Anxiety and pain in children undergoing elective surgical procedures: a systematic review.

Background: Anxiety and pain are two significant problems experienced by children undergoing elective surgical procedures, which may lead to suboptimal postoperative outcomes. Previous studies have shown a correlation between perioperative anxiety and pain in children.

Objectives: This review aimed to present the best available evidence on the correlation between perioperative anxiety and pain in children undergoing elective surgical procedures, and to determine the relationship between children's demographics, their anxiety and pain level in the perioperative period.

Attitudes and perceived barriers influencing incident reporting by nurses and their correlation with reported incidents: A systematic review.

Background: Clinical incident reporting is an integral feature of risk management system in the healthcare sector. By reporting clinical incidents, nurses allow for learning from errors, identification of error patterns and development of error preventive strategies. The need to understand attitudes to reporting, perceived barriers and incident reporting patterns by nurses are the core highlights of this review.

The effectiveness of physical leisure time activities on glycaemic control in adult patients with diabetes type 2: A Systematic Review.

Review Question/objective: The objective of this systematic review is to synthesise the best available evidence on the effectiveness of physical leisure time activities on glycaemic control in adult patients with diabetes type 2.The specific review question is:What is the effectiveness of physical leisure time activities on glycaemic control in patients with diabetes type 2?

Background: Type 2 diabetes results from the body's ineffective use of insulin. Diabetes is a group of diseases marked by high levels of blood glucose resulting from defects in insulin production, insulin action, or both.

The Effects Of Practice Size On Quality Of Care In Primary Care Settings: A Systematic Review.

Background: There is a trend towards the consolidation of small primary care practices into larger practices, which potentially have economies of scales for employment of staff and use of information technologies. However, the effects of practice size on quality of care remain unclear.

Objective: The objective of this review was to systematically appraise the effects of practice size on the quality of care in primary care.

Adults surviving lung cancer two or more years: A systematic review.

Background: Lung cancer has had a low survival rate throughout the years. Some studies have shown that psychological variables such as hardiness and resiliency may play a role in the meaningfulness of survival among lung cancer patients.

Objective: The objective of this systematic review was to synthesize the best available evidence on the experiences of surviving lung cancer (including psychological/affective well-being dimensions such as resiliency, optimism, quality of life, and coping strategies) in adults over the age of 18, two or more years after diagnosis.

A systematic review of differences between brain temperature and core body temperature in adult patients with severe traumatic brain injury.

Background: Studies have shown that temperature at the extremes of the thermoregulatory physiological range, commensurate with a clinical diagnosis of hypothermia (at the lower end) and hyperthermia or fever (at the upper end) increase the risk of a poor neurological outcome and contribute to higher mortality. The tissue most at risk is nervous tissue. That said however, precise measurement of cerebral tissue temperature is seldom made during routine clinical care.

A comprehensive systematic review of factors influencing women's birthing preferences.

Background: Although many women prefer a vaginal birth, caesarean deliveries have risen dramatically, reaching more than 50% in some countries, despite a lack of evidence of any increase in obstetric emergencies. Some authors concluded that maternal request is a significant factor in the rising caesarean section rates. There is a need to examine factors that influence women's birthing preferences for normal vaginal birth or caesarean delivery.

Risk factors for tuberculosis after highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) initiation among HIV patients: A systematic review.

Background: Tuberculosis is one of the most frequent causes of death among adults despite being nearly 100% curable in the developing world. The lifetime risk of tuberculosis in immune competent persons is 5% to 10%, but in HIV positive individuals, there is a 5% to 15% annual risk of developing active tuberculosis disease and there appears to be little research addressing HIV and tuberculosis co-infection.

Objective: To synthesise the best available evidence on risk factors for developing tuberculosis after highly active antiretroviral treatment initiation among HIV patients INCLUSION CRITERIA: HIV patients who had initiated highly active antiretroviral treatment and were above 15 years of age.

The effectiveness of computer system tools on potentially inappropriate medications ordered at discharge for adults older than 65 years of age: a systematic review.

Background: Prescribing potentially inappropriate medications to the elderly leads to adverse health outcomes. The use of computer systems decision making tools has been shown to decrease the incidence of prescribing potentially inappropriate medications for the elderly; however, these results are often dependent upon other variables, such as provider compliance.

Objective: To examine and synthesize the best available evidence related to the effect of computer systems clinical decision making tools on frequency of ordering potentially inappropriate medications at discharge and related unplanned emergency room visits or hospital readmissions in community dwelling patients older than 65 years of age.

Telephone pre-operative assessment for adults: a comprehensive systematic review.

Background: The preparation of the patient for surgery is an extremely important stage of the elective perioperative process. Telephone preoperative assessment is being used internationally as a tool to perform health screening. The evidence around the effectiveness of such an intervention and the patient's experience of preoperative screening has not, however, been examined.

The incidence, prevalence and contributing factors associated with the occurrence of medication errors for children and adults in the community setting: a systematic review.

Background: Medication delivery is a complex process which provides numerous opportunities for error occurrence. While the community environment presents a unique potential for medication errors, to date, an exploration of these errors had not been conducted.

Objectives: The overall objective of the review was to identify the incidence, prevalence and contributing factors associated with the occurrence of medication errors for children and adults in the community setting.

Factors causing acute delirium in critically ill adult patients: a systematic review.

Background: Delirium, also known as acute confusional state, is a clinical syndrome that is typified by a disturbance of consciousness, attention, cognition and perception. It is estimated that the incidence of delirium varies between 28.3% to 80% in intensive care patients.

Care of self - care by other - care of other: the meaning of self-care from research, practice, policy and industry perspectives.

Background: Currently, no single definition of self-care is broadly accepted in the literature. Definitions vary as to (i) who engages in self-care behaviour; (ii) what motivates self-care behaviours; and (iii) the extent to which healthcare professionals are involved. Perspectives of self-care differ between healthcare professionals and the general public, and between healthcare professionals in different disciplines and different roles.

A systematic review of the effectiveness of secondary prevention lifestyle interventions designed to change lifestyle behaviour following stroke.

Executive Summary: Background Each year, approximately 15 million people worldwide have a stroke; of these, five million die and another five million are chronically disabled. Stroke recurs in approximately 25% of patients during the first five years post-stroke; recurrence may result in death, increased disability or institutionalisation. Modifiable risk factors for recurrent stroke have been identified, and may be addressed by means of behavioural health promotion interventions.

The effectiveness of interprofessional education in university-based health professional programs: A systematic review.

Executive Summary: Background: A key responsibility of universities is to prepare health professional graduates for their roles as effective members of the health care team. Currently, most university-based health professional education is delivered in a traditional, discipline specific way. This approach is limited in its ability to equip graduates with the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes for effective interprofessional collaboration and for working as part of a complex health care team.

Systematic review of the diagnostic accuracy of the single, two and three field digital retinal photography for screening diabetic retinopathy.

Background: Regular eye examinations are important to aid in early detection of diabetic retinopathy. Screening methods include ophthalmoscopy, retinal photography and variations of both. Digital retinal photography (DRP) is being increasingly adopted.

Effectiveness of patient-caregiver dyad discharge interventions on hospital readmissions of elderly patients with community acquired pneumonia: a systematic review.

Background: The aim of discharge planning is to reduce unplanned readmission to the hospital and improve coordination of care. As the global population ages, including family caregivers in discharge planning maybe an effective strategy to improve patient outcomes and quality of care. In the United States, hospital readmission following discharge for community acquired pneumonia is a process measure utilized to evaluate discharge planning outcomes.

A systematic review of relocation stress following in-house transfer out of critical/intensive care units.

Objective The objective was to conduct a mixed methods systematic review to determine the occurrence and meaningfulness of relocation stress and the effectiveness of strategies for decreasing transfer anxiety in patients and their families upon transfer from an intensive care unit to a non-intensive care unit and to offer evidence-based recommendations for best practice.Inclusion criteria The review included quantitative and qualitative studies where the participants were adult intensive care patients, family members of adult intensive care patients, intensive care nurses caring for the adult critically ill patient, and ward/unit nurses receiving transfer patients from the ICU (intensive care unit). Studies examining the transfer experience for infants, children or psychiatric patients were excluded from this review.

A systematic review of the knowledge, attitudes and practice of trained nurses towards patients with HIV/AIDS.

Executive Summary: Background Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a global health problem. Stigmatization and blame which are associated with the disease have made efforts to control the pandemic challenging. With discoveries of anti-retroviral drugs, HIV/AIDS patients are expected to live longer.

Use of mobility subscale for risk assessment of pressure ulcer incidence and preventive interventions: A systematic review.

Background: Pressure ulcers remain a serious problem for patients and providers in healthcare. When a pressure ulcer develops, it can inflict pain and cause untoward complications such as severe infections, surgery, prolonged hospital stay and even death.

Objective: The objective of this review was to establish whether using the Braden subscale mobility assessment is comparable to using the full Braden pressure ulcer risk assessment scale.

The effectiveness and appropriateness of a palliative approach to care for people with advanced dementia: a systematic review.

Background: Dementia is a progressive and incurable disease which presents many challenges to care providers, particularly in terms of end-of-life care. A palliative approach; that is an approach to care which seeks to ease burdensome symptoms without attempting curative treatment, has been suggested as the most appropriate framework for addressing the needs of these people.

Objectives: The overall objective was to establish best practice in relation to palliative care for people with advanced dementia in terms of effectiveness and appropriateness.