Ontario health technology assessment series
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Ont Health Technol Assess Ser · Jan 2014
Review Meta AnalysisThe Determinants of Place of Death: An Evidence-Based Analysis.
According to a conceptual model described in this analysis, place of death is determined by an interplay of factors associated with the illness, the individual, and the environment. ⋯ The results obtained were consistent with previously published systematic reviews. The analysis identified several factors that are associated with place of death.
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Ont Health Technol Assess Ser · Jan 2014
ReviewArthroscopic Debridement of the Knee: An Evidence Update.
Patients with knee pain as a result of osteoarthritis or degenerative meniscal injury may seek treatment through arthroscopic surgery. How effective arthroscopic debridement with or without meniscectomy is for relieving pain and improving patients' functional outcomes is uncertain. ⋯ The evidence does not show the superiority of arthroscopic debridement with or without meniscectomy in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee or with meniscal injury from degenerative causes.
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Ont Health Technol Assess Ser · Jan 2014
ReviewThe appropriate use of neuroimaging in the diagnostic work-up of dementia: an evidence-based analysis.
Diagnosis of dementia is challenging and requires both ruling out potentially treatable underlying causes and ruling in a diagnosis of dementia subtype to manage patients and suitably plan for the future. ⋯ A diagnosis of reversible dementia is rare. Imaging has the most clinical utility in cases where there is potentially mixed dementia or ambiguity as to the type of dementia despite prolonged follow-up (e.g., 2 years or more). Both CT and MRI are useful for detecting a vascular component of dementia.
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Ont Health Technol Assess Ser · Jan 2013
ReviewContinuity of care to optimize chronic disease management in the community setting: an evidence-based analysis.
This evidence-based analysis reviews relational and management continuity of care. Relational continuity refers to the duration and quality of the relationship between the care provider and the patient. Management continuity ensures that patients receive coherent, complementary, and timely care. There are 4 components of continuity of care: duration, density, dispersion, and sequence. ⋯ There is low quality evidence that: Higher continuity of care is associated with decreased health service utilization.There is insufficient evidence on the relationship of continuity of care with disease-specific outcomes.There is an association between high continuity of care and patient satisfaction, particularly among patients with chronic diseases.
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Ont Health Technol Assess Ser · Jan 2013
Review Meta AnalysisIn-home care for optimizing chronic disease management in the community: an evidence-based analysis.
The emerging attention on in-home care in Canada assumes that chronic disease management will be optimized if it takes place in the community as opposed to the health care setting. Both the patient and the health care system will benefit, the latter in terms of cost savings. ⋯ In summary, education-based in-home care is effective at improving outcomes of patients with a range of heart disease severity when delivered by nurses during a single home visit or on an ongoing basis. In-home visits by occupational therapists and physical therapists targeting modification of tasks and the home environment improved functional activities for community-living adults with chronic disease.