Development of the summary of findings table for network meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to develop a Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) summary of findings (SoF) table format that displays the critical information from a network meta-analysis (NMA). STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: We applied a user experience model for data analysis based on four rounds of semistructured interviews. RESULTS: We interviewed 32 stakeholders who conduct or use MA. Four rounds of interviews produced six candidate NMA-SoF tables. Users found a final NMA-SoF table that included the following components highly acceptable: (1) details of the clinical question (PICO), (2) a plot depicting network geometry, (3) relative and absolute effect estimates, (4) certainty of evidence, (5) ranking of treatments, and (6) interpretation of findings. CONCLUSION: Using stakeholder feedback, we developed a new GRADE NMA-SoF table that includes the relevant components that facilitate understanding NMA findings and health decision-making.

Handsearching and electronic search of clinical trials in Cuban medical journals: analysis of terminology. / Búsqueda manual y electrónica de ensayos clínicos en revistas médicas cubanas: análisis de la terminología.

INTRODUCTION: Clinical trials are the gold standard for testing the efficacy and safety of interventions. On their own they may not be enough to reach definitive conclusions, but they are the basis for systematic reviews that synthesize the results of several studies. However, once clinical trials have been published, a poor description of the study design and lack of specific key words and descriptors make it difficult to retrieve them by electronic searches, thus requiring hand searching. OBJECTIVES: To compare the retrieving capacity between hand search and the multiple strategies of electronic searches for identifying clinical trials in Cuban medical journals, and to determine the terminology used for describing these studies. METHODS: We combined electronic searches in the Scientific Electronic Library Online of Cuba (SciELO Cuba) and Cuban database Cumed with hand search using the Cochrane guide to locate trials in three Cuban journals in the period 2000-2012. We identified the significant terms included in the title, summary, keywords and methods of each article according to Cochrane, CONSORT, and the health sciences thesaurus. RESULTS: We identified 50 trials by hand search; four of them were retrieved by electronic search through SciELO Cuba (8%) while none was found through Cumed. The less descriptive sections were the title and the keywords. More keywords than authorized descriptors were used; the only specific concepts used in over half of the retrieved trials were “controlled” (60%), and “study groups” (52%); “randomi-zed” was used in 50% of the retrieved documents. While more specific, the terms “clinical trial”, “phase”, and “clinical trial registration” were not used. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to hand searching, electronic searches are insufficient to identify clinical trials. Therefore, the combination of the two meth-ods is necessary to reach higher retrieval rates. The terminology used to describe clinical trials in the selected journals was deficient due to underutilization of the health sciences thesaurus.

INTRODUCCIÓN: Los ensayos clínicos se consideran la regla de oro para evaluar la eficacia y seguridad de las intervenciones. De manera independiente, pueden no ser suficientes para generalizar resultados, pero constituyen la base de revisiones sistemáticas que sintetizan sus resultados y suelen aportar evidencias de mayor calidad. Pero una vez publicados, la pobre descripción del método científico y el uso insuficiente de palabras clave, dificultan su recuperación por búsqueda electrónica y se requiere de la búsqueda manual. OBJETIVOS: Comparar la capacidad de recuperación entre la búsqueda manual y estrategias múltiples de búsqueda electrónica para localizar ensayos clínicos en revistas médicas cubanas, y determinar la terminología utilizada para describir el ensayo clínico. MÉTODOS: Se combinó la búsqueda electrónica en la biblioteca virtual Scientific Electronic Library Online de Cuba (SciELO Cuba), y la base de datos de bibliografía médica cubana Cumed con la búsqueda manual utilizando la guía de búsqueda de Cochrane, para localizar los ensayos en tres revistas cubanas en el período 2000 a 2012. Se identificaron los términos significativos incluidos en título, resumen, palabras clave y métodos de cada artículo según la guía Cochrane, CONSORT y el tesauro de ciencias de la salud. RESULTADOS: Se identificaron 50 ensayos en la búsqueda manual, de ellos cuatro coincidieron en la búsqueda electrónica; todos a través de SciELO Cuba (8%) y ninguno en Cumed. Las secciones menos descriptivas fueron el título y las palabras clave. Se utilizaron más palabras clave que descriptores autorizados; los únicos conceptos empleados en más de la mitad de los estudios fueron: “controlado” (60%) y “grupos de estudio” (52%); “aleatorizado” fue usado en el 50% de los artículos. Aunque son más específicos, no fueron muy usados los términos “ensayo clínico”, “fase” y “código del ensayo”. CONCLUSIONES: La búsqueda electrónica es insuficiente para la identificación de ensayos clínicos respecto de la búsqueda manual. Por lo tanto, se precisa la combinación de ambos métodos para lograr un mayor índice de recobrado. La terminología usada para describir los ensayos clínicos en las revistas seleccionadas fue deficiente, debido a la subutilización del tesauro de ciencias de la salud.

Búsqueda manual y electrónica de ensayos clínicos en revistas médicas cubanas: análisis de la terminología utilizada en su descripción / Manual and electronic search of clinical trials in Cuban medical journals: analysis of terminology

INTRODUCCIÓN Los ensayos clínicos se consideran la regla de oro para evaluar la eficacia y seguridad de las intervenciones. De manera independiente, pueden no ser suficientes para generalizar resultados, pero constituyen la base de revisiones sistemáticas que sintetizan sus resultados y suelen aportar evidencias de mayor calidad. Pero una vez publicados, la pobre descripción del método científico y el uso insuficiente de palabras clave, dificultan su recuperación por búsqueda electrónica y se requiere de la búsqueda manual. OBJETIVOS Comparar la capacidad de recuperación entre la búsqueda manual y estrategias múltiples de búsqueda electrónica para localizar ensayos clínicos en revistas médicas cubanas, y determinar la terminología utilizada para describir el ensayo clínico. Métodos Se combinó la búsqueda electrónica en la biblioteca virtual Scientific Electronic Library Online de Cuba (SciELO Cuba), y la base de datos de bibliografía médica cubana Cumed con la búsqueda manual utilizando la guía de búsqueda de Cochrane, para localizar los ensayos en tres revistas cubanas en el período 2000 a 2012. Se identificaron los términos significativos incluidos en título, resumen, palabras clave y métodos de cada artículo según la guía Cochrane, CONSORT y el tesauro de ciencias de la salud. RESULTADOS Se identificaron 50 ensayos en la búsqueda manual, de ellos cuatro coincidieron en la búsqueda electrónica; todos a través de SciELO Cuba (8%) y ninguno en Cumed. Las secciones menos descriptivas fueron el título y las palabras clave. Se utilizaron más palabras clave que descriptores autorizados; los únicos conceptos empleados en más de la mitad de los estudios fueron: "controlado" (60%) y "grupos de estudio" (52%); "aleatorizado" fue usado en el 50% de los artículos. Aunque son más específicos, no fueron muy usados los términos "ensayo clínico", "fase" y "código del ensayo". CONCLUSIONES La búsqueda electrónica es insuficiente para la identificación de ensayos clínicos respecto de la búsqueda manual. Por lo tanto, se precisa la combinación de ambos métodos para lograr un mayor índice de recobrado. La terminología usada para describir los ensayos clínicos en las revistas seleccionadas fue deficiente, debido a la subutilización del tesauro de ciencias de la salud.

INTRODUCTION Clinical trials are the gold standard for testing the efficacy and safety of interventions. On their own they may not be enough to reach definitive conclusions, but they are the basis for systematic reviews that synthesize the results of several studies. However, once clinical trials have been published, a poor description of the study design and lack of specific key words and descriptors make it difficult to retrieve them by electronic searches, thus requiring hand searching. OBJECTIVES To compare the retrieving capacity between hand search and the multiple strategies of electronic searches for identifying clinical trials in Cuban medical journals, and to determine the terminology used for describing these studies. METHODS We combined electronic searches in the Scientific Electronic Library Online of Cuba (SciELO Cuba) and Cuban database Cumed with hand search using the Cochrane guide to locate trials in three Cuban journals in the period 2000-2012. We identified the significant terms included in the title, summary, keywords and methods of each article according to Cochrane, CONSORT, and the health sciences thesaurus. RESULTS We identified 50 trials by hand search; four of them were retrieved by electronic search through SciELO Cuba (8%) while none was found through Cumed. The less descriptive sections were the title and the keywords. More keywords than authorized descriptors were used; the only specific concepts used in over half of the retrieved trials were "controlled" (60%), and "study groups" (52%); "randomized" was used in 50% of the retrieved documents. While more specific, the terms "clinical trial", "phase", and "clinical trial registration" were not used. CONCLUSIONS Compared to hand searching, electronic searches are insufficient to identify clinical trials. Therefore, the combination of the two meth-ods is necessary to reach higher retrieval rates. The terminology used to describe clinical trials in the selected journals was deficient due to underutilization of the health sciences thesaurus.

Level of Evidence of Abstract Presentations at Brazilian Plastic Surgery Annual Meetings.

OBJECTIVE: The purposes of this study were to assess trends in the level of evidence of the abstracts presented at a major Brazilian plastic surgery annual meeting, and evaluate the factors associated with a higher level of evidence. METHODS: Abstracts (n = 400) presented at the 2010 to 2013 Brazilian Congresses of Plastic Surgery were analyzed for level of evidence (levels I-V). All abstracts were also classified into a higher (levels I and II) or lower (levels III, IV, and V) level of evidence. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were applied to evaluate the possible determinants (year, period, number of authors, number of subjects, plastic surgery topic, and presence of statistical analysis) of higher level of evidence. RESULTS: The weighted average level of evidence was 3.39, with a significant (all P <0.05) overall predominance in the proportion of level of evidence III and lower level of evidence. There was a significant (all P <0.05) increase in the proportion of level of evidence II and higher level of evidence in the evaluated years and periods. Bivariate and multivariate analyses revealed that the year 2013, period 2012 to 2013, ≥6 authors/abstracts, and presence of statistical analysis to be the most significant (all P <0.05) predictive factors of higher level of evidence. CONCLUSION: Brazilian plastic surgery meeting abstracts demonstrated an overall predominance of lower level of evidence and a trend to increase the higher level of evidence, whereas the year 2013, period 2012 to 2013, ≥6 authors/abstracts, and the presence of statistical analysis were determinants of higher level of evidence.

How to prepare and submit abstracts for scientific meetings.

The presentation of study results is a key step in scientific research, and submitting an abstract to a meeting is often the first form of public communication. Meeting abstracts have a defined structure that is similar to abstracts for scientific articles, with an introduction, the objective, methods, results and conclusions. However, abstracts for meetings are not presented as part of a full article and, therefore, must contain the necessary and most relevant data. In this article, we detail their structure and include tips to make them technically correct.

Como elaborar e submeter resumos de trabalhos científicos para congressos / How to prepare and submit abstracts for scientific meetings

A apresentação dos resultados de um trabalho é ponto crucial da metodologia científica, e o envio de resumo para congressos é frequentemente sua primeira forma de comunicação pública. O resumo contém estrutura definida e é semelhante aos resumos de artigos científicos, com introdução, objetivo, métodos, resultados e conclusões. No entanto, o resumo para congresso não é apresentado como parte de artigo completo e, por isso, ele deve conter as informações necessárias e mais relevantes. Neste artigo, detalhamos sua estrutura e algumas dicas para torná-lo tecnicamente correto.

The presentation of study results is a key step in scientific research, and submitting an abstract to a meeting is often the first form of public communication. Meeting abstracts have a defined structure that is similar to abstracts for scientific articles, with an introduction, the objective, methods, results and conclusions. However, abstracts for meetings are not presented as part of a full article and, therefore, must contain the necessary and most relevant data. In this article, we detail their structure and include tips to make them technically correct.

Evaluation of the key words used in articles of the Acta Cirurgica Brasileira from 1997 to 2012 / Avaliação dos descritores utilizados nos artigos da Acta Cirúrgica Brasileira de 1997 a 2012

PURPOSE: To evaluate the key words used in Acta Cirurgica Brasileira from 1997 to 2012. METHODS: All the key words of all articles published in regular issues between 1997 and 2012 were analyzed, ensuring that these key words were in the MeSH database (Medical Subjects Headings) and the most used subject headings and most wrong repeated key words were ranked. RESULTS: > 4230 key words used in 990 articles were analyzed. Only 579 key words (13.68%) were not in the MeSH database, considering that there was a statistically significant decrease over the years (p<0.001). The three most used key words were Rats, Dogs and Wound healing. Among the wrong ones, the key words were Adhesions, Experimental surgery and Anatomosis. CONCLUSION: There was a gradual improvement in the amount of key words used that belonged to the MeSH database, and there were 618 articles (62.42%) with all key words correct.(AU)

OBJETIVO: Avaliar os descritores utilizados na Acta Cirúrgica Brasileira entre os anos de 1997 até 2012. MÉTODOS: Foram analisados os descritores de todos os artigos publicados em fascículos regulares entre os anos de 1997 a 2012, verificando se estes constavam no MeSH e foi feito um ranking dos descritores mais utilizados e dos termos equivocados mais repetidos. RESULTADOS: Foram analisados 4230 descritores, presentes em 990 artigos. Apenas 579 (13,68%) dos descritores estavam fora da base do MeSH, sendo que houve uma diminuição estatisticamente significante com o passar dos anos (p<0.001). Os três descritores mais utilizados foram Rats, Dogs e Wound healing, já dentre as equivocadas foram os termos Adhesions, Experimental surgery e Anatomosis. CONCLUSÃO: Houve uma melhora progressiva na quantidade de termos utilizados que pertenciam a base do MeSH, havendo 618 artigos (62,42%) com todos os descritores corretos.(AU)