Finding What Works in Health Care

Finding What Works in Health Care
Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 267
Release: 2011-07-20
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0309164257

Healthcare decision makers in search of reliable information that compares health interventions increasingly turn to systematic reviews for the best summary of the evidence. Systematic reviews identify, select, assess, and synthesize the findings of similar but separate studies, and can help clarify what is known and not known about the potential benefits and harms of drugs, devices, and other healthcare services. Systematic reviews can be helpful for clinicians who want to integrate research findings into their daily practices, for patients to make well-informed choices about their own care, for professional medical societies and other organizations that develop clinical practice guidelines. Too often systematic reviews are of uncertain or poor quality. There are no universally accepted standards for developing systematic reviews leading to variability in how conflicts of interest and biases are handled, how evidence is appraised, and the overall scientific rigor of the process. In Finding What Works in Health Care the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends 21 standards for developing high-quality systematic reviews of comparative effectiveness research. The standards address the entire systematic review process from the initial steps of formulating the topic and building the review team to producing a detailed final report that synthesizes what the evidence shows and where knowledge gaps remain. Finding What Works in Health Care also proposes a framework for improving the quality of the science underpinning systematic reviews. This book will serve as a vital resource for both sponsors and producers of systematic reviews of comparative effectiveness research.

Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions

Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions
Author: Julian P. T. Higgins
Publisher: Wiley
Total Pages: 672
Release: 2008-11-24
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 9780470699515

Healthcare providers, consumers, researchers and policy makers are inundated with unmanageable amounts of information, including evidence from healthcare research. It has become impossible for all to have the time and resources to find, appraise and interpret this evidence and incorporate it into healthcare decisions. Cochrane Reviews respond to this challenge by identifying, appraising and synthesizing research-based evidence and presenting it in a standardized format, published in The Cochrane Library (www.thecochranelibrary.com). The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions contains methodological guidance for the preparation and maintenance of Cochrane intervention reviews. Written in a clear and accessible format, it is the essential manual for all those preparing, maintaining and reading Cochrane reviews. Many of the principles and methods described here are appropriate for systematic reviews applied to other types of research and to systematic reviews of interventions undertaken by others. It is hoped therefore that this book will be invaluable to all those who want to understand the role of systematic reviews, critically appraise published reviews or perform reviews themselves.

Reproducibility

Reproducibility
Author: Edo D. Pellizzari
Publisher: RTI Press
Total Pages: 75
Release: 2017
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1934831212

Science is allegedly in the midst of a reproducibility crisis, but questions of reproducibility and related principles date back nearly 80 years. Numerous controversies have arisen, especially since 2010, in a wide array of disciplines that stem from the failure to reproduce studies or their findings:biology, biomedical and preclinical research, business and organizational studies, computational sciences, drug discovery, economics, education, epidemiology and statistics, genetics, immunology, policy research, political science, psychology, and sociology. This monograph defines terms and constructs related to reproducible research, weighs key considerations and challenges in reproducing or replicating studies, and discusses transparency in publications that can support reproducible research goals. It attempts to clarify reproducible research, with its attendant (and confusing or even conflicting) lexicon and aims to provide useful background, definitions, and practical guidance for all readers. Among its conclusions: First, researchers must become better educated about these issues, particularly the differences between the concepts and terms. The main benefit is being able to communicate clearly within their own fields and, more importantly, across multiple disciplines. In addition, scientists need to embrace these concepts as part of their responsibilities as good stewards of research funding and as providers of credible information for policy decision making across many areas of public concern. Finally, although focusing on transparency and documentation is essential, ultimately the goal is achieving the most rigorous, high-quality science possible given limitations on time, funding, or other resources. “The authors have written a nuanced and thoughtful primer on scientific reproducibility. By highlighting the social, political, and technical importance of reproducibility, together with a precise description of the related concepts of reproducibility, replicability, and repeatability, this primer provides a significant resource that all practicing researchers should read.” Daniel Reed, Vice President for Research and Economic Development, University of Iowa and former Corporate Vice President, Microsoft “This is a well-written, clearly articulated, and timely primer on the developing and evolving rich terminology of reproducible research. The primer, put together by authors with deep experience and expertise in the topic area, focuses primarily on human-centric research in biomedicine, medicine, and the social sciences as well as reproducibility issues in analytics and computational science. The growing focus on reproducibility will open new vistas in research methodologies, meta analysis, comparative studies of research results, and reuse and adaptation of results from prior research. This primer provides an excellent overview of the subject area, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in coming up to speed on current issues in reproducible research.” Chaitan Baru, Distinguished Scientist and Associate Director for Data Initiatives, San Diego Supercomputing Center; current appointment as Senior Advisor for Data Science, Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate, National Science Foundation “Pellizzari et al. have taken on the Herculean task of collecting, synthesizing, and relating the various interpretations of reproducibility used in the research community today, and turned the result into an accessible must-read guide. This important work provides a Rosetta Stone for various stakeholders to discuss and implement solutions that make real progress toward a research enterprise that routinely produces reproducible findings.” Victoria Stodden, Associate Professor at the School of Information Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and co-editor of the books Implementing Reproducible Research and Privacy, Big Data, and the Public Good: Frameworks for Engagement

Health Librarianship

Health Librarianship
Author: Jeffrey T. Huber
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 415
Release: 2014-08-26
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN:

Intended for students interested in careers as health sciences librarians, this insightful book presents a current view of trends and issues in the field of health librarianship from leading scholars and practitioners. With health care reform and the Affordable Care Act driving up demand for ready access to health and biomedical information by both health care providers and healthcare consumers, health librarianship plays a critical role in facilitating access to that information. Health Librarianship: An Introduction places health librarianship within the health care context, covering librarianship within this specific environment as well as other perspectives relevant to health librarianship. The book addresses the basic functions of librarianship—for example, management and administration, public services, and technical services—within the health care context as well as issues unique to health librarianship like health literacy, consumer health, and biomedical informatics. This book is an outstanding textbook for library and information sciences classes and will also be of interest to those considering a career change to health librarianship.

Systematic Reviews in the Social Sciences

Systematic Reviews in the Social Sciences
Author: Mark Petticrew
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2008-04-15
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1405150149

Such diverse thinkers as Lao-Tze, Confucius, and U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld have all pointed out that we need to be able to tell the difference between real and assumed knowledge. The systematic review is a scientific tool that can help with this difficult task. It can help, for example, with appraising, summarising, and communicating the results and implications of otherwise unmanageable quantities of data. This book, written by two highly-respected social scientists, provides an overview of systematic literature review methods: Outlining the rationale and methods of systematic reviews; Giving worked examples from social science and other fields; Applying the practice to all social science disciplines; It requires no previous knowledge, but takes the reader through the process stage by stage; Drawing on examples from such diverse fields as psychology, criminology, education, transport, social welfare, public health, and housing and urban policy, among others. Including detailed sections on assessing the quality of both quantitative, and qualitative research; searching for evidence in the social sciences; meta-analytic and other methods of evidence synthesis; publication bias; heterogeneity; and approaches to dissemination.

Principles and Practice of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis

Principles and Practice of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis
Author: Sanjay Patole
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 189
Release: 2021-06-26
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 3030719219

Evidence based medicine is at the core of modern medicine. It involves the integration of individual clinical expertise with the best available clinical evidence from systematic research and patient's values and expectations. Systematic reviews offer a summary of the best available evidence. They are the most reliable and comprehensive statement about what works. Written by clinical academics from Australia, UK, USA, and Switzerland, this contributed volume introduces the readers to the principles and practice of systematic reviews and meta-analysis. It covers the various steps involved in systematic reviews including development of a focused question and the strategy for conducting a comprehensive literature search, identifying studies addressing the underlying question, assessment of heterogeneity and the risk of bias in the included studies, data extraction, and the approach to meta-analysis. Crucial issues such as selecting the model for meta-analysis, generating and interpreting forest plots, assessing the risk of publication bias, cautions in the interpretation of subgroup and sensitivity analyses, rating certainty of the evidence using GRADE guideline, and standardized reporting of meta-analysis (PRISMA) are covered in detail. Every attempt is made to keep the narrative simple and clear. Mathematical formulae are avoided as much as possible. While the focus of this book is on systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials (RCTs), the gold standard of clinical research, the essentials of systematic reviews of non-RCTs, diagnostic test accuracy studies, animal studies, individual participant data meta-analysis, and network meta-analysis are also covered. Readers from all faculties of medicine will enjoy this comprehensive and reader friendly book to understand the principles and practice of systematic reviews and meta-analysis for guiding their clinical practice and research.

Handbook of EHealth Evaluation

Handbook of EHealth Evaluation
Author: Francis Yin Yee Lau
Publisher:
Total Pages: 487
Release: 2016-11
Genre: Medical care
ISBN: 9781550586015

To order please visit https://onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca/press/books/ordering/

Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis

Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis
Author: Jacqueline Corcoran
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 211
Release: 2008-02-13
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0199716862

When used in tandem, systematic reviews and meta-analysis-- two distinct but highly compatible approaches to research synthesis-- form a powerful, scientific approach to analyzing previous studies. But to see their full potential, a social work researcher must be versed in the foundational processes underlying them. This pocket guide to Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis illuminates precisely that practical groundwork. In clear, step-by-step terms, the authors explain how to format topics, locate and screen studies, extract and assess data, pool effect sizes, determine bias, and interpret the results, showing readers how to combine reviewing and meta-analysis correctly and effectively. Each chapter contains vivid social work examples and concludes with a concise summary and notes on further reading, while the book's glossary and handy checklists and sample search and data extraction forms maximize the boo'ks usefulness. Highlighting the concepts necessary to understand, critique, and conduct research synthesis, this brief and highly readable introduction is a terrific resource for students and researchers alike.

Systematic Reviews

Systematic Reviews
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2009
Genre: Electronic books
ISBN: 9781900640473

For adults. There is a pressing need for methodologically sound RCTs to confirm whether such interventions are helpful and, if so, for whom.