COVID-19 vaccine evidence monitoring assisted by artificial Intelligence: An emergency system implemented by the Public Health Agency of Canada to capture and describe the trajectory of evolving pandemic vaccine literature.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a rapid accumulation of novel vaccine research evidence. As a means to monitor this evidence, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) created the vidence etraction eam for esearch nalysis (), which contributed to situational awareness in Canada through a bibliographic repository used to support decision-making by the National Advisory Committee on Immunization. We describe the process by which this literature was identified and catalogued, and provide an overview of characteristics in the identified literature.

Rapid review method series: interim guidance for the reporting of rapid reviews.

Rapid reviews (RRs) are produced using abbreviated methods compared with standard systematic reviews (SR) to expedite the process for decision-making. This paper provides interim guidance to support the complete reporting of RRs. Recommendations emerged from a survey informed by empirical studies of RR reporting, in addition to collective experience.

Effectiveness of smoking cessation interventions among adults: an overview of systematic reviews.

Background: This overview of reviews aims to identify evidence on the benefits (i.e. tobacco use abstinence and reduction in smoking frequency) and harms (i.

Effectiveness of e-cigarettes as a stop smoking intervention in adults: a systematic review.

Background: This systematic review aims to identify the benefits and harms of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) as a smoking cessation aid in adults (aged ≥ 18 years) and to inform the development of the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care's (CTFPHC) clinical practice guidelines on e-cigarettes.

Methods: We searched Ovid MEDLINE®, Ovid MEDLINE® Epub Ahead of Print, In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations, PsycINFO, Embase Classic + Embase, and the Cochrane Library on Wiley. Searches were conducted from January 2016 to July 2019 and updated on 24 September 2020 and 25 January 2024.

Psychosocial and pharmacologic interventions for problematic methamphetamine use: Findings from a scoping review of the literature.

Rationale: Methamphetamine use and related harms have risen at alarming rates. While several psychosocial and pharmacologic interventions have been described in the literature, there is uncertainty regarding the best approach for the management of methamphetamine use disorder (MUD) and problematic methamphetamine use (PMU). We conducted a scoping review of recent systematic reviews (SR), clinical practice guidelines (CPG), and primary controlled studies of psychosocial and pharmacologic treatments for MUD/PMU.

Safety of influenza vaccination during pregnancy: a systematic review.

Objective: We conducted a systematic review to evaluate associations between influenza vaccination during pregnancy and adverse birth outcomes and maternal non-obstetric serious adverse events (SAEs), taking into consideration confounding and temporal biases.

Methods: Electronic databases (Ovid MEDLINE ALL, Embase Classic+Embase and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials) were searched to June 2021 for observational studies assessing associations between influenza vaccination during pregnancy and maternal non-obstetric SAEs and adverse birth outcomes, including preterm birth, spontaneous abortion, stillbirth, small-for-gestational-age birth and congenital anomalies. Studies of live attenuated vaccines, single-arm cohort studies and abstract-only publications were excluded.

Guidance for using artificial intelligence for title and abstract screening while conducting knowledge syntheses.

Background: Systematic reviews are the cornerstone of evidence-based medicine. However, systematic reviews are time consuming and there is growing demand to produce evidence more quickly, while maintaining robust methods. In recent years, artificial intelligence and active-machine learning (AML) have been implemented into several SR software applications.

Models of provider care in long-term care: A rapid scoping review.

Introduction: One of the current challenges in long-term care homes (LTCH) is to identify the optimal model of care, which may include specialty physicians, nursing staff, person support workers, among others. There is currently no consensus on the complement or scope of care delivered by these providers, nor is there a repository of studies that evaluate the various models of care. We conducted a rapid scoping review to identify and map what care provider models and interventions in LTCH have been evaluated to improve quality of life, quality of care, and health outcomes of residents.

Optimising weight-loss interventions in cancer patients-A systematic review and network meta-analysis.

Background: Excess weight has been associated with increased morbidity and a worse prognosis in adult patients with early-stage cancer. The optimal lifestyle interventions to optimize anthropometric measures amongst cancer patients and survivors remain inconsistent.

Objective: To conduct a systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA) of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing the effects of exercise and dietary interventions alone or in combination on anthropometric measures of adult cancer patients and survivors.

Assessing how information is packaged in rapid reviews for policy-makers and other stakeholders: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Rapid reviews (RRs) are useful products to healthcare policy-makers and other stakeholders, who require timely evidence. Therefore, it is important to assess how well RRs convey useful information in a format that is easy to understand so that decision-makers can make best use of evidence to inform policy and practice.

Methods: We assessed a diverse sample of 103 RRs against the BRIDGE criteria, originally developed for communicating clearly to support healthcare policy-making.

Assessing the format and content of journal published and non-journal published rapid review reports: A comparative study.

Background: As production of rapid reviews (RRs) increases in healthcare, knowing how to efficiently convey RR evidence to various end-users is important given they are often intended to directly inform decision-making. Little is known about how often RRs are produced in the published or unpublished domains, and what and how information is structured.

Objectives: To compare and contrast report format and content features of journal-published (JP) and non-journal published (NJP) RRs.

Comparing Interventions for Management of Hot Flashes in Patients With Breast and Prostate Cancer: A Systematic Review With Meta-Analyses.

Problem Identification: Hot flashes are common and bothersome in patients with breast and prostate cancer and can adversely affect patients' quality of life.

Literature Search: Databases were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the effects of one or more interventions for hot flashes in patients with a history of breast or prostate cancer.

Data Evaluation: Outcomes of interest included changes in hot flash severity, hot flash frequency, quality of life, and harms.

Effectiveness of stop smoking interventions among adults: protocol for an overview of systematic reviews and an updated systematic review.

Background: Tobacco smoking is the leading cause of cancer, preventable death, and disability. Smoking cessation can increase life expectancy by nearly a decade if achieved in the third or fourth decades of life. Various stop smoking interventions are available including pharmacotherapies, electronic cigarettes, behavioural support, and alternative therapies.

Incidence, causes, and consequences of preventable adverse drug reactions occurring in inpatients: A systematic review of systematic reviews.

Background: Preventable adverse drug reactions (PADRs) in inpatients are associated with harm, including increased length of stay and potential loss of life, and result in elevated costs of care. We conducted an overview of reviews (i.e.

Determinants of neurological disease: Synthesis of systematic reviews.

Systematic reviews were conducted to identify risk factors associated with the onset and progression of 14 neurological conditions, prioritized as a component of the National Population Health Study of Neurological Conditions. These systematic reviews provided a basis for evaluating the weight of evidence of evidence for risk factors for the onset and progression of the 14 individual neurological conditions considered. A number of risk factors associated with an increased risk of onset for more than one condition, including exposure to pesticides (associated with an increased risk of AD, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, brain tumours, and PD; smoking (AD, MS); and infection (MS, Tourette syndrome).

Risk factors associated with the onset and progression of Alzheimer's disease: A systematic review of the evidence.

A systematic review was conducted to identify risk factors associated with the onset and progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Moderate and high quality systematic reviews were eligible for inclusion. Primary studies reporting on non-genetic risk factors associated with neuropathologically or clinically confirmed AD were considered.

Systematic reviews of factors associated with the onset and progression of neurological conditions in humans: A methodological overview.

As a component of the National Population Health Study of Neurological conditions, systematic reviews were conducted to identify risk factors associated with the onset and progression of 14 priority neurological conditions. Between 2011 and 2013, electronic databases and grey literature sources were searched to identify systematic reviews and primary studies reporting on the onset and progression of each condition. Inclusion was restricted to studies of humans reported in English or French.

Effectiveness of Personal Protective Equipment for Healthcare Workers Caring for Patients with Filovirus Disease: A Rapid Review.

Background: A rapid review, guided by a protocol, was conducted to inform development of the World Health Organization's guideline on personal protective equipment in the context of the ongoing (2013-present) Western African filovirus disease outbreak, with a focus on health care workers directly caring for patients with Ebola or Marburg virus diseases.

Methods: Electronic databases and grey literature sources were searched. Eligibility criteria initially included comparative studies on Ebola and Marburg virus diseases reported in English or French, but criteria were expanded to studies on other viral hemorrhagic fevers and non-comparative designs due to the paucity of studies.

Comparison of physical interventions, behavioral interventions, natural health products, and pharmacologics to manage hot flashes in patients with breast or prostate cancer: protocol for a systematic review incorporating network meta-analyses.

Background: Breast and prostate cancers are the most commonly diagnosed non-dermatologic malignancies in Canada. Agents including endocrine therapies (e.g.

Checking whether there is an increased risk of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder and other cancers with specific modern immunosuppression regimens in renal transplantation: protocol for a network meta-analysis of randomized and observational studies.

Background: Patients undergoing renal transplant procedures require multi-agent immunosuppressive regimens both short term (induction phase) and long term (maintenance phase) to minimize the risk of organ rejection. There are several drug classes and agents for immunosuppression. Use of these agents may increase the risk of different harms including not only infections, but also malignancies including post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder.