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Bibliographic Databases (bibliographic + databases)
Selected AbstractsOverlap in bibliographic databasesJOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Issue 12 2003William W. Hood Bibliographic databases contain surrogates to a particular subset of the complete set of literature; some databases are very narrow in their scope, while others are multidisciplinary. These databases overlap in their coverage of the literature to a greater or lesser extent. The topic of Fuzzy Set Theory is examined to determine the overlap of coverage in the databases that index this topic. It was found that about 63% of records in the data set are unique to only one database, and the remaining 37% are duplicated in from two to 12 different databases. The overlap distribution is found to conform to a Lotka-type plot. The records with maximum overlap are identified; however, further work is needed to determine the significance of the high level of overlap in these records. The unique records are plotted using a Bradford-type form of data presentation and are found to conform (visually) to a hyperbolic distribution. The extent and causes of intra-database duplication (records duplicated in the one database) are also examined. Finally, the overlap in the top databases in the dataset were examined, and a high correlation was found between overlapping records, and overlapping DIALOG OneSearch categories. [source] Smoking cessation in severe mental illness: what works?ADDICTION, Issue 7 2010Lindsay Banham ABSTRACT Aims The physical health of people with severe mental illness (SMI) is poor. Smoking-related illnesses are a major contributor to excess mortality and morbidity. An up-to-date review of the evidence for smoking cessation interventions in SMI is needed to inform clinical guidelines. Methods We searched bibliographic databases for relevant studies and independently extracted data. Included studies were randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of smoking cessation or reduction conducted in adult smokers with SMI. Interventions were compared to usual care or placebo. The primary outcome was smoking cessation and secondary outcomes were smoking reduction, change in weight, change in psychiatric symptoms and adverse events. Results We included eight RCTs of pharmacological and/or psychological interventions. Most cessation interventions showed moderate positive results, some reaching statistical significance. One study compared behavioural support and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) to usual care and showed a risk ratio (RR) of 2.74 (95% CI 1.10,6.81) for short-term smoking cessation, which was not significant at longer follow-up. We pooled five trials that effectively compared bupropion to placebo giving an RR of 2.77 (95% CI 1.48,5.16), which was comparable to Hughes et al.'s 2009 figures for general population data; RR = 1.69 (95% CI 1.53,1.85). Smoking reduction data were too heterogeneous for meta-analysis, but results were generally positive. Trials suggest few adverse events. All trials recorded psychiatric symptoms and the most significant changes favoured the intervention groups over the control groups. Conclusions Treating tobacco dependence is effective in patients with SMI. Treatments that work in the general population work for those with severe mental illness and appear approximately equally effective. Treating tobacco dependence in patients with stable psychiatric conditions does not worsen mental state. [source] European Union scientific production on alcohol and drug misuse (1976,2000)ADDICTION, Issue 8 2005Xavier Sánchez-Carbonell ABSTRACT Background Alcohol and drug misuse is a social and health phenomenon of great relevance in the European Union (EU). One indicator of scientific production in a given area is the analysis of publications included in bibliographic databases. Scientific production on alcohol and drug misuse was analysed in EU member countries, and comparisons were made between countries. Methods Analysis of articles on alcohol and drug misuse published during the period 1976,2000 by institutions based in a country of the EU, indexed by PsycINFO. Results A total of 4825 citations was retrieved. Great Britain published 38.6%, while Sweden, Germany and Spain accounted for a further 30%. The articles dealt with drug and alcohol usage (12.8%), substance abuse (53.5%) and drug and alcohol rehabilitation (34.5%). The articles were published in 13 different languages, more than three-quarters being in English. Spanish was the second language, and was followed by French, German, Dutch and Italian. The articles were published in 521 different journals, and 62 of these published more than 10 articles. The journals publishing most were Addiction, Alcohol and Alcoholism and Drug and Alcohol Dependence. Sixty-eight per cent of the articles were signed by more than one author, and the index of collaboration, between 1996 and 2000, was 3.24. Discussion and conclusions PsycINFO is useful for making comparisons between countries, because it includes the name and country of the institution. The number of publications in the EU on alcohol and drug misuse increased over the quarter-century analysed. The most used language was English, as it also is for PsycINFO as a whole, and a tendency towards its increased use was observed. Classification of the articles by subject by the Classification Code is too general, and makes it difficult to distinguish between the areas it proposes. Production tends to be concentrated in journals dealing specifically with drug dependence and psychiatry. The index of collaboration is similar to that found in other scientific areas. [source] Support workers in social care in England: a scoping studyHEALTH & SOCIAL CARE IN THE COMMUNITY, Issue 3 2010Jill Manthorpe MA Abstract This paper reports the findings of a scoping study designed to describe the evidence base with regard to support workers in social care in the United Kingdom and to identify gaps in knowledge. Multiple bibliographic databases were searched for studies published since 2003. The results revealed that the support worker role, though not well-defined, could be characterised as one aimed at fostering independence among service users, undertaking tasks across social and health-care, and not being trained in, or a member of, a specific profession. The studies identified were predominantly small-scale qualitative projects which considered issues such as role clarity, training and pay, worker satisfaction, service user views and the amount of time support workers are able to spend with service users compared to other staff. The review concluded that the research base lacks longitudinal studies, there is definitional confusion and imprecision, and there is limited evidence about employment terms and conditions for support workers or about their accountability and performance. The desirability and value of training and how it is resourced need further analysis. It is concluded that moves to self-directed support or personalisation and the increased reliance on and use of support workers, in the form of personal assistants, call for closer scrutiny of the role. [source] Association between pacifier use and breast-feeding, sudden infant death syndrome, infection and dental malocclusionINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EVIDENCE BASED HEALTHCARE, Issue 6 2005Ann Callaghan RN RM BNurs(Hons) Executive summary Objective, To critically review all literature related to pacifier use for full-term healthy infants and young children. The specific review questions addressed are: What is the evidence of adverse and/or positive outcomes of pacifier use in infancy and childhood in relation to each of the following subtopics: ,breast-feeding; ,sudden infant death syndrome; ,infection; ,dental malocclusion. Inclusion criteria, Specific criteria were used to determine which studies would be included in the review: (i) the types of participants; (ii) the types of research design; and (iii) the types of outcome measures. To be included a study has to meet all criteria. Types of participants,The participants included in the review were healthy term infants and healthy children up to the age of 16 years. Studies that focused on preterm infants, and infants and young children with serious illness or congenital malformations were excluded. However, some total population studies did include these children. Types of research design, It became evident early in the review process that very few randomised controlled trials had been conducted. A decision was made to include observational epidemiological designs, specifically prospective cohort studies and, in the case of sudden infant death syndrome research, case,control studies. Purely descriptive and cross-sectional studies were excluded, as were qualitative studies and all other forms of evidence. A number of criteria have been proposed to establish causation in the scientific and medical literature. These key criteria were applied in the review process and are described as follows: (i) consistency and unbiasedness of findings; (ii) strength of association; (iii) temporal sequence; (iv) dose,response relationship; (v) specificity; (vi) coherence with biological background and previous knowledge; (vii) biological plausibility; and (viii) experimental evidence. Studies that did not meet the requirement of appropriate temporal sequencing of events and studies that did not present an estimate of the strength of association were not included in the final review. Types of outcome measures,Our specific interest was pacifier use related to: ,breast-feeding; ,sudden infant death syndrome; ,infection; ,dental malocclusion. Studies that examined pacifier use related to procedural pain relief were excluded. Studies that examined the relationship between pacifier use and gastro-oesophageal reflux were also excluded as this information has been recently presented as a systematic review. Search strategy, The review comprised published and unpublished research literature. The search was restricted to reports published in English, Spanish and German. The time period covered research published from January 1960 to October 2003. A protocol developed by New Zealand Health Technology Assessment was used to guide the search process. The search comprised bibliographic databases, citation searching, other evidence-based and guidelines sites, government documents, books and reports, professional websites, national associations, hand search, contacting national/international experts and general internet searching. Assessment of quality, All studies identified during the database search were assessed for relevance to the review based on the information provided in the title, abstract and descriptor/MeSH terms, and a full report was retrieved for all studies that met the inclusion criteria. Studies identified from reference list searches were assessed for relevance based on the study title. Keywords included: dummy, dummies, pacifier(s), soother(s), comforter(s), non-nutritive sucking, infant, child, infant care. Initially, studies were reviewed for inclusion by pairs of principal investigators. Authorship of articles was not concealed from the reviewers. Next, the methodological quality of included articles was assessed independently by groups of three or more principal investigators and clinicians using a checklist. All 20 studies that were accepted met minimum set criteria, but few passed without some methodological concern. Data extraction, To meet the requirements of the Joanna Briggs Institute, reasons for acceptance and non-acceptance at each phase were clearly documented. An assessment protocol and report form was developed for each of the three phases of review. The first form was created to record investigators' evaluations of studies included in the initial review. Those studies that failed to meet strict inclusion criteria were excluded at this point. A second form was designed to facilitate an in-depth critique of epidemiological study methodology. The checklist was pilot tested and adjustments were made before reviewers were trained in its use. When reviewers could not agree on an assessment, it was passed to additional reviewers and discussed until a consensus was reached. At this stage, studies other than cohort, case,control and randomised controlled trials were excluded. Issues of clarification were also addressed at this point. The final phase was that of integration. This phase, undertaken by the principal investigators, was assisted by the production of data extraction tables. Through a process of trial and error, a framework was formulated that adequately summarised the key elements of the studies. This information was tabulated under the following headings: authors/setting, design, exposure/outcome, confounders controlled, analysis and main findings. Results, With regard to the breast-feeding outcome, 10 studies met the inclusion criteria, comprising two randomised controlled trials and eight cohort studies. The research was conducted between 1995 and 2003 in a wide variety of settings involving research participants from diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. Information regarding exposure and outcome status, and potential confounding factors was obtained from: antenatal and postnatal records; interviews before discharge from obstetric/midwifery care; post-discharge interviews; and post-discharge postal and telephone surveys. Both the level of contact and the frequency of contact with the informant, the child's mother, differed widely. Pacifier use was defined and measured inconsistently, possibly because few studies were initiated expressly to investigate its relationship with breast-feeding. Completeness of follow-up was addressed, but missing data were not uniformly identified and explained. When comparisons were made between participants and non-participants there was some evidence of differential loss and a bias towards families in higher socioeconomic groups. Multivariate analysis was undertaken in the majority of studies, with some including a large number of sociodemographic, obstetric and infant covariates and others including just maternal age and education. As might be expected given the inconsistency of definition and measurement, the relationship between pacifier use and breast-feeding was expressed in many different ways and a meta-analysis was not appropriate. In summary, only one study did not report a negative association between pacifier use and breast-feeding duration or exclusivity. Results indicate an increase in risk for a reduced overall duration of breast-feeding from 20% to almost threefold. The data suggest that very infrequent use may not have any overall negative impact on breast-feeding outcomes. Six sudden infant death syndrome case,control studies met the criteria for inclusion. The research was conducted with information gathered between 1984 and 1999 in Norway, UK, New Zealand, the Netherlands and USA. Exposure information was obtained from a variety of sources including: hospital and antenatal records, death scene investigation, and interview and questionnaire. Information for cases was sought within 2 days after death, within 2,4 weeks after death and in one study between 3 and 11 years after death. Information for controls was sought from as early as 4 days of a nominated sudden infant death syndrome case, to between 1 and 7 weeks from the case date, and again in one study some 3,11 years later. In the majority of the studies case ascertainment was determined by post-mortem. Pacifier use was again defined and measured somewhat inconsistently. All studies controlled for confounding factors by matching and/or using multivariate analysis. Generally, antenatal and postnatal factors, as well as infant care practices, and maternal, family and socioeconomic issues were considered. All five studies reporting multivariate results found significantly fewer sudden infant death syndrome cases used a pacifier compared with controls. That is, pacifier use was associated with a reduced incidence of sudden infant death syndrome. These results indicate that the risk of sudden infant death syndrome for infants who did not use a pacifier in the last or reference sleep was at least twice, and possibly five times, that of infants who did use a pacifier. Three studies reported a moderately sized positive association between pacifier use and a variety of infections. Conversely, one study found no positive association between pacifier use at 15 months of age and a range of infections experienced between the ages of 6 and 18 months. Given the limited number of studies available and the variability of results, no meaningful conclusions could be drawn. Five cohort studies and one case,control study focused on the relationship between pacifier use and dental malocclusion. Not one of these studies reported a measure of association, such as an estimate of relative risk. It was therefore not possible to include these studies in the final review. Implications for practice, It is intended that this review be used as the basis of a ,best practice guideline', to make health professionals aware of the research evidence concerning these health and developmental consequences of pacifier use, because parents need clear information on which they can base child care decisions. With regard to the association between pacifier use and infection and dental malocclusion it was found that, due to the paucity of epidemiological studies, no meaningful conclusion can be drawn. There is clearly a need for more epidemiological research with regard to these two outcomes. The evidence for a relationship between pacifier use and sudden infant death syndrome is consistent, while the exact mechanism of the effect is not well understood. As to breast-feeding, research evidence shows that pacifier use in infancy is associated with a shorter duration and non-exclusivity. It is plausible that pacifier use causes babies to breast-feed less, but a causal relationship has not been irrefutably proven. Because breast-feeding confers an important advantage on all children and the incidence of sudden infant death syndrome is very low, it is recommended that health professionals generally advise parents against pacifier use, while taking into account individual circumstances. [source] Medication communication: a concept analysisJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 4 2010Elizabeth Manias manias e. (2010) Medication communication: a concept analysis. Journal of Advanced Nursing66(4), 933,943. Abstract Title.,Medication communication: a concept analysis. Aim., This paper is a report of a concept analysis of medication communication with a particular focus on how it applies to nursing. Background., Medication communication is a vital component of patient safety, quality of care, and patient and family engagement. Nevertheless, this concept has been consistently taken-for-granted without adequate analysis, definition or clarification in the quality and patient safety literature. Data sources., A literature search was undertaken using bibliographic databases, internet search engines, and hand searches. Literature published in English between January 1988 and June 2009 was reviewed. Walker and Avant's approach was used to guide the concept analysis. Discussion., Medication communication is a dynamic and complex process. Defining attributes consider who speaks, who is silent, what is said, what aspects of medication care are prioritized, the use of body language in conversations, and actual words used. Open communication occurs if there is cooperation among individuals in implementing plans of care. Antecedents involve environmental influences such as ward culture and geographical space, and sociocultural influences such as beliefs about the nature of interactions. Consequences involve patient and family engagement in communication, evidence of appropriate medication use, the frequency and type of medication-related adverse events, and the presence of medication adherence. Empirical referents typically do not reflect specific aspects of medication communication. Conclusion., This concept analysis can be used by nurses to guide them in understanding the complexities surrounding medication communication, with the ultimate goal of improving patient safety, quality of care, and facilitating patient and family engagement. [source] The purpose and function of humour in health, health care and nursing: a narrative reviewJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 6 2008May McCreaddie Abstract Title.,The purpose and function of humour in health, health care and nursing: a narrative review Aim., This paper is a report of a review conducted to identify, critically analyse and synthesize the humour literature across a number of fields related to health, health care and nursing. Background., The humour,health hypothesis suggests that there is a positive link between humour and health. Humour has been a focus of much contention and deliberation for centuries, with three theories dominating the field: the superiority or tendentious theory, the incongruity theory and the relief theory. Data sources., A comprehensive literature search was carried out in January 2007 using a number of databases, keywords, manual recursive searching and journal alerts (January 1980,2007) cross-referenced with the bibliographic databases of the International Society of Humor Studies. An inclusion and exclusion criterion was identified. Review methods., A narrative review of evidence- and non-evidence-based papers was conducted, using a relevant methodological framework with additional scrutiny of secondary data sources in the latter. Humour theories, incorporating definition, process and impact constituted a significant part of the appraisal process. Results., A total of 1630 papers were identified, with 220 fully sourced and 88 included in the final review. There is a dearth of humour research within nursing yet, ironically, an abundance of non-evidence-based opinion citing prerequisites and exclusion zones. Examination of physician,patient interaction and the humour,health hypothesis demonstrates that use of humour by patients is both challenging and revealing, particularly with regard to self-deprecating humour. Conclusion., Nurses and nursing should adopt a circumspect and evidenced-based approach to humour use in their work. [source] Physiological monitoring in acute stroke: a literature reviewJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 6 2007Stephanie P. Jones Abstract Title.,Physiological monitoring in acute stroke: a literature review Aim., This paper is a report of a review of the literature that considers how physiological parameters may affect outcome after stroke and the implications of this evidence for monitoring. Background., Throughout the world, the incidence of first-ever stroke is approximately 200 per 100,000 people per year [Sudlow et al. (1997)Stroke28, 491]. Stroke is the third most common cause of mortality [Sarti et al. (2000) Stroke31, 1588] and causes 5·54 million deaths worldwide [Murray & Lopez (1997) Lancet349, 268]. Physiological monitoring is considered a fundamental component of acute stroke care. Currently, the strength of evidence to support its use and identify its components is unclear. Nurse-led physiological assessment and subsequent interventions in acute stroke may have the potential to improve survival and reduce disability. Data sources., Online bibliographic databases from 1966 to 2007, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, AMED, Cochrane and ZETOC, were searched systematically. We identified 475 published papers relating to blood pressure, oxygen saturation and positioning, blood glucose and body temperature. Review methods., Titles and abstracts were reviewed independently by two reviewers and 61 relevant studies were read in full. The quality of included studies was assessed and proformas were used to record detailed data. A narrative synthesis described how the evidence from the papers could inform our understanding of physiological parameters and their association with outcome. Results., Current evidence suggests that patient outcome is worse when physiological parameters deviate from ,normal' in the acute phase of stroke. Conclusions., The evidence supports the need for monitoring and recording of blood pressure, oxygen saturation (including consideration of positioning), blood glucose and body temperature in the acute phase of stroke. This review has reinforced the importance of monitoring physiological parameters in the acute phase of stroke and adds support to the recommendation that monitoring should play a key role within nursing care. [source] Entrepreneurial nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom: an integrative reviewJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 5 2007Vari Drennan Abstract Title.,Entrepreneurial nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom: an integrative review Aim., This paper is a report of an integrative literature review to investigate: (a) the extent of entrepreneurial activity by nurses, midwives and health visitors in the United Kingdom and (b) the factors that influenced these activities. Background., Internationally, social and commercial entrepreneurial activity is regarded as important for economic growth and social cohesion. Methods., Seventeen bibliographic databases were searched using single and combined search terms: ,entrepreneur$', ,business', ,private practice', ,self-employ$', ,intrapreneur$',social enterprise$',mutuals', ,collectives', ,co-op' and ,social capital' which were related to a second layer of terms ,Nurs$', ,Midwi$', ,Visit$'. ,Entrepreneur$' Private Midwi$, Independent Midwi$, and ,nursing workforce'. In addition, hand searches of non-indexed journals and grey literature searches were completed. The following inclusion criteria were: (a) describing nurses, midwife and/or health visitor entrepreneurship (b) undertaken in the UK, and (c) reported between January 1996 and December 2005. Results., Of 154 items included only three were empirical studies; the remainder were narrative accounts. While quality of these accounts cannot be verified, they provide as complete an account as possible in this under-researched area. The numbers of nurses, midwives and health visitors acting entrepreneurially were very small and mirror international evidence. A categorization of entrepreneurial activity was inductively constructed by employment status and product offered. ,Push' and ,pull' influencing factors varied between types of entrepreneurial activity. Conclusion., Empirical investigation into the extent to which nurses and midwives respond to calls for greater entrepreneurialism should take account of the complex interplay of contextual factors (e.g. healthcare legislation), professional and managerial experience and demographic factors. [source] A literature review of dementia care mapping: methodological considerations and efficacyJOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC & MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, Issue 6 2002D. BEAVIS BSc(Hons) RGN RMN Dementia care mapping (DCM) is a popular method for evaluating the quality of care and well-being of people with dementia in formal care settings. Keywords and thesaurus searches were conducted between 1992 and June 2001 using a range of bibliographic databases. Studies that had specifically examined the efficacy of DCM or, had used DCM as the main outcome measure, were included in the review. Nine studies met the inclusion criteria and were evaluated in this review. The review highlights some methodological limitations in the DCM studies to date, including sampling bias, inadequate sample size, short evaluation periods and a lack of consideration of the confounding variables commonly associated with dementia. The evidence presented for DCM suggests that it has good face validity and reliability. However, other aspects of validity remain less convincing and it can only be regarded as a moderately valid instrument. Whilst its theoretical background makes DCM particularly appealing to nurses wishing to improve the quality of their care, it is a very time-consuming method and requires considerable investment in terms of nursing resources. Consequently, it is essential that more scientifically based studies are conducted to enable other aspects of validity to be developed, thus enhancing the value of DCM as an outcome measure of nursing care. [source] Comparing bibliometric statistics obtained from the Web of Science and ScopusJOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Issue 7 2009Éric Archambault For more than 40 years, the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI, now part of Thomson Reuters) produced the only available bibliographic databases from which bibliometricians could compile large-scale bibliometric indicators. ISI's citation indexes, now regrouped under the Web of Science (WoS), were the major sources of bibliometric data until 2004, when Scopus was launched by the publisher Reed Elsevier. For those who perform bibliometric analyses and comparisons of countries or institutions, the existence of these two major databases raises the important question of the comparability and stability of statistics obtained from different data sources. This paper uses macrolevel bibliometric indicators to compare results obtained from the WoS and Scopus. It shows that the correlations between the measures obtained with both databases for the number of papers and the number of citations received by countries, as well as for their ranks, are extremely high (R2 , .99). There is also a very high correlation when countries' papers are broken down by field. The paper thus provides evidence that indicators of scientific production and citations at the country level are stable and largely independent of the database. [source] Comparison of full-text searching to metadata searching for genes in two biomedical literature cohortsJOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Issue 14 2007Bradley M. Hemminger Researchers have traditionally used bibliographic databases to search out information. Today, the full-text of resources is increasingly available for searching, and more researchers are performing full-text searches. This study compares differences in the number of articles discovered between metadata and full-text searches of the same literature cohort when searching for gene names in two biomedical literature domains. Three reviewers additionally ranked 100 articles in each domain. Significantly more articles were discovered via full-text searching; however, the precision of full-text searching also is significantly lower than that of metadata searching. Certain features of articles correlated with higher relevance ratings. A significant feature measured was the number of matches of the search term in the full-text of the article, with a larger number of matches having a statistically significant higher usefulness (i.e., relevance) rating. By using the number of hits of the search term in the full-text to rank the importance of the article, performance of full-text searching was improved so that both recall and precision were as good as or better than that for metadata searching. This suggests that full-text searching alone may be sufficient, and that metadata searching as a surrogate is not necessary. [source] Evidence-based practice in search interface designJOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Issue 6 2006Barbara M. Wildemuth An evidence-based practice approach to search interface design is proposed, with the goal of designing interfaces that adequately support search strategy formulation and reformulation. Relevant findings from studies of information professionals' searching behaviors, end users' searching of bibliographic databases, and search behaviors on the Web are highlighted. Three brief examples are presented to illustrate the ways in which findings from such studies can be used to make decisions about the design of search interfaces. If academic research can be effectively connected with design practice, we can discover which design practices truly are "best practices" and incorporate them into future search interfaces. [source] Overlap in bibliographic databasesJOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Issue 12 2003William W. Hood Bibliographic databases contain surrogates to a particular subset of the complete set of literature; some databases are very narrow in their scope, while others are multidisciplinary. These databases overlap in their coverage of the literature to a greater or lesser extent. The topic of Fuzzy Set Theory is examined to determine the overlap of coverage in the databases that index this topic. It was found that about 63% of records in the data set are unique to only one database, and the remaining 37% are duplicated in from two to 12 different databases. The overlap distribution is found to conform to a Lotka-type plot. The records with maximum overlap are identified; however, further work is needed to determine the significance of the high level of overlap in these records. The unique records are plotted using a Bradford-type form of data presentation and are found to conform (visually) to a hyperbolic distribution. The extent and causes of intra-database duplication (records duplicated in the one database) are also examined. Finally, the overlap in the top databases in the dataset were examined, and a high correlation was found between overlapping records, and overlapping DIALOG OneSearch categories. [source] Quality of life and related concepts in Parkinson's disease: A systematic reviewMOVEMENT DISORDERS, Issue 11 2007Brenda L. Den Oudsten MSc Abstract Several studies have investigated the quality of life (QOL) of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). The purpose of this study was to review the conceptual and methodological quality of quality of life (QOL) studies among patients with PD and to identify factors associated with poor (HR)QOL. Computerized bibliographic databases were screened for publications from 1960 to January 2007. According to a list of predefined criteria, the methodological quality of the 61 studies, was moderate. The term ,QOL' was often used inappropriately. In fact, almost all studies in this review actually assessed health status (HS) instead of QOL. The functioning of patients with PD on physical, social, and emotional domains is affected by PD. Their HS seems to be lower when compared to healthy persons or patients with other chronic diseases. HS studies augment the insight in self-perceived functioning. Therefore, HS is conceived as a valuable construct. However, QOL is also an important factor in health care. Attention towards QOL is needed in order to draw valid conclusions regarding a person's subjective experience of well-being in a broad sense. In order to accomplish this, future studies should apply the QOL concept with more rigor, should use an adequate operational definition, and should employ sound measures. © 2007 Movement Disorder Society [source] Effectiveness of Monetary Incentives in Modifying Dietary Behavior: A Review of Randomized, Controlled TrialsNUTRITION REVIEWS, Issue 12 2006FAFPHM, Joanne Wall MBChB To review research evidence on the effectiveness of monetary incentives in modifying dietary behavior, we conducted a systematic review of randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) identified from electronic bibliographic databases and reference lists of retrieved relevant articles. Studies eligible for inclusion met the following criteria: RCT comparing a form of monetary incentive with a comparative intervention or control; incentives were a central component of the study intervention and their effect was able to be disaggregated from other intervention components; study participants were community-based; and outcome variables included anthropometric or dietary assessment measures. Data were extracted on study populations, setting, interventions, outcome variables, trial duration, and follow-up. Appraisal of trial methodological quality was undertaken based on comparability of baseline characteristics, randomization method, allocation concealment, blinding, follow-up, and use of intention-to-treat analysis. Four RCTs were identified as meeting the inclusion criteria. All four trials demonstrated a positive effect of monetary incentives on food purchases, food consumption, or weight loss. However, the trials had some methodological limitations including small sample sizes and short durations. In addition, no studies to date have assessed effects according to socioeconomic or ethnic group or measured the cost-effectiveness of such schemes. Monetary incentives are a promising strategy to modify dietary behavior, but more research is needed to address the gaps in evidence. In particular, larger, long-term RCTs are needed with population groups at high risk of nutrition-related diseases [source] Psychological interventions with siblings of pediatric cancer patients: a systematic reviewPSYCHO-ONCOLOGY, Issue 12 2009Alice Prchal Abstract Objective: Siblings of pediatric cancer patients have been shown to be at risk for developing emotional, behavioral, and social problems. There is a need for psychological interventions in this population. Several researchers have previously documented and evaluated their interventions with siblings. This paper aimed at reviewing the existing reports of evaluated psychological interventions with siblings of pediatric cancer patients and at outlining future directions. Methods: Research was conducted on several online bibliographic databases. Articles were selected on the basis of predefined criteria. If possible, effect sizes (ES) were calculated. Results: Fourteen studies representing 11 different sibling interventions met criteria for inclusion. One individual intervention, three camps, and seven groups were found. Objectives of interventions concentrated mainly on enhancing siblings' coping and improving their medical knowledge. In terms of outcome measures, most of the studies focused on psychological adjustment variables. Findings showed significant improvements in siblings' depression symptomatology, medical knowledge, and health-related quality of life. Findings were inconsistent with regard to anxiety, behavioral problems, social adjustment, self-esteem, and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Depending on the outcome variables, small to large ES were found. Satisfaction with the intervention was high in both siblings and parents. Conclusion: There is tentative evidence that psychological interventions with siblings of childhood cancer patients can effectively reduce psychological maladjustment and improve medical knowledge about cancer. However, the number of studies is small, and several methodological shortcomings have to be noted. In future, more randomized controlled trials need to be conducted in larger samples to extend the evidence base. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||