Table 1 Characteristics of included studies
From: Use of handheld computers in clinical practice: a systematic review
Study, country | Participants, setting | Intervention | Comparator | Primary outcome | Secondary outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Berner 2006 USA [13] | 59 Internal medicine residents, University outpatient clinic | PDA with rule for gastrointestinal risk assessment when prescribing NSAIDS | PDA without rule for gastrointestinal risk assessment when prescribing NSAIDS | Difference in unsafe NSAID prescriptions | Identification of key risk factors for standardised patient case |
Bochicchio 2006 USA [14] | 12 1st year critical care fellows, University hospital | PDA with John Hopkins Antibiotic Guide | No PDA, instructed to use written reference guides | Difference in mean score for knowledge test | Antibiotic decision accuracy |
Farrell 2008 Australia [15] | 76 nursing students, Medical-surgical wards | PDA with pharmacological information and training session | No training or PDA | Difference in mean score for pharmacology test | N/A |
Greiver 2005 Canada [18] | 18 Family physicians, Family practice (65 patients) | PDA with angina diagnosis software | Conventional care | Appropriate referral for cardiac stress testing at presentation, and nuclear cardiology after cardiac stress testing | Referral to cardiologists |
Lee 2009 USA [19] | 29 registered nurses, Hospital and ambulatory care (1874 patients) | PDA with CDSS for obesity diagnosis | PDA without CDSS for obesity diagnosis | Appropriate obesity related diagnosis | Missed obesity related diagnosis |
Price 2005 Canada [16] | 8 General practitioners, General practice (79 patients) | PDA with reminder for 5 preventive measures | Software provided after the study | Adherence to five guidelines | N/A |
Roy 2009 France [17] | 24 Emergency physicians, 10 emergency departments (1645 patients) | PDA with CDSS for pulmonary embolism | PDA used for data collection only; Paper based guideline material | Appropriate diagnostic strategy for pulmonary embolism | Adherence to recommended diagnostic testing Number of tests per patient |