Defensive healthcare practice: systematic review of qualitative evidence.

Objective: To synthesise qualitative evidence on clinicians' views and experiences of defensive practice.

Design: Systematic review of qualitative data.

Data Sources: MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, AMED, Maternity and Infant Care, CINAHL, ASSIA, Sociological Abstracts, Proquest Dissertations & Theses and PROSPERO were searched from 2000 to October 2023.

Cost-effectiveness of Microsoft Academic Graph with machine learning for automated study identification in a living map of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) research.

Background: Identifying new, eligible studies for integration into living systematic reviews and maps usually relies on conventional Boolean updating searches of multiple databases and manual processing of the updated results. Automated searches of one, comprehensive, continuously updated source, with adjunctive machine learning, could enable more efficient searching, selection and prioritisation workflows for updating (living) reviews and maps, though research is needed to establish this. Microsoft Academic Graph (MAG) is a potentially comprehensive single source which also contains metadata that can be used in machine learning to help efficiently identify eligible studies.

Communicating cardiovascular risk: Systematic review of qualitative evidence.

Introduction: Cardiovascular risk prediction models are widely used to help individuals understand risk and make decisions.

Methods: Systematic review of qualitative evidence. We searched MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO and CINAHL.

Can Peer-based Interventions Improve Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Outcomes? An Overview of Reviews.

Purpose: An overview of reviews was conducted to summarize the evidence and synthesize the results from systematic reviews.

Methods: The Cochrane and Preferred Reporting Items for Overviews of Reviews reporting guidelines were followed and the protocol was registered. Electronic and manual searches were conducted to identify systematic reviews, published between January 1990 and July 2022.

What you see depends on where you sit: The effect of geographical location on web-searching for systematic reviews: A case study.

There is limited guidance on how to web-search in systematic reviews and concern relates to the reproducibility of searches using search engines such as Google. The aim of this paper is to address one potential source of variation in Google searches: does the geographical location of a researcher affect Google search returns? Using a virtual private network, we ran the same web-search for the medical technology Dasatinib in 12 different countries. Two researchers independently extracted the search returns by country organised by page rank.

Use and value of systematic reviews in English local authority public health: a qualitative study.

Background: Responsibility for public health in England transferred from the National Health Service to local authorities in 2013, representing a different decision-making environment. Systematic reviews are considered the gold standard of evidence for clinical decision-making but little is known about their use in local government public health. This study aimed to explore the extent to which public health decision-makers in local authorities engage with systematic reviews and how they do so.

Interventions to support people exposed to adverse childhood experiences: systematic review of systematic reviews.

Background: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) such as abuse, neglect or household adversity may have a range of serious negative impacts. There is a need to understand what interventions are effective to improve outcomes for people who have experienced ACEs.

Methods: Systematic review of systematic reviews.

Understanding the unintended consequences of public health policies: the views of policymakers and evaluators.

Background: Public health policies sometimes have unexpected effects. Understanding how policies and interventions lead to outcomes is essential if policymakers and researchers are to intervene effectively and reduce harmful and other unintended consequences (UCs) of their actions. Yet, evaluating complex mechanisms and outcomes is challenging, even before considering how to predict assess and understand outcomes and UCs when interventions are scaled up.

Just how plain are plain tobacco packs: re-analysis of a systematic review using multilevel meta-analysis suggests lessons about the comparative benefits of synthesis methods.

Background: Comparisons between narrative synthesis and meta-analysis as synthesis methods in systematic reviews are uncommon within the same systematic review. We re-analysed a systematic review on the effects of plain packaging of tobacco on attractiveness. We sought to compare different synthesis approaches within the same systematic review and shed light on the comparative benefits of each approach.

Sex-Specific Changes in Physical Performance Following Military Training: A Systematic Review.

Introduction: Men and women joining the military undergo the same training, often in mixed-sex platoons. Given the inherent physiological and physical performance differences between men and women, it is reasonable to question whether sex differences exist in the adaptation to military training and, therefore, whether sex-specific training should be employed to optimise training adaptations.

Objective: To systematically review the literature evaluating changes in the physical performance of men and women following military training.

Seasonal influenza vaccination of healthcare workers: systematic review of qualitative evidence.

Background: Most countries recommend that healthcare workers (HCWs) are vaccinated seasonally against influenza in order to protect themselves and patients. However, in many cases coverage remains low. A range of strategies have been implemented to increase uptake.

Support for adults with autism spectrum disorder without intellectual impairment: Systematic review.

Adults with autism spectrum disorder without intellectual impairment may benefit from a range of support services. This article presents the results of a systematic review assessing the effectiveness of supportive interventions for adults with autism spectrum disorder without intellectual impairment. A total of 32 studies were included; most focused on younger male participants.

Meta-analysis, complexity, and heterogeneity: a qualitative interview study of researchers' methodological values and practices.

Background: Complex or heterogeneous data pose challenges for systematic review and meta-analysis. In recent years, a number of new methods have been developed to meet these challenges. This qualitative interview study aimed to understand researchers' understanding of complexity and heterogeneity and the factors which may influence the choices researchers make in synthesising complex data.

Evaluating the effect of HIV prevention strategies on uptake of HIV counselling and testing among male most-at-risk-populations in Nigeria; a cross-sectional analysis.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of three strategies in increasing uptake of HIV counselling and testing (HCT) among male most-at-risk-population (M-MARPs) using programmatic data.

Design: HIV prevention strategies were evaluated in a cross-sectional analysis.

Methods: Three HCT strategies were implemented between July 2009 and July 2012 among men who have sex with men (MSM) and people who inject drugs (PWIDs) in four states in Nigeria.

The social ecology of girls' bullying practices: exploratory research in two London schools.

This exploratory study adopts a socio-ecological approach to examine the context of school bullying. It asks: (1) what are students' accounts of bullying practices?; (2) how are these enabled and constrained by the school-environment?; (3) how is gender implicated? Qualitative data were collected from girls in two schools in London via focus groups (one in each school; students aged 12-15) and seven semi-structured interviews (in one school; students aged 16-18); and from school policy documents. Our interpretation of girls' accounts, informed by Giddens' structuration theory, suggests that bullying practices were spatially patterned in the schools and often characterised by the regulation of girls' sexuality and sexual-harassment.

Considering methodological options for reviews of theory: illustrated by a review of theories linking income and health.

Background: Review of theory is an area of growing methodological advancement. Theoretical reviews are particularly useful where the literature is complex, multi-discipline, or contested. It has been suggested that adopting methods from systematic reviews may help address these challenges.

New directions in evidence-based policy research: a critical analysis of the literature.

Despite 40 years of research into evidence-based policy (EBP) and a continued drive from both policymakers and researchers to increase research uptake in policy, barriers to the use of evidence are persistently identified in the literature. However, it is not clear what explains this persistence - whether they represent real factors, or if they are artefacts of approaches used to study EBP. Based on an updated review, this paper analyses this literature to explain persistent barriers and facilitators.

A population search filter for hard-to-reach populations increased search efficiency for a systematic review.

Objectives: This article discusses how hard-to-reach population groups were conceptualized into a search filter. The objectives of this article were to (1) discuss how the authors designed a multistranded population search filter and (2) retrospectively test the effectiveness of the search filter in capturing all relevant populations (eg, homeless people, immigrants, substance misusers) in a public health systematic review.

Study Design And Setting: Systematic and retrospective analysis via a case study.

Cultures of evidence across policy sectors: systematic review of qualitative evidence.

Background: It is important to understand the decision-making process, and the role of research evidence within it, across sectors other than health, as interventions delivered within these sectors may have substantial impacts on public health and health inequalities.

Methods: Systematic review of qualitative evidence. Twenty-eight databases covering a range of sectors were searched.

A systematic review of barriers to and facilitators of the use of evidence by policymakers.

Background: The gap between research and practice or policy is often described as a problem. To identify new barriers of and facilitators to the use of evidence by policymakers, and assess the state of research in this area, we updated a systematic review.

Methods: Systematic review.

Adverse effects of public health interventions: a conceptual framework.

Public health interventions may have a range of adverse effects. However, there is limited guidance as to how evaluations should address the possibility of adverse effects. This discussion paper briefly presents a framework for thinking about the potential harms of public health interventions, focusing on the following categories: direct harms; psychological harms; equity harms; group and social harms; and opportunity harms.

A qualitative study into the development of a physical activity legacy from the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Olympic Games have sometimes been considered as public health interventions capable of improving population health by encouraging increased physical activity levels. However, the evidence base does not appear to support this and is of poor quality, focussing on population level outcomes, usually related only to participation in organised sports. A new approach to research into the effects of such events is required focussing on the processes and mechanisms by which population physical activity levels might be increased enabling more effective use of such events in the future.