scholarly journals Versus Arthritis Musculoskeletal Disorders Research Advisory Group Priority Setting Exercise Protocol

Author(s):  
Z Paskins ◽  
F Manning ◽  
C Farmer ◽  
C Le Maitre ◽  
E Clark ◽  
...  

AbstractInvolving research users in setting priorities for musculoskeletal research is essential to raise awareness of the unmet needs for MSK research, to ensure research outcomes are patient-centred and relevant, have a high likelihood of resulting in patient benefit, reduce research waste and increase research value and impact. In 2018, Versus Arthritis convened an MSK Disorders Research Advisory Group (RAG) which included people with arthritis, health care professionals and researchers in MSK, in order to identify and prioritise research areas with a long-term aim of improving quality and impact of MSK research. On further review, there were few previous prioritisation approaches in this area looking across discovery science to more clinical research, at important research questions which might be common to a range of disorders or approaches incorporating input at all stages of the process by a range of stakeholders including people with arthritis. The group identified that more work to define research priorities in these areas was justified and designed a research priority setting process for MSK disorders. This manuscript documents the methodology that was developed by the group for this process.MethodsFollowing a review, the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) method for research prioritisation was selected as best aligning with the needs of this process. The group agreed on adaptations to the CHNRI approach, context, purpose and remit of the exercise and identified through consensus four priority research Domains: Mechanisms of disease; Diagnosis (including early diagnosis) and measuring the impact of these disorders; Living well with MSK disorders and Successful Translation. From all published CHNRI scoring criteria for generated research avenues or themes of research, the group identified six which were most relevant to this process. To ensure accessibility of the survey and scoring, these were refined to three: Equity (considered cross cutting, not scored but considered throughout the process), Importance (Will research in this area have potential to lead to important new knowledge) and Impact (Might research in this area make a difference). Importance and Impact were to be scored on a scale of 1-10 for each research avenue with equal weighting of these two criteria in the subsequent generation of a total score.Data collectionFollowing ethical approval, an electronic first survey asking for important research uncertainties in the four research domains and any other areas will be distributed to all stakeholders (people with arthritis, researchers in all stages of MSK disorders research, healthcare professionals, industry e.g. pharmaceutical and medical technology companies, research funders, healthcare providers, government policy makers and charities). The next step is to consolidate all the gathered research uncertainties from the first survey into finalised research domains and avenues. Uncertainties will be summarised using deductive thematic analysis and organised into possible themes which will then be considered and refined by each of four appointed subgroups within the RAG. Following group and lay review and refinement of the wording including tests of readability, the second survey including this full list of research avenues will be submitted for ethical approval. The second survey will be completed by the same range of stakeholders as the first survey, both those who previously completed and new respondents. Respondents will be invited to rate each research avenue using the two scoring criteria, with the avenues presented in a random sequence to avoid bias.Analysis PlanAll available data will be analysed, from all respondents completing the survey in full and all partial respondents. For each research avenue, a mean criterion score will be calculated for each of the two criteria from all available survey responses (considering the number of respondents in each case), and then the two mean criterion scores will be summed to create a total score. Response rates and missing data for scoring of avenues will be reported. The primary prioritisation output of this exercise will be to produce a single ranked list of these total scores of research avenues, from highest to lowest. The most highly ranked avenues will be highlighted, for example the top five to top ten overall and from each research domain, with the exact number and nature of this depending on the distribution of the data. Respondent characteristics will be summarised including self-identified stakeholder group, age group, gender and ethnic background, to describe the diversity and representation within the survey respondents as far as possible.Dissemination planFindings will be communicated in a number of formats, both written and spoken, to ensure accessibility to all stakeholders, and will also be used by the charity in internal strategy development. Dissemination will include the submission of a manuscript to a peer-reviewed journal.

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. e049883
Author(s):  
Sarah Firman ◽  
Radha Ramachandran ◽  
Kevin Whelan ◽  
Oliver C Witard ◽  
Majella O’Keeffe

IntroductionPhenylketonuria (PKU) is a disorder of protein metabolism resulting in an accumulation of phenylalanine in the body. Dietary management consists of altering the sources of ingested protein to limit phenylalanine intake. Current dietary protein guidelines for PKU are based on limited scientific evidence, thus it remains unclear whether current practice leads to optimal protein status in people with PKU. To date, no attempt has been made to systematically evaluate the protein status of people with PKU, using a combination of validated anthropometric, biochemical and functional measurement tools. Furthermore, factors known to influence protein status in the general population warrant consideration when determining protein status in individuals with PKU, alongside factors unique to PKU such as the type of protein substitute consumed. Understanding the impact of these variables on protein status is crucial to developing a personalised approach to protein recommendations for optimising health and functional outcomes in people with PKU. Therefore, the aim of this scoping review is to examine existing evidence regarding the protein status of people with PKU, and to investigate the nutritional and lifestyle variables that influence protein status.Methods and analysisThis review will be guided by Arksey and O’Malley’s framework, along with guidance from Levac et al, Pawliuk et al and the Joanna Briggs Institute. The following databases will be searched: MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase, CENTRAL, Web of Science and Scopus, alongside grey literature. Identified literature will be assessed by two independent reviewers for inclusion. Descriptive numerical analysis will be performed and a narrative summary will accompany the tabulated results describing how study findings relate to the review questions.Ethics and disseminationThis review protocol does not require ethical approval. Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publication, presented at relevant conferences, and shared with a patient research advisory group to inform discussions on future research.


BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. e036599
Author(s):  
Sedona Sweeney ◽  
Gabriela Gomez ◽  
Nichola Kitson ◽  
Animesh Sinha ◽  
Natalia Yatskevich ◽  
...  

IntroductionCurrent treatment regimens for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) are long, poorly tolerated and have poor outcomes. Furthermore, the costs of treating MDR-TB are much greater than those for treating drug-susceptible TB, both for health service and patient-incurred costs. Urgent action is needed to identify short, effective, tolerable and cheaper treatments for people with both quinolone-susceptible and quinolone-resistant MDR-TB. We present the protocol for an economic evaluation (PRACTECAL-EE substudy) alongside an ongoing clinical trial (TB-PRACTECAL) aiming to assess the costs to patients and providers of new regimens, as well as their cost-effectiveness and impact on participant poverty levels. This substudy is based on data from the three countries participating in the main trial.Methods and analysisPrimary cost data will be collected from the provider and patient perspectives, following economic best practice. We will estimate the probability that new MDR-TB regimens containing bedaquiline, pretomanid and linezolid are cost-effective from a societal perspective as compared with the standard of care for MDR-TB patients in Uzbekistan, South Africa and Belarus. Analysis uses a Markov model populated with primary cost and outcome data collected at each study site. We will also estimate the impact of new regimens on prevalence of catastrophic patient costs due to TB.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval has been obtained from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Médecins Sans Frontières. Local ethical approval will be sought in each study site. The results of the economic evaluation will be shared with the country health authorities and published in a peer-reviewed journal.Trial registration numberClinicalTrials.gov Registry (NCT04207112); Pre-results.


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. e043807
Author(s):  
Jiantong Shen ◽  
Wenming Feng ◽  
Yike Wang ◽  
Qiyuan Zhao ◽  
Billong Laura Flavorta ◽  
...  

IntroductionEfficacy of aliskiren combination therapy with other antihypertensive has been evaluated in the treatment of patients with hypertension in recent systematic reviews. However, most previous reviews only focused on one single health outcome or one setting, none of them made a full summary that assessed the impact of aliskiren combination treatment comprehensively. As such, this umbrella review based on systematic reviews and meta-analyses is aimed to synthesise the evidences on efficacy, safety and tolerability of aliskiren-based therapy for hypertension and related comorbid patients.Methods and analysisA comprehensive search of PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, CNKI published from inception to August 2020 will be conducted. The selected articles are systematic reviews which evaluated efficacy, safety and tolerability of aliskiren combination therapy. Two reviewers will screen eligible articles, extract data and evaluate quality independently. Any disputes will be resolved by discussion or the arbitration of a third person. The quality of reporting evidence will be assessed using the Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews V.2 tool tool. We will take a mixed-methods approach to synthesising the review literatures, reporting summary of findings tables and iteratively mapping the results.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval is not required for the study, as we would only collect data from available published materials. This umbrella review will be also submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication after completion.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42020192131.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnes T. Black ◽  
Marla Steinberg ◽  
Amanda E. Chisholm ◽  
Kristi Coldwell ◽  
Alison M. Hoens ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The KT Challenge program supports health care professionals to effectively implement evidence-based practices. Unlike other knowledge translation (KT) programs, this program is grounded in capacity building, focuses on health care professionals (HCPs), and uses a multi-component intervention. This study presents the evaluation of the KT Challenge program to assess the impact on uptake, KT capacity, and practice change. Methods The evaluation used a mixed-methods retrospective pre-post design involving surveys and review of documents such as teams’ final reports. Online surveys collecting both quantitative and qualitative data were deployed at four time points (after both workshops, 6 months into implementation, and at the end of the 2-year funded projects) to measure KT capacity (knowledge, skills, and confidence) and impact on practice change. Qualitative data was analyzed using a general inductive approach and quantitative data was analyzed using non-parametric statistics. Results Participants reported statistically significant increases in knowledge and confidence across both workshops, at the 6-month mark of their projects, and at the end of their projects. In addition, at the 6-month check-in, practitioners reported statistically significant improvements in their ability to implement practice changes. In the first cohort of the program, of the teams who were able to complete their projects, half were able to show demonstrable practice changes. Conclusions The KT Challenge was successful in improving the capacity of HCPs to implement evidence-based practice changes and has begun to show demonstrable improvements in a number of practice areas. The program is relevant to a variety of HCPs working in diverse practice settings and is relatively inexpensive to implement. Like all practice improvement programs in health care settings, a number of challenges emerged stemming from the high turnover of staff and the limited capacity of some practitioners to take on anything beyond direct patient care. Efforts to address these challenges have been added to subsequent cohorts of the program and ongoing evaluation will examine if they are successful. The KT Challenge program has continued to garner great interest among practitioners, even in the midst of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, and shows promise for organizations looking for better ways to mobilize knowledge to improve patient care and empower staff. This study contributes to the implementation science literature by providing a description and evaluation of a new model for embedding KT practice skills in health care settings.


2021 ◽  
pp. 107780122110089
Author(s):  
Chunrye Kim ◽  
Joel A. Capellan ◽  
Hung-En Sung ◽  
Eduardo Rafael Orellana

Intimate partner violence (IPV) among women in Latin America, including Honduras, is serious. To help IPV victims, a community-based educational program has been implemented. This study aims to examine the impact of IPV training among teachers and health care professionals ( n = 160) on increases in IPV knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy when dealing with IPV victims using a pretest and posttest design. We found that the treatment group who received IPV training showed significantly lower justification for IPV, higher gender equality attitudes, and higher IPV knowledge as well as higher confidence levels in identifying IPV victims and safety planning for victims. We concluded that the IPV training program using the community-based approaches has the potential to help IPV victims in Honduras. More efforts should be made to increase the educational opportunities the community members can receive.


Author(s):  
Denise Genereux ◽  
Lida Fan ◽  
Keith Brownlee

Chronic kidney disease, also referred to as end-stage renal disease (ESRD), is a prevalent and chronic condition for which treatment is necessary as a means of survival once affected individuals reach the fifth and final stage of the disease. Dialysis is a form of maintenance treatment that aids with kidney functioning once a normal kidney is damaged. There are two main types of dialysis: hemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD). Each form of treatment is discussed between the patient and nephrologist and is largely dependent upon the following factors: medical condition, ability to administer treatment, supports, geographical location, access to necessary equipment/supplies, personal wishes, etc. For Indigenous Peoples who reside on remote Canadian First Nation communities, relocation is often recommended due to geographical location and limited access to both health care professionals and necessary equipment/supplies (i.e., quality of water, access to electricity/plumbing, etc). Consequently, the objective of this paper is to determine the psychosocial and somatic effects for Indigenous Peoples with ESRD if they have to relocate from remote First Nation communities to an urban centre. A review of the literature suggests that relocation to urban centres has negative implications that are worth noting: cultural isolation, alienation from family and friends, somatic issues, psychosocial issues, loss of independence and role adjustment. As a result of relocation, it is evident that the impact is profound in terms of an individuals’ mental, emotional, physical and spiritual well-being. Ensuring that adequate social support and education are available to patients and families would aid in alleviating stressors associated with managing chronic kidney disease.


2021 ◽  
pp. 175114372110100
Author(s):  
Gayathri Chinnappa Srinivas ◽  
Anwen Whitham ◽  
Rachel Rouse ◽  
Vincent Hamlyn ◽  
Matthew Williams

A survey was conducted to identify the prevalence of occupational burnout amongst health care professionals caring for COVID-19 patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a Welsh hospital. The response rate was 79%. Nurses and other staff reassigned to work in the ICU had higher levels of burnout. Working in Personal Protective Equipment was most distressing, followed by direct patient care. There were positive outcomes including learning opportunities, professional development and job satisfaction. The impact of the pandemic on staff burnout may have been mitigated by acknowledging the contribution of staff, improving communication and encouraging them to access support.


2007 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Mauldon

This paper reports on the attitudes of a sample of health care providers towards the use of telehealth to support rural patients and integrate rural primary health and urban hospital care. Telehealth and other information technologies hold the promise of improving the quality of care for people in rural and remote areas and for supporting rural primary health care providers. While seemingly beneficial for rural patients, study participants believed that telehealth remains underused and poorly integrated into their practice. In general, participants thought that telehealth is potentially beneficial but places constraints on their activities, and few actually used it. Published literature usually reports either on the success of telehealth pilot projects or initiatives that are well resourced and do not reflect the constraints of routine practice, or has an international focus limiting its relevance to the Australian context. Because of the paucity of systematic and generalisable research into the effects of the routine use of telehealth to support rural patients, it is unclear why health care professionals choose to provide such services or the costs and benefits they incur in doing so. Research and policy initiatives continue to be needed to identify the impact of telehealth within the context of Australian primary health care and to develop strategies to support its use.


2014 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Connolly ◽  
Joanne M. Thomas ◽  
Julie A. Orford ◽  
Nicola Schofield ◽  
Sigrid Whiteside ◽  
...  

2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 46-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Hodby ◽  
P A Fields

One in every thousand pregnancies is complicated by a concurrent diagnosis of cancer. Lymphoma is currently the fourth most common malignancy diagnosed during pregnancy and its incidence is rising. The diagnosis and management of any malignancy during pregnancy is clearly a clinical and emotional minefield for both patients and health-care professionals. The major challenge is to optimize medical treatment offered to the mother, while limiting the impact on the fetus. Given the relative rarity of the situation, current practice is guided by case reports and personal experience of management of similar patients. Our centre has a large and busy lymphoma practice, and has cared for several women diagnosed with a variety of subtypes of lymphoma over the years. This review aims to summarize current opinion about best practice regarding these patients and discusses options available from the current literature.


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