Systematic reviews should build on a protocol that describes the rationale, hypothesis, and planned methods of the review; few reviews report whether a protocol exists. Detailed, well-described protocols can facilitate the understanding and appraisal of the review methods, as well as the detection of modifications to methods and selective reporting in completed reviews. We describe the development of a reporting guideline, the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses for Protocols 2015 (PRISMA-P 2015). PRISMA-P consists of a 17-item checklist intended to facilitate the preparation and reporting of a robust protocol for the systematic review. Funders and those commissioning reviews might consider mandating the use of the checklist to facilitate the submission of relevant protocol information in funding applications. Similarly, peer reviewers and editors can use the guidance to gauge the completeness and transparency of a systematic review protocol submitted for publication in a journal or other medium.

http://prisma-statement.org/documents/PRISMA-P%20Statement%20-%20Moher%20Sys%20Rev%20Jan%202015.pdf

Preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015 statement

Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques

http://rua.ua.es/dspace/bitstream/10045/57307/1/2016_Estarli_etal_RevEspNutrHumDiet.pdf

Ítems de referencia para publicar Protocolos de Revisiones Sistemáticas y Metaanálisis: Declaración PRISMA-P 2015 Preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015 statement

Protocols of systematic reviews and meta-analyses allow for planning and documentation of review methods, act as a guard against arbitrary decision making during review conduct, enable readers to assess for the presence of selective reporting against completed reviews, and, when made publicly available, reduce duplication of efforts and potentially prompt collaboration. Evidence documenting the existence of selective reporting and excessive duplication of reviews on the same or similar topics is accumulating and many calls have been made in support of the documentation and public availability of review protocols. Several efforts have emerged in recent years to rectify these problems, including development of an international register for prospective reviews (PROSPERO) and launch of the first open access journal dedicated to the exclusive publication of systematic review products, including protocols (BioMed Central's Systematic Reviews). Furthering these efforts and building on the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses) guidelines, an international group of experts has created a guideline to improve the transparency, accuracy, completeness, and frequency of documented systematic review and meta-analysis protocols--PRISMA-P (for protocols) 2015. The PRISMA-P checklist contains 17 items considered to be essential and minimum components of a systematic review or meta-analysis protocol.This PRISMA-P 2015 Explanation and Elaboration paper provides readers with a full understanding of and evidence about the necessity of each item as well as a model example from an existing published protocol. This paper should be read together with the PRISMA-P 2015 statement. Systematic review authors and assessors are strongly encouraged to make use of PRISMA-P when drafting and appraising review protocols.

/pdf/preferred-reporting-items-for-systematic-review-and-meta-mgb1uy0yle.pdf

Preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015: elaboration and explanation.

Background and Objectives: There is a substantial body of evidence assessing the effects of equine-assisted therapy on physiological and psychological aspects of individuals with disabilities. This study aimed to evaluate the physiological benefits of this alternative therapy for children with cerebral palsy (CP) by means of a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: This systematic review included all randomized and nonrandomized clinical trials of hippotherapy (HT), therapeutic horse riding (THR), and artificial saddle (AS) for the treatment of children with CP by a systematic search in Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library, and other databases up to November 2012. Articles were assessed for inclusion eligibility and quality by two independent reviewers. Any discordant case was re-reviewed and consensus was obtained after sufficient discussion. A random effects model of meta-analysis was applied to provide summary statistics for each outcome. Results: Seven randomized controlled trials (RCTs), 4 non-RCTs, and 7 self-controlled studies were included for quality assessment. Ten studies assessed the effect of HT, 5 evaluated THR, and 3 evaluated AS. The sample size differed from 3 to 72, and the quality ranged from low to moderate. Six studies were included in the meta-analysis, and there was a significant improvement in the 66-item Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM-66), the GMFM-66/88 total score, and the dimension E of the GMFM. Although the asymmetry score tended to be reduced, it failed to reach statistical significance. Conclusions: HT, THR, and AS seem to improve the total score of the gross motor function via improvement of the walking, running, and jumping dimension. However, they are not likely to be of benefit to the symmetry of postural muscle activity. Studies included in this review lack high-quality RCTs with a sufficient number of subjects, which thus warrants further evaluations of these modalities using large-scale well-designed RCTs.

/pdf/the-effect-of-riding-as-an-alternative-treatment-for-5amnj0qp1l.pdf

The Effect of Riding as an Alternative Treatment for Children with Cerebral Palsy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Doctors and healthcare researchers last week debated how to import the theories and methods of healthcare quality improvement into the developing world.

At the forum on quality improvement in health care in Bergen, Norway, speakers identified inadequate infrastructure, lack of local expertise and leadership, and language as the main barriers preventing the establishment of “first world standards of care” in developing countries.

Speakers focused on systems rather than individualised approaches to improving health care and treatment, an idea that is an essential part of the quality improvement movement.

“To ask individuals to make change is a bankrupt idea,” said Don Berwick, head of the US Institute for Healthcare Improvement and a plenary speaker at the forum. “This is the case in the North, but even more so in …

Quality improvement forum sets sights on developing countries and on patients

The black box warning on philanthrocapitalism.

Jocalyn Clark argues that the medicalisation of global health, like other aspects of human life and health, produces a narrow view of global health problems and will limit the success of solutions proposed to replace the millennium development goals.

https://www.commed.vcu.edu/IntroPH/Community_Assessment/2015/BMJMedicalization.pdf

Do the solutions for global health lie in healthcare

The PLoS Medicine editors argue that methodological challenges in monitoring the safety of prescription medications should not mean that drug safety be considered less important than efficacy.

/pdf/why-drug-safety-should-not-take-a-back-seat-to-efficacy-28ppm5ab7z.pdf

Why drug safety should not take a back seat to efficacy.

As their campaign comes to a close, ICRAM presents a challenge to academic medicine9s invisible leaders

/pdf/open-letter-to-the-leader-of-academic-medicine-4xxs629cd4.pdf

Jocalyn Clark

Papers

Quality improvement forum sets sights on developing countries and on patients

The black box warning on philanthrocapitalism.

Do the solutions for global health lie in healthcare

Why drug safety should not take a back seat to efficacy.

Open letter to the leader of academic medicine.