Respondent-driven sampling: Advantages and disadvantages from a sampling method

This article summarizes the main elements, advantages, and disadvantages of Respondent-driven Sampling (RDS). Some criticisms regarding the feasibility of the inherent assumptions, their point estimators, and the obtained variances are pointed out. This article also comments on the problems observed in the quality of reports. Surveys using RDS should be methodologically sound as they are being applied to define priorities in health programs and develop national and international policies for financing service delivery, among other uses. However, there is considerable potential for bias related to implementation and analytical errors. There is limited empirical evidence on how representative the results obtained by RDS are, and the quest to improve the methodology is still in progress. Nevertheless, to have confidence in RDS results, we must verify that the social structure of the networks conforms to the assumptions required by the theory, that the sampling assumptions are reasonably fulfilled, and that the quality of the report is optimal, particularly for methodological and analytical items.

Development of Integrated Reporting in Poland

Organizational reporting is the most important tool of communication between an enterpriseand its stakeholders. However, it is not a static tool but continues to develop and adapt to ongoingeconomic and social changes. Formerly covering only financial information; currently, it is supplementedby a wide range of non-financial information relating to all aspects of the business. The evolution ofreporting is particularly fostered by the rapid development of the concepts of corporate socialresponsibility and sustainable development, as well as the progressing changes in the information needsof stakeholders. Enterprises are increasingly publishing voluntary reports concerning the social,environmental, and employment aspects of their business in addition to reports required by law. Thisresults in the multiplication of reports and duplication of content, which has a negative impact on thereports' usefulness. The solution to this problem may be integrated reporting, which integrates andinterconnects financial and non-financial disclosures. A milestone for the development of integratedreporting was the elaboration of integrated reporting guidelines by the International Integrated ReportingCouncil (IIRC) in December 2013. The aim of the paper is to present the development of integratedreporting in Poland in 2014-2020 on the example of public companies listed on the Warsaw StockExchange. The quality of reports was assessed from the point of view of compliance with IIRC guidelines,as well as their usefulness for stakeholders. Content analysis of corporate publications and comparativeanalysis was used for this purpose.

“We hebben afgesproken dat…”: hoe verantwoorden zorgprofessionals hun handelen in rapportages?

“We agreed to….”: how do health care professionals account for their performance in reports? For many health care professionals, reporting is a daily, necessary task. Reports play a key role in the accountability practice of the care provided, like quality assurance, evaluation, coordination and continuity of health care. However, to write an efficient report in the Electronic Client Dossier (ECD) is not an easy task for professionals. Research illuminates that health care reports do not meet the required quality level, stressing the importance to address writing skills of these professionals. In this study, consisting of 50 health reports of two mental health care organizations, we explore accountability practices of health care providers in reports. The analysis demonstrates how professionals actively give accounts for their performance at two levels, namely (1) the interaction: accounts for the accomplishment of mutual understanding and the unfolding of the institutional conversation and (2) the care content: accounts for the directions of the health care process and/or future steps. These practices of ‘being accountable’ illuminate how the writing process of professionals is embedded in the institutional context of health care. Therefore, to improve the efficiency and quality of reports, it is crucial to train the strategic competence of professionals instead of just training writing skills.

Evaluating the Checklist for Artificial Intelligence in Medical Imaging (CLAIM)-Based Quality of Reports Using Convolutional Neural Network for Odontogenic Cyst and Tumor Detection

This review aimed to explore whether studies employing a convolutional neural network (CNN) for odontogenic cyst and tumor detection follow the methodological reporting recommendations, the checklist for artificial intelligence in medical imaging (CLAIM). We retrieved the CNN studies using panoramic and cone-beam-computed tomographic images from inception to April 2021 in PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, and Web of Science. The included studies were assessed according to the CLAIM. Among the 55 studies yielded, 6 CNN studies for odontogenic cyst and tumor detection were included. Following the CLAIM items, abstract, methods, results, discussion across the included studies were insufficiently described. The problem areas included item 2 in the abstract; items 6–9, 11–18, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26–31 in the methods; items 33, 34, 36, 37 in the results; item 38 in the discussion; and items 40–41 in “other information.” The CNN reports for odontogenic cyst and tumor detection were evaluated as low quality. Inadequate reporting reduces the robustness, comparability, and generalizability of a CNN study for dental radiograph diagnostics. The CLAIM is accepted as a good guideline in the study design to improve the reporting quality on artificial intelligence studies in the dental field.

A Historical Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials in the Management of Pain in Rotator Cuff Tears

The aim of this analysis was to assess the quality of reporting of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) relating to pain management in rotator cuff (RC) tears. This review evaluated the quality of the studies in the literature regarding this topic through the use of some factors and trends. The online databases used to search all RCTs on the topic of RC surgery were Medline, Scopus, CINAHL, EMBASE, and CENTRAL. This research was completed in September 2020. To assess the quality of reports, the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) and the modified Coleman methodology score (MCMS) were used. From the research, 262 articles emerged. Finally, 79 studies were included in this historical analysis. There were no statistically significant changes in MCMS across trials that included or did not include a CONSORT diagram (p = 0.10). A statistically significant difference in MCMS was discovered between papers produced prior to 2009 and publications produced after 2015 (p = 0.03). There was no association between the number of checklist items for each article and the Coleman score. During the years there has been a significant increase in both quantity and quality of RCTs relating to pain in RC tears.

Psychologists as expert witnesses: survey results from the expert witness advisory group (EWAG)

Purpose In January 2013, new court procedure rules were introduced in England and Wales, which resulted in significant changes to the instruction of expert witness psychologists (EWPsychs). This study aims to build on the results of previous survey studies of psychologists working as expert witnesses in identifying the current challenges faced by EWPsychs. Design/methodology/approach Using a mixed-methods design, a sample 58 practicing psychologist expert witnesses were surveyed, and qualitative data was analysed using a thematic analysis approach. Findings Six overarching themes emerged from the online survey data: training and knowledge, changes to procedure rules and Legal Aid Authority fees, quality of reports, pressures to change opinion, conflict with EWPsychs and expert witness feedback. Over a third of psychologists working as expert witness have not received specific expert witness training, with a quarter of respondents indicating that the capped legal aid fees are a determining factor in whether they accept instruction as an expert witness, and almost two-third of respondents believing that the legal aid rates do not accurately reflect the work that they do. Practical implications There is clear demand for high-quality EWPsychs and a need to develop expert witness training programmes and guidance documents to better support the next generation of EWPsychs. Originality/value These results inform existing policy, clinical practice and guidance documents in supporting psychologists working as expert witnesses.

DevOps as a culture of interaction and deployment in an insurance company.

This study provides the contributions of the implementation and development of DevOps in the integration and deployment of software in the organization due to problems previously detected regarding the speed and quality of reports. The arguments assumed from a DevOps culture, respond to: techniques and practices of continuous integration, continuous deployment, test automation, collaboration, automation, measurement and monitoring; these facts, was thanks to the implementation of the pre-experimental research design of applied type, in a sample of 48 weekly sprints, with a total of 96 user stories of the project taken from the organization. The study allowed to demonstrate the decrease of the Cycletime of days on average, increase the frequency of code release and increase the percentage of attention ratio, based on these results, it was possible to demonstrate the improvement of the speed during the deployment and quality of software processes, these results were thanks to the adoption of DevOps as a culture of interaction and deployment in an organization in the insurance sector.

Assessing Turnover Time, Communication and Report Quality among Histopathologists and Their Clients.

Numerous studies have been published assessing physicians’ satisfaction regarding the quality of pathology departments, which have led to further enhancement. Our objective is to estimate the satisfaction level between histopathologists and healthcare providers in Saudi Arabia in terms of turnover time in histopathology laboratories and communication, that is, quality of reporting between the two groups. In this cross-sectional study, we developed a questionnaire covering the areas identified in the literature regarding evaluating the satisfaction between histopathologists and their clients. The questionnaire was conducted in 5 hospitals in Saudi Arabia, each of which has its histopathology unit accredited by the College of American Pathologists. In our study, we report the results of 129 clients and 30 histopathologists. On the satisfaction scale (1 out 5, where is 1= very unsatisfied and 5= very satisfied), the clients reported medians of 3.40, 3.83, and 4.00 for turnover time, communication with histopathologists, and quality of reports. Histopathologists reported medians of 4.00, 4.41, and 4.16 for turnover time, communication with their clients, and request style and its sufficiency. Our conclusion is there is an inclination toward satisfactory results in the examined categories between the histopathologists and their clients.

Structured Reporting Using CEUS LI-RADS for the Diagnosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC)—Impact and Advantages on Report Integrity, Quality and Interdisciplinary Communication

Background: Our retrospective single-center study aims to evaluate the impact of structured reporting (SR) using a CEUS LI-RADS template on report quality compared to conventional free-text reporting (FTR) in contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) for the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: We included 50 patients who underwent CEUS for HCC staging. FTR created after these examinations were compared to SR retrospectively generated by using template-based online software with clickable decision trees. The reports were evaluated regarding report completeness, information extraction, linguistic quality and overall report quality by two readers specialized in internal medicine and visceral surgery. Results: SR significantly increased report completeness with at least one key feature missing in 31% of FTR vs. 2% of SR (p < 0.001). Information extraction was considered easy in 98% of SR vs. 86% of FTR (p = 0.004). The trust of referring physicians in the report was significantly increased by SR with a mean of 5.68 for SR vs. 4.96 for FTR (p < 0.001). SR received significantly higher ratings regarding linguistic quality (5.79 for SR vs. 4.83 for FTR (p < 0.001)) and overall report quality (5.75 for SR vs. 5.01 for FTR (p < 0.001)). Conclusions: Using SR instead of conventional FTR increases the overall quality of reports in CEUS examinations of HCC patients and may represent a valuable tool to facilitate clinical decision-making and improve interdisciplinary communication in the future.