BMC research notes
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To study the association between organizational context and research utilization in German residential long term care (LTC), we translated three Canadian assessment instruments: the Alberta Context Tool (ACT), Estabrooks' Kinds of Research Utilization (RU) items and the Conceptual Research Utilization Scale. Target groups for the tools were health care aides (HCAs), registered nurses (RNs), allied health professionals (AHPs), clinical specialists and care managers. Through a cognitive debriefing process, we assessed response processes validity-an initial stage of validity, necessary before more advanced validity assessment. ⋯ Cognitive debriefing is essential to detect and respond to problematic instrument items, particularly when translating instruments for heterogeneous, less well educated provider groups such as HCAs. Cognitive debriefing is an important step in research tool development and a vital component of establishing response process validity evidence. Publishing cognitive debriefing results helps researchers to determine potentially critical elements of the translated tools and assists with interpreting scores.
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Quality of life (QOL) and its measurement in cancer patients is becoming increasingly important. Breast cancer diagnosis and treatment are often associated with psychological distress and reduced QoL. In Arabic-speaking countries, QoL of patients with cancer is inadequately studied.The aim of this study was to test the reliability and validity of the Moroccan Arabic version of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Breast Cancer-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ-BR23). ⋯ In general, the findings of this study indicated that the Moroccan Arabic version of the EORTC QLQ-BR23 is a reliable and valid supplementary measure of the QOL in breast cancer patients and can be used in clinical trials and studies of outcome research in oncology.
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Observational Study
Assessment of changes in brain metabolites in Indian patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
The brain is a target for diabetic end-organ damage, though the pathophysiology of diabetic encephalopathy is still not well understood. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of diabetes on the metabolic profile of brain of patients having diabetes in comparison to healthy controls, using in-vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy to get an insight into the pathophysiology of cerebral damages caused due to diabetes. ⋯ 1H-MRS analysis indicates that type-2 diabetes mellitus may cause subtle changes in the metabolic profile of the brain. Decreased concentrations of NAA might be indicative of decreased neuronal viability in diabetics while elevated concentrations of Gln and Glu might be related to the fluid imbalance resulting from disruption of glucose homeostasis.
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Case Reports
Ruptured renal arteriovenous malformation successfully treated by catheter embolization: a case report.
Renal arteriovenous fistula (RAVF) is a comparatively rare malformation. Here, we report a case of ruptured RAVF that was successfully treated by catheter embolization. ⋯ We report a case of ruptured renal arteriovenous malformation, which was successfully treated by catheter embolization.
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There is a lack of an instrument to evaluate systematic reviews of non-randomized studies in epidemiological research. The Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) is widely used to evaluate the scientific quality of systematic reviews, but it has not been validated for SRs of non-randomized studies. The objective of this paper is to report our experience in applying AMSTAR to systematic reviews of non-randomized studies in terms of applicability, reliability and feasibility. Thus, we applied AMSTAR to a recently published review of 32 systematic reviews of non-randomized studies investigating the hospital volume-outcome relationship in surgery. ⋯ AMSTAR showed good psychometric properties, comparable to prior findings in systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials. AMSTAR can be applied to systematic reviews of non-randomized studies, although there are some item specific issues users should be aware of. Revisions and extensions of AMSTAR might be helpful.