Patient characteristics associated with longer emergency department stay: a rapid review.

Background: Prolonged emergency department (ED) stays make a disproportionate contribution to ED overcrowding, but the factors associated with longer stays have not been systematically reviewed.

Objective: To identify the patient characteristics associated with ED length of stay (LOS) and ascertain whether a predictive model existed.

Methods: This rapid systematic review included published, English-language studies that assessed at least one patient-level predictor of ED LOS (defined as a continuous or dichotomous variable) in an adult or mixed adult/paediatric population within an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development country.

Analysis of a librarian-mediated literature search service.

Librarian-mediated literature searching is a key service provided at medical libraries. This analysis outlines ten years of data on 19,248 literature searches and describes information on the volume and frequency of search requests, time spent per search, databases used, and professional designations of the patron requestors. Combined with information on best practices for expert searching and evaluations of similar services, these findings were used to form recommendations on the improvement and standardization of a literature search service at a large health library system.

Effectiveness of internet-based interventions for children, youth, and young adults with anxiety and/or depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The majority of internet-based anxiety and depression intervention studies have targeted adults. An increasing number of studies of children, youth, and young adults have been conducted, but the evidence on effectiveness has not been synthesized. The objective of this research is to systematically review the most recent findings in this area and calculate overall (pooled) effect estimates of internet-based anxiety and/or depression interventions.

What your patient reads: creating a value-added tool for physicians.

Through a number of media sources, today's consumers have unprecedented access to health information of varying reliability and authority. Empowered by this information, patients are more involved in their health care decisions and more willing to question physicians' advice. This poses a challenge for physicians who must now find time to read mass media health reports in addition to medical research.