Effects of posterior tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS) on lower urinary tract dysfunction: An umbrella review.

BACKGROUND: Lower urinary tract dysfunction (LUTD) is a common, troublesome condition that often negatively affects patients' quality of life. Current literature has long been interested in how posterior tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS) can affect this condition. AIM: To extensively and systematically explore how PTNS affects LUTD based on the most recent systematic reviews. METHODS: A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Embase according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. All the systematic reviews, with or without meta-analysis that assessed the effects of PTNS on LUTD were retrieved. The quality of the included studies was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute tool, and analysis was conducted using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis version 3 tool. RESULTS: From a total of 3077 citations, 20 systematic reviews entered this study, and 13 of them included meta-analysis. The population of studies varied vastly, for instance, some studies included only children or women while other focused on a specific pathology like multiple sclerosis-induced neurogenic LUTD. The majority of included studies reported an overall improvement in LUTD following percutaneous PTNS, although admitting that these results were derived from moderate to low-quality evidence. CONCLUSION: The findings of this thorough umbrella review showed that the positive benefits of PTNS in treating LUTD are currently supported by low-quality evidence, and it is crucial to interpret them with great care.

The effect of education through conceptual mapping on critical thinking of nursing students.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of conceptual mapping on nursing students' critical thinking. METHODS: The quasi-experimental case-control study was conducted from April 2015 to October 2016 at the University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran, and comprised students of Fatemeh-Zahra School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz. The students were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. Baseline data was collected using a two-part questionnaire, including demographic items and California Critical Thinking Skills Test. Both groups underwent 24 six-hour training sessions 3 times a week. The intervention and control groups were trained by conceptual map and integration methods, respectively. Post-intervention data was collected using the same questionnaire and was analysed using SPSS 13. RESULTS: Of the 81 subjects, 41(50.6%) were in the intervention group and 40(49.4%) in the control group. The mean age was 25.12}3.71 years in the intervention group and 25.5}4.10 years in the control group (p>0.05). At baseline, there was no significant difference between the mean critical thinking scores of the two groups (p=0.781). Postintervention values increased in both groups, but the mean critical score was significantly higher in the intervention group (p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Concept mapping was found to be an effective approach for improving students' critical thinking skills.