Evaluating Reproducibility and Transparency in Emergency Medicine Publications

Introduction: We aimed to assess the reproducibility of empirical research by determining the availability of components required for replication of a study, including materials, raw data, analysis scripts, protocols, and preregistration. Methods: We used the National Library of Medicine catalog to identify MEDLINE-indexed emergency medicine (EM) journals. Thirty journals met the inclusion criteria. From January 1, 2014– December 31, 2018, 300 publications were randomly sampled using a PubMed search. Additionally, we included four high-impact general medicine journals, which added 106 publications. Two investigators were blinded for independent extraction. Extracted data included statements regarding the availability of materials, data, analysis scripts, protocols, and registration. Results: After the search, we found 25,473 articles, from which we randomly selected 300. Of the 300, only 287 articles met the inclusion criteria. Additionally, we added 106 publications from high- impact journals of which 77 met the inclusion criteria. Together, 364 publications were included, of which 212 articles contained empirical data to analyze. Of the eligible empirical articles, 2.49%, (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.33% to 4.64%] provided a material statement, 9.91% (95% CI, 5.88% to 13.93%) provided a data statement, 0 provided access to analysis scripts, 25.94% (95% CI, 20.04% to 31.84%) linked the protocol, and 39.15% (95% CI, 32.58% to 45.72%) were preregistered. Conclusion: Studies in EM lack indicators required for reproducibility. The majority of studies fail to report factors needed to reproduce research to ensure credibility. Thus, an intervention is required and can be achieved through the collaboration of researchers, peer reviewers, funding agencies, and journals.

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Evaluating Reproducibility and Transparency in Emergency Medicine Publications (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.15639 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Bradley Johnson ◽

Shelby Rauh ◽

Daniel Tritz ◽

Michael Schiesel ◽

Ben Matthew Vassar

Keyword(s):

Emergency Medicine ◽

Data Analysis ◽

English Language ◽

Data Extraction ◽

Inclusion Criteria ◽

Raw Data ◽

Medicine Research ◽

Funding Agencies ◽

Pubmed Search ◽

Peer Reviewers

BACKGROUND Reproducibility is the backbone to ensuring reliable and transparent research. However, evidence reveals reproducibility may be lacking within emergency medicine. Reproducibility is defined by the replication of a study design and obtaining similar findings. Studies that share research components such as raw data, protocols, and analysis scripts increase the overall reproducibility by aiding study replication. Due to the evidence reproducibility in emergency medicine research may be lacking, investigation of the sharing of these research components is warranted. OBJECTIVE We aimed to assess the reproducibility of empirical research by determining the availability of components required for replication of a study, including materials, raw data, analysis scripts, protocols, and preregistration. METHODS The National Library of Medicine catalog was used to identify English language and MEDLINE-indexed emergency medicine journals. From 30 journals that met the inclusion criteria, 300 publications from January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2018, were randomly sampled using a refined PubMed search. Two investigators were trained for data extraction and analysis and were blinded for independent extraction of data. Extracted data included statements regarding the availability of materials, data, analysis scripts, protocols, and registration. RESULTS After search criteria were set, 25,473 articles were found, from which we randomly selected a sample of 300. Of the 300 articles, only 290 articles were accessible, and of these, 178 articles contained empirical data to analyze. Of the empirical articles eligible for each type of statement, 3.94% (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.74% to 6.14%) provided a materials statement, 9.42% (95% CI 6.11% to 12.73%) provided a data statement, 0.72% (95% CI 0% to 1.68%) provided access to the analysis scripts, 2.17% (95% CI 0.52% to 3.82%) linked the protocol, and 7.25% (95% CI 4.31% to 10.18%) were preregistered. CONCLUSIONS Emergency medicine studies are lacking indicators required for reproducibility. The vast majority of studies fail to report factors needed to reproduce research to ensure credibility, which requires an intervention that can be achieved through the collaboration of researchers, peer reviewers, funding agencies, and journals.

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Analysis of Practices to Promote Reproducibility and Transparency in Anaesthesiology Research: Are Important Aspects “Hidden Behind the Drapes?”

10.1101/729129 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Ochije Okonya ◽

Drayton Rorah ◽

Daniel Tritz ◽

Blake A. Umberham ◽

Matt Wiley ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Sciences ◽

Data Extraction ◽

Analysis Data ◽

Time Frame ◽

Inclusion Criteria ◽

Primary Research ◽

National Library ◽

High Quality Research ◽

The Social ◽

Pubmed Search

ABSTRACTIntroductionReliable, high-quality research is essential to the field of anaesthesiology. Reproducibility and transparency has been investigated in the biomedical domain and in the social sciences, with both lacking to provide necessary information to reproduce the study findings. In this study, we investigated 14 indicators of reproducibility in anaesthesiology research.MethodsWe used the National Library of Medicine (NLM) catalogue to search for all anaesthesiology journals that are MEDLINE indexed and provided English texts. PubMed was searched with the list of journals to identify all publications from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2018. We randomly sampled 300 publications that fit the inclusion criteria for our analysis. Data extraction was then conducted in a blinded, duplicate fashion using a pilot-tested Google form.ResultsThe PubMed search of these journals identified 171,441 publications, with 28,310 being within the time frame. From the 300 publications sampled, 296 full-text publications were accessible. Most of the studies did not include materials or protocol availability statements. The majority of publications did not provide a data analysis script statement (121/122, 99% [98% to 100%]) or a preregistration statement (94/122, 77% [72% to 81%]).ConclusionAnaesthesiology research needs to drastically improve indicators of reproducibility and transparency. By making research publically available and improving accessibility to detailed study components, primary research can be reproduced in subsequent studies and help contribute to the development of new practice guidelines.

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Endotoxemia as a Diagnostic Tool for Patients with Suspected Bacteremia Caused by Gram-Negative Organisms: a Meta-Analysis of 4 Decades of Studies

Journal of Clinical Microbiology ◽

10.1128/jcm.03531-14 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 53 (4) ◽

pp. 1183-1191 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

James C. Hurley ◽

Piotr Nowak ◽

Lars Öhrmalm ◽

Charalambos Gogos ◽

Apostolos Armaganidis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Confidence Interval ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Inclusion Criteria ◽

Summary Receiver Operating Characteristic ◽

Detection Rates ◽

Gram Negative ◽

Content Type ◽

E Coli ◽

Patient Groups ◽

Gram Negative Organisms

The clinical significance of endotoxin detection in blood has been evaluated for a broad range of patient groups in over 40 studies published over 4 decades. The influences of Gram-negative (GN) bacteremia species type and patient inclusion criteria on endotoxemia detection rates in published studies remain unclear. Studies were identified after a literature search and manual reviews of article bibliographies, together with a direct approach to authors of potentially eligible studies for data clarifications. The concordance between GN bacteremia and endotoxemia expressed as the summary diagnostic odds ratios (DORs) was derived for three GN bacteremia categories across eligible studies by using a hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic (HSROC) method. Forty-two studies met broad inclusion criteria, with between 2 and 173 GN bacteremias in each study. Among all 42 studies, the DORs (95% confidence interval) were 3.2 (1.7 to 6.0) and 5.8 (2.4 to 13.7) in association with GN bacteremias withEscherichia coliand those withPseudomonas aeruginosa, respectively. Among 12 studies of patients with sepsis, the proportion of endotoxemia positivity (95% confidence interval) among patients withP. aeruginosabacteremia (69% [57 to 79%];P= 0.004) or withProteusbacteremia (76% [51 to 91%];P= 0.04) was significantly higher than that among patients without GN bacteremia (49% [33 to 64%]), but this was not so for patients bacteremic withE. coli(57% [40 to 73%];P= 0.55). Among studies of the sepsis patient group, the concordance of endotoxemia with GN bacteremia was surprisingly weak, especially forE. coliGN bacteremia.

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Osteopathic manipulative treatment and the Spanish flu: a historical literature review

Journal of Osteopathic Medicine ◽

10.1515/jom-2020-0112 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 121 (2) ◽

pp. 181-190

Author(s):

Francesca Baroni ◽

Damiana Mancini ◽

Silvia Clara Tuscano ◽

Simone Scarlata ◽

Christian Lunghi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Healthy Lifestyle ◽

Influenza Pandemic ◽

Future Research ◽

Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment ◽

Inclusion Criteria ◽

Medical Subject Headings ◽

National Library ◽

Hand Search ◽

Spanish Flu ◽

Osteopathic Physicians

Abstract Context The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 was approached with a variety of management techniques available at that time, including osteopathic care in addition to standard medical care. Objective To analyze the osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) techniques used for the management of patients affected by the Spanish flu according to four themes: the principles and procedures used, frequency and length of OMT, reported side effects, and advice for patients. Methods A structured review of the literature was performed by hand-searching texts at the Museum of Osteopathic Medicine International Center for Osteopathic History in Kirksville, Missouri, and online via PubMed (National Library of Medicine), ScienceDirect (Elsevier), and Google Scholar (Google, Inc). The literature search was carried out between February and March 2020. Three keywords were selected from the medical subject headings database of the National Library of Medicine: manipulation, osteopathic; influenza pandemic, 1918–1919; epidemics. Articles were then reviewed for relevance by screening for articles published between 1900 and 1940 that contained at least 1 of the following keywords in their title: Spanish influenza, flu, epidemic, grippe, pneumonia, or osteopathic management/treatment. All articles that provided information about OMT and advice met the inclusion criteria. Articles that did not report descriptions of manipulative intervention were excluded. Results Our search yielded 63 articles: 23 from the hand-search and 40 from the electronic search. No electronic source was selected for the review because none met inclusion criteria. A total of 16 articles from the hand-searched set met inclusion criteria and were analyzed according to the four main themes stated in the objective. The range of OMT approaches reported to be administered to patients with Spanish flu suggests that early osteopathic physicians treated patients with this disease using OMT in addition to offering advice on healthy lifestyle behaviors. Conclusion Conclusions from this study are limited by the historical and descriptive nature of the data gathered, which lacked the rigor of modern-day scientific studies. However, this review could lead to future research inquiries on the effectiveness of these approaches. Osteopathic physicians and osteopaths should embrace their historical osteopathic heritage by continuing the work of our predecessors and combining their hands-on experience and osteopathic principles with modern medical treatment and rigorous scientific standards.

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Prevalence of hepatitis B and C seropositivity in pregnant women

Revista da Escola de Enfermagem da USP ◽

10.1590/s0080-623420140000100011 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 48 (1) ◽

pp. 89-96 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Carla Natalina da Silva Fernandes ◽

Michelly de Melo Alves ◽

Michelly Lorrane de Souza ◽

Gleyce Alves Machado ◽

Gleiber Couto ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Data Analysis ◽

Hepatitis B ◽

Confidence Interval ◽

Pregnant Women ◽

Exploratory Study ◽

Maternity Hospital ◽

Hospital Records ◽

Significance Level

The aim of the study was to identify the prevalence of hepatitis B and C seropositivity in pregnant women attended in a public maternity hospital located in Catalao-GO from 2005 to 2009. Descriptive, exploratory study conducted through patients` hospital records. For data analysis, we used SPSS version 18.0. The confidence interval (CI) was calculated using the Person χ² test, considering a significance level of 5% (p <0.05). The prevalence of HBV was 5.64% and HCV 0.098%, predominantly in young pregnant women aged between 20 and 30 years old, single and in their first pregnancy.

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Prevalence of Hip Ultrasound Abnormalities in Newborns With a Hip Click

Clinical Pediatrics ◽

10.1177/0009922820920011 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 59 (8) ◽

pp. 773-777

Author(s):

John T. Gaffney ◽

John Spellman

Keyword(s):

Family History ◽

Confidence Interval ◽

Physical Examination ◽

Prospective Studies ◽

Hip Dysplasia ◽

Developmental Dysplasia ◽

Inclusion Criteria ◽

History Of ◽

Hip Ultrasound ◽

Dysplasia Of The Hip

A hip click on examination of the newborn hip is believed to be the result of a ligament or myofascial structure and thought to be benign. Some studies suggest a link between hip clicks and developmental dysplasia of the hip. The purpose of our study is to estimate the prevalence of ultrasound hip abnormalities in newborns with a hip click and an otherwise normal physical examination. Results. Ninety patients meeting inclusion criteria of a hip click with an otherwise normal physical examination underwent diagnostic ultrasound with a 17.8% prevalence of hip abnormalities found (95% confidence interval ±7.9% [range of 9.9% to 25.7%]). Our study had 64 (71%) females and 26 (29%) males. The prevalence of hip pathology for females was 18.8% (12 of 64 patients) and for males was 15.4% (4 of 26 patients). Thirty-three patients were found to have bilateral hip clicks on presentation, with 21.2% (7 of 33) of those patients found to have hip pathology on ultrasound (3 of the 7 had pathology of both hips). Six patients had a family history of hip dysplasia and 1 of these patients (16.7%) had pathology on ultrasound. The average age to hip sonography was 6.6 weeks. Conclusions. In all, 17.8% of newborns with a hip click were found to have hip abnormalities on ultrasound. The prevalence of hip pathology, on ultrasound, suggests that additional larger, prospective studies are needed to clarify the association between a hip click and abnormal ultrasound found at 6 weeks of age or greater.

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Clinical simulation with dramatization: gains perceived by students and health professionals

Revista Latino-Americana de Enfermagem ◽

10.1590/1518-8345.1807.2916 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 25 (0) ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Elaine Cristina Negri ◽

Alessandra Mazzo ◽

José Carlos Amado Martins ◽

Gerson Alves Pereira Junior ◽

Rodrigo Guimarães dos Santos Almeida ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Latin American ◽

Web Of Science ◽

Cochrane Library ◽

Inclusion Criteria ◽

National Library ◽

Electronic Library ◽

Clinical Simulation ◽

Self Confidence ◽

The Cochrane Library ◽

Latin American And Caribbean

ABSTRACT Objective: to identify in the literature the gains health students and professionals perceive when using clinical simulation with dramatization resources. Method: integrative literature review, using the method proposed by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI). A search was undertaken in the following databases: Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature, Web of Science, National Library of Medicine, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, The Cochrane Library, Scopus, Scientific Electronic Library Online. Results: 53 studies were analyzed, which complied with the established inclusion criteria. Among the different gains obtained, satisfaction, self-confidence, knowledge, empathy, realism, reduced level of anxiety, comfort, communication, motivation, capacity for reflection and critical thinking and teamwork stand out. Conclusion: the evidence demonstrates the great possibilities to use dramatization in the context of clinical simulation, with gains in the different health areas, as well as interprofessional gains.

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Review of Emotional Intelligence: A Preliminary Map Across Latin America

Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology ◽

10.1093/arclin/acz029.38 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 34 (7) ◽

pp. 1271-1271

Author(s):

H Patino-Carvajal ◽

L Tibiriçá ◽

Y Garcia ◽

A Maresco ◽

I Tourgeman

Keyword(s):

Emotional Intelligence ◽

Data Analysis ◽

Latin American ◽

Life Science ◽

Life Sciences ◽

Inclusion Criteria ◽

Related Subject ◽

The Mean ◽

Latin American Countries ◽

Total Life

Abstract Objective The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of Emotional Intelligence (EI) research among 19 Latin American countries. Participants and Method Respective to each country, Total Life Science publications and Psychology publications were gathered from “UNESCO Science Report Towards 2030.” Population and GDP statistics pertaining to each country were derived from CIA Factbook. Mean education and percentage of GDP allocated for education were gathered from UNESCO Institute for Statistics. The databases SciELO and Redalyc were used to exhume the number of published Emotional Intelligence articles. The term “inteligencia emocional” was used. Findings were filtered to meet inclusion criteria: peer-reviewed, published between 2008-2018, corresponding to a Psychology related subject. Duplicate articles, those that did not contain the term “inteligencia emocional” in the abstract and articles that were not listed under the Psychology category were excluded. Results Data analysis of 19 countries from 2008-2014 revealed the mean number of Emotional Intelligence published articles to be 2.65 (SD = 5.54) articles per country - with a maximum of 22 and a minimum of 0. The percent of articles featuring EI in relation to Total Psychology articles published had a mean of 7% - with Minimum of 0% and Maximum of 60%. Bolivia has the highest percentage of articles on EI (60%), whereas Colombia the highest total number of articles published (n = 41). Population was significantly correlated with Total Articles Published and Total Psychology Articles Published. Conclusions Emotional Intelligence in Latin American countries is not widely investigated. Findings revealed 12 out of 19 Latin American countries had one or more publications related to Emotional Intelligence. While population was shown to be related to the number of articles published in Life Sciences and Psychology, it did not reveal a correlation with the publication of studies regarding EI. Furthermore, education and GDP were not related to the overall publication of articles.

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Common risk difference test and interval estimation of risk difference for stratified bilateral correlated data

Statistical Methods in Medical Research ◽

10.1177/0962280218781988 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 28 (8) ◽

pp. 2418-2438

Author(s):

Xi Shen ◽

Chang-Xing Ma ◽

Kam C Yuen ◽

Guo-Liang Tian

Keyword(s):

Data Analysis ◽

Confidence Interval ◽

Score Test ◽

Real Data ◽

Risk Difference ◽

Error Rates ◽

Correlated Data ◽

Test Statistic ◽

Data Set ◽

Intra Class Correlation

Bilateral correlated data are often encountered in medical researches such as ophthalmologic (or otolaryngologic) studies, in which each unit contributes information from paired organs to the data analysis, and the measurements from such paired organs are generally highly correlated. Various statistical methods have been developed to tackle intra-class correlation on bilateral correlated data analysis. In practice, it is very important to adjust the effect of confounder on statistical inferences, since either ignoring the intra-class correlation or confounding effect may lead to biased results. In this article, we propose three approaches for testing common risk difference for stratified bilateral correlated data under the assumption of equal correlation. Five confidence intervals of common difference of two proportions are derived. The performance of the proposed test methods and confidence interval estimations is evaluated by Monte Carlo simulations. The simulation results show that the score test statistic outperforms other statistics in the sense that the former has robust type [Formula: see text] error rates with high powers. The score confidence interval induced from the score test statistic performs satisfactorily in terms of coverage probabilities with reasonable interval widths. A real data set from an otolaryngologic study is used to illustrate the proposed methodologies.

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Pulse oximetry in discharge decision-making: a survey of emergency physicians

CJEM ◽

10.1017/s1481803500007880 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 4 (06) ◽

pp. 388-393 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Lance Brown ◽

Bernard Dannenberg

Keyword(s):

Emergency Medicine ◽

Pulse Oximetry ◽

Pediatric Emergency ◽

Primary Objective ◽

Pediatric Emergency Medicine ◽

Emergency Physicians ◽

Inclusion Criteria ◽

Experience Teaching ◽

Practice Variability ◽

Modest Degree

ABSTRACT Objectives: Our primary objective was to describe the pulse oximetry discharge thresholds used by general and pediatric emergency physicians for well-appearing children with bronchiolitis and pneumonia, and to assess the related practice variability. Methods: This mail-in survey was conducted in August and September 2001 and included the 281 active members of the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Section of the American College of Emergency Physicians. The survey consisted of 2 case scenarios of previously healthy, well-appearing children: a 2-year-old with pneumonia and a 10-month-old with bronchiolitis. Respondents were asked about their years of experience, teaching load, percentage of children in their practice, whether they currently have a written departmental guideline at their institution, and the lowest pulse oximetry reading that they would accept and still discharge the patient directly home. Results: One hundred and eighty-two (65%) physicians answered the survey and met the inclusion criteria. The respondents’ median oximetry value and interquartile range (IQR) for the pneumonia and bronchiolitis cases were 93% (92%–94%) and 94% (92%–94%) respectively. With the exception of the 3 physicians practising >1000 metres above sea level, the responses by subgroups were similar. Conclusions: There does not yet exist a safe, clinically validated pulse oximetry discharge threshold. Emergency physicians from this study sample have a modest degree of practice variability in a self-reported pulse oximetry discharge threshold. Emergency physicians may use this data to compare their own practice with that reported by this group.

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