Developing a code of practice for literature searching in health sciences: a project description.

Introduction: Libraries have provided mediated search services for more than forty years without a practice standard to guide the execution of searches, training of searchers, or evaluation of search performance. A pan-Canadian group of librarians completed a study of the literature on mediated search practices from 2014-2017 as a first step in addressing this deficit. Methods: We used a three-phase, six-part content analysis process to examine and analyze published guidance on literature searching. Card sorting, Delphi methods, and an online questionnaire were then used to validate our findings and build a code of practice. Results: Our code of practice for mediated searching lists eighty-five search tasks arranged in performance order, within five progressive levels of search complexity. A glossary of 150 search terms supports the code of practice. Discussion: The research literature on mediated search methods is sparse and fragmented, lacking currency and a shared vocabulary. A code of practice for mediated searching will provide clarity in terminology, approach, and methods. This code of practice will provide a unified and convenient reference for training a new hire, upholding standards of search service delivery, or educating the next wave of health library professionals.

Patient Falls, Nurse Communication, and Nurse Hourly Rounding in Acute Care: Linking Patient Experience and Outcomes.

Research has consistently found a link between hourly nurse rounding and patient outcomes, including reduced falls, reduced pressure ulcers, reduced call light usage, and improved patient experience; however, little research exists specific to patient falls and nurse rounding in acute care settings. This study adds to the body of knowledge by statistically quantifying and providing linkages between nurse rounding frequency and patient fall rates using data from 31 military treatment facilities comprehensively over a period from fiscal year (FY) 2017 through FY2019. Poisson regression results indicated that hourly nurse rounding was associated with a reduction of more than 21% in fall rates (incidence rate ratio = 0.79, P < .01) relative to infrequent rounding, and poorly rated nurse communication was associated with an 8.6-fold increase in patient fall rates relative to highly rated nurse communication (incidence rate ratio = 8.6, P < .01).

Errata for trial publications are not uncommon, are frequently not trivial, and can be challenging to access: a retrospective review.

Objective: The research sought to determine the prevalence of errata for drug trial publications that are included in systematic reviews, their potential value to reviews, and their accessibility via standard information retrieval methods. Methods: The authors conducted a retrospective review of included studies from forty systematic reviews of drugs evaluated by the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) Common Drug Review (CDR) in 2015. For each article that was included in the systematic reviews, we conducted searches for associated errata using the CDR review report, PubMed, and the journal publishers' websites. The severity of errors described in errata was evaluated using a three-category scale: trivial, minor, or major. The accessibility of errata was determined by examining inclusion in bibliographic databases, costs of obtaining errata, time lag between article and erratum publication, and correction of online articles. Results: The 40 systematic reviews included 127 articles in total, for which 26 errata were identified. These errata described 38 errors. When classified by severity, 6 errors were major; 20 errors were minor; and 12 errors were trivial. No one database contained all the errata. On average, errata were published 211 days after the original article (range: 15-1,036 days). All were freely available. Over one-third (9/24) of online articles were uncorrected after errata publication. Conclusion: Errata frequently described non-trivial errors that would either impact the interpretation of data in the article or, in fewer cases, impact the conclusions of the study. As such, it seems useful for reviewers to identify errata associated with included studies. However, publication time lag and inconsistent database indexing impair errata accessibility.

Post-marketing surveillance in the published medical and grey literature for percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty catheters: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Post-marketing surveillance (PMS) may identify rare serious incidents or adverse events due to the long-term use of a medical device, which was not captured in the pre-market process. Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) is a non-surgical procedure that uses a balloon-tipped catheter to enlarge a narrowed artery. In 2011, 1,942 adverse event reports related to the use of PTCA catheters were submitted to the FDA by the manufacturers, an increase from the 883 reported in 2008. The primary research objective is to conduct a systematic review of the published and grey literature published between 2007 and 2012 for the frequency of incidents, adverse events and malfunctions associated with the use of PTCA catheters in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Grey literature has not been commercially published. METHODS: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and PubMed for medical literature on PMS for PTCA catheters in patients with CAD published between January 2007 and July 2012. We also searched the grey literature. RESULTS: This review included 11 studies. The in-hospital adverse events reported were individual cases of myocardial infarction and hematoma. In studies of patients with coronary perforation, more patients with balloon angioplasty were identified compared with patients who required stenting. CONCLUSIONS: Our systematic review illustrates that the volume and quality of PMS studies associated with the use of PTCA catheters in patients with CAD are low in the published and grey literature, and may not be useful sources of information for decisions on safety. In most studies, the objectives were not to monitor the long-term safety of the use of PTCA catheters in clinical practice. Future studies can explore the strengths and limitations of PMS databases administered by regulatory authorities.

The effect of English-language restriction on systematic review-based meta-analyses: a systematic review of empirical studies.

OBJECTIVES: The English language is generally perceived to be the universal language of science. However, the exclusive reliance on English-language studies may not represent all of the evidence. Excluding languages other than English (LOE) may introduce a language bias and lead to erroneous conclusions. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: We conducted a comprehensive literature search using bibliographic databases and grey literature sources. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they measured the effect of excluding randomized controlled trials (RCTs) reported in LOE from systematic review-based meta-analyses (SR/MA) for one or more outcomes. RESULTS: None of the included studies found major differences between summary treatment effects in English-language restricted meta-analyses and LOE-inclusive meta-analyses. Findings differed about the methodological and reporting quality of trials reported in LOE. The precision of pooled estimates improved with the inclusion of LOE trials. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, we found no evidence of a systematic bias from the use of language restrictions in systematic review-based meta-analyses in conventional medicine. Further research is needed to determine the impact of language restriction on systematic reviews in particular fields of medicine.