Using visual methods to further enhance qualitative evidence synthesis.

Background: The use of visual methods in qualitative evidence synthesis (QES) adds a valuable dimension to the synthesis process by enhancing understanding and knowledge generation. Visual methods are currently underused and underreported in QES.

Methods: This is the first study to describe accessible visual methods that support various stages of QES and to show the application of visual methods to a Cochrane QES of 43 studies using meta-ethnography and systematic review methods.

Understanding how children and young people with chronic non-cancer pain and their families experience living with pain, pain management and services: a meta-ethnography.

Background: Childhood chronic pain is a widespread public health issue. We need to understand how children with chronic pain and their families experience chronic pain and its management.

Objectives: To conduct a meta-ethnography on the experiences and perceptions of children with chronic pain and their families of chronic pain, treatments and services.

Short-stay urgent hospital admissions of children with convulsions: A mixed methods exploratory study to inform out of hospital care pathways.

Objective: To inform interventions focused on safely reducing urgent paediatric short stay admissions (SSAs) for convulsions.

Methods: Routinely acquired administrative data from hospital admissions in Scotland between 2015-2017 investigated characteristics of unscheduled SSAs (an urgent admission where admission and discharge occur on the same day) for a diagnosis of febrile and/or afebrile convulsions. Semi-structured interviews to explore perspectives of health professionals (n = 19) making referral or admission decisions about convulsions were undertaken.

Identifying and prioritising future interventions with stakeholders to improve paediatric urgent care pathways in Scotland, UK: a mixed-methods study.

Objectives: To identify and prioritise interventions, from the perspectives of parents and health professionals, which may be alternatives to current unscheduled paediatric urgent care pathways.

Design: FLAMINGO (FLow of AdMissions in chIldren and youNG peOple) is a sequential mixed-methods study, with public and patient involvement (PPI) throughout. Data linkage for urgent admissions and three referral sources: emergency department, out of hours service and general practice, was followed by qualitative interviews with parents and professionals.

A meta-ethnography of how children and young people with chronic non-cancer pain and their families experience and understand their condition, pain services, and treatments.

Background: Chronic non-cancer pain in childhood is widespread, affecting 20% to 35% of children and young people worldwide. For a sizeable number of children, chronic non-cancer pain has considerable negative impacts on their lives and quality of life, and leads to increased use of healthcare services and medication. In many countries, there are few services for managing children's chronic non-cancer pain, with many services being inadequate.

Insights from and limitations of data linkage studies: analysis of short-stay urgent admission referral source from routinely collected Scottish data.

Introduction: This study identified the referral source for urgent short-stay admissions (SSAs) and compared characteristics of children with SSA stratified by different referral sources.

Methods: Routinely acquired data from urgent admissions to Scottish hospitals during 2015-2017 were linked to data held by the three referral sources: emergency department (ED), out-of-hours (OOH) service and general practice (GP).

Results: There were 171 039 admissions including 92 229 (54%) SSAs.

Short stay hospital admissions for an acutely unwell child: A qualitative study of outcomes that matter to parents and professionals.

Background: Numbers of urgent short stay admissions (SSAs) of children to UK hospitals are rising rapidly. This paper reports on experiences of SSAs from the perspective of parents accessing urgent care for their acutely unwell child and of health professionals referring, caring for, or admitting children.

Methods: A qualitative interview study was conducted by a multi-disciplinary team with patient and public involvement (PPI) to explore contextual factors relating to SSAs and better understand pre-hospital urgent care pathways.

Perceptions and experiences of control among people living with motor neurone disease: a systematic review and thematic synthesis.

Purpose: Current research suggests that feeling a lack of control is common among people living with Motor Neurone Disease (plwMND). This systematic review explores and synthesises evidence about: (1) What factors contribute towards perceptions of control in plwMND (2) How do plwMND attempt to maintain control in their daily lives?

Methods: A systematic search from inception to January 2022 for peer-reviewed journal articles in English reporting qualitative and mixed-method primary studies or reviews of plwMND's perceptions or experiences of control was conducted on CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, ASSIA, Embase and AMED. Eligible articles underwent quality appraisal, data extraction and a thematic synthesis was carried out.

A methodological systematic review of meta-ethnography conduct to articulate the complex analytical phases.

Background: Decision making in health and social care requires robust syntheses of both quantitative and qualitative evidence. Meta-ethnography is a seven-phase methodology for synthesising qualitative studies. Developed in 1988 by sociologists in education Noblit and Hare, meta-ethnography has evolved since its inception; it is now widely used in healthcare research and is gaining popularity in education research.

Improving reporting of meta-ethnography: the eMERGe reporting guidance.

Aims: The aim of this study was to provide guidance to improve the completeness and clarity of meta-ethnography reporting.

Background: Evidence-based policy and practice require robust evidence syntheses which can further understanding of people's experiences and associated social processes. Meta-ethnography is a rigorous seven-phase qualitative evidence synthesis methodology, developed by Noblit and Hare.

Improving reporting of meta-ethnography: The eMERGe reporting guidance.

Aims: The aim of this study was to provide guidance to improve the completeness and clarity of meta-ethnography reporting.

Background: Evidence-based policy and practice require robust evidence syntheses which can further understanding of people's experiences and associated social processes. Meta-ethnography is a rigorous seven-phase qualitative evidence synthesis methodology, developed by Noblit and Hare.

Improving reporting of meta-ethnography: The eMERGe reporting guidance.

Aims: The aim of this study was to provide guidance to improve the completeness and clarity of meta-ethnography reporting.

Background: Evidence-based policy and practice require robust evidence syntheses which can further understanding of people's experiences and associated social processes. Meta-ethnography is a rigorous seven-phase qualitative evidence synthesis methodology, developed by Noblit and Hare.

The existence and importance of patients' mental images of their head and neck cancer: A qualitative study.

Objectives: To explore the existence and importance of mental images of cancer among people with head and neck cancers with a focus on the perceived origins and meaning of mental images, their development over time, and their relationship to illness beliefs.

Methods: A longitudinal qualitative study consisting of 44 in-depth semi-structured interviews with 25 consecutive, newly-diagnosed head and neck cancer patients. Participants were invited to draw their images during the interviews.

Prevalence of impaired glucose regulation in Europe: a meta-analysis.

Background: Impaired glucose regulation represents an opportunity to prevent Type 2 diabetes mellitus. It is important to have a clear understanding of the prevalence of this condition in order to be able to plan interventions and health care provision. This paper presents a meta-analysis of literature assessing the prevalence of impaired glucose regulation in the general population of developed countries in Europe.

Why, when and how to update a meta-ethnography qualitative synthesis.

Background: Meta-ethnography is a unique, systematic, qualitative synthesis approach widely used to provide robust evidence on patient and clinician beliefs and experiences and understandings of complex social phenomena. It can make important theoretical and conceptual contributions to health care policy and practice.

Results: Since beliefs, experiences, health care contexts and social phenomena change over time, the continued relevance of the findings from meta-ethnographies cannot be assumed.

A methodological systematic review of what's wrong with meta-ethnography reporting.

Background: Syntheses of qualitative studies can inform health policy, services and our understanding of patient experience. Meta-ethnography is a systematic seven-phase interpretive qualitative synthesis approach well-suited to producing new theories and conceptual models. However, there are concerns about the quality of meta-ethnography reporting, particularly the analysis and synthesis processes.

Do men's and women's accounts of surviving a stroke conform to Frank's narrative genres?

We compared the illness narratives of 9 male and 9 female United Kingdom stroke survivors using Frank's typologies of illness narratives. Most respondents presented a single dominant narrative genre ("quest memoir," "restitution," "chaos," or a new "despair" genre); none presented quest manifesto or automythology narratives of social action or self-reinvention. We found no gender differences apparent in which genres respondents presented.

The psychological experience of living with head and neck cancer: a systematic review and meta-synthesis.

Objective: To summarise patients' experiences of head and neck cancer (HNC) by examining the findings of existing qualitative studies

Methods: We undertook a systematic review and meta-synthesis of qualitative studies in 29 published articles using Noblit and Hare's 'meta-ethnography' approach to synthesise findings. The inclusion criteria were primary qualitative studies, focusing on HNC patients' experience and an English abstract. Seven databases were systematically searched.

Non-UV light influences the degradation rate of crop protection products.

Crop protection products (CPPs) are subject to strict regulatory evaluation, including laboratory and field trials, prior to approval for commercial use. Laboratory tests lack environmental realism, while field trials are difficult to control. Addition of environmental complexity to laboratory systems is therefore desirable to mimic a field environment more effectively.

What parents say about disclosing the end of their pregnancy due to fetal abnormality.

Objective: to describe men's and women's experiences of deciding whether to tell people in their social network, including their children, about their pregnancy loss following a termination for fetal abnormality.

Design: secondary analysis of qualitative narrative interview data informed by a critical realist approach.

Setting: respondents were recruited throughout the United Kingdom and interviewed at home between 2004 and 2005.

Multimorbidity in primary care: a systematic review of prospective cohort studies.

Background: Primary care increasingly deals with patients with multimorbidity, but relevant evidence-based interventions are scarce. Knowledge about multimorbidity over time is required to inform the development of effective interventions.

Aim: This review identifies prospective cohort studies of multimorbidity in primary care to determine: their nature, scope and key findings; the methodologies used; and gaps in knowledge.

How information about other people's personal experiences can help with healthcare decision-making: a qualitative study.

Objective: To investigate people's views of using 'general facts' and information about other people's 'personal experiences' for health-related decision-making.

Methods: Sixty-two people, who between them had experience of five different focal health issues, participated in 12 focus groups and 9 interviews. Exploration of uses of the two types of information was supported by discussion of illustrative excerpts.

Imagined futures: how experiential knowledge of disability affects parents' decision making about fetal abnormality.

Background: Knowledge of disability is considered key information to enable informed antenatal screening decisions by expectant parents. However, little is known about the role of experiential knowledge of disability in decisions to terminate or continue with a pregnancy diagnosed with a fetal abnormality.

Objective: To explore the role that expectant parents' experiential knowledge of disabilities and conditions can play in real-life decisions to continue or end a pregnancy with a fetal abnormality.