Articles

An update on Uniform Resource Locator (URL) decay in MEDLINE abstracts and measures for its mitigation

For years, Uniform Resource Locator (URL) decay or "link rot" has been a growing concern in the field of biomedical sciences. This paper addresses this issue by examining the status of the URLs published in ME...

Authors: Erick Ducut, Fang Liu and Paul Fontelo

Evaluation of SOVAT: An OLAP-GIS decision support system for community health assessment data analysis

Data analysis in community health assessment (CHA) involves the collection, integration, and analysis of large numerical and spatial data sets in order to identify health priorities. Geographic Information Sys...

Authors: Matthew Scotch, Bambang Parmanto and Valerie Monaco

Design of a graphical and interactive interface for facilitating access to drug contraindications, cautions for use, interactions and adverse effects

Drug iatrogeny is important but could be decreased if contraindications, cautions for use, drug interactions and adverse effects of drugs described in drug monographs were taken into account. However, the phys...

Authors: Jean-Baptiste Lamy, Alain Venot, Avner Bar-Hen, Patrick Ouvrard and Catherine Duclos

Measurement properties of the Inventory of Cognitive Bias in Medicine (ICBM)

Understanding how doctors think may inform both undergraduate and postgraduate medical education. Developing such an understanding requires valid and reliable measurement tools. We examined the measurement pro...

Authors: Ruth M Sladek, Paddy A Phillips and Malcolm J Bond

The interpretation of systematic reviews with meta-analyses: an objective or subjective process?

Discrepancies between the conclusions of different meta-analyses (quantitative syntheses of systematic reviews) are often ascribed to methodological differences. The objective of this study was to determine th...

Authors: Ian Shrier, Jean-François Boivin, Robert W Platt, Russell J Steele, James M Brophy, Franco Carnevale, Mark J Eisenberg, Andrea Furlan, Ritsuko Kakuma, Mary Ellen Macdonald, Louise Pilote and Michel Rossignol

Script Concordance Tests: Guidelines for Construction

SCT is used to assess clinical reasoning in ambiguous or uncertain situations. It allows testing on real-life situations that are not adequately measured with current tests. It probes the multiple judgments th...

Authors: Jean Paul Fournier, Anne Demeester and Bernard Charlin

An integrated strategy of knowledge application for optimal e-health implementation: A multi-method study protocol

E-health is increasingly valued for supporting: 1) access to quality health care services for all citizens; 2) information flow and exchange; 3) integrated health care services and 4) interprofessional collabo...

Authors: Marie-Pierre Gagnon, France Légaré, Jean-Paul Fortin, Lise Lamothe, Michel Labrecque and Julie Duplantie

An iconic language for the graphical representation of medical concepts

Many medication errors are encountered in drug prescriptions, which would not occur if practitioners could remember the drug properties. They can refer to drug monographs to find these properties, however drug...

Authors: Jean-Baptiste Lamy, Catherine Duclos, Avner Bar-Hen, Patrick Ouvrard and Alain Venot

Benchmarking of hospital information systems: Monitoring of discharge letters and scheduling can reveal heterogeneities and time trends

Monitoring of hospital information system (HIS) usage can provide insights into best practices within a hospital and help to assess time trends. In terms of effort and cost of benchmarking, figures derived aut...

Authors: Martin Dugas, Markus Eckholt and Holger Bunzemeier

Risk communication formats for low probability events: an exploratory study of patient preferences

Clear communication about the possible outcomes of proposed medical interventions is an integral part of medical care. Despite its importance, there have been few studies comparing different formats for presen...

Authors: James G Dolan and Stephen Iadarola

Physicians' perceptions of an electronic health record-based clinical trial alert approach to subject recruitment: A survey

Physician participation in clinical research recruitment efforts is critical to many studies' success, but it is often limited. Use of an Electronic Health Record (EHR)-based, point-of-care Clinical Trial Aler...

Authors: Peter J Embi, Anil Jain and C Martin Harris

Instant availability of patient records, but diminished availability of patient information: A multi-method study of GP's use of electronic patient records

In spite of succesful adoption of electronic patient records (EPR) by Norwegian GPs, what constitutes the actual benefits and effects of the use of EPRs in the perspective of the GPs and patients has not been ...

Authors: Tom Christensen and Anders Grimsmo

Handheld computers for self-administered sensitive data collection: A comparative study in Peru

Low-cost handheld computers (PDA) potentially represent an efficient tool for collecting sensitive data in surveys. The goal of this study is to evaluate the quality of sexual behavior data collected with hand...

Authors: Antonio Bernabe-Ortiz, Walter H Curioso, Marco A Gonzales, Wilfredo Evangelista, Jesus M Castagnetto, Cesar P Carcamo, James P Hughes, Patricia J Garcia, Geoffrey P Garnett and King K Holmes

Should a colon cancer screening decision aid include the option of no testing? A comparative trial of two decision aids

An important question in the development of decision aids about colon cancer (CRC) screening is whether to include an explicit discussion of the option of not being screened. We examined the effect of includin...

Authors: Jennifer M Griffith, Marlie Fichter, Floyd J Fowler, Carmen Lewis and Michael P Pignone

Decision support in psychiatry – a comparison between the diagnostic outcomes using a computerized decision support system versus manual diagnosis

Correct diagnosis in psychiatry may be improved by novel diagnostic procedures. Computerized Decision Support Systems (CDSS) are suggested to be able to improve diagnostic procedures, but some studies indicate...

Authors: Lars G Bergman and Uno GH Fors

Users and non-users of web-based health advice service among Finnish university students – chronic conditions and self-reported health status (a cross-sectional study)

The Internet is increasingly used by citizens as source of health information. Young, highly educated adults use the Internet frequently to search for health-related information. Our study explores whether rep...

Authors: Johanna Castrén, Teppo Huttunen and Kristina Kunttu

A new methodology for assessment of the performance of heartbeat classification systems

The literature presents many different algorithms for classifying heartbeats from ECG signals. The performance of the classifier is normally presented in terms of sensitivity, specificity or other metrics desc...

Authors: John M Darrington and Livia C Hool

Integration of modeling and simulation into hospital-based decision support systems guiding pediatric pharmacotherapy

Decision analysis in hospital-based settings is becoming more common place. The application of modeling and simulation approaches has likewise become more prevalent in order to support decision analytics. With...

Authors: Jeffrey S Barrett, John T Mondick, Mahesh Narayan, Kalpana Vijayakumar and Sundararajan Vijayakumar

Survey of information technology in Intensive Care Units in Ontario, Canada

The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is a data-rich environment where information technology (IT) may enhance patient care. We surveyed ICUs in the province of Ontario, Canada, to determine the availability, implemen...

Authors: Stephen E Lapinsky, David Holt, David Hallett, Mohamed Abdolell and Neill KJ Adhikari

The effect of offering different numbers of colorectal cancer screening test options in a decision aid: a pilot randomized trial

Decision aids can improve decision making processes, but the amount and type of information that they should attempt to communicate is controversial. We sought to compare, in a pilot randomized trial, two colo...

Authors: Jennifer M Griffith, Carmen L Lewis, Alison RT Brenner and Michael P Pignone

Prospective, randomized evaluation of a personal digital assistant-based research tool in the emergency department

Personal digital assistants (PDA) offer putative advantages over paper for collecting research data. However, there are no data prospectively comparing PDA and paper in the emergency department. The aim of thi...

Authors: Morris L Rivera, Jason Donnelly, Blair A Parry, Anthony Dinizio, Charles L Johnson, Jeffrey A Kline and Christopher Kabrhel

No paper, but the same routines: a qualitative exploration of experiences in two Norwegian hospitals deprived of the paper based medical record

It has been shown that implementation of electronic medical records (EMR) and withdrawal of the paper-based medical record is feasible, but represents a drastic change in the information environment of hospita...

Authors: Jan-Tore Lium, Aksel Tjora and Arild Faxvaag

A decision-analytic approach to define poor prognosis patients: a case study for non-seminomatous germ cell cancer patients

Classification systems may be useful to direct more aggressive treatment to cancer patients with a relatively poor prognosis. The definition of 'poor prognosis' often lacks a formal basis. We propose a decisio...

Authors: Merel R van Dijk, Ewout W Steyerberg and J Dik F Habbema

Using machine learning algorithms to guide rehabilitation planning for home care clients

Targeting older clients for rehabilitation is a clinical challenge and a research priority. We investigate the potential of machine learning algorithms – Support Vector Machine (SVM) and K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN)...

Authors: Mu Zhu, Zhanyang Zhang, John P Hirdes and Paul Stolee

Models predicting the growth response to growth hormone treatment in short children independent of GH status, birth size and gestational age

Mathematical models can be used to predict individual growth responses to growth hormone (GH) therapy. The aim of this study was to construct and validate high-precision models to predict the growth response t...

Authors: Jovanna Dahlgren, Berit Kriström, Aimon Niklasson, Andreas FM Nierop, Sten Rosberg and Kerstin Albertsson-Wikland

The effect of attitude to risk on decisions made by nurses using computerised decision support software in telephone clinical assessment: an observational study

There is variation in the decisions made by telephone assessment nurses using computerised decision support software (CDSS). Variation in nurses' attitudes to risk has been identified as a possible explanatory...

Authors: Alicia O'Cathain, James Munro, Iain Armstrong, Catherine O'Donnell and David Heaney

Effect of electronic patient record use on mortality in End Stage Renal Disease, a model chronic disease: retrospective analysis of 9 years of prospectively collected data

In chronic disease, health information technology promises but has yet to demonstrate improved outcomes and decreased costs. The main aim of the study was to determine the effects on mortality and cost of an e...

Authors: Victor E Pollak and Jonathan A Lorch

Creating a medical dictionary using word alignment: The influence of sources and resources

Automatic word alignment of parallel texts with the same content in different languages is among other things used to generate dictionaries for new translations. The quality of the generated word alignment dep...

Authors: Mikael Nyström, Magnus Merkel, Håkan Petersson and Hans Åhlfeldt

A comparative analysis of predictive models of morbidity in intensive care unit after cardiac surgery – Part II: an illustrative example

Popular predictive models for estimating morbidity probability after heart surgery are compared critically in a unitary framework. The study is divided into two parts. In the first part modelling techniques an...

Authors: Gabriele Cevenini, Emanuela Barbini, Sabino Scolletta, Bonizella Biagioli, Pierpaolo Giomarelli and Paolo Barbini

A comparative analysis of predictive models of morbidity in intensive care unit after cardiac surgery – Part I: model planning

Different methods have recently been proposed for predicting morbidity in intensive care units (ICU). The aim of the present study was to critically review a number of approaches for developing models capable ...

Authors: Emanuela Barbini, Gabriele Cevenini, Sabino Scolletta, Bonizella Biagioli, Pierpaolo Giomarelli and Paolo Barbini

Estimation of progression of multi-state chronic disease using the Markov model and prevalence pool concept

We propose a simple new method for estimating progression of a chronic disease with multi-state properties by unifying the prevalence pool concept with the Markov process model.

Authors: Hui-Chuan Shih, Pesus Chou, Chi-Ming Liu and Tao-Hsin Tung

A web-based laboratory information system to improve quality of care of tuberculosis patients in Peru: functional requirements, implementation and usage statistics

Multi-drug resistant tuberculosis patients in resource-poor settings experience large delays in starting appropriate treatment and may not be monitored appropriately due to an overburdened laboratory system, d...

Authors: Joaquin A Blaya, Sonya S Shin, Martin JA Yagui, Gloria Yale, Carmen Z Suarez, Luis L Asencios, J Peter Cegielski and Hamish SF Fraser

Deafness mutation mining using regular expression based pattern matching

While keyword based queries of databases such as Pubmed are frequently of great utility, the ability to use regular expressions in place of a keyword can often improve the results output by such databases. Reg...

Authors: Christopher M Frenz

Is OpenSDE an alternative for dedicated medical research databases? An example in coronary surgery

When using a conventional relational database approach to collect and query data in the context of specific clinical studies, a study with a new data set usually requires the design of a new database and entry...

Authors: Angeliek C Venema, Astrid M van Ginneken, Marcel de Wilde and Ad JJC Bogers

Instruments to assess the perception of physicians in the decision-making process of specific clinical encounters: a systematic review

The measurement of processes and outcomes that reflect the complexity of the decision-making process within specific clinical encounters is an important area of research to pursue. A systematic review was cond...

Authors: France Légaré, David Moher, Glyn Elwyn, Annie LeBlanc and Karine Gravel

Online detection and quantification of epidemics

Time series data are increasingly available in health care, especially for the purpose of disease surveillance. The analysis of such data has long used periodic regression models to detect outbreaks and estima...

Authors: Camille Pelat, Pierre-Yves Boëlle, Benjamin J Cowling, Fabrice Carrat, Antoine Flahault, Séverine Ansart and Alain-Jacques Valleron

Modeling and detection of respiratory-related outbreak signatures

Time series methods are commonly used to detect disease outbreak signatures (e.g., signals due to influenza outbreaks and anthrax attacks) from varying respiratory-related diagnostic or syndromic data sources....

Authors: Peter F Craigmile, Namhee Kim, Soledad A Fernandez and Bema K Bonsu

Generating prior probabilities for classifiers of brain tumours using belief networks

Numerous methods for classifying brain tumours based on magnetic resonance spectra and imaging have been presented in the last 15 years. Generally, these methods use supervised machine learning to develop a cl...

Authors: Greg M Reynolds, Andrew C Peet and Theodoros N Arvanitis

Developing a web-based information resource for palliative care: an action-research inspired approach

General Practitioners and community nurses rely on easily accessible, evidence-based online information to guide practice. To date, the methods that underpin the scoping of user-identified online information n...

Authors: Annette F Street, Kathleen Swift, Merilyn Annells, Roger Woodruff, Terry Gliddon, Anne Oakley and Goetz Ottman

Indivo: a personally controlled health record for health information exchange and communication

Personally controlled health records (PCHRs), a subset of personal health records (PHRs), enable a patient to assemble, maintain and manage a secure copy of his or her medical data. Indivo (formerly PING) is a...

Authors: Kenneth D Mandl, William W Simons, William CR Crawford and Jonathan M Abbett

Access, use and perceptions regarding Internet, cell phones and PDAs as a means for health promotion for people living with HIV in Peru

Internet tools, cell phones, and other information and communication technologies are being used by HIV-positive people on their own initiative. Little is known about the perceptions of HIV-positive people tow...

Authors: Walter H Curioso and Ann E Kurth

Clinical decision modeling system

Decision analysis techniques can be applied in complex situations involving uncertainty and the consideration of multiple objectives. Classical decision modeling techniques require elicitation of too many para...

Authors: Haiwen Shi and James Lyons-Weiler

Group differences in physician responses to handheld presentation of clinical evidence: a verbal protocol analysis

To identify individual differences in physicians' needs for the presentation of evidence resources and preferences for mobile devices.

Authors: Danielle M Lottridge, Mark Chignell, Romana Danicic-Mizdrak, Nada J Pavlovic, Andre Kushniruk and Sharon E Straus

Erratum to: Manuscript Architect: a web application for scientific writing in virtual interdisciplinary groups

Authors: Ricardo Pietrobon, Karen C Nielsen, Susan M Steele, Andreia P Menezes, Henrique Martins and Danny O Jacobs

Physicians' intentions and use of three patient decision aids

Decision aids are evidence based tools that assist patients in making informed values-based choices and supplement the patient-clinician interaction. While there is evidence to show that decision aids improve ...

Authors: Ian D Graham, Jo Logan, Carol L Bennett, Justin Presseau, Annette M O'Connor, Susan L Mitchell, Jacqueline M Tetroe, Ann Cranney, Paul Hebert and Shawn D Aaron

Design of a Two-level Adaptive Multi-Agent System for Malaria Vectors driven by an ontology

The understanding of heterogeneities in disease transmission dynamics as far as malaria vectors are concerned is a big challenge. Many studies while tackling this problem don't find exact models to explain the...

Authors: Guillaume Koum, Augustin Yekel, Bengyella Ndifon, Josiane Etang and Frédéric Simard

Improving search filter development: a study of palliative care literature

It is difficult to systematically search for literature relevant to palliative care in general medical journals. A previously developed search filter for use on OVID Medline validated using a gold standard set...

Authors: Ruth M Sladek, Jennifer Tieman and David C Currow

An automatic method to generate domain-specific investigator networks using PubMed abstracts

Collaboration among investigators has become critical to scientific research. This includes ad hoc collaboration established through personal contacts as well as formal consortia established by funding agencie...

Authors: Wei Yu, Ajay Yesupriya, Anja Wulf, Junfeng Qu, Marta Gwinn and Muin J Khoury

Utilization of the PICO framework to improve searching PubMed for clinical questions

Supporting 21^st century health care and the practice of evidence-based medicine (EBM) requires ubiquitous access to clinical information and to knowledge-based resources to answer clinical questions. Many questio...

Authors: Connie Schardt, Martha B Adams, Thomas Owens, Sheri Keitz and Paul Fontelo

Automated real time constant-specificity surveillance for disease outbreaks

For real time surveillance, detection of abnormal disease patterns is based on a difference between patterns observed, and those predicted by models of historical data. The usefulness of outbreak detection str...

Authors: Shannon C Wieland, John S Brownstein, Bonnie Berger and Kenneth D Mandl