Journal of evaluation in clinical practice
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Multicenter Study
A multicenter cross-sectional study of episiotomy practice in Romania.
The aim of this study was to focus attention on episiotomy practice in Romanian maternity units in order to identify factors associated with the very high rate of the procedure in Romania and to consider strategies to reduce it. ⋯ In conclusion, routine episiotomy is the norm in Romanian maternity units, with episiotomy rates among the highest in Europe. Episiotomy use is mainly driven by local professional norms, experiences, previous training, and practitioners' decisions rather than evidence, guidelines, or variations in patient needs at the time of vaginal birth.
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The threshold model represents one of the most significant advances in the field of medical decision-making, yet it often does not apply to the most common class of clinical problems, which include health outcomes as a part of definition of disease. In addition, the original threshold model did not take a decision-maker's values and preferences explicitly into account. ⋯ Calculation of the threshold depends on careful disease versus utility definitions and a decision-maker's values and preferences.
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The potential bias introduced by surgeons' lack of comparable, relevant experience when performing the procedures in different arms of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) is arguably not well-managed or reported. The aim of this work was to review the frequency and nature with which surgeons' relevant experience is reported in RCTs of total hip (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA), and to relate this to other risk of bias domains for this study design. ⋯ The surgeons' relevant experience in an evaluated procedure is often poorly reported but has improved since 2009. The variable is not adequately captured by any other risk of bias domain. Future work should concentrate on conducting research on a much larger sample of studies and in procedures other than knee and hip arthroplasty.
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Waist circumference (WC) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) are superior surrogate markers of central obesity than body mass index. However, WC is not measured routinely in paediatric clinics. The objective of this study was to implement measurement of WC during routine assessment of children in an ambulatory outpatient clinic setting and subsequent dissemination of cardiometabolic risk counselling in children with central obesity (defined as WHtR ≥0.5). ⋯ Application of an evidence-based DMAIC protocol led to significant improvement in assessment for central obesity in an ambulatory clinic practice and appropriate counselling regarding cardiometabolic risk reduction in children and adolescents with central obesity over an 8-month period. Meticulous planning and execution, frequent reinforcement, and integrating feedback from the involved multi-disciplinary team were important factors in successful implementation of this quality improvement project.
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Studies suggest that routine radiographs during follow-up of distal radius and ankle fractures result in increased radiation exposure and health care costs, without influencing treatment strategies. Encouraging clinicians to omit these routine radiographs is challenging, and little is known about barriers and facilitators that influence this omission. Therefore, this study aims to identify barriers and facilitators among orthopaedic trauma surgeons that might prove valuable towards the design of a deimplementation strategy. ⋯ We identified three facilitators that could provide backing for a deimplementation strategy aimed at a reduction of routine radiographs for patients with distal radius and ankle fractures.