregation of patients; (4) the requirements for health care worker protection, including HIV infected health care workers; (5) measures for control of tuberculosis in prisons; (6) protection for other groups with potential exposure to tuberculosis; (7) awareness of the high rates of tuberculosis in the homeless together with local plans for detection and action; (8) detailed advice on contact tracing; (9) contact tracing required for close contacts of bovine tuberculosis; (10) management of tuberculosis in schools; (11) screening of new immigrants and how this should be performed; (12) outbreak contingency investigation; and (13) BCG vaccination and the management of positive reactors found in the schools programme.

 PMID:11050256

Impact of the Centers for Disease Control's HIV Preexposure Prophylaxis Guidelines for Men Who Have Sex With Men in the United States.

PubMed

Jenness, Samuel M; Goodreau, Steven M; Rosenberg, Eli; Beylerian, Emily N; Hoover, Karen W; Smith, Dawn K; Sullivan, Patrick

2016-12-15

 Preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is effective for preventing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among men who have sex with men (MSM) within trial settings. Population impact will depend on clinical indications for PrEP initiation, coverage levels, and drug adherence. No modeling studies have estimated the impact of clinical practice guidelines for PrEP issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  Mathematical models of HIV transmission among MSM were used to estimate the percentage of infections averted (PIA) and the number needed to treat (NNT) under behavioral indications of the CDC's PrEP guidelines. We modeled the contribution of these indications while varying treatment coverage and adherence.  At 40% coverage of indicated MSM over the next decade, application of CDC guidelines would avert 1162 infections per 100 000 person-years, 33.0% of expected infections. The predicted NNT for the guidelines would be 25. Increasing coverage and adherence jointly raise the PIA, but reductions to the NNT were associated with better adherence only.  Implementation of CDC PrEP guidelines would result in strong and sustained reductions in HIV incidence among MSM in the United States. The guidelines strike a good balance between epidemiological impact (PIA) and efficiency (NNT) at plausible scale-up levels. Adherence counseling could maximize public health investment in PrEP by decreasing the NNT. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, e-mail journals.permissions@oup.com.

2018 Congress Poster Abstracts

PubMed

2018-02-21

Each abstract has been indexed according to the first author. Abstracts appear as they were submitted and have not undergone editing or the Oncology Nursing Forum’s review process. Only abstracts that will be presented appear here. Poster numbers are subject to change. For updated poster numbers, visit congress.ons.org or check the Congress guide. Data published in abstracts presented at the ONS 43rd Annual Congress are embargoed until the conclusion of the presentation. Coverage and/or distribution of an abstract, poster, or any of its supplemental material to or by the news media, any commercial entity, or individuals, including the authors of said abstract, is strictly prohibited until the embargo is lifted. Promotion of general topics and speakers is encouraged within these guidelines.

Model-driven meta-analyses for informing health care: a diabetes meta-analysis as an exemplar.

PubMed

Brown, Sharon A; Becker, Betsy Jane; García, Alexandra A; Brown, Adama; Ramírez, Gilbert

2015-04-01

A relatively novel type of meta-analysis, a model-driven meta-analysis, involves the quantitative synthesis of descriptive, correlational data and is useful for identifying key predictors of health outcomes and informing clinical guidelines. Few such meta-analyses have been conducted and thus, large bodies of research remain unsynthesized and uninterpreted for application in health care. We describe the unique challenges of conducting a model-driven meta-analysis, focusing primarily on issues related to locating a sample of published and unpublished primary studies, extracting and verifying descriptive and correlational data, and conducting analyses. A current meta-analysis of the research on predictors of key health outcomes in diabetes is used to illustrate our main points. © The Author(s) 2014.

AGARD Flight Test Techniques Series. Volume 16. Introduction to Airborne Early Warning Radar Flight Test. (Introduction aux essais en vol des Radars Aeroportes d’Alerte Lointaine)

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-11-01

Acknowledgements The authors would like to acknowledge several people who contributed directly or indirectly to this book. First, to Bruce Hislop and Larry...McGraw Hill Publishing Company, 1980 . 27. Smith, L. J., and Matthews, N. 0., Aircraft Flight Test Data Processing-A Review of the State of the Art...AGARDograph 160, Volume 12, 1980 . 28. Smith, Sidney L. and Mosier, Jane N., Guidelines for Designing User Interfaces to Computer Based Systems, MITRE

Methane correction factors for estimating emissions from aerobic wastewater treatment facilities based on field data in Mexico and on literature review.

PubMed

Noyola, A; Paredes, M G; Güereca, L P; Molina, L T; Zavala, M

2018-10-15

Wastewater treatment (WWT) may be an important source of methane (CH 4 ), a greenhouse gas with significant global warming potential. Sources of CH 4 emissions from WWT facilities can be found in the water and in the sludge process lines. Among the methodologies for estimating CH 4 emissions inventories from WWT, the more adopted are the guidelines of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which recommends default emission factors (Tier 1) depending on WWT systems. Recent published results show that well managed treatment facilities may emit CH 4 , due to dissolved CH 4 in the influent wastewater; in addition, biological nutrient removal also will produce this gas in the anaerobic (or anoxic) steps. However, none of these elements is considered in the current IPCC guidelines. The aim of this work is to propose modified (and new) methane correction factors (MCF) regarding the current Tier 1 IPCC guidelines for CH 4 emissions from aerobic treatment systems, with and without anaerobic sludge digesters, focusing on intertropical countries. The modifications are supported on in situ assessment of fugitive CH 4 emissions in two facilities in Mexico and on relevant literature data. In the case of well-managed centralized aerobic treatment plant, a MCF of 0.06 (instead of the current 0.0) is proposed, considering that the assumption of a CH 4 -neutral treatment facility, as established in the IPCC methodology, is not supported. Similarly, a MCF of 0.08 is proposed for biological nutrient removal processes, being a new entry in the guidelines. Finally, a one-step straightforward calculation is proposed for centralized aerobic treatment plants with anaerobic digesters that avoids confusion when selecting the appropriate default MCF based on the Tier 1 IPCC guidelines. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Questionnaires used to assess barriers of clinical guideline use among physicians are not comprehensive, reliable, or valid: a scoping review.

PubMed

Willson, Melina L; Vernooij, Robin W M; Gagliardi, Anna R

2017-06-01

This study described the number and characteristics of questionnaires used to assess barriers of guideline use among physicians. A scoping review was conducted. MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched from 2005 to June 2016. English-language studies that administered a questionnaire to assess barriers of guideline use among practicing physicians were eligible. Summary statistics were used to report study and questionnaire characteristics. Questionnaire content was assessed with a checklist of 57 known barriers. Each of the 178 included studies administered a unique questionnaire. The number of questionnaires increased yearly from 2005 to 2015. Few were pilot-tested (50, 28.1%) or tested for psychometric properties (3, 1.7%). Two were based on theory. None probed for the full range of known barriers. Ten included a free-text option. The majority assessed professional barriers (177, 99.4%) but few of the 14 factors within this domain. Questionnaire characteristics did not change over time. Organizations administered questionnaires that were not reliable or valid and did not comprehensively assess barriers and may have selected interventions unlikely to promote guideline use. Research is needed to construct a questionnaire that is practical, adaptable, and robust and leads to the selection of interventions that support guideline use. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Impact of Current Versus Previous Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Guidelines on the Proportion of Patients With Heart Failure Eligible for Therapy.

PubMed

Lyons, Kristin J; Ezekowitz, Justin A; Liang, Li; Heidenreich, Paul A; Yancy, Clyde W; DeVore, Adam D; Hernandez, Adrian F; Fonarow, Gregg C

2017-05-01

This study sought to ascertain the impact of heart failure (HF) guideline change on the number of patients eligible to undergo cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). The 2013 HF guideline of the American College of Cardiology Foundation and American Heart Association (ACCF/AHA) narrowed the recommendations for CRT. The impact of this guideline change on the number of eligible patients for CRT has not been described. Using data from Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure between 2012 and 2015, this study evaluated the proportion of hospitalized patients with HF who were eligible for CRT on the basis of historical and current guideline recommendations. The authors identified 25,102 hospitalizations for HF that included patients with a left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤35% from 283 hospitals. Patients with a medical, system-related, or patient-related reason for not undergoing CRT were excluded. Overall, 49.1% (n = 12,336) of patients with HF, an LVEF ≤35%, and no documented contraindication were eligible for CRT on the basis of historical guidelines, and 33.1% (n = 8,299) of patients were eligible for CRT on the basis of current guidelines, a 16.1% absolute reduction in eligibility (p < 0.0001). Patients eligible for CRT on the basis of current guidelines were more likely to have CRT with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator or CRT with pacing only placed or prescribed at discharge (57.8% vs. 54.9%; p < 0.0001) compared with patients eligible for CRT on the basis of historical guidelines. In this population of patients with HF, an LVEF ≤35%, and no documented contraindication for CRT, the current ACCF/AHA HF guidelines reduce the proportion of patients eligible for CRT by approximately 15%. Copyright © 2017 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Systematic review of the diagnosis of scabies in therapeutic trials.

PubMed

Thompson, M J; Engelman, D; Gholam, K; Fuller, L C; Steer, A C

2017-07-01

Human scabies (infestation with the mite Sarcoptes scabiei var hominis) causes a significant disease burden worldwide, yet there are no agreed diagnostic guidelines. We aimed to determine whether a consistent approach to diagnosing scabies has been used for published scabies therapeutic trials. The data sources used were the MEDLINE, Embase and Cochrane databases, from 1946 to 29 August 2013. Eligible studies were trials of therapeutic interventions against scabies in human subjects, published in English, enrolling patients with scabies, and using various therapeutic interventions. Language was a limitation of this study as some relevant trials published in languages other than English may have been excluded. Each study was reviewed by two independent authors, who assessed the clinical examination and testing approaches used for scabies diagnosis in the included studies. We found that of 71 included trials, 40 (56%) specified which clinical findings were used for diagnosis, which were predominantly rash, rash distribution, pruritus and mite burrows. Parasitological testing was used in 63% of trials (n = 45) and was used more frequently in clinic-based than in field studies. Nearly one-quarter of trials (24%, n = 17) did not define the diagnostic method used. Overall, the diagnostic approaches were poorly described, prohibiting accurate comparison of existing studies. This review further supports the need for consensus diagnostic guidelines for scabies. © 2017 British Association of Dermatologists.

The Frequency of Reporting Ethical Issues in Human Subject Articles Published in Iranian Medical Journals: 2009-2013.

PubMed

Astaneh, Behrooz; Khani, Parisa

2017-11-10

Researchers should strictly consider the participants' rights. They are required to document such protections as an ethical approval of the study proposal, the obtaining "informed consent", the authors' "conflict of interests", and the source of "financial support" in the published articles. The purpose of this study was to assess the frequency of reporting ethical issues in human subject articles published in Iranian medical journals during 2009-2013. In this cross-sectional study, we randomly reviewed 1460 human subject articles published in Iranian medical journals during 2009-2013 in two Persian and English language groups. Data collection was carried out by assessing articles, focusing on the documentation "ethics committee approval", patients' "informed consent", "financial support", "confidentiality", and "conflict of interest". Of 1460 evaluated articles, 443 (30.3%) reported "ethics committee approval", 686 (47.0%) reported "informed consent", 594 (40.7%) reported "financial support", and 341 (23.4%) reported "conflict of interest". 13% of the articles referred to patients' confidentiality in their text. There was a significant association between these ethical documentations and the year of publication. Articles published in English language journals reported "ethics committee approval", "financial support", and "conflict of interest" significantly more than Persian language journals, but the frequency of "informed consent" was similar. Ethical documentation rate in Iranian medical journals is not up to the expected standards of reputable journals which might be related to a lack of awareness and the education of the authors and the journal's editors. Precise reporting of ethical considerations in medical articles by authors are recommended. It is suggested journals and policymakers pay more attention to reporting this issue while providing standard guidelines in this regard.

Association Between Number of Preventive Care Guidelines and Preventive Care Utilization by Patients.

PubMed

Taksler, Glen B; Pfoh, Elizabeth R; Stange, Kurt C; Rothberg, Michael B

2018-05-08

The number of preventive care guidelines is rapidly increasing. It is unknown whether the number of guideline-recommended preventive services is associated with utilization. The authors used Poisson regression of 390,778 person-years of electronic medical records data from 2008 to 2015, in 80,773 individuals aged 50-75 years. Analyses considered eligibility for 11 preventive services most closely associated with guidelines: tobacco cessation; control of obesity, hypertension, lipids, or blood glucose; influenza vaccination; and screening for breast, cervical, or colorectal cancers, abdominal aortic aneurysm, or osteoporosis. The outcome was the rate of preventive care utilization over the following year. Results were adjusted for demographics and stratified by the number of disease risk factors (smoking, obesity, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes). Data were collected in 2016 and analyzed in 2017. Preventive care utilization was lower when the number of guideline-recommended preventive services was higher. The adjusted rate of preventive care utilization decreased from 38.67 per 100 (95% CI=38.16, 39.18) in patients eligible for one guideline-recommended service to 31.59 per 100 (95% CI=31.29, 31.89) in patients eligible for two services and 25.43 per 100 (95% CI=24.68, 26.18) in patients eligible for six or more services (p-trend<0.001). Results were robust to disease risk factors and observed for all but two services (tobacco cessation, obesity reduction). However, for any given number of guideline-recommended services, patients with more disease risk factors had higher utilization rates. The rate of preventive care utilization was lower when the number of guideline-recommended services was higher. Prioritizing recommendations might improve utilization of high-value services. Copyright © 2018 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Agreement between guidelines for pharmaco-economic research and never-before-published health-economics evaluations].

PubMed

Postma, M J; Kwik, J J; Rutten, W J M J; de Jong-van den Berg, L T W; Brouwers, J R B J

2002-06-08

To investigate whether the health-economics research published in Dutch journals is in agreement with the guidelines for pharmaco-economic research as published in 1999 by the Dutch 'College voor zorgverzekeringen' [Healthcare Insurance Board]. Descriptive. A literature search was performed for health-economic evaluations published during 1990-1999 in Dutch journals such as Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde (NTvG), Pharmaceutisch Weekblad and Tijdschrift voor Gezondheidswetenschappen. The resulting 19 studies, primarily published in the NTvG, were compared with the pharmaco-economic guidelines, summarised in 9 criteria. The social perspective was taken in 5 studies (26%), non-related medical costs were excluded in 19 (100%), relevant subgroup analyses were performed in 16 (84%), effectiveness was explicitly differentiated from efficacy in 15 (79%), incremental analysis was performed in 18 (95%), an adequate period of analysis was chosen in 16 (84%), costs, benefits and health gains were discounted in 13 (68%), sensitivity analysis was included in the investigation in 10 (53%), and estimated cost prices were used in 9 (47%). The methodology in recently published Dutch health-economics research was partly in agreement with the later official guidelines for pharmaco-economic studies in the Netherlands.

International variations in clinical practice guidelines for palliative sedation: a systematic review.

PubMed

Abarshi, Ebun; Rietjens, Judith; Robijn, Lenzo; Caraceni, Augusto; Payne, Sheila; Deliens, Luc; Van den Block, Lieve

2017-09-01

Palliative sedation is a highly debated medical practice, particularly regarding its proper use in end-of-life care. Worldwide, guidelines are used to standardise care and regulate this practice. In this review, we identify and compare national/regional clinical practice guidelines on palliative sedation against the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) palliative sedation Framework and assess the developmental quality of these guidelines using the Appraisal Guideline Research and Evaluation (AGREE II) instrument. Using the PRISMA criteria, we searched multiple databases (PubMed, CancerLit, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, NHS Evidence and Google Scholar) for relevant guidelines, and selected those written in English, Dutch and Italian; published between January 2000 and March 2016. Of 264 hits, 13 guidelines-Belgium, Canada (3), Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Europe, and USA (2) were selected. 8 contained at least 9/10 recommendations published in the EAPC Framework; 9 recommended 'pre-emptive discussion of the potential role of sedation in end-of-life care'; 9 recommended 'nutrition/hydration while performing sedation' and 8 acknowledged the need to 'care for the medical team'. There were striking differences in terminologies used and in life expectancy preceding the practice. Selected guidelines were conceptually similar, comparing closely to the EAPC Framework recommendations, albeit with notable variations. Based on AGREE II, 3 guidelines achieved top scores and could therefore be recommended for use in this context. Also, domains 'scope and purpose' and 'editorial independence' ranked highest and lowest, respectively-underscoring the importance of good reportage at the developmental stage. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Acute otitis media guidelines in selected developed and developing countries: uniformity and diversity.

PubMed

Ovnat Tamir, Sharon; Shemesh, Shay; Oron, Yahav; Marom, Tal

2017-05-01

Acute otitis media (AOM) is a common childhood disease, with an enormous economic and healthcare-related burden. Guidelines and consensus papers for AOM diagnosis and management were published in many countries. Our objective was to study the differences and similarities between these protocols in developing and developed countries. The keywords: 'acute otitis media' AND 'children' AND ['treatment' or 'management'] AND ['guideline' or 'consensus'] were used in various electronic databases between 1 January 1989 through 31 December 2015. Overall, 99 sources from 62 countries were retrieved: 53 from 22 developed countries, and 46 from 40 developing countries. Representative guidelines from America (the USA, Argentina), Europe (Italy, Moldova), Africa (South Africa, Tanzania, Ethiopia), Asia (Japan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka),and Oceania (South Australia, Fiji) were compared. Paediatric societies publish guidelines in most developed countries; in developing countries, the Ministry of Health usually initiates guideline formulation. Most guidelines use the same diagnostic criteria and offer watchful waiting in mild-moderate scenarios. Amoxicillin is the suggested first-line antibiotic, whereas options for second-line and third-line therapies vary. Duration of therapy varies and is usually age dependent: 5-7 days for children <2 years and 10 days for children >2 years in developed countries, while duration and age groups vary greatly in developing countries. Reduction of AOM risk factors is encouraged in developed countries, but rarely in developing countries. Guidelines for AOM from developing and developed countries are similar in many aspects, with variation in specific recommendations, due to local epidemiology and healthcare accessibility. Formulation of regional guidelines may help reduce AOM burden. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Availability and variability in guidelines on diabetic retinopathy screening in Asian countries.

PubMed

Wang, Louis Zizhao; Cheung, Carol Y; Tapp, Robyn J; Hamzah, Haslina; Tan, Gavin; Ting, Daniel; Lamoureux, Ecosse; Wong, Tien Yin

2017-10-01

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a blinding yet treatable complication of diabetes. DR screening is highly cost-effective at reducing blindness. Amidst the rapidly growing diabetic population in Asia, the prevalence of DR in the region is relatively less well known. To review existing national DR screening guidelines of 50 countries in Asia, compare them against the International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO) guideline, and summarise the prevalence rates of DR and sight-threatening DR (STDR) in these countries. We systematically searched for published guidelines from the National Guideline Clearinghouse and other databases, and contacted local diabetic and ophthalmological associations of all 50 Asian countries. Eleven Asian countries have published relevant guidelines, nine of which pertain to general diabetes care and two are DR-specific, covering less than half of Asia's population. The median DR prevalence among patients with diabetes is 30.5% (IQR: 23.2%-36.8%), similar to the USA and the UK. However, rates of STDR are consistently higher. All guidelines from the 11 Asian countries fulfil the ICO standard on when to start and repeat screening, except for screening interval for pregnant patients. However, only 2 of the 11 guidelines fulfil the ICO referral criteria and 6 partially fulfil. A third of the recommendations on screening process, equipment and personnel is either unavailable or incomplete. Countries in Asia need to establish more comprehensive and evidence-based DR screening guidelines to facilitate the execution of robust screening programmes that could help reduce DR-related blindness, improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Developing guidelines for disclosure or non-disclosure of bad news around life-limiting illness and death to people with intellectual disabilities.

PubMed

Tuffrey-Wijne, Irene; Giatras, Nikoletta; Butler, Gary; Cresswell, Amanda; Manners, Paula; Bernal, Jane

2013-05-01

There is insufficient evidence to guide decisions around (non-)disclosure of bad news of life-limiting illness and death to people with intellectual disabilities. The aim of this study was to develop guidelines for decisions about (non-)disclosure of bad news around life-limiting illness and death to people with intellectual disabilities, by examining stakeholders' preferences (and reasons) around disclosure and non-disclosure. Focus groups and interviews were held with 109 participants: people with intellectual disabilities, family carers, intellectual disabilities professionals and medical healthcare professionals. People with intellectual disabilities had wide-ranging views about disclosure. Reasons for non-disclosure included: preventing distress; too difficult for the bearer of bad news; the bearer of bad news lacks knowledge; inability to understand; no sense of time; conflicting views among stakeholders. Reasons for disclosure included: a right to know; knowledge helps the person cope; need for involvement. Disclosure of bad news could cause harm in some situations, but this needs careful assessment. The authors present guidelines for disclosure that now need to be tested in practice. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Development of American Sign Language Guidelines for K-12 Academic Assessments.

PubMed

Higgins, Jennifer A; Famularo, Lisa; Cawthon, Stephanie W; Kurz, Christopher A; Reis, Jeanne E; Moers, Lori M

2016-10-01

The U.S. federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was enacted with goals of closing achievement gaps and providing all students with access to equitable and high-quality instruction. One requirement of ESSA is annual statewide testing of students in grades 3-8 and once in high school. Some students, including many deaf or hard-of-hearing (D/HH) students, are eligible to use test supports, in the form of accommodations and accessibility tools, during state testing. Although technology allows accommodations and accessibility tools to be embedded within a digital assessment system, the success of this approach depends on the ability of test developers to appropriately represent content in accommodated forms. The Guidelines for Accessible Assessment Project (GAAP) sought to develop evidence- and consensus-based guidelines for representing test content in American Sign Language. In this article, we present an overview of GAAP, review of the literature, rationale, qualitative and quantitative research findings, and lessons learned. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The media and suicide.

PubMed

Sudak, Howard S; Sudak, Donna M

2005-01-01

The authors aim to inform readers of the theory that when newspapers, film, and television describe suicidal deaths, additional suicides may result by virtue of contagion or copy-cat effects; to review data that support and refute this theory; to present some promising and recommended ways to prevent copy-cat suicide; and to cite news-media examples of both particularly bad and good reporting. A review of the literature on media-related suicide was conducted, which included reviewing materials published in scientific journals and data published by the U.S. Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, and materials from private, not-for-profit agencies. Data support an increased number of suicides resulting from media accounts of suicide that romanticize or dramatize the description of suicidal deaths. Specific guidelines for the media that may be able to decrease these additional deaths have been devised. Psychiatrists should be familiar with the harm that may result from improper reporting of suicide in the media since they may be called upon by reporters or family members following the suicide of one of their patients or following the suicide of a newsworthy person. Following the media guidelines available may prevent such contagion effects from occurring.

Guidelines for the treatment of childhood-onset Graves’ disease in Japan, 2016

PubMed Central

Minamitani, Kanshi; Sato, Hirokazu; Ohye, Hidemi; Harada, Shohei; Arisaka, Osamu

2017-01-01

Abstract. Purpose behind developing these guidelines: Over one decade ago, the “Guidelines for the Treatment of Graves’ Disease with Antithyroid Drug, 2006” (Japan Thyroid Association (JTA)) were published as the standard drug therapy protocol for Graves’ disease. The “Guidelines for the Treatment of Childhood-Onset Graves’ Disease with Antithyroid Drug in Japan, 2008” were published to provide guidance on the treatment of pediatric patients. Based on new evidence, a revised version of the “Guidelines for the Treatment of Graves’ Disease with Antithyroid Drug, 2006” (JTA) was published in 2011, combined with the “Handbook of Radioiodine Therapy for Graves’ Disease 2007” (JTA). Subsequently, newer findings on pediatric Graves’ disease have been reported. Propylthiouracil (PTU)-induced serious hepatopathy is an important problem in pediatric patients. The American Thyroid Association’s guidelines suggest that, in principle, physicians must not administer PTU to children. On the other hand, the “Guidelines for the Treatment of Graves’ Disease with Antithyroid Drug, 2011” (JTA) state that radioiodine therapy is no longer considered a “fundamental contraindication” in children. Therefore, the “Guidelines for the Treatment of Childhood-Onset Graves’ Disease with Antithyroid Drug in Japan, 2008” required revision. PMID:28458457

Evidence-Based Management Guidelines on Peyronie's Disease.

PubMed

Chung, Eric; Ralph, David; Kagioglu, Ates; Garaffa, Guilio; Shamsodini, Ahmed; Bivalacqua, Trinity; Glina, Sidney; Hakim, Lawrence; Sadeghi-Nejad, Hossein; Broderick, Gregory

2016-06-01

Despite recent advances in our knowledge and treatment strategies in Peyronie's Disease (PD), much remained unknown about this disease. To provide a clinical framework and key guideline statements to assist clinicians in an evidence-based management of PD. A systematic literature search was conducted to identify published literature relevant to PD. The search included all relevant articles published up to June 2015, including preclinical studies and published guidelines. References used in the text were assessed according to their level of evidence, and guideline recommendations were graded based on the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine Levels of Evidence. Owing to the paucity of larger series and randomized placebo-controlled trials with regard to surgical intervention, guideline statements are provided as clinical principle or expert opinion. This literature was discussed at a panel meeting, and selected articles with the highest evidence available were used to create consensus guideline statements for the Fourth International Consultation on Sexual Medicine guidelines on PD. In addition to existing Third International Consultation on Sexual Medicine guidelines on PD, seven new summary recommendations were created. A greater understanding of the scientific basis of PD is greatly needed to address our understanding of the pathophysiology, clinical epidemiology, psychosocial, and diagnostic assessment as well as treatment strategies. Copyright © 2016 International Society for Sexual Medicine. All rights reserved.

Development of the standards of reporting of neurological disorders (STROND) checklist: a guideline for the reporting of incidence and prevalence studies in neuroepidemiology.

PubMed

Bennett, Derrick A; Brayne, Carol; Feigin, Valery L; Barker-Collo, Suzanne; Brainin, Michael; Davis, Daniel; Gallo, Valentina; Jetté, Nathalie; Karch, André; Kurtzke, John F; Lavados, Pablo M; Logroscino, Giancarlo; Nagel, Gabriele; Preux, Pierre-Marie; Rothwell, Peter M; Svenson, Lawrence W

2015-07-01

Incidence and prevalence studies of neurological disorders play an important role in assessing the burden of disease and planning services. However, the assessment of disease estimates is hindered by problems in reporting for such studies. Despite a growth in published reports, existing guidelines relate to analytical rather than descriptive epidemiological studies. There are also no user-friendly tools (e.g., checklists) available for authors, editors and peer-reviewers to facilitate best practice in reporting of descriptive epidemiological studies for most neurological disorders. The Standards of Reporting of Neurological Disorders (STROND) is a guideline that consists of recommendations and a checklist to facilitate better reporting of published incidence and prevalence studies of neurological disorders. A review of previously developed guidance was used to produce a list of items required for incidence and prevalence studies in neurology. A three-round Delphi technique was used to identify the 'basic minimum items' important for reporting, as well as some additional 'ideal reporting items'. An e-consultation process was then used in order to gauge opinion by external neuroepidemiological experts on the appropriateness of the items included in the checklist. Of 38 candidate items, 15 items and accompanying recommendations were developed along with a user-friendly checklist. The introduction and use of the STROND checklist should lead to more consistent, transparent and contextualised reporting of descriptive neuroepidemiological studies resulting in more applicable and comparable findings and ultimately support better healthcare decisions.

Quality reporting of carotid intima-media thickness methodology; Current state of the science in the field of spinal cord injury.

PubMed

Hoskin, Jordan D; Miyatani, Masae; Craven, B Catharine

2017-03-30

Carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) may be used increasingly as a cardiovascular disease (CVD) screening tool in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) as other routine invasive diagnostic tests are often unfeasible. However, variation in cIMT acquisition and analysis methods is an issue in the current published literature. The growth of the field is dependent on cIMT quality acquisition and analysis to ensure accurate reporting of CVD risk. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the quality of the reported methodology used to collect cIMT values in SCI. Data from 12 studies, which measured cIMT in individuals with SCI, were identified from the Medline, Embase and CINAHL databases. The quality of the reported methodologies was scored based on adherence to cIMT methodological guidelines abstracted from two consensus papers. Five studies were scored as 'moderate quality' in methodological reporting, having specified 9 to 11 of 15 quality reporting criterion. The remaining seven studies were scored as 'low quality', having reported less than 9 of 15 quality reporting criterion. No study had methodological reporting that was scored as 'high quality'. The overall reporting of quality methodology was poor in the published SCI literature. A greater adherence to current methodological guidelines is needed to advance the field of cIMT in SCI. Further research is necessary to refine cIMT acquisition and analysis guidelines to aid authors designing research and journals in screening manuscripts for publication.

World Health Organization treatment guidelines for drug-resistant tuberculosis, 2016 update.

PubMed

Falzon, Dennis; Schünemann, Holger J; Harausz, Elizabeth; González-Angulo, Licé; Lienhardt, Christian; Jaramillo, Ernesto; Weyer, Karin

2017-03-01

Antimicrobial resistance is a major global concern. Tuberculosis (TB) strains resistant to rifampicin and other TB medicines challenge patient survival and public health. The World Health Organization (WHO) has published treatment guidelines for drug-resistant TB since 1997 and last updated them in 2016 based on reviews of aggregated and individual patient data from published and unpublished studies. An international expert panel formulated recommendations following the GRADE approach. The new WHO guidelines recommend a standardised 9-12 months shorter treatment regimen as first choice in patients with multidrug- or rifampicin-resistant TB (MDR/RR-TB) strains not resistant to fluoroquinolones or second-line injectable agents; resistance to these two classes of core second-line medicines is rapidly detectable with molecular diagnostics also approved by WHO in 2016. The composition of longer regimens for patients ineligible for the shorter regimen was modified. A first-ever meta-analysis of individual paediatric patient data allowed treatment recommendations for childhood MDR/RR-TB to be made. Delamanid is now also recommended in patients aged 6-17 years. Partial lung resection is a recommended option in MDR/RR-TB care. The 2016 revision highlighted the continued shortage of high-quality evidence and implementation research, and reiterated the need for clinical trials and best-practice studies to improve MDR/RR-TB patient treatment outcomes and strengthen policy. The content of this work is copyright of the authors or their employers. Design and branding are copyright ©ERS 2017.

Reporting and methodological quality of survival analysis in articles published in Chinese oncology journals.

PubMed

Zhu, Xiaoyan; Zhou, Xiaobin; Zhang, Yuan; Sun, Xiao; Liu, Haihua; Zhang, Yingying

2017-12-01

Survival analysis methods have gained widespread use in the filed of oncology. For achievement of reliable results, the methodological process and report quality is crucial. This review provides the first examination of methodological characteristics and reporting quality of survival analysis in articles published in leading Chinese oncology journals.To examine methodological and reporting quality of survival analysis, to identify some common deficiencies, to desirable precautions in the analysis, and relate advice for authors, readers, and editors.A total of 242 survival analysis articles were included to be evaluated from 1492 articles published in 4 leading Chinese oncology journals in 2013. Articles were evaluated according to 16 established items for proper use and reporting of survival analysis.The application rates of Kaplan-Meier, life table, log-rank test, Breslow test, and Cox proportional hazards model (Cox model) were 91.74%, 3.72%, 78.51%, 0.41%, and 46.28%, respectively, no article used the parametric method for survival analysis. Multivariate Cox model was conducted in 112 articles (46.28%). Follow-up rates were mentioned in 155 articles (64.05%), of which 4 articles were under 80% and the lowest was 75.25%, 55 articles were100%. The report rates of all types of survival endpoint were lower than 10%. Eleven of 100 articles which reported a loss to follow-up had stated how to treat it in the analysis. One hundred thirty articles (53.72%) did not perform multivariate analysis. One hundred thirty-nine articles (57.44%) did not define the survival time. Violations and omissions of methodological guidelines included no mention of pertinent checks for proportional hazard assumption; no report of testing for interactions and collinearity between independent variables; no report of calculation method of sample size. Thirty-six articles (32.74%) reported the methods of independent variable selection. The above defects could make potentially inaccurate, misleading of the reported results, or difficult to interpret.There are gaps in the conduct and reporting of survival analysis in studies published in Chinese oncology journals, severe deficiencies were noted. More endorsement by journals of the report guideline for survival analysis may improve articles quality, and the dissemination of reliable evidence to oncology clinicians. We recommend authors, readers, reviewers, and editors to consider survival analysis more carefully and cooperate more closely with statisticians and epidemiologists. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

Guidelines for time-to-event end point definitions in sarcomas and gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) trials: results of the DATECAN initiative (Definition for the Assessment of Time-to-event Endpoints in CANcer trials)†.

PubMed

Bellera, C A; Penel, N; Ouali, M; Bonvalot, S; Casali, P G; Nielsen, O S; Delannes, M; Litière, S; Bonnetain, F; Dabakuyo, T S; Benjamin, R S; Blay, J-Y; Bui, B N; Collin, F; Delaney, T F; Duffaud, F; Filleron, T; Fiore, M; Gelderblom, H; George, S; Grimer, R; Grosclaude, P; Gronchi, A; Haas, R; Hohenberger, P; Issels, R; Italiano, A; Jooste, V; Krarup-Hansen, A; Le Péchoux, C; Mussi, C; Oberlin, O; Patel, S; Piperno-Neumann, S; Raut, C; Ray-Coquard, I; Rutkowski, P; Schuetze, S; Sleijfer, S; Stoeckle, E; Van Glabbeke, M; Woll, P; Gourgou-Bourgade, S; Mathoulin-Pélissier, S

2015-05-01

The use of potential surrogate end points for overall survival, such as disease-free survival (DFS) or time-to-treatment failure (TTF) is increasingly common in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in cancer. However, the definition of time-to-event (TTE) end points is rarely precise and lacks uniformity across trials. End point definition can impact trial results by affecting estimation of treatment effect and statistical power. The DATECAN initiative (Definition for the Assessment of Time-to-event End points in CANcer trials) aims to provide recommendations for definitions of TTE end points. We report guidelines for RCT in sarcomas and gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST). We first carried out a literature review to identify TTE end points (primary or secondary) reported in publications of RCT. An international multidisciplinary panel of experts proposed recommendations for the definitions of these end points. Recommendations were developed through a validated consensus method formalizing the degree of agreement among experts. Recommended guidelines for the definition of TTE end points commonly used in RCT for sarcomas and GIST are provided for adjuvant and metastatic settings, including DFS, TTF, time to progression and others. Use of standardized definitions should facilitate comparison of trials' results, and improve the quality of trial design and reporting. These guidelines could be of particular interest to research scientists involved in the design, conduct, reporting or assessment of RCT such as investigators, statisticians, reviewers, editors or regulatory authorities. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society for Medical Oncology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Creation of an Open Framework for Point-of-Care Computer-Assisted Reporting and Decision Support Tools for Radiologists.

PubMed

Alkasab, Tarik K; Bizzo, Bernardo C; Berland, Lincoln L; Nair, Sujith; Pandharipande, Pari V; Harvey, H Benjamin

2017-09-01

Decreasing unnecessary variation in radiology reporting and producing guideline-concordant reports is fundamental to radiology's success in value-based payment models and good for patient care. In this article, we present an open authoring system for point-of-care clinical decision support tools integrated into the radiologist reporting environment referred to as the computer-assisted reporting and decision support (CAR/DS) framework. The CAR/DS authoring system, described herein, includes: (1) a definition format for representing radiology clinical guidelines as structured, machine-readable Extensible Markup Language documents and (2) a user-friendly reference implementation to test the fidelity of the created definition files with the clinical guideline. The proposed definition format and reference implementation will enable content creators to develop CAR/DS tools that voice recognition software (VRS) vendors can use to extend the commercial tools currently in use. In making the definition format and reference implementation software freely available, we hope to empower individual radiologists, expert groups such as the ACR, and VRS vendors to develop a robust ecosystem of CAR/DS tools that can further improve the quality and efficiency of the patient care that our field provides. We hope that this initial effort can serve as the basis for a community-owned open standard for guideline definition that the imaging informatics and VRS vendor communities will embrace and strengthen. To this end, the ACR Assist™ initiative is intended to make the College's clinical content, including the Incidental Findings Committee White Papers, available for decision support tool creation based upon the herein described CAR/DS framework. Copyright © 2017 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Recommendations for an update of the 2010 European regulatory guideline on clinical investigation of medicinal products used in the treatment of osteoarthritis and reflections about related clinically relevant outcomes: expert consensus statement.

PubMed

Reginster, J-Y; Reiter-Niesert, S; Bruyère, O; Berenbaum, F; Brandi, M-L; Branco, J; Devogelaer, J-P; Herrero-Beaumont, G; Kanis, J; Maggi, S; Maheu, E; Richette, P; Rizzoli, R; Cooper, C

2015-12-01

The European Society on Clinical and Economic aspects of Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis (ESCEO) organised a working group to evaluate the need for updating the current European guideline on clinical investigation of drugs used in the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA). Areas of potential attention were identified and the need for modifications, update or clarification was examined. Proposals were then developed based on literature reviews and through a consensus process. It was agreed that the current guideline overall still reflects the current knowledge in OA, although two possible modifications were identified. The first relates to the number and timing of measurements required as primary endpoints during clinical trials of symptom-relieving drugs, either drugs with rapid onset of action or slow acting drugs. The suggested modifications are intended to take into consideration the time related clinical need and expected time response to these drugs - i.e., a more early effect for the first category in addition to the maintenance of effect, a more continuous benefit over the long-term for the latter - in the timing of assessments. Secondly, values above which a benefit over placebo should be considered clinically relevant were considered. Based on literature reviews, the most consensual values were determined for primary endpoints of both symptom-relieving drugs (i.e., pain intensity on a visual analogue scale (VAS)) and disease-modifying drugs (i.e., radiographic joint-space narrowing). This working document might be considered by the European regulatory authorities in a future update of the guideline for the registration of drugs in OA. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

10 CFR 1049.5 - Exercise of arrest authority-General guidelines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 10 Energy 4 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Exercise of arrest authority-General guidelines. 1049.5 Section 1049.5 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (GENERAL PROVISIONS) LIMITED ARREST AUTHORITY AND USE OF FORCE BY PROTECTIVE FORCE OFFICERS OF THE STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE § 1049.5 Exercise of arrest authority...

10 CFR 1049.5 - Exercise of arrest authority-General guidelines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 10 Energy 4 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Exercise of arrest authority-General guidelines. 1049.5 Section 1049.5 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (GENERAL PROVISIONS) LIMITED ARREST AUTHORITY AND USE OF FORCE BY PROTECTIVE FORCE OFFICERS OF THE STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE § 1049.5 Exercise of arrest authority...

10 CFR 1049.5 - Exercise of arrest authority-General guidelines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 10 Energy 4 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Exercise of arrest authority-General guidelines. 1049.5 Section 1049.5 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (GENERAL PROVISIONS) LIMITED ARREST AUTHORITY AND USE OF FORCE BY PROTECTIVE FORCE OFFICERS OF THE STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE § 1049.5 Exercise of arrest authority...

10 CFR 1049.5 - Exercise of arrest authority-General guidelines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 10 Energy 4 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Exercise of arrest authority-General guidelines. 1049.5 Section 1049.5 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (GENERAL PROVISIONS) LIMITED ARREST AUTHORITY AND USE OF FORCE BY PROTECTIVE FORCE OFFICERS OF THE STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE § 1049.5 Exercise of arrest authority...

10 CFR 1049.5 - Exercise of arrest authority-General guidelines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Exercise of arrest authority-General guidelines. 1049.5 Section 1049.5 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (GENERAL PROVISIONS) LIMITED ARREST AUTHORITY AND USE OF FORCE BY PROTECTIVE FORCE OFFICERS OF THE STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE § 1049.5 Exercise of arrest authority...

A qualitative study of the determinants of HIV guidelines implementation in two south-eastern districts of Tanzania.

PubMed

Mwangome, Mary N; Geubbels, Eveline; Wringe, Alison; Todd, Jim; Klatser, Paul; Dieleman, Marjolein

2017-07-01

Current HIV policies in Tanzania have adopted the three long-term impact results of zero new infections, zero HIV deaths and zero stigma and discrimination. Strategies to reach these results include scaling-up HIV Testing and Counselling (HTC); Preventing Mother-To-Child Transmission (PMTCT); and strengthening Care and Treatment Clinic (CTC) services. Previous studies showed that HIV policy and guideline recommendations were not always implemented in rural South Tanzania. This study aims to identify the determinants of HIV guideline implementation. A qualitative study of 23 semi-structured interviews with facility in-charges; healthcare workers; district, regional and national HIV coordinators was conducted. Five health facilities were purposively selected by level, ownership and proximity to district headquarters. Interviews were analysed according to Fleuren's five determinants of innovation uptake related to: strategies used in guideline development and dissemination; guideline characteristics; the guideline implementing organization; guideline users; and the socio-cultural and regulatory context. None of the facilities had the HTC national guideline document. Non-involvement of providers in revisions and weak planning for guideline dissemination impeded their implementation. Lengthy guidelines and those written in English were under-used, and activities perceived to be complicated, like WHO-staging, were avoided. Availability of staff and lack of supplies like test kits and medication impeded implementation. Collaboration between facilities enhanced implementation, as did peer-support among providers. Provider characteristics including education level, knowledge of, and commitment to the guideline influenced implementation. According to providers, determinants of clients' service use included gender norms, stigma, trust and perceived benefits. The regulatory context prohibited private hospitals from buying HIV supplies. Being tools for bringing policies to practice, national guidelines are crucial in the efforts towards the three zeros. Strategies to improve providers' adherence to guidelines should include development of clearer guideline dissemination plans, strengthening of the health system, and possibly addressing of provider-perceived patient-level barriers to utilizing HIV services. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Number and type of guideline implementation tools varies by guideline, clinical condition, country of origin, and type of developer organization: content analysis of guidelines.

PubMed

Liang, Laurel; Abi Safi, Jhoni; Gagliardi, Anna R

2017-11-15

Guideline implementation tools (GI tools) can improve clinician behavior and patient outcomes. Analyses of guidelines published before 2010 found that many did not offer GI tools. Since 2010 standards, frameworks and instructions for GI tools have emerged. This study analyzed the number and types of GI tools offered by guidelines published in 2010 or later. Content analysis and a published GI tool framework were used to categorize GI tools by condition, country, and type of organization. English-language guidelines on arthritis, asthma, colorectal cancer, depression, diabetes, heart failure, and stroke management were identified in the National Guideline Clearinghouse. Screening and data extraction were in triplicate. Findings were reported with summary statistics. Eighty-five (67.5%) of 126 eligible guidelines published between 2010 and 2017 offered one or more of a total of 464 GI tools. The mean number of GI tools per guideline was 5.5 (median 4.0, range 1 to 28) and increased over time. The majority of GI tools were for clinicians (239, 51.5%), few were for patients (113, 24.4%), and fewer still were to support implementation (66, 14.3%) or evaluation (46, 9.9%). Most clinician GI tools were guideline summaries (116, 48.5%), and most patient GI tools were condition-specific information (92, 81.4%). Government agencies (patient 23.5%, clinician 28.9%, implementation 24.1%, evaluation 23.5%) and developers in the UK (patient 18.5%, clinician 25.2%, implementation 27.2%, evaluation 29.1%) were more likely to generate guidelines that offered all four types of GI tools. Professional societies were more likely to generate guidelines that included clinician GI tools. Many guidelines do not include any GI tools, or a variety of GI tools for different stakeholders that may be more likely to prompt guideline uptake (point-of-care forms or checklists for clinicians, decision-making or self-management tools for patients, implementation and evaluation tools for managers and policy-makers). While this may vary by country and type of organization, and suggests that developers could improve the range of GI tools they develop, further research is needed to identify determinants and potential solutions. Research is also needed to examine the cost-effectiveness of various types of GI tools so that developers know where to direct their efforts and scarce resources.

Are Peer Reviewers Encouraged to Use Reporting Guidelines? A Survey of 116 Health Research Journals

PubMed Central

Hirst, Allison; Altman, Douglas G.

2012-01-01

Background Pre-publication peer review of manuscripts should enhance the value of research publications to readers who may wish to utilize findings in clinical care or health policy-making. Much published research across all medical specialties is not useful, may be misleading, wasteful and even harmful. Reporting guidelines are tools that in addition to helping authors prepare better manuscripts may help peer reviewers in assessing them. We examined journals' instructions to peer reviewers to see if and how reviewers are encouraged to use them. Methods We surveyed websites of 116 journals from the McMaster list. Main outcomes were 1) identification of online instructions to peer reviewers and 2) presence or absence of key domains within instructions: on journal logistics, reviewer etiquette and addressing manuscript content (11 domains). Findings Only 41/116 journals (35%) provided online instructions. All 41 guided reviewers about the logistics of their review processes, 38 (93%) outlined standards of behaviour expected and 39 (95%) contained instruction about evaluating the manuscript content. There was great variation in explicit instruction for reviewers about how to evaluate manuscript content. Almost half of the online instructions 19/41 (46%) mentioned reporting guidelines usually as general statements suggesting they may be useful or asking whether authors had followed them rather than clear instructions about how to use them. All 19 named CONSORT for reporting randomized trials but there was little mention of CONSORT extensions. PRISMA, QUOROM (forerunner of PRISMA), STARD, STROBE and MOOSE were mentioned by several journals. No other reporting guideline was mentioned by more than two journals. Conclusions Although almost half of instructions mentioned reporting guidelines, their value in improving research publications is not being fully realised. Journals have a responsibility to support peer reviewers. We make several recommendations including wider reference to the EQUATOR Network online library (www.equator-network.org/). PMID:22558178

Citation of previous meta-analyses on the same topic: a clue to perpetuation of incorrect methods?

PubMed

Li, Tianjing; Dickersin, Kay

2013-06-01

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses serve as a basis for decision-making and clinical practice guidelines and should be carried out using appropriate methodology to avoid incorrect inferences. We describe the characteristics, statistical methods used for meta-analyses, and citation patterns of all 21 glaucoma systematic reviews we identified pertaining to the effectiveness of prostaglandin analog eye drops in treating primary open-angle glaucoma, published between December 2000 and February 2012. We abstracted data, assessed whether appropriate statistical methods were applied in meta-analyses, and examined citation patterns of included reviews. We identified two forms of problematic statistical analyses in 9 of the 21 systematic reviews examined. Except in 1 case, none of the 9 reviews that used incorrect statistical methods cited a previously published review that used appropriate methods. Reviews that used incorrect methods were cited 2.6 times more often than reviews that used appropriate statistical methods. We speculate that by emulating the statistical methodology of previous systematic reviews, systematic review authors may have perpetuated incorrect approaches to meta-analysis. The use of incorrect statistical methods, perhaps through emulating methods described in previous research, calls conclusions of systematic reviews into question and may lead to inappropriate patient care. We urge systematic review authors and journal editors to seek the advice of experienced statisticians before undertaking or accepting for publication a systematic review and meta-analysis. The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article. Copyright © 2013 American Academy of Ophthalmology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

ESCMID guidelines for the management of the infection control measures to reduce transmission of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria in hospitalized patients.

PubMed

Tacconelli, E; Cataldo, M A; Dancer, S J; De Angelis, G; Falcone, M; Frank, U; Kahlmeter, G; Pan, A; Petrosillo, N; Rodríguez-Baño, J; Singh, N; Venditti, M; Yokoe, D S; Cookson, B

2014-01-01

Healthcare-associated infections due to multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (MDR-GNB) are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. These evidence-based guidelines have been produced after a systematic review of published studies on infection prevention and control interventions aimed at reducing the transmission of MDR-GNB. The recommendations are stratified by type of infection prevention and control intervention and species of MDR-GNB and are presented in the form of 'basic' practices, recommended for all acute care facilities, and 'additional special approaches' to be considered when there is still clinical and/or epidemiological and/or molecular evidence of ongoing transmission, despite the application of the basic measures. The level of evidence for and strength of each recommendation, were defined according to the GRADE approach. © 2013 The Authors Clinical Microbiology and Infection © 2013 European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.

Guidance on the selection of cohorts for the extended one-generation reproduction toxicity study (OECD test guideline 443).

PubMed

Moore, Nigel P; Beekhuijzen, Manon; Boogaard, Peter J; Foreman, Jennifer E; North, Colin M; Palermo, Christine; Schneider, Steffen; Strauss, Volker; van Ravenzwaay, Bennard; Poole, Alan

2016-10-01

The extended one-generation reproduction toxicity study (EOGRTS; OECD test guideline 433) is a new and technically complex design to evaluate the putative effects of chemicals on fertility and development, including effects upon the developing nervous and immune systems. In addition to offering a more comprehensive assessment of developmental toxicity, the EOGRTS offers important improvements in animal welfare through reduction and refinement in a modular study design. The challenge to the practitioner is to know how the modular aspects of the study should be triggered on the basis of prior knowledge of a particular chemical, or on earlier findings in the EOGRTS itself, requirements of specific regulatory frameworks notwithstanding. The purpose of this document is to offer guidance on science-based triggers for these extended evaluations. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The past, present, and future of selective progesterone receptor modulators in the management of uterine fibroids.

PubMed

Singh, Sukhbir S; Belland, Liane; Leyland, Nicholas; von Riedemann, Sarah; Murji, Ally

2017-12-21

Uterine fibroids are common in women of reproductive age and can have a significant impact on quality of life and fertility. Although a number of international obstetrics/gynecology societies have issued evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for the management of symptomatic uterine fibroids, many of these guidelines do not yet reflect the most recent clinical evidence and approved indication for one of the key medical management options: the selective progesterone receptor modulator class. This article aims to share the clinical experience gained with selective progesterone receptor modulators in Europe and Canada by reviewing the historical development of selective progesterone receptor modulators, current best practices for selective progesterone receptor modulator use based on available data, and potential future uses for selective progesterone receptor modulators in uterine fibroids and other gynecologic conditions. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The measurement of adult blood pressure and management of hypertension before elective surgery: Joint Guidelines from the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland and the British Hypertension Society.

PubMed

Hartle, A; McCormack, T; Carlisle, J; Anderson, S; Pichel, A; Beckett, N; Woodcock, T; Heagerty, A

2016-03-01

This guideline aims to ensure that patients admitted to hospital for elective surgery are known to have blood pressures below 160 mmHg systolic and 100 mmHg diastolic in primary care. The objective for primary care is to fulfil this criterion before referral to secondary care for elective surgery. The objective for secondary care is to avoid spurious hypertensive measurements. Secondary care should not attempt to diagnose hypertension in patients who are normotensive in primary care. Patients who present to pre-operative assessment clinics without documented primary care blood pressures should proceed to elective surgery if clinic blood pressures are below 180 mmHg systolic and 110 mmHg diastolic. © 2016 The Authors. Anaesthesia published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland.

Hand classification of fMRI ICA noise components.

PubMed

Griffanti, Ludovica; Douaud, Gwenaëlle; Bijsterbosch, Janine; Evangelisti, Stefania; Alfaro-Almagro, Fidel; Glasser, Matthew F; Duff, Eugene P; Fitzgibbon, Sean; Westphal, Robert; Carone, Davide; Beckmann, Christian F; Smith, Stephen M

2017-07-01

We present a practical "how-to" guide to help determine whether single-subject fMRI independent components (ICs) characterise structured noise or not. Manual identification of signal and noise after ICA decomposition is required for efficient data denoising: to train supervised algorithms, to check the results of unsupervised ones or to manually clean the data. In this paper we describe the main spatial and temporal features of ICs and provide general guidelines on how to evaluate these. Examples of signal and noise components are provided from a wide range of datasets (3T data, including examples from the UK Biobank and the Human Connectome Project, and 7T data), together with practical guidelines for their identification. Finally, we discuss how the data quality, data type and preprocessing can influence the characteristics of the ICs and present examples of particularly challenging datasets. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Understanding the Epidemiology of Heart Failure to Improve Management Practices: An Asia-Pacific Perspective.

PubMed

Rajadurai, Jeyamalar; Tse, Hung-Fat; Wang, Chao-Hung; Yang, Ning-I; Zhou, Jingmin; Sim, David

2017-04-01

Heart failure (HF) is a major global healthcare problem with an estimated prevalence of approximately 26 million. In Asia-Pacific regions, HF is associated with a significant socioeconomic burden and high rates of hospital admission. Epidemiological data that could help to improve management approaches to address this burden in Asia-Pacific regions are limited, but suggest patients with HF in the Asia-Pacific are younger and have more severe signs and symptoms of HF than those of Western countries. However, local guidelines are based largely on the European Society of Cardiology and American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Heart Association guidelines, which draw their evidence from studies where Western patients form the major demographic and patients from the Asia-Pacific region are underrepresented. Furthermore, regional differences in treatment practices likely affect patient outcomes. In the following review, we examine epidemiological data from existing regional registries, which indicate that these patients represent a distinct subpopulation of patients with HF. In addition, we highlight that patients with HF are under-treated in the region despite the existence of local guidelines. Finally, we provide suggestions on how data can be enriched throughout the region, which may positively affect local guidelines and improve management practices. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

2017 HIV Medicine Association of Infectious Diseases Society of America Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Chronic Pain in Patients Living With Human Immunodeficiency Virus.

PubMed

Bruce, R Douglas; Merlin, Jessica; Lum, Paula J; Ahmed, Ebtesam; Alexander, Carla; Corbett, Amanda H; Foley, Kathleen; Leonard, Kate; Treisman, Glenn Jordan; Selwyn, Peter

2017-10-30

Pain has always been an important part of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease and its experience for patients. In this guideline, we review the types of chronic pain commonly seen among persons living with HIV (PLWH) and review the limited evidence base for treatment of chronic noncancer pain in this population. We also review the management of chronic pain in special populations of PLWH, including persons with substance use and mental health disorders. Finally, a general review of possible pharmacokinetic interactions is included to assist the HIV clinician in the treatment of chronic pain in this population.It is important to realize that guidelines cannot always account for individual variation among patients. They are not intended to supplant physician judgment with respect to particular patients or special clinical situations. The Infectious Diseases Society of American considers adherence to these guidelines to be voluntary, with the ultimate determination regarding their application to be made by the physician in the light of each patient's individual circumstances. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Proposed Guidelines for Carcinogen Risk Assessment

EPA Science Inventory

The Proposed Guidelines for Carcinogen Risk Assessment were published in the Federal Register on April 23, 1996 (Federal Register: 17960-18011) for a 120-day public review and comment period. The Proposed Guidelines are a revision of EPA's 1986 Guidelines for Carcinogen Risk Ass...

Guidelines for fellowship training in Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine: Second Edition, 2010.

PubMed

2011-01-01

The Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine Fellowship Directors Group develops and maintains guidelines for fellowship training in the subspecialty. These guidelines update the original guidelines that were published in 2005. The guidelines address 3 major topic areas: organization and resources, the educational program, and the evaluation process.

Benefits of exercise during pregnancy.

PubMed

Prather, Heidi; Spitznagle, Tracy; Hunt, Devyani

2012-11-01

There is a direct link between healthy mothers and healthy infants. Exercise and appropriate nutrition are important contributors to maternal physical and psychological health. The benefits and potential risks of exercise during pregnancy have gained even more attention, with a number of studies having been published after the 2002 American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists guidelines. A review of the literature was conducted by using PubMed, Scopus, and Embase to assess the literature regarding the benefits of exercise during pregnancy. The search revealed 219 publications, which the authors then narrowed to 125 publications. The purpose of this review is to briefly summarize the known benefits of exercise to the mother, fetus, and newborn. Copyright © 2012 American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Writing a review article - Are you making these mistakes?

PubMed

Daldrup-Link, Heike E

2018-01-01

An explosion of scientific publications over the last decades has increased the need for review articles: Carefully crafted scientific review articles can provide the novice reader with an overview of a new subject and provide the expert with a synthesis of scientific evidence, proof of reproducibility of published data and pooled estimates of common truth through meta-analyses. Unfortunately, while there are ample presentations and published guidelines for the preparation of scientific articles available, detailed information about how to properly prepare scientific review articles is relatively scarce. This perspective summarizes possible mistakes that can lead to misinformation in scientific review articles with the goal to help authors to improve the scientific contribution of their review article and thereby, increase the respective value of these articles for the scientific community.

Misrepresentation, liberalism, and heterosexual bias in introductory psychology textbooks.

PubMed

McDonald, G

1981-01-01

The present study investigated the content of 48 introductory psychology textbooks published over a five-year period (1975-1979) and recommended by publishing companies or psychology professors for use in Canadian universities. The findings indicated that for every one source of relevant information on homosexuality there were five sources of misrepresentative data that reflect a combination of misleading information, liberalism, and heterosexual bias. Textbook editors and authors have: (1) failed to address the rights and needs of gay people; (2) failed to document accurately the social changes associated with being gay; and (3) perpetuated societal stereotypes, thereby appearing to justify the prejudice and discrimination encountered by gay people in their daily lives. Guidelines for the discussion of lesbianism and male homosexuality in introductory psychology textbooks are proposed.

WHO Working Group on Technical Specifications for Manufacture and Evaluation of Yellow Fever Vaccines, Geneva, Switzerland, 13-14 May 2009.

PubMed

Ferguson, Morag; Shin, Jinho; Knezevic, Ivana; Minor, Philip; Barrett, Alan

2010-12-06

In May 2009, WHO convened a meeting of Working Group on Technical Specifications for Manufacturing and Evaluating Yellow Fever (YF) Vaccines, Geneva, Switzerland to initiate revision of the WHO Recommendations (formerly, Requirements) for YF vaccine published in WHO Technical Report Series number 872 (1998). The Working Group, consisting of experts from academia, industry, national regulatory authorities and national control laboratories, reviewed the latest issues of safety, efficacy and quality of YF vaccines and agreed that (i) the revision should focus on live attenuated YF vaccine virus 17D lineage; and that (ii) nonclinical and clinical guidelines for new vaccines prepared from 17D lineage be developed. Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Ethical dilemmas in scientific publication: pitfalls and solutions for editors.

PubMed

Gollogly, Laragh; Momen, Hooman

2006-08-01

Editors of scientific journals need to be conversant with the mechanisms by which scientific misconduct is amplified by publication practices. This paper provides definitions, ways to document the extent of the problem, and examples of editorial attempts to counter fraud. Fabrication, falsification, duplication, ghost authorship, gift authorship, lack of ethics approval, non-disclosure, 'salami' publication, conflicts of interest, auto-citation, duplicate submission, duplicate publications, and plagiarism are common problems. Editorial misconduct includes failure to observe due process, undue delay in reaching decisions and communicating these to authors, inappropriate review procedures, and confounding a journal's content with its advertising or promotional potential. Editors also can be admonished by their peers for failure to investigate suspected misconduct, failure to retract when indicated, and failure to abide voluntarily by the six main sources of relevant international guidelines on research, its reporting and editorial practice. Editors are in a good position to promulgate reasonable standards of practice, and can start by using consensus guidelines on publication ethics to state explicitly how their journals function. Reviewers, editors, authors and readers all then have a better chance to understand, and abide by, the rules of publishing.

Dietary interventions in overweight and obese pregnant women: a systematic review of the content, delivery, and outcomes of randomized controlled trials.

PubMed

Flynn, Angela C; Dalrymple, Kathryn; Barr, Suzanne; Poston, Lucilla; Goff, Louise M; Rogozińska, Ewelina; van Poppel, Mireille N M; Rayanagoudar, Girish; Yeo, SeonAe; Barakat Carballo, Ruben; Perales, Maria; Bogaerts, Annick; Cecatti, Jose G; Dodd, Jodie; Owens, Julie; Devlieger, Roland; Teede, Helena; Haakstad, Lene; Motahari-Tabari, Narges; Tonstad, Serena; Luoto, Riitta; Guelfi, Kym; Petrella, Elisabetta; Phelan, Suzanne; Scudeller, Tânia T; Hauner, Hans; Renault, Kristina; Sagedal, Linda Reme; Stafne, Signe N; Vinter, Christina; Astrup, Arne; Geiker, Nina R W; McAuliffe, Fionnuala M; Mol, Ben W; Thangaratinam, Shakila

2016-05-01

Interventions targeting maternal obesity are a healthcare and public health priority. The objective of this review was to evaluate the adequacy and effectiveness of the methodological designs implemented in dietary intervention trials for obesity in pregnancy. A systematic review of the literature, consistent with PRISMA guidelines, was performed as part of the International Weight Management in Pregnancy collaboration. Thirteen randomized controlled trials, which aimed to modify diet and physical activity in overweight and obese pregnant women, were identified. There was significant variability in the content, delivery, and dietary assessment methods of the dietary interventions examined. A number of studies demonstrated improved dietary behavior in response to diet and/or lifestyle interventions. Nine studies reduced gestational weight gain. This review reveals large methodological variability in dietary interventions to control gestational weight gain and improve clinical outcomes in overweight and obese pregnant women. This lack of consensus limits the ability to develop clinical guidelines and apply the evidence in clinical practice. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Life Sciences Institute. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Exercise recommendations for childhood cancer survivors exposed to cardiotoxic therapies: an institutional clinical practice initiative.

PubMed

Okada, Maki; Meeske, Kathleen A; Menteer, Jondavid; Freyer, David R

2012-01-01

Childhood cancer survivors who have received treatment with anthracyclines are at risk for developing cardiomyopathy in dose-dependent fashion. Historically, restrictions on certain types of physical activity that were intended to preserve cardiac function have been recommended, based on a mixture of evidence-based and consensus-based recommendations. In the LIFE Cancer Survivorship & Transition Program at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, the authors reevaluated their recommendations for exercise in survivors who were exposed to anthracyclines, with or without irradiation in proximity to the myocardium. The primary goal was to develop consistent, specific, practical, safe, and (where possible) evidence-based recommendations for at-risk survivors in the program. To accomplish this, the authors referred to current exercise guidelines for childhood cancer survivors, consulted recent literature for relevant populations, and obtained input from the program's pediatric cardiology consultant. The resulting risk-based exercise recommendations are designed to complement current published guidelines, maximize safe exercise, and help childhood cancer survivors return to a normal life that emphasizes overall wellness and physical activity. This article describes a single institution's experience in modifying exercise recommendations for at-risk childhood survivors and includes the methods, findings, and current institutional practice recommendations along with sample education materials.

Shigella species epidemiology and antimicrobial susceptibility: the implications of emerging azithromycin resistance for guiding treatment, guidelines and breakpoints.

PubMed

Brown, Jeremy D; Willcox, Simon J; Franklin, Neil; Hazelton, Briony; Howard, Peter; Reinten, Tracie; Sheppeard, Vicky; O'Sullivan, Matthew

2017-11-01

To examine antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and predictors of resistance among Shigella isolates in New South Wales (NSW), Australia during 2013-14 with emphasis on azithromycin. Cross-sectional analysis of all shigellosis cases (160) notified to public health authorities in NSW, Australia was performed. Among 160 Shigella isolates tested, 139 (86.9%) were susceptible to azithromycin, 104 (65.0%) to ciprofloxacin and 38 (23.7%) to co-trimoxazole. Ciprofloxacin resistance was 1.9 times more common in infections acquired in Australia compared with those acquired overseas, while azithromycin resistance was 8.5 times more common in males. We recommend ongoing reconsideration of guidelines for the treatment of shigellosis based on emerging resistance patterns. First-line therapy may need to be reconsidered based on local resistance rates due to common resistance to co-trimoxazole and ciprofloxacin. We recommend culture and susceptibility testing for suspected and proven shigellosis. Azithromycin susceptibility breakpoints for Shigella species may need to be species specific. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Standards for QUality Improvement Reporting Excellence 2.0: revised publication guidelines from a detailed consensus process.

PubMed

Ogrinc, Greg; Davies, Louise; Goodman, Daisy; Batalden, Paul; Davidoff, Frank; Stevens, David

2016-02-01

Since the publication of Standards for QUality Improvement Reporting Excellence (SQUIRE 1.0) guidelines in 2008, the science of the field has advanced considerably. In this article, we describe the development of SQUIRE 2.0 and its key components. We undertook the revision between 2012 and 2015 using (1) semistructured interviews and focus groups to evaluate SQUIRE 1.0 plus feedback from an international steering group, (2) two face-to-face consensus meetings to develop interim drafts, and (3) pilot testing with authors and a public comment period. SQUIRE 2.0 emphasizes the reporting of three key components of systematic efforts to improve the quality, value, and safety of health care: the use of formal and informal theory in planning, implementing, and evaluating improvement work; the context in which the work is done; and the study of the intervention(s). SQUIRE 2.0 is intended for reporting the range of methods used to improve health care, recognizing that they can be complex and multidimensional. It provides common ground to share these discoveries in the scholarly literature (www.squire-statement.org). Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Antiplatelet therapy with aspirin, clopidogrel, and dipyridamole versus clopidogrel alone or aspirin and dipyridamole in patients with acute cerebral ischaemia (TARDIS): a randomised, open-label, phase 3 superiority trial.

PubMed

Bath, Philip M; Woodhouse, Lisa J; Appleton, Jason P; Beridze, Maia; Christensen, Hanne; Dineen, Robert A; Duley, Lelia; England, Timothy J; Flaherty, Katie; Havard, Diane; Heptinstall, Stan; James, Marilyn; Krishnan, Kailash; Markus, Hugh S; Montgomery, Alan A; Pocock, Stuart J; Randall, Marc; Ranta, Annemarei; Robinson, Thompson G; Scutt, Polly; Venables, Graham S; Sprigg, Nikola

2018-03-03

Intensive antiplatelet therapy with three agents might be more effective than guideline treatment for preventing recurrent events in patients with acute cerebral ischaemia. We aimed to compare the safety and efficacy of intensive antiplatelet therapy (combined aspirin, clopidogrel, and dipyridamole) with that of guideline-based antiplatelet therapy. We did an international, prospective, randomised, open-label, blinded-endpoint trial in adult participants with ischaemic stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA) within 48 h of onset. Participants were assigned in a 1:1 ratio using computer randomisation to receive loading doses and then 30 days of intensive antiplatelet therapy (combined aspirin 75 mg, clopidogrel 75 mg, and dipyridamole 200 mg twice daily) or guideline-based therapy (comprising either clopidogrel alone or combined aspirin and dipyridamole). Randomisation was stratified by country and index event, and minimised with prognostic baseline factors, medication use, time to randomisation, stroke-related factors, and thrombolysis. The ordinal primary outcome was the combined incidence and severity of any recurrent stroke (ischaemic or haemorrhagic; assessed using the modified Rankin Scale) or TIA within 90 days, as assessed by central telephone follow-up with masking to treatment assignment, and analysed by intention to treat. This trial is registered with the ISRCTN registry, number ISRCTN47823388. 3096 participants (1556 in the intensive antiplatelet therapy group, 1540 in the guideline antiplatelet therapy group) were recruited from 106 hospitals in four countries between April 7, 2009, and March 18, 2016. The trial was stopped early on the recommendation of the data monitoring committee. The incidence and severity of recurrent stroke or TIA did not differ between intensive and guideline therapy (93 [6%] participants vs 105 [7%]; adjusted common odds ratio [cOR] 0·90, 95% CI 0·67-1·20, p=0·47). By contrast, intensive antiplatelet therapy was associated with more, and more severe, bleeding (adjusted cOR 2·54, 95% CI 2·05-3·16, p<0·0001). Among patients with recent cerebral ischaemia, intensive antiplatelet therapy did not reduce the incidence and severity of recurrent stroke or TIA, but did significantly increase the risk of major bleeding. Triple antiplatelet therapy should not be used in routine clinical practice. National Institutes of Health Research Health Technology Assessment Programme, British Heart Foundation. Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Assessing the reliability of ecotoxicological studies: An overview of current needs and approaches.

PubMed

Moermond, Caroline; Beasley, Amy; Breton, Roger; Junghans, Marion; Laskowski, Ryszard; Solomon, Keith; Zahner, Holly

2017-07-01

In general, reliable studies are well designed and well performed, and enough details on study design and performance are reported to assess the study. For hazard and risk assessment in various legal frameworks, many different types of ecotoxicity studies need to be evaluated for reliability. These studies vary in study design, methodology, quality, and level of detail reported (e.g., reviews, peer-reviewed research papers, or industry-sponsored studies documented under Good Laboratory Practice [GLP] guidelines). Regulators have the responsibility to make sound and verifiable decisions and should evaluate each study for reliability in accordance with scientific principles regardless of whether they were conducted in accordance with GLP and/or standardized methods. Thus, a systematic and transparent approach is needed to evaluate studies for reliability. In this paper, 8 different methods for reliability assessment were compared using a number of attributes: categorical versus numerical scoring methods, use of exclusion and critical criteria, weighting of criteria, whether methods are tested with case studies, domain of applicability, bias toward GLP studies, incorporation of standard guidelines in the evaluation method, number of criteria used, type of criteria considered, and availability of guidance material. Finally, some considerations are given on how to choose a suitable method for assessing reliability of ecotoxicity studies. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2017;13:640-651. © 2016 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC). © 2016 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

Good Publication Practice for Communicating Company-Sponsored Medical Research: GPP3.

PubMed

Battisti, Wendy P; Wager, Elizabeth; Baltzer, Lise; Bridges, Dan; Cairns, Angela; Carswell, Christopher I; Citrome, Leslie; Gurr, James A; Mooney, LaVerne A; Moore, B Jane; Peña, Teresa; Sanes-Miller, Carol H; Veitch, Keith; Woolley, Karen L; Yarker, Yvonne E

2015-09-15

This updated Good Publication Practice (GPP) guideline, known as GPP3, builds on earlier versions and provides recommendations for individuals and organizations that contribute to the publication of research results sponsored or supported by pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostics, and biotechnology companies. The recommendations are designed to help individuals and organizations maintain ethical and transparent publication practices and comply with legal and regulatory requirements. These recommendations cover publications in peer-reviewed journals and presentations (oral or poster) at scientific congresses. The International Society for Medical Publication Professionals invited more than 3000 professionals worldwide to apply for a position on the steering committee, or as a reviewer, for this guideline. The GPP2 authors reviewed all applications (n = 241) and assembled an 18-member steering committee that represented 7 countries and a diversity of publication professions and institutions. From the 174 selected reviewers, 94 sent comments on the second draft, which steering committee members incorporated after discussion and consensus. The resulting guideline includes new sections (Principles of Good Publication Practice for Company-Sponsored Medical Research, Data Sharing, Studies That Should Be Published, and Plagiarism), expands guidance on the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors' authorship criteria and common authorship issues, improves clarity on appropriate author payment and reimbursement, and expands information on the role of medical writers. By following good publication practices (including GPP3), individuals and organizations will show integrity; accountability; and responsibility for accurate, complete, and transparent reporting in their publications and presentations.

The limitations of using randomised controlled trials as a basis for developing treatment guidelines.

PubMed

Mulder, Roger; Singh, Ajeet B; Hamilton, Amber; Das, Pritha; Outhred, Tim; Morris, Grace; Bassett, Darryl; Baune, Bernhard T; Berk, Michael; Boyce, Philip; Lyndon, Bill; Parker, Gordon; Malhi, Gin S

2018-02-01

Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are considered the 'gold standard' by which novel psychotropic medications and psychological interventions are evaluated and consequently adopted into widespread clinical practice. However, there are some limitations to using RCTs as the basis for developing treatment guidelines. While RCTs allow researchers to determine whether a given medication or intervention is effective in a specific patient sample, for practicing clinicians it is more important to know whether it will work for their particular patient in their particular setting. This information cannot be garnered from an RCT. These inherent limitations are exacerbated by biases in design, recruitment, sample populations and data analysis that are inevitable in real-world studies. While trial registration and CONSORT have been implemented to correct and improve these issues, it is worrying that many trials fail to achieve such standards and yet their findings are used to inform clinical decision making. This perspective piece questions the assumptions of RCTs and highlights the widespread distortion of findings that currently undermine the credibility of this powerful design. It is recommended that the clinical guidelines include advice as to what should be considered good and relevant evidence and that external bodies continue to monitor RCTs to ensure that the outcomes published indeed reflect reality. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Recommendations for approaches to meticillin-resistant staphylococcal infections of small animals: diagnosis, therapeutic considerations and preventative measures.: Clinical Consensus Guidelines of the World Association for Veterinary Dermatology.

PubMed

Morris, Daniel O; Loeffler, Anette; Davis, Meghan F; Guardabassi, Luca; Weese, J Scott

2017-06-01

Multiple drug resistance (MDR) in staphylococci, including resistance to the semi-synthetic penicillinase-resistant penicillins such as meticillin, is a problem of global proportions that presents serious challenges to the successful treatment of staphylococcal infections of companion animals. The objective of this document is to provide harmonized recommendations for the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of meticillin-resistant staphylococcal infections in dogs and cats. The authors served as a Guideline Panel (GP) and reviewed the literature available prior to September 2016. The GP prepared a detailed literature review and made recommendations on selected topics. The World Association of Veterinary Dermatology (WAVD) provided guidance and oversight for this process. A draft of the document was presented at the 8th World Congress of Veterinary Dermatology (May 2016) and was then made available via the World Wide Web to the member organizations of the WAVD for a period of three months. Comments were solicited and posted to the GP electronically. Responses were incorporated by the GP into the final document. Adherence to guidelines for the diagnosis, laboratory reporting, judicious therapy (including restriction of use policies for certain antimicrobial drugs), personal hygiene, and environmental cleaning and disinfection may help to mitigate the progressive development and dissemination of MDR staphylococci. © 2017 The Authors. Veterinary Dermatology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of the ESVD and ACVD.

An overview of clinical guidelines for the management of vertebral compression fracture: a systematic review.

PubMed

Parreira, Patrícia C S; Maher, Chris G; Megale, Rodrigo Z; March, Lyn; Ferreira, Manuela L

2017-12-01

Vertebral compression fractures (VCFs) are the most common type of osteoporotic fracture comprising approximately 1.4 million cases worldwide. Clinical practice guidelines can be powerful tools for promoting evidence-based practice as they integrate research findings to support decision making. However, currently available clinical guidelines and recommendations, established by different medical societies, are sometimes contradictory. The aim of this study was to appraise the recommendations and the methodological quality of international clinical guidelines for the management of VCFs. This is a systematic review of clinical guidelines for the management of VCF. Guidelines were selected by searching MEDLINE and PubMed, PEDro, CINAHL, and EMBASE electronic databases between 2010 and 2016. We also searched clinical practice guideline databases, including the National Guideline Clearinghouse and the Canadian Medical Association InfoBase. The methodological quality of the guidelines was assessed by two authors independently using the Appraisal of Guidelines, Research and Evaluation (AGREE) II Instrument. We also classified the strength of each recommendation as either strong (ie, based on high-quality studies with consistent findings for recommending for or against the intervention), weak (ie, based on a lack of compelling evidence resulting in uncertainty for benefit or potential harm), or expert consensus (ie, based on expert opinion of the working group rather than on scientific evidence). Guideline recommendations were grouped into diagnostic, conservative care, interventional care, and osteoporosis treatment and prevention of future fractures. Our study was prospectively registered on PROSPERO. Four guidelines from three countries, published in the period 2010-2013, were included. In general, the quality was not satisfactory (50% or less of the maximum possible score). The domains scoring 50% or less of the maximum possible score were rigor of development, clarity of presentation, and applicability. The use of plain radiography or dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry for diagnosis was recommended in two of the four guidelines. Vertebroplasty or kyphoplasty was recommended in three of the four guidelines. The recommendation for bed rest, trunk orthoses, electrical stimulation, and supervised or unsupervised exercise was inconsistent across the included guidelines. The comparison of clinical guidelines for the management of VCF showed that diagnostic and therapeutic recommendations were generally inconsistent. The evidence available to guideline developers was limited in quantity and quality. Greater efforts are needed to improve the quality of the majority of guidelines. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

When the research is not reproducible: The importance of author-initiated and institution-driven responses and investigations.

PubMed

Tang, Bor Luen

2018-05-20

Important and potentially useful findings in the sciences are under more intense public scrutiny now more than ever. Other researchers in the field dive into replicating and expanding the findings while the media swamps the community and the public with peripheral reporting and analyses. How should authors and the hosting/funding institutions respond when other workers in the field could not reproduce or replicate their published results? To illustrate the importance of author-initiated and institution-driven investigations in response to outcries of research irreproducibility, I draw on comparisons between three recent and well-publicized cases in the life sciences: betatrophin, STAP cells, and NgAgo. Swift, transparent responses and investigations facilitate activation of the self-correcting mechanism of science and are likely also critical in preserving the community's resources, public trust, and the reputation of the institutions and individuals concerned. Operational guidelines for "author and institutional responses" towards external reports of irreproducibility should therefore be in place for all research intensive institutions.

Revised CIOMS research ethics guidance: on the importance of process for credibility.

PubMed

Schuklenk, Udo

2017-01-01

This paper reviews the 2016 CIOMS International Ethical Guidelines for Health-related Research Involving Humans. I argue that these new guidelines constitute a significant improvement over the guidelines they replace. However, the procedures put in place by CIOMS resulted in an authoring group consisting of a majority of authors and advisors hailing from the global North, while the guidelines squarely aim at influencing policies in the global South. I question CIOMS' strategy to produce a consensus based document, and raise concerns about frequent appeals to authority designed to establish the credibility of these guidelines and the processes that led to them. It is unclear why it should be the role of a small organisation such as CIOMS to try to guide the research ethics policies in countries of the global South.

Equal contributions and credit: an emerging trend in the characterization of authorship in major spine journals during a 10-year period.

PubMed

Jia, Zhiwei; Wu, Yaohong; Tang, Yong; Ji, Wei; Li, Wei; Zhao, Xiyan; Li, Hao; He, Qing; Ruan, Dike

2016-03-01

The practice of giving certain authors equal credit in scientific publications has become increasingly common in some medical specialties. However, whether this trend also exists in major spine journals remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of the practice of giving authors equal credit in major spine journals. Manual searches were performed to identify original research articles with equally credited authors (ECA) published between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2013 in three major spine journals: Spine, European Spine Journal, and The Spine Journal. The number of authors with ECA and their positions in the byline, total number of authors, year of publication, and country of origin were analysed. The practice of ECA was found in all three journals. Articles with ECA comprised a greater proportion of the total number of publications in each journal in 2013 versus 2004 (Spine, 7.2 vs. 0.2%; European Spine Journal, 7.5 vs. 0.0%; and The Spine Journal, 6.2 vs. 0.0%). There was a statistically significant increasing trend in the annual proportion of papers with ECA for all three spine journals (p < 0.0001). The practice of ECA was applied in nearly every position in the byline, and the first two authors received equal credit in most cases. Articles with ECA were published by authors from various countries and regions around the world. However, none of the three spine journals provided specific guidance on this practice in their author instructions. The practice of ECA in original research articles is increasingly common in major spine journals. A guideline for authors regarding when and how to designate equal credit is warranted in the future.

Applying established guidelines to team-based learning programs in medical schools: a systematic review.

PubMed

Burgess, Annette W; McGregor, Deborah M; Mellis, Craig M

2014-04-01

Team-based learning (TBL), a structured form of small-group learning, has gained popularity in medical education in recent years. A growing number of medical schools have adopted TBL in a variety of combinations and permutations across a diversity of settings, learners, and content areas. The authors conducted this systematic review to establish the extent, design, and practice of TBL programs within medical schools to inform curriculum planners and education designers. The authors searched the MEDLINE, PubMed, Web of Knowledge, and ERIC databases for articles on TBL in undergraduate medical education published between 2002 and 2012. They selected and reviewed articles that included original research on TBL programs and assessed the articles according to the seven core TBL design elements (team formation, readiness assurance, immediate feedback, sequencing of in-class problem solving, the four S's [significant problem, same problem, specific choice, and simultaneous reporting], incentive structure, and peer review) described in established guidelines. The authors identified 20 articles that satisfied the inclusion criteria. They found significant variability across the articles in terms of the application of the seven core design elements and the depth with which they were described. The majority of the articles, however, reported that TBL provided a positive learning experience for students. In the future, faculty should adhere to a standardized TBL framework to better understand the impact and relative merits of each feature of their program.

Castration-resistant prostate cancer: AUA Guideline.

PubMed

Cookson, Michael S; Roth, Bruce J; Dahm, Philipp; Engstrom, Christine; Freedland, Stephen J; Hussain, Maha; Lin, Daniel W; Lowrance, William T; Murad, Mohammad Hassan; Oh, William K; Penson, David F; Kibel, Adam S

2013-08-01

This Guideline is intended to provide a rational basis for the management of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer based on currently available published data. A systematic review and meta-analysis of the published literature was conducted using controlled vocabulary supplemented with keywords relating to the relevant concepts of prostate cancer and castration resistance. The search strategy was developed and executed by reference librarians and methodologists to create an evidence report limited to English-language, published peer-reviewed literature. This review yielded 303 articles published from 1996 through 2013 that were used to form a majority of the guideline statements. Clinical Principles and Expert Opinions were used for guideline statements lacking sufficient evidence-based data. Guideline statements were created to inform clinicians on the appropriate use of observation, androgen-deprivation and antiandrogen therapy, androgen synthesis inhibitors, immunotherapy, radionuclide therapy, systemic chemotherapy, palliative care and bone health. These were based on six index patients developed to represent the most common scenarios encountered in clinical practice. As a direct result of the significant increase in FDA-approved therapeutic agents for use in patients with metastatic CRPC, clinicians are challenged with a multitude of treatment options and potential sequencing of these agents that, consequently, make clinical decision-making more complex. Given the rapidly evolving nature of this field, this guideline should be used in conjunction with recent systematic literature reviews and an understanding of the individual patient's treatment goals. In all cases, patients' preferences and personal goals should be considered when choosing management strategies. Copyright © 2013 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A comparison of guidelines for the treatment of schizophrenia.

PubMed

Milner, Karen K; Valenstein, Marcia

2002-07-01

Although the clinical and administrative rationales for the use of guidelines in the treatment of schizophrenia are convincing, meaningful implementation has been slow. Guideline characteristics themselves influence whether implementation occurs. The authors examine three widely distributed guidelines and one set of algorithms to compare characteristics that are likely to influence implementation, including their degree of scientific rigor, comprehensiveness, and clinical applicability (ease of use, timeliness, specificity, and ease of operationalizing). The three guidelines are the Expert Consensus Guideline Series' "Treatment of Schizophrenia"; the American Psychiatric Association's "Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Patients With Schizophrenia"; and the Schizophrenia Patient Outcomes Research Team (PORT) treatment recommendations. The algorithms are those of the Texas Medication Algorithm Project (TMAP). The authors outline the strengths of each and suggest how a future guideline might build on these strengths.

Design Guidelines for CAI Authoring Systems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hunka, S.

1989-01-01

Discussion of the use of authoring systems for courseware development focuses on guidelines to be considered when designing authoring systems. Topics discussed include allowing a variety of instructional strategies; interaction with peripheral processes such as student records; the editing process; and human factors in computer interface design,…

Lowering Salt in Your Diet

MedlinePlus

... salt than they need, according to the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. These guidelines are published every five ... Facts label that appears on food packaging. The Dietary Guidelines recommend that the general population consume no more ...

Guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of 21-hydroxylase deficiency (2014 revision)

PubMed Central

Ishii, Tomohiro; Anzo, Makoto; Adachi, Masanori; Onigata, Kazumichi; Kusuda, Satoshi; Nagasaki, Keisuke; Harada, Shohei; Horikawa, Reiko; Minagawa, Masanori; Minamitani, Kanshi; Mizuno, Haruo; Yamakami, Yuji; Fukushi, Masaru; Tajima, Toshihiro

2015-01-01

Purpose of developing the guidelines: The first guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of 21-hydroxylase deficiency (21-OHD) were published as a diagnostic handbook in Japan in 1989, with a focus on patients with severe disease. The “Guidelines for Treatment of Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (21-Hydroxylase Deficiency) Found in Neonatal Mass Screening (1999 revision)” published in 1999 were revised to include 21-OHD patients with very mild or no clinical symptoms. Accumulation of cases and experience has subsequently improved diagnosis and treatment of the disease. Based on these findings, the Mass Screening Committee of the Japanese Society for Pediatric Endocrinology further revised the guidelines for diagnosis and treatment. Target disease/conditions: 21-hydroxylase deficiency. Users of the guidelines: Physician specialists in pediatric endocrinology, pediatric specialists, referring pediatric practitioners, general physicians; and patients. PMID:26594092

Reporting Practices in Confirmatory Factor Analysis: An Overview and Some Recommendations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackson, Dennis L.; Gillaspy, J. Arthur, Jr.; Purc-Stephenson, Rebecca

2009-01-01

Reporting practices in 194 confirmatory factor analysis studies (1,409 factor models) published in American Psychological Association journals from 1998 to 2006 were reviewed and compared with established reporting guidelines. Three research questions were addressed: (a) how do actual reporting practices compare with published guidelines? (b) how…

Factors that influence the implementation of dietary guidelines regarding food provision in centre based childcare services: A systematic review.

PubMed

Seward, Kirsty; Finch, Meghan; Yoong, Sze Lin; Wyse, Rebecca; Jones, Jannah; Grady, Alice; Wiggers, John; Nathan, Nicole; Conte, Kathleen; Wolfenden, Luke

2017-12-01

Children attending centre based childcare services consume as much as two thirds of their daily dietary requirements while in care. However, such services often fail to provide foods that are consistent with guideline recommendations. Developing strategies to improve childcare service adherence to menu dietary guidelines requires a comprehensive understanding of factors that may impede or promote implementation. The primary aim of this systematic review is to describe factors (barriers and facilitators) that may influence the implementation of menu dietary guidelines regarding food provision in centre-based childcare services and to map these factors to a theoretical framework. Over 7000 citations were identified from all sources. Duplicate abstracts were removed and selection criteria applied. Twelve studies (1994-2015) were included in the review. Dual data extraction was conducted and the reported factors were synthesised using the theoretical domains framework (TDF). Barriers and facilitators identified in qualitative studies were classified into 8 and 10 of the 14 TDF domains. Barriers and facilitators reported in quantitative studies covered 6 and 3 TDF domains respectively. The most common domain of which both barriers and facilitators to the implementation of menu dietary guidelines were identified was 'environmental context and resources'. This is the first study that comprehensively assesses literature to identify factors that influence the implementation of menu dietary guidelines in childcare services utilising a theoretical framework. Findings provide guidance to support researchers and policy makers design strategies to improve menu dietary guideline implementation and, as such have the potential to improve food provision in care. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Adherence to Dietary Guidelines and Successful Aging Over 10 Years.

PubMed

Gopinath, Bamini; Russell, Joanna; Kifley, Annette; Flood, Victoria M; Mitchell, Paul

2016-03-01

We aimed to prospectively examine the relationship between overall diet quality (reflecting adherence to dietary guidelines) and successful aging in a population-based cohort of older adults. In this population-based cohort study, we analyzed 10-year follow-up data from 1,609 adults aged 49 years and older, who were free of cancer, coronary artery disease, and stroke at the baseline and who had complete dietary data. Dietary data were collected using a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire. Total diet scores (TDS) were allocated for intake of selected food groups and nutrients for each participant as described in the national dietary guidelines. Higher scores indicated closer adherence to dietary guidelines. Successful aging was defined as the absence of disability, depressive symptoms, cognitive impairment, respiratory symptoms, and chronic diseases (cancer, coronary artery disease, and stroke). At 10-year follow-up, 610 (37.9%) participants had died and 249 (15.5%) participants aged successfully. After multivariable adjustment, each 1-unit increase in TDS at baseline was associated with a 8% increased odds of successful aging 10 years later, odds ratio 1.08 (95% confidence interval 1.00-1.15). Participants in the highest (high adherence to dietary guidelines) versus lowest quartile (poor adherence to guidelines) of TDS at baseline had 58% higher odds of successful aging after 10 years, odds ratio 1.58 (95% confidence interval 1.02-2.46). Greater compliance with recommended national dietary guidelines (higher diet quality) was associated with an increased likelihood of successful aging, as determined through a multidomain approach. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Review of guidance on recurrence risk management for general practitioners in breast cancer, colorectal cancer and melanoma guidelines.

PubMed

Spronk, Inge; Korevaar, Joke C; Burgers, Jako S; Albreht, Tit; Schellevis, François G

2017-04-01

General practitioners (GPs) will face cancer recurrences more frequently due to the rising number of cancer survivors and greater involvement of GPs in the follow-up care. Currently, GPs are uncertain about managing recurrence risks and may need more guidance. To explore what guidance is available for GPs on managing recurrence risks for breast cancer, colorectal cancer and melanoma, and to examine whether recurrence risk management differs between these tumour types. Breast cancer, colorectal cancer and melanoma clinical practice guidelines were identified via searches on internet and the literature, and experts were approached to identify guidelines. Guidance on recurrence risk management that was (potentially) relevant for GPs was extracted and summarized into topics. We included 24 breast cancer, 21 colorectal cancer and 15 melanoma guidelines. Identified topics on recurrence risk management were rather similar among the three tumour types. The main issue in the guidelines was recurrence detection through consecutive diagnostic testing. Guidelines agree on both routine and nonroutine tests, but, recommended frequencies for follow-up are inconsistent, except for mammography screening for breast cancer. Only six guidelines provided targeted guidance for GPs. This inventory shows that recurrence risk management has overlapping areas between tumour types, making it more feasible for GPs to provide this care. However, few guidance on recurrence risk management is specific for GPs. Recommendations on time intervals of consecutive diagnostic tests are inconsistent, making it difficult for GPs to manage recurrence risks and illustrating the need for more guidance targeted for GPs. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Multi-faceted implementation strategy to increase use of a clinical guideline for the diagnosis of deep venous thrombosis in primary care.

PubMed

Kingma, Anna E C; van Stel, Henk F; Oudega, Ruud; Moons, Karel G M; Geersing, Geert-Jan

2017-08-01

A clinical decision rule (CDR), combined with a negative D-dimer test, can safely rule out deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in primary care. This strategy is recommended by guidelines, yet uptake by GPs is low. To evaluate a multi-faceted implementation strategy aimed at increased use of the guideline recommended CDR plus D-dimer test in primary care patients with suspected DVT. This multi-faceted implementation strategy consisted of educational outreach visits, financial reimbursements and periodical newsletters. 217 Dutch GPs (implementation group) received this strategy and included patients. Effectiveness was measured through the following patient-level outcomes: (i) proportion of non-referred patients, (ii) proportion of missed DVT cases within this group and (iii) the proportion of patients in whom the guideline was applied incorrectly. Implementation outcomes ('acceptability', 'feasibility', 'fidelity' and 'sustainability') were assessed with an online questionnaire. Patient-level outcomes were compared with those of patients included by 450 GPs, uninformed about the study's purposes providing information about usual care. 336 (54%) of 619 analyzable implementation group patients were not referred, missing 6 [1.8% (95% confidence interval 0.7% to 3.9%)] DVT cases. Incorrect guideline use was observed in 199 patients (32%). Self-reported acceptability, feasibility and expected sustainability were high. Guideline use increased from 42% to an expected continuation of use of 91%. Only 32 usual care GPs included 62 patients, making formal comparison unreliable. This multi-faceted implementation strategy safely reduced patient referral to secondary care, despite frequently incorrect application of the guideline and resulted in high acceptability, feasibility and expected sustainability. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The International College of Neuro-Psychopharmacology (CINP) Treatment Guidelines for Bipolar Disorder in Adults (CINP-BD-2017), Part 3: The Clinical Guidelines.

PubMed

Fountoulakis, Konstantinos N; Grunze, Heinz; Vieta, Eduard; Young, Allan; Yatham, Lakshmi; Blier, Pierre; Kasper, Siegfried; Moeller, Hans Jurgen

2017-02-01

The current paper introduces the actual International College of Neuro-Psychopharmacology clinical guidelines for the treatment of bipolar disorder. The current clinical guidelines are based on evidence-based data, but they also intend to be clinically useful, while a rigid algorithm was developed on the basis of firm evidence alone. Monotherapy was prioritized over combination therapy. There are separate recommendations for each of the major phases of bipolar disorder expressed as a 5-step algorithm. The current International College of Neuro-Psychopharmacology clinical guidelines for the treatment of bipolar disorder are the most up-to-date guidance and are as evidence based as possible. They also include recommendations concerning the use of psychotherapeutic interventions, again on the basis of available evidence. This adherence of the workgroup to the evidence in a clinically oriented way helped to clarify the role of specific antidepressants and traditional agents like lithium, valproate, or carbamazepine. The additional focus on specific clinical characteristics, including predominant polarity, mixed features, and rapid cycling, is also a novel approach. Many issues need further studies, data are sparse and insufficient, and many questions remain unanswered. The most important and still unmet need is to merge all the guidelines that concern different phases of the illness into a single one and in this way consider BD as a single unified disorder, which is the real world fact. However, to date the research data do not permit such a unified approach. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of CINP.

Korean Medication Algorithm for Depressive Disorder: Comparisons with Other Treatment Guidelines

PubMed Central

Wang, Hee Ryung; Park, Young-Min; Lee, Hwang Bin; Song, Hoo Rim; Jeong, Jong-Hyun; Seo, Jeong Seok; Lim, Eun-Sung; Hong, Jeong-Wan; Kim, Won; Jon, Duk-In; Hong, Jin-Pyo; Woo, Young Sup; Min, Kyung Joon

2014-01-01

We aimed to compare the recommendations of the Korean Medication Algorithm Project for Depressive Disorder 2012 (KMAP-DD 2012) with other recently published treatment guidelines for depressive disorder. We reviewed a total of five recently published global treatment guidelines and compared each treatment recommendation of the KMAP-DD 2012 with those in other guidelines. For initial treatment recommendations, there were no significant major differences across guidelines. However, in the case of nonresponse or incomplete response to initial treatment, the second recommended treatment step varied across guidelines. For maintenance therapy, medication dose and duration differed among treatment guidelines. Further, there were several discrepancies in the recommendations for each subtype of depressive disorder across guidelines. For treatment in special populations, there were no significant differences in overall recommendations. This comparison identifies that, by and large, the treatment recommendations of the KMAP-DD 2012 are similar to those of other treatment guidelines and reflect current changes in prescription pattern for depression based on accumulated research data. Further studies will be needed to address several issues identified in our review. PMID:24605117

“Terms and conditions of use” for journal articles and scholarly journals : A survey on the licensing processes associated with electronic scholarly materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hidaka, Masako

Copyright policies and terms directly affect the approach taken by journal editors, authors and readers regarding dealing with of articles and/or copyrighted materials. However Japanese academic society publishers have some trouble in licensing processes for copyrighted materials as previous studies pointed out. In 2011 we conducted a survey on “terms and conditions of use” of electronic journal and the licensing practices associated with electronic scholarly materials. The survey showed commercial publishers have enough announcements on reuse of copyrighted materials for readers. On the other hand Japanese academic societies' cares for readers tend to not enough. They publish journals both in Japanese and in English. Subsequently, English and Japanese templates of “terms and conditions of use” for Japanese academic society publishers were proposed. The templates were developed based on an understanding of the International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers' “STM Permissions Guidelines,” which were designed to establish a standard and reasonable approach to granting permission for republication to all signatory publishers.The survey showed that Japanese academic society publishers and commercial publishers are facing the same issues regarding acceptable use of electronic supplemental materials for journal articles. This issue remains to be solved.

10 CFR 1047.5 - Exercise of arrest authority-general guidelines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 10 Energy 4 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Exercise of arrest authority-general guidelines. 1047.5 Section 1047.5 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (GENERAL PROVISIONS) LIMITED ARREST AUTHORITY AND USE OF FORCE BY PROTECTIVE FORCE OFFICERS General Provisions § 1047.5 Exercise of arrest authority—general...

10 CFR 1047.5 - Exercise of arrest authority-general guidelines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 10 Energy 4 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Exercise of arrest authority-general guidelines. 1047.5 Section 1047.5 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (GENERAL PROVISIONS) LIMITED ARREST AUTHORITY AND USE OF FORCE BY PROTECTIVE FORCE OFFICERS General Provisions § 1047.5 Exercise of arrest authority—general...

10 CFR 1047.5 - Exercise of arrest authority-general guidelines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 10 Energy 4 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Exercise of arrest authority-general guidelines. 1047.5 Section 1047.5 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (GENERAL PROVISIONS) LIMITED ARREST AUTHORITY AND USE OF FORCE BY PROTECTIVE FORCE OFFICERS General Provisions § 1047.5 Exercise of arrest authority—general...

10 CFR 1047.5 - Exercise of arrest authority-general guidelines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 10 Energy 4 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Exercise of arrest authority-general guidelines. 1047.5 Section 1047.5 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (GENERAL PROVISIONS) LIMITED ARREST AUTHORITY AND USE OF FORCE BY PROTECTIVE FORCE OFFICERS General Provisions § 1047.5 Exercise of arrest authority—general...

10 CFR 1047.5 - Exercise of arrest authority-general guidelines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Exercise of arrest authority-general guidelines. 1047.5 Section 1047.5 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (GENERAL PROVISIONS) LIMITED ARREST AUTHORITY AND USE OF FORCE BY PROTECTIVE FORCE OFFICERS General Provisions § 1047.5 Exercise of arrest authority—general...

OARSI Clinical Trials Recommendations: Design and conduct of clinical trials of lifestyle diet and exercise interventions for osteoarthritis.

PubMed

Messier, S P; Callahan, L F; Golightly, Y M; Keefe, F J

2015-05-01

The objective was to develop a set of "best practices" for use as a primer for those interested in entering the clinical trials field for lifestyle diet and/or exercise interventions in osteoarthritis (OA), and as a set of recommendations for experienced clinical trials investigators. A subcommittee of the non-pharmacologic therapies committee of the OARSI Clinical Trials Working Group was selected by the Steering Committee to develop a set of recommended principles for non-pharmacologic diet/exercise OA randomized clinical trials. Topics were identified for inclusion by co-authors and reviewed by the subcommittee. Resources included authors' expert opinions, traditional search methods including MEDLINE (via PubMed), and previously published guidelines. Suggested steps and considerations for study methods (e.g., recruitment and enrollment of participants, study design, intervention and assessment methods) were recommended. The recommendations set forth in this paper provide a guide from which a research group can design a lifestyle diet/exercise randomized clinical trial in patients with OA. Copyright © 2015 Osteoarthritis Research Society International. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Standards for the Reporting of Genetic Counseling Interventions in Research and Other Studies (GCIRS): an NSGC Task Force Report.

PubMed

Hooker, Gillian W; Babu, D; Myers, M F; Zierhut, H; McAllister, M

2017-06-01

As the demand for evidence to support the value of genetic counseling increases, it is critical that reporting of genetic counseling interventions in research and other types of studies (e.g. process improvement or service evaluation studies) adopt greater rigor. As in other areas of healthcare, the appraisal, synthesis, and translation of research findings into genetic counseling practice are likely to be improved if clear specifications of genetic counseling interventions are reported when studies involving genetic counseling are published. To help improve reporting practices, the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC) convened a task force in 2015 to develop consensus standards for the reporting of genetic counseling interventions. Following review by the NSGC Board of Directors, the NSGC Practice Guidelines Committee and the editorial board of the Journal of Genetic Counseling, 23 items across 8 domains were proposed as standards for the reporting of genetic counseling interventions in the published literature (GCIRS: Genetic Counseling Intervention Reporting Standards). The authors recommend adoption of these standards by authors and journals when reporting studies involving genetic counseling interventions.

Rigour of development does not AGREE with recommendations in practice guidelines on the use of ice for acute ankle sprains.

PubMed

Van de Velde, S; Heselmans, A; Donceel, P; Vandekerckhove, P; Ramaekers, D; Aertgeerts, B

2011-09-01

OBJECTIVE This study evaluated whether the Appraisal of Guidelines Research and Evaluation (AGREE) rigour of development score of practice guidelines on ice for acute ankle sprains is related to the convergence between recommendations. DESIGN The authors systematically reviewed guidelines on ice for acute ankle sprains. Four appraisers independently used the AGREE instrument to evaluate the rigour of development of selected guidelines. For each guideline, one reviewer listed the cited evidence on ice and calculated a cited evidence score. The authors plotted the recommended durations and numbers of ice applications over the standardised rigour of development score to explore the relationships. DATA SOURCES Three reviewers searched for guidelines in Medline, Embase, Sportdiscus, PEDro, G-I-N Guideline Library, Trip Database, SumSearch, National Guideline Clearinghouse and the Health Technology Assessment database, and conducted a web-based search for guideline development organisations. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA Eligible guidelines had a development methodology that included a process to search or use results from scientific studies and the participation of an expert group to formulate recommendations. RESULTS The authors identified 21 guidelines, containing clinically significant variations in recommended durations and numbers of ice applications. The median standardised rigour of development score was 57% (IQR 18 to 77). Variations occurred evenly among guidelines with low moderate or high rigour scores. The median evidence citation score in the guidelines was 7% (IQR 0 to 61). CONCLUSIONS There is no relationship between the rigour of development score and the recommendations in guidelines on ice for acute ankle sprains. The guidelines suffered from methodological problems which were not captured by the AGREE instrument.

Liver elastography, comments on EFSUMB elastography guidelines 2013

PubMed Central

Cui, Xin-Wu; Friedrich-Rust, Mireen; Molo, Chiara De; Ignee, Andre; Schreiber-Dietrich, Dagmar; Dietrich, Christoph F

2013-01-01

Recently the European Federation of Societies for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology Guidelines and Recommendations have been published assessing the clinical use of ultrasound elastography. The document is intended to form a reference and to guide clinical users in a practical way. They give practical advice for the use and interpretation. Liver disease forms the largest section, reflecting published experience to date including evidence from meta-analyses with shear wave and strain elastography. In this review comments and illustrations on the guidelines are given. PMID:24151351

Hazard Analysis Guidelines for Transit Projects

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-01-01

These hazard analysis guidelines discuss safety critical systems and subsystems, types of hazard analyses, when hazard analyses should be performed, and the hazard analysis philosophy. These guidelines are published by FTA to assist the transit indus...

34 CFR 685.209 - Income-contingent repayment plans.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... between the borrower's AGI and 150 percent of the poverty guideline for the borrower's family size; or (B... spouse's AGI, and 150 percent of the poverty guideline for the borrower's family size; and (vi) Poverty guideline refers to the income categorized by State and family size in the poverty guidelines published...

34 CFR 685.209 - Income-contingent repayment plans.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... between the borrower's AGI and 150 percent of the poverty guideline for the borrower's family size; or (B... spouse's AGI, and 150 percent of the poverty guideline for the borrower's family size; and (vi) Poverty guideline refers to the income categorized by State and family size in the poverty guidelines published...

[Guideline for the treatment of Graves' disease with antithyroid drug].

PubMed

Nakamura, Hirotoshi

2006-12-01

We have published "Guideline for the Treatment of Graves' Disease with Antithyroid Drug in Japan 2006" in the middle of May from the Japan Thyroid Association. The background, working process, composition, aim and significance of this guideline are described. The most remarkable feature of this guideline is "evidence based".

34 CFR 685.221 - Income-based repayment plan.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... and 150 percent of the poverty guideline for the borrower's family size; or (ii) For a married... percent of the poverty guideline for the borrower's family size. (5) Poverty guideline refers to the income categorized by State and family size in the poverty guidelines published annually by the United...

34 CFR 685.221 - Income-based repayment plan.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... and 150 percent of the poverty guideline for the borrower's family size; or (ii) For a married... percent of the poverty guideline for the borrower's family size. (5) Poverty guideline refers to the income categorized by State and family size in the poverty guidelines published annually by the United...

75 FR 3734 - 2009 HHS Poverty Guidelines Extended Until March 1, 2010

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-01-22

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Office of the Secretary 2009 HHS Poverty Guidelines... 2009 Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) poverty guidelines will remain in effect until updated 2010 poverty guidelines are published, which shall not take place before March 1, 2010. DATES...

Nutrition practices of nurseries in England. Comparison with national guidelines.

PubMed

Neelon, Sara E Benjamin; Burgoine, Thomas; Hesketh, Kathryn R; Monsivais, Pablo

2015-02-01

Recent national guidelines call for improved nutrition within early years settings. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to describe foods and beverages served in nurseries, assess provider behaviors related to feeding, and compare these practices to national guidelines. We administered a mailed survey to a random sample of nurseries across England, stratifying by tertile of deprivation. A total of 851 nurseries returned the survey (54.3% response rate). We fitted separate multivariate logistic regression models to estimate the association of deprivation with each of the 13 food and beverage guidelines and the seven provider behavior guidelines. We also conducted a joint F-test for any deprivation effect, to evaluate the effect of the guidelines combined. After adjusting for confounders, we observed differences in the frequency of nurseries that reported serving healthier foods across the tertiles of deprivation (p = 0.02 for joint F test). These adjusted results were driven mainly by nurseries in more deprived areas serving more whole grains (OR 1.57 (95% CI 1.00, 2.46)) and legumes, pulses, and lentils (1.40 (1.01, 2.14)). We also observed differences in the frequency of nurseries reporting more provider behaviors consistent with national guidelines across the tertiles of deprivation (p = 0.01 for joint F test). Nurseries in more deprived areas were more likely to dilute juice with water (2.35 (1.48, 3.73)), allow children to select their own portions (1.09 (1.06, 1.58)), and sit with children during meals (1.84 (1.07, 3.15)). While nurseries in the most deprived areas reported serving more healthy foods, a large percentage were still not meeting national guidelines. Policy and intervention efforts may increase compliance with national guidelines in nurseries in more deprived areas, and across England. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Development of a novel, multilayered presentation format for clinical practice guidelines.

PubMed

Kristiansen, Annette; Brandt, Linn; Alonso-Coello, Pablo; Agoritsas, Thomas; Akl, Elie A; Conboy, Tara; Elbarbary, Mahmoud; Ferwana, Mazen; Medani, Wedad; Murad, Mohammad Hassan; Rigau, David; Rosenbaum, Sarah; Spencer, Frederick A; Treweek, Shaun; Guyatt, Gordon; Vandvik, Per Olav

2015-03-01

Bridging the gap between clinical research and everyday health-care practice requires effective communication strategies. To address current shortcomings in conveying practice recommendations and supporting evidence, we are creating and testing presentation formats for clinical practice guidelines (CPGs). We carried out multiple cycles of brainstorming and sketching, developing a prototype. Physicians participating in the user testing viewed CPG formats linked to clinical scenarios and engaged in semistructured interviews applying a think-aloud method for exploring important aspects of user experience. We developed a multilayered presentation format that allows clinicians to successively view more in-depth information. Starting with the recommendations, clinicians can, on demand, access a rationale and a key information section containing statements on quality of the evidence, balance between desirable and undesirable consequences, values and preferences, and resource considerations. We collected feedback from 27 stakeholders and performed user testing with 47 practicing physicians from six countries. Advisory group feedback and user testing of the first version revealed problems with conceptual understanding of underlying CPG methodology, as well as difficulties with the complexity of the layout and content. Extensive revisions made before the second round of user testing resulted in most participants expressing overall satisfaction with the final presentation format. We have developed an electronic, multilayered, CPG format that enhances the usability of CPGs for frontline clinicians. We have implemented the format in electronic guideline tools that guideline organizations can now use when authoring and publishing their guidelines.

Guidelines for seizure management in palliative care: Proposal for an updated clinical practice model based on a systematic literature review.

PubMed

León Ruiz, M; Rodríguez Sarasa, M L; Sanjuán Rodríguez, L; Pérez Nieves, M T; Ibáñez Estéllez, F; Arce Arce, S; García-Albea Ristol, E; Benito-León, J

2017-02-27

Very little has been written on seizure management in palliative care (PC). Given this situation, and considering the forthcoming setting up of the Palliative Care Unit at our neurorehabilitation centre, the Clínica San Vicente, we decided to establish a series of guidelines on the use of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) for handling seizures in PC. We conducted a literature search in PubMed to identify articles, recent manuals, and clinical practice guidelines on seizure management in PC published by the most relevant scientific societies. Clinical practice guidelines are essential to identify patients eligible for PC, manage seizures adequately, and avoid unnecessary distress to these patients and their families. Given the profile of these patients, we recommend choosing AEDs with a low interaction potential and which can be administered by the parenteral route, preferably intravenously. Diazepam and midazolam appear to be the most suitable AEDs during the acute phase whereas levetiracetam, valproic acid, and lacosamide are recommended for refractory cases and long-term treatment. These guidelines provide general recommendations that must be adapted to each particular clinical case. Nevertheless, we will require further well-designed randomised controlled clinical trials including large samples of patients eligible for PC to draft a consensus document recommending adequate, rational, and effective use of AEDs, based on a high level of evidence, in this highly complex area of medical care. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

[Management of chronic heart failure - a systematic review of guidelines in the context of the DMP revision].

PubMed

Kötter, Thomas; Bartel, Carmen; Schramm, Susanne; Lange, Petra; Höfer, Eva; Hänsel, Michaela; Waffenschmidt, Siw; Waldt, Susanne Ein; Hoffmann-Eßer, Wiebke; Rüther, Alric; Lühmann, Dagmar; Scherer, Martin

2013-01-01

Disease Management Programmes (DMPs) are structured treatment programmes for chronic diseases. The DMP requirements are primarily derived from evidence-based guidelines. DMPs are regularly revised to ensure that they reflect current best practice and medical knowledge. The aim of this study was to assess the need for updating the German DMP module on heart failure by comparing it to relevant guidelines and identifying recommendations that should be revised. We systematically searched for clinical guidelines on heart failure published in German, English or French, and extracted relevant guideline recommendations. All included guidelines were assessed for methodological quality. To identify revision needs in the DMP, we performed a synoptic analysis of the extracted guideline recommendations and DMP requirements. 27 guidelines were included. The extracted recommendations covered all aspects of the management of heart failure. The comparison of guideline recommendations with DMP requirements showed that, overall, guideline recommendations were more detailed than DMP requirements, and that the guidelines covered topics not included in the DMP module. The DMP module is largely consistent with current guidelines on heart failure. We did not identify any need for significant revision of the DMP requirements. However, some specific recommendations of the DMP module could benefit from revision. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

A brief overview on radon measurements in drinking water.

PubMed

Jobbágy, Viktor; Altzitzoglou, Timotheos; Malo, Petya; Tanner, Vesa; Hult, Mikael

2017-07-01

The aim of this paper is to present information about currently used standard and routine methods for radon analysis in drinking waters. An overview is given about the current situation and the performance of different measurement methods based on literature data. The following parameters are compared and discussed: initial sample volume and sample preparation, detection systems, minimum detectable activity, counting efficiency, interferences, measurement uncertainty, sample capacity and overall turnaround time. Moreover, the parametric levels for radon in drinking water from the different legislations and directives/guidelines on radon are presented. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Reflections of a Vaccinologist: Lessons Learned About What We Can Do to Improve Trust in Vaccines and Vaccine Programsa.

PubMed

Halsey, Neal A

2017-03-01

Public trust can be improved by learning from past mistakes, by establishing a standing forum for review of new concerns as they arise, and by maintaining a robust vaccine safety system. Developing standard guidelines for reporting causality assessment in case reports would help educate physicians and prevent future unnecessary concerns based on false assumptions of causal relationships. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Moving towards shared decision making in the physician-patient encounter in France: State of the art and future prospects.

PubMed

Moumjid, Nora; Carretier, Julien; Marsico, Giovanna; Blot, François; Durif-Bruckert, Christine; Chauvin, Franck

2017-06-01

In this paper we present the evolution of shared decision making since the mid-nineties in terms of legislation, official statements and guidelines. We outline the goals and declarations of the French Ministry of Health and the French National Authority for Health, for whom informing patients and shared decision-making are central concerns. Finally, we discuss research projects and clinical initiatives in shared decision-making in France and provide a general overview of progress and barriers to progress. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

[Factors influencing the quality of clinical practice guidelines in ovarian cancer].

PubMed

Castillo-Londoño, J S; Medina-Torres, Y A; Sandoval-Salinas, C; Buitrago-Gutierrez, G; Torres-Ibargüen, M Z; Gonzalez-Rangel, A L

To identify the characteristics of the published clinical practice guidelines for the management of epithelial ovarian cancer that suggest a good methodological quality. A literature review was performed on 25 clinical practice guidelines for epithelial ovarian cancer that were identified in different databases (MEDLINE, Guidelines International Network, National Guidelines Clearing house) published between 2007 and 2014. The quality of the guidelines was evaluated using the Appraisal of Guidelines Research and Evaluation II tool. Descriptive and bivariate analyses were performed to assess the association between the quality of the guidelines and of some of their features and their developers. Just under half (48%) of the guidelines were rated as low quality. Scientific societies or independent centres and private funding, or under-reporting the source of funding, were statistically associated with lower quality of clinical practice guidelines (P<.01). The guidelines developed by National Program Guidelines had a median of consistently higher scores in all domains of the Appraisal of Guidelines Research and Evaluation II, with significant differences in the definition of scope and objectives, the participation of stakeholders, the methodological rigour of development, and applicability to the context. Features such as the nature of the developer and funding of the guidelines are predictors of quality that should be taken into account prior to the use of the recommendations of a document. Copyright © 2016 SECA. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Authoring and verification of clinical guidelines: a model driven approach.

PubMed

Pérez, Beatriz; Porres, Ivan

2010-08-01

The goal of this research is to provide a framework to enable authoring and verification of clinical guidelines. The framework is part of a larger research project aimed at improving the representation, quality and application of clinical guidelines in daily clinical practice. The verification process of a guideline is based on (1) model checking techniques to verify guidelines against semantic errors and inconsistencies in their definition, (2) combined with Model Driven Development (MDD) techniques, which enable us to automatically process manually created guideline specifications and temporal-logic statements to be checked and verified regarding these specifications, making the verification process faster and cost-effective. Particularly, we use UML statecharts to represent the dynamics of guidelines and, based on this manually defined guideline specifications, we use a MDD-based tool chain to automatically process them to generate the input model of a model checker. The model checker takes the resulted model together with the specific guideline requirements, and verifies whether the guideline fulfils such properties. The overall framework has been implemented as an Eclipse plug-in named GBDSSGenerator which, particularly, starting from the UML statechart representing a guideline, allows the verification of the guideline against specific requirements. Additionally, we have established a pattern-based approach for defining commonly occurring types of requirements in guidelines. We have successfully validated our overall approach by verifying properties in different clinical guidelines resulting in the detection of some inconsistencies in their definition. The proposed framework allows (1) the authoring and (2) the verification of clinical guidelines against specific requirements defined based on a set of property specification patterns, enabling non-experts to easily write formal specifications and thus easing the verification process. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Maintenance Trades Guidelines

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weidner, Theodore J.

2008-01-01

In 2002, APPA published "Maintenance Staffing Guidelines for Educational Facilities," the first building maintenance trades staffing guideline designed to assist educational facilities professionals with their staffing needs. addresses how facilities professionals can determine the appropriate size and mix of their organization. Contents…

Guidelines for the Management of Patients With Unruptured Intracranial Aneurysms: A Guideline for Healthcare Professionals From the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.

PubMed

Thompson, B Gregory; Brown, Robert D; Amin-Hanjani, Sepideh; Broderick, Joseph P; Cockroft, Kevin M; Connolly, E Sander; Duckwiler, Gary R; Harris, Catherine C; Howard, Virginia J; Johnston, S Claiborne Clay; Meyers, Philip M; Molyneux, Andrew; Ogilvy, Christopher S; Ringer, Andrew J; Torner, James

2015-08-01

The aim of this updated statement is to provide comprehensive and evidence-based recommendations for management of patients with unruptured intracranial aneurysms. Writing group members used systematic literature reviews from January 1977 up to June 2014. They also reviewed contemporary published evidence-based guidelines, personal files, and published expert opinion to summarize existing evidence, indicate gaps in current knowledge, and when appropriate, formulated recommendations using standard American Heart Association criteria. The guideline underwent extensive peer review, including review by the Stroke Council Leadership and Stroke Scientific Statement Oversight Committees, before consideration and approval by the American Heart Association Science Advisory and Coordinating Committee. Evidence-based guidelines are presented for the care of patients presenting with unruptured intracranial aneurysms. The guidelines address presentation, natural history, epidemiology, risk factors, screening, diagnosis, imaging and outcomes from surgical and endovascular treatment. © 2015 American Heart Association, Inc.

Systematic evaluation of clinical practice guidelines for pharmacogenomics.

PubMed

Beckett, Robert D; Kisor, David F; Smith, Thomas; Vonada, Brooke

2018-06-01

To systematically assess methodological quality of pharmacogenomics clinical practice guidelines. Guidelines published through 2017 were reviewed by at least three independent reviewers using the AGREE II instrument, which consists of 23 items grouped into 6 domains and 2 items representing an overall assessment. Items were assessed on a seven-point rating scale, and aggregate quality scores were calculated. 31 articles were included. All guidelines were published as peer-reviewed articles and 90% (n = 28) were endorsed by professional organizations. Mean AGREE II domain scores (maximum score 100%) ranged from 46.6 ± 11.5% ('applicability') to 78.9 ± 11.4% ('clarity of presentation'). Median overall quality score was 72.2% (IQR: 61.1-77.8%). Quality of pharmacogenomics guidelines was generally high, but variable, for most AGREE II domains.

14 CFR 1203b.104 - Exercise of arrest authority-general guidelines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 5 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Exercise of arrest authority-general guidelines. 1203b.104 Section 1203b.104 Aeronautics and Space NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION SECURITY PROGRAMS; ARREST AUTHORITY AND USE OF FORCE BY NASA SECURITY FORCE PERSONNEL § 1203b.104 Exercise...

14 CFR 1203b.104 - Exercise of arrest authority-general guidelines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Exercise of arrest authority-general guidelines. 1203b.104 Section 1203b.104 Aeronautics and Space NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION SECURITY PROGRAMS; ARREST AUTHORITY AND USE OF FORCE BY NASA SECURITY FORCE PERSONNEL § 1203b.104 Exercise...

14 CFR 1203b.104 - Exercise of arrest authority-general guidelines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 5 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Exercise of arrest authority-general guidelines. 1203b.104 Section 1203b.104 Aeronautics and Space NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION SECURITY PROGRAMS; ARREST AUTHORITY AND USE OF FORCE BY NASA SECURITY FORCE PERSONNEL § 1203b.104 Exercise...

14 CFR 1203b.104 - Exercise of arrest authority-general guidelines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 5 2011-01-01 2010-01-01 true Exercise of arrest authority-general guidelines. 1203b.104 Section 1203b.104 Aeronautics and Space NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION SECURITY PROGRAMS; ARREST AUTHORITY AND USE OF FORCE BY NASA SECURITY FORCE PERSONNEL § 1203b.104 Exercise...

Prevention Activities in Professional Psychology: A Reaction to the Prevention Guidelines

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rivera-Mosquera, Evelyn; Dowd, E. Thomas; Mitchell-Blanks, Marsha

2007-01-01

In this reaction article, the authors provide a historical context for prevention activities and their place in psychological practice. They then discuss the prevention guidelines in the Major Contribution authored by S. M. Hage et al. (2007 [this issue]) and provide their critique. Finally, the authors offer ideas for the future specific…

Oral manifestations of HIV/AIDS in Asia: Systematic review and future research guidelines.

PubMed

Sharma, Gaurav; Oberoi, Sukhvinder-Singh; Vohra, Puneeta; Nagpal, Archna

2015-07-01

The authors have conducted a systematic review of oral manifestations of HIV from studies conducted in Asia to establish the characteristics and prevalence of individual oral manifestations in Asia, and to assess the direction of future research studies on oral manifestations of HIV in Asia. The electronic retrieval systems and databases searched for relevant articles were PubMed [MEDLINE], EBSCO, and EMBASE. The search was for limited articles published in English or with an English abstract and articles published during the period January 1995 to August 2014. The authors reached a final overall sample of 39 studies that were conducted in Asia. The median population size among all studies was 312.7 patients. Oral candidiasis [OC] was the most common oral manifestation [37.7%] in studies conducted in Asia. The overall prevalence of oral hairy leukoplakia and melanotic hyperpigmentation was computed to be 10.1% and 22.8% respectively. Thailand and India are primarily countries with maximum research on oral manifestations. The research on oral manifestations of HIV in Asia has to upgrade to more interventional and therapeutic studies rather than the contemporary cross- sectional epidemiological descriptive studies. The authors have given suggestions and future directions for the implementation of clinical research of oral manifestations in HIV patients. Key words:Oral manifestations, HIV/AIDS, Asia, Systematic review.

Hepatitis A and B immunization for individuals with inherited bleeding disorders.

PubMed

Steele, M; Cochrane, A; Wakefield, C; Stain, A-M; Ling, S; Blanchette, V; Gold, R; Ford-Jones, L

2009-03-01

Hepatitis A and B vaccines are highly effective tools that can greatly reduce infection risk in the bleeding disorder population. Although hepatitis A and B immunization for individuals with bleeding disorders is universally recommended, various advisory bodies often differ with respect to many practical aspects of vaccination. To review the published literature and guidelines and form a practical, comprehensive and consistent approach to hepatitis A and B immunization for individuals with bleeding disorders. We reviewed published immunization guidelines from North American immunization advisory bodies and published statements from North American and international haemophilia advisory bodies. A search of the MEDLINE database was performed to find original published literature pertaining to hepatitis A or B immunization of patients with haemophilia or bleeding disorder patients that provided supporting or refuting evidence for advisory body guidelines. Various advisory bodies' immunization guidelines regarding individuals with bleeding disorders have contradictory statements and often did not clarify issues (e.g. post vaccination surveillance). Published literature addressing immunization in bleeding disorder patients is sparse and mostly examines route of vaccine administration, complications and corresponding antibody response. Although the risk of hepatitis A and B infection is low, the use of simple measures such as vaccination is reasonable and advocated by haemophilia advisory bodies. Following our review of the available literature and North American guidelines, we have developed comprehensive and practical recommendations addressing hepatitis A and B immunization for the bleeding disorder population that may be applicable in Bleeding Disorder clinics.

Development of the Standards of Reporting of Neurological Disorders (STROND) checklist: A guideline for the reporting of incidence and prevalence studies in neuroepidemiology.

PubMed

Bennett, Derrick A; Brayne, Carol; Feigin, Valery L; Barker-Collo, Suzanne; Brainin, Michael; Davis, Daniel; Gallo, Valentina; Jetté, Nathalie; Karch, André; Kurtzke, John F; Lavados, Pablo M; Logroscino, Giancarlo; Nagel, Gabriele; Preux, Pierre-Marie; Rothwell, Peter M; Svenson, Lawrence W

2015-09-01

Incidence and prevalence studies of neurologic disorders play an important role in assessing the burden of disease and planning services. However, the assessment of disease estimates is hindered by problems in reporting for such studies. Despite a growth in published reports, existing guidelines relate to analytical rather than descriptive epidemiologic studies. There are also no user-friendly tools (e.g., checklists) available for authors, editors, and peer reviewers to facilitate best practice in reporting of descriptive epidemiologic studies for most neurologic disorders. The Standards of Reporting of Neurological Disorders (STROND) is a guideline that consists of recommendations and a checklist to facilitate better reporting of published incidence and prevalence studies of neurologic disorders. A review of previously developed guidance was used to produce a list of items required for incidence and prevalence studies in neurology. A 3-round Delphi technique was used to identify the "basic minimum items" important for reporting, as well as some additional "ideal reporting items." An e-consultation process was then used in order to gauge opinion by external neuroepidemiologic experts on the appropriateness of the items included in the checklist. Of 38 candidate items, 15 items and accompanying recommendations were developed along with a user-friendly checklist. The introduction and use of the STROND checklist should lead to more consistent, transparent, and contextualized reporting of descriptive neuroepidemiologic studies resulting in more applicable and comparable findings and ultimately support better health care decisions. © 2015 American Academy of Neurology.

Laboratory animal research published in plastic surgery journals in 2014 has extensive waste: A systematic review.

PubMed

Freshwater, M Felix

2015-11-01

Laboratory animal research must be designed in a manner that minimizes bias if it is to yield valid and reproducible results. In 2009, a survey that examined 271 animal studies found that 87% did not use randomization and 86% did not use blinding. This has been called "research waste" because it wasted time and resources. This systematic review measured the quantity of research waste in plastic surgery journals in 2014. The PRISMA-P protocol was used. SCOPUS and PubMed searches were done for all animal studies published in 2014 in Aesthetic Plast Surg, Aesthet Surg J, Ann Plast Surg, JPRAS, J Plast Surg Hand Surg and Plast Reconstr Surg. These were supplemented by manual searches of the 2014 issues not indexed. Articles were analyzed for descriptions of randomization, randomization methodology, allocation concealment, and blinding of the primary outcome assessment. Corresponding authors who mentioned randomization without elaborating were emailed for details. 112 of 154 articles met the inclusion criteria. Only 24/112 (21.4%) had blinding of the primary outcome measure, 28/110 (25.5%) of articles that required randomization mentioned it. While 12/28 articles clearly described randomizing the intervention, only 4/28 described the method of randomization, and 2/28 mentioned allocation concealment. Only two authors responded and described the randomization methodology. The quality of plastic surgery laboratory animal research published in 2014 was poor. Use of the National Centre for the Replacement Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research's "Animal Research: Reporting In Vivo Experiments" (ARRIVE) Guidelines by authors, and enforcement of them by editors and reviewers could improve research quality and reduce waste. Copyright © 2015 British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Critical Assessment of Search Strategies in Systematic Reviews in Endodontics.

PubMed

Yaylali, Ibrahim Ethem; Alaçam, Tayfun

2016-06-01

The aim of this study was to perform an overview of literature search strategies in systematic reviews (SRs) published in 2 endodontic journals, Journal of Endodontics and International Endodontic Journal. A search was done by using the MEDLINE (PubMed interface) database to retrieve the articles published between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2015. The last search was on January 10, 2016. All the SRs published in the 2 journals were retrieved and screened. Eligible SRs were assessed by using 11 questions about search strategies in the SRs that were adapted from 2 guidelines (ie, AMSTAR checklist and the Cochrane Handbook). A total of 83 SRs were retrieved by electronic search. Of these, 55 were from the Journal of Endodontics, and 28 were from the International Endodontic Journal. After screening, 2 SRs were excluded, and 81 SRs were included in the study. Some issues, such as search of grey literature and contact with study authors, were not fully reported (30% and 25%, respectively). On the other hand, some issues, such as the use of index terms and key words and search in at least 2 databases, were reported in most of the SRs (97% and 95%, respectively). The overall quality of the search strategy in both journals was 61%. No significant difference was found between the 2 journals in terms of evaluation criteria (P > .05). There exist areas for improving the quality of reporting of search strategies in SRs; for example, grey literature should be searched for unpublished studies, no language limitation should be applied to databases, and authors should make an attempt to contact the authors of included studies to obtain further relevant information. Copyright © 2016 American Association of Endodontists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A critical appraisal of guidelines for electronic communication between patients and clinicians: the need to modernize current recommendations.

PubMed

Lee, Joy L; Matthias, Marianne S; Menachemi, Nir; Frankel, Richard M; Weiner, Michael

2018-04-01

Patient-provider electronic communication has proliferated in recent years, yet there is a dearth of published research either leading to, or including, recommendations that improve clinical care and prevent unintended negative consequences. We critically appraise published guidelines and suggest an agenda for future work in this area. To understand how existing guidelines align with current practice, evidence, and technology. We performed a narrative review of provider-targeted guidelines for electronic communication between patients and providers, searching Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, and PubMed databases using relevant terms. We limited the search to articles published in English, and manually searched the citations of relevant articles. For each article, we identified and evaluated the suggested practices. Across 11 identified guidelines, the primary focus was on technical and administrative concerns, rather than on relational communication. Some of the security practices recommended by the guidelines are no longer needed because of shifts in technology. It is unclear the extent to which the recommendations that are still relevant are being followed. Moreover, there is no guideline-cited evidence of the effectiveness of the practices that have been proposed. Our analysis revealed major weaknesses in current guidelines for electronic communication between patients and providers: the guidelines appear to be based on minimal evidence and offer little guidance on how best to use electronic tools to communicate effectively. Further work is needed to systematically evaluate and identify effective practices, create a framework to evaluate quality of communication, and assess the relationship between electronic communication and quality of care.

Quality assessment of clinical practice guidelines for integrative medicine in China: A systematic review.

PubMed

Yao, Sha; Wei, Dang; Chen, Yao-Long; Wang, Qi; Wang, Xiao-Qin; Zeng, Zhao; Li, Hui

2017-05-01

To assess the quality of integrative medicine clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) published before 2014. A systematic search of the scientific literature published before 2014 was conducted to select integrative medicine CPGs. Four major Chinese integrated databases and one guideline database were searched: the Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China Science and Technology Journal Database (VIP), Wanfang Data, and the China Guideline Clearinghouse (CGC). Four reviewers independently assessed the quality of the included guidelines using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE) II Instrument. Overall consensus among the reviewers was assessed using the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). A total of 41 guidelines published from 2003 to 2014 were included. The overall consensus among the reviewers was good [ICC: 0.928; 95% confifi dence interval (CI): 0.920 to 0.935]. The scores on the 6 AGREE domains were: 17% for scope and purpose (range: 6% to 32%), 11% for stakeholder involvement (range: 0 to 24%), 10% for rigor of development (range: 3% to 22%), 39% for clarity and presentation (range: 25% to 64%), 11% for applicability (range: 4% to 24%), and 1% for editorial independence (range: 0 to 15%). The quality of integrative medicine CPGs was low, the development of integrative medicine CPGs should be guided by systematic methodology. More emphasis should be placed on multi-disciplinary guideline development groups, quality of evidence, management of funding and conflfl icts of interest, and guideline updates in the process of developing integrative medicine CPGs in China.

Guidelines for disseminating road weather messages : improved road weather information for travelers.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-01-01

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Road Weather Management Program (RWMP) recently published a document titled Guidelines for Disseminating Road Weather Advisory and Control Information (FHWA-JPO-12- 046). The guidelines are intended for use b...

Oregon Graduation Requirements: Guidelines for Record Keeping Procedures and Sample Forms.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oregon State Dept. of Education, Salem.

These guidelines and sample forms for record keeping are intended to serve as a supplement to Oregon Graduation Requirements, Administrative Guidelines (Section 1), which was published in September 1973. The purposes of the guidelines and sample forms are to outline various record-keeping procedures and to provide sample forms that districts may…

Pacific Health Research Guidelines: The Cartography of an Ethical Relationship

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mila-Schaaf, Karlo

2009-01-01

In 2004 the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) published a set of "Guidelines on Pacific health research". The Guidelines were an attempt to articulate the features of ethical research relationships with Pacific peoples living in Aotearoa New Zealand. This article describes the process of developing these guidelines, using…

76 FR 30308 - National Standard 10 Guidelines; Public Meetings

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-05-25

... Standard 10 Guidelines; Public Meetings AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic... to the National Standard 10 (NS10) Guidelines and announced a public meeting to be held on May 19... practicable, promote the safety of human life at sea.'' NMFS published final guidelines for NS10 in 1998 (63...

Methodological Quality of National Guidelines for Pediatric Inpatient Conditions

PubMed Central

Hester, Gabrielle; Nelson, Katherine; Mahant, Sanjay; Eresuma, Emily; Keren, Ron; Srivastava, Rajendu

2014-01-01

Background Guidelines help inform standardization of care for quality improvement (QI). The Pediatric Research in Inpatient Settings (PRIS) network published a prioritization list of inpatient conditions with high prevalence, cost, and variation in resource utilization across children’s hospitals. The methodological quality of guidelines for priority conditions is unknown. Objective To rate the methodological quality of national guidelines for 20 priority pediatric inpatient conditions. Design We searched sources including PubMed for national guidelines published 2002–2012. Guidelines specific to one organism, test or treatment, or institution were excluded. Guidelines were rated by two raters using a validated tool (AGREE II) with an overall rating on a 7-point scale (7–highest). Inter-rater reliability was measured with a weighted kappa coefficient. Results 17 guidelines met inclusion criteria for 13 conditions, 7 conditions yielded no relevant national guidelines. The highest methodological quality guidelines were for asthma, tonsillectomy, and bronchiolitis (mean overall rating 7, 6.5 and 6.5 respectively); the lowest were for sickle cell disease (2 guidelines) and dental caries (mean overall rating 4, 3.5, and 3 respectively). The overall weighted kappa was 0.83 (95% confidence interval 0.78–0.87). Conclusions We identified a group of moderate to high methodological quality national guidelines for priority pediatric inpatient conditions. Hospitals should consider these guidelines to inform QI initiatives. PMID:24677729

Summary of the British Transplantation Society UK Guidelines for Living Donor Liver Transplantation.

PubMed

Manas, Derek; Burnapp, Lisa; Andrews, Peter Antony

2016-06-01

The British Transplantation Society Guidelines for Living Donor Liver Transplantation was published in July 2015 and is the first national guideline in the field of living donor liver transplantation. The guideline aims to review the evidence relating to the evaluation process of both recipient and donor candidates; address the moral and ethical issues surrounding the procedure; outline the technical aspects of the procedure, including the middle hepatic vein controversy and the "small for size syndrome"; review donor and recipient outcomes and complications including donor mortality; and examine evidence relating to the advantages and disadvantages of living donor liver transplantation. In line with previous guidelines published by the BTS, the guideline has used the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation system to rate the strength of evidence and recommendations. This article summarizes the Statements of Recommendation contained in the guideline, which provide a framework for the delivery of living liver donation in the United Kingdom and may be of wide international interest. It is recommended that the full guideline document is consulted for details of the relevant references and evidence base. This may be accessed at http://www.bts.org.uk/BTS/Guidelines_Standards/Current/BTS/Guidelines_Standards/Current_Guidelines.aspx?hkey=e285ca32-5920-4613-ac08-fa9fd90915b5.

The use of the effect size in JCR Spanish journals of psychology: from theory to fact.

PubMed

García García, Juan; Ortega Campos, Elena; De la Fuente Sánchez, Leticia

2011-11-01

In 1999, Wilkinson and the Task Force on Statistical Inference published "Statistical Methods and Psychology: Guidelines and Explanation." The authors made several recommendations about how to improve the quality of Psychology research papers. One of these was to report some effect-size index in the results of the research. In 2001, the fifth edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association included this recommendation. In Spain, in 2003, scientific journals like Psicothema or the International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology (IJCHP) published editorials and papers expressing the need to calculate the effect size in the research papers. The aim of this study is to determine whether the papers published from 2003 to 2008 in the four Spanish journals indexed in the Journal Citation Reports have reported some effect-size index of their results. The findings indicate that, in general, the followup of the norm has been scanty, though the evolution over the analyzed period is different depending on the journal.