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

OBJECTIVE: The Canadian Public Health Association, along with other professional organizations, has identified intimate partner violence (IPV) as a priority health issue to which the health professions must respond. This study synthesizes Canadian studies on the prevalence of IPV against women, focusing in particular on the stated implications for women's health and health care. METHODS: Medical and social science databases were searched for all articles pertaining to IPV in Canada for 1974 through September 2000. Reference lists of these and other related publications were consulted to supplement the literature review. Data on study characteristics, methods, and results were extracted by two independent reviewers. Discrepancies were resolved by consensus. RESULTS: Sixteen studies were identified in this review, 11 population-based and 5 conducted in clinical settings. Age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status were not consistently documented, making comparisons and evaluations of generalizability difficult. Annual prevalence of IPV in Canada was found to range from 0.4% to 23%, with severe violence occurring from 2% to 10% annually. Less than two fifths (37.5%) of the studies incorporated a health-related measure. INTERPRETATION: This review reveals a paucity of Canadian prevalence data on IPV, marked by design and methodological issues. Poor quality data may pose a challenge to articulating and establishing a coordinated health care response to eliminating IPV in Canada. Language: en

/pdf/intimate-partner-violence-and-health-a-critique-of-canadian-2ugc48xlha.pdf

Intimate partner violence and health: A critique of Canadian prevalence studies

Background: Despite its proven efficacy, β-blocker therapy remains underused in elderly patients after myocardial infarction (MI). The objectives of this study were to identify undertreated groups of seniors and to determine whether older and frailer patients are being selectively dispensed low-dose β-blocker therapy. Methods: From a comprehensive hospital discharge database, all people aged 66 years or more in Ontario who survived an acute MI between April 1993 and March 1995 were identified and classified into those who did not receive β-blocker therapy and those dispensed low, standard or high doses of this agent. Logistic regression models were used to study the effect of age, sex, comorbidity, potential contraindications to β-blocker therapy and residence in a long-term-care facility on the odds of not being dispensed a β-blocker. Among β-blocker users, the odds of being dispensed low relative to standard or high doses of this agent were evaluated. Results: Of the 15 542 patients, 7549 (48.6%) were not dispensed a β-blocker. Patients 85 years of age or more were at greater risk of not receiving β-blocker therapy (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 2.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.5‐3.2) than were those 66 to 74 years. Having a Charlson comorbidity index of 3 or greater was associated with an increased risk of not receiving β-blocker therapy (adjusted OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.3‐1.8) compared with having lower comorbidity scores. Patients who resided in a long-term-care facility were at increased risk of not being prescribed β-blocker therapy (adjusted OR 2.6, 95% CI 2.0‐3.4). Among the 5453 patients with no identifiable contraindication to β-blocker therapy, women were significantly less likely than men to receive this agent (p = 0.005). Of the 6074 patients who received β-blockers, 2248 (37.0%) were dispensed low-dose therapy. Patients aged 85 years or more had an increased risk of being dispensed low-dose therapy (adjusted OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.3‐2.0) compared with those aged 66 to 74 years. Compared with those who had the lowest comorbidity scores, patients with the highest comorbidity scores were more likely to be dispensed lowdose β-blocker therapy (adjusted OR 1.3, 95% CI 1.0‐1.8). Interpretation: Almost half of Ontario patients aged 66 or more who survived an MI, particularly those who were older or frailer, did not receive β-blocker therapy. Among those dispensed β-blocker therapy, older and frailer patients were more frequently dispensed low-dose therapy.

/pdf/use-of-beta-blocker-therapy-in-older-patients-after-acute-gfdh47pejz.pdf

Use of beta-blocker therapy in older patients after acute myocardial infarction in Ontario.

This is the second in a series of four papers critically examining the medicalization of global health. Please find the other papers  here . Once an orphan field, ‘global mental health’ now has wide acknowledgement and prominence on the global health agenda. Increased recognition draws needed attention to individual suffering and the population impacts, but medicalizing global mental health produces a narrow view of the problems and solutions. Early framing by advocates of the global mental health problem emphasised biological disease, linked psychiatry with neurology, and reinforced categories of mental health disorders. Universality of biomedical concepts across culture is assumed in the globalisation of mental health but is strongly disputed by transcultural psychiatrists and anthropologists. Global mental health movement priorities take an individualised view, emphasising treatment and scale-up and neglecting social and structural determinants of health. To meet international targets and address the problem's broad social and cultural dimensions, the global mental health movement and advocates must develop more comprehensive strategies and include more diverse perspectives. Keywords : global health; mental health; medicalization; sociology (Published: 16 May 2014) Citation : Glob Health Action 2014,  7 : 24000 -  http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/gha.v7.24000 To access the supplementary material for this article, please see  Supplementary files  under Article Tools

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.3402/gha.v7.24000

Medicalization of global health 2: The medicalization of global mental health.

Sex-related reporting in randomised controlled trials in medical journals.

The PLOS Medicine editors comment on the history of the World Health Organization's latest World Health Report, originally planned for publication in 2012, and the outcomes of the journal's collaboration with WHO on the intended theme of "no health without research".

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Jocalyn Clark

Papers

Intimate partner violence and health: A critique of Canadian prevalence studies

Use of beta-blocker therapy in older patients after acute myocardial infarction in Ontario.

Medicalization of global health 2: The medicalization of global mental health.

Sex-related reporting in randomised controlled trials in medical journals.

The World Health Report 2012 that wasn't.