bims-librar Biomed News
on Biomedical librarianship
Issue of 2019–12–01
nine papers selected by
Thomas Krichel, Open Library Society



  1. J Contin Educ Nurs. 2019 Dec 01. 50(12): 537-539
      Evidence-based clinical practice is now the norm. When evidence exists to enhance practice, organizational leaders work to instill the best practices that benefit patient outcomes. Leaders are also responsible for organizational outcomes and best practices in human and material resource management, improving the culture, and ensuring and retaining a workforce with sufficient talent, skills, and abilities. The authors address the role of the librarian in securing evidence-based leadership practice. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2019;50(12):537-539.].
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3928/00220124-20191115-03
  2. Nursing. 2019 Dec;49(12): 53-56
      Health science librarianship may interest nurses inclined toward research, technology, and education. This article discusses the role of health science librarians as part of the clinical team.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NURSE.0000604716.12708.54
  3. J Gastrointest Surg. 2019 Nov 25.
       BACKGROUND: Increasingly, patients are consulting the internet for medical information, where the quality is highly variable. We must ensure patients are directed towards high-quality websites. This is particularly true of oesophageal cancer which is often detected at an advanced stage and is frequently fatal. We aim to assess the quality of information on oesophageal cancer available for patients on the Internet.
    METHODS AND MATERIALS: We searched the top 3 search engines for "Esophageal Cancer". We analysed the top 20 websites returned by Google and the top 10 websites returned by Yahoo and Bing. All free, English language websites which did not require a password were included. We excluded paid advertisement websites and websites for medical professionals. Duplicate websites were removed. Each website was then evaluated using the JAMA benchmarks, DISCERN tool, presence or absence of the Health On The Internet (HON) seal and the Esophageal Cancer Specific Content Score (ECSCS).
    RESULTS: The average JAMA score was 2 with only three of the eighteen unique websites scoring the maximum of 4 points (17%). The average DISCERN score was 51.5 (64%) with no website achieving the maximum of 80. The HON seal was present in only 5 websites (28%). The average ECSCS was 9.2 with only two websites achieving the maximum of 12 (11%).
    CONCLUSIONS: Whilst there are certainly websites providing high-quality information for patients in relation to oesophageal cancer, our study has identified obvious issues. We must ensure that only the highest-quality information is available on the Internet for patients.
    Keywords:  DISCERN tool; JAMA benchmark; Oesophageal cancer; Quality of information
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s11605-019-04416-5
  4. J Assoc Inf Sci Technol. 2019 May;70(5): 419-432
      A cross-disciplinary examination of the user behaviors involved in seeking and evaluating data is surprisingly absent from the research data discussion. This review explores the data retrieval literature to identify commonalities in how users search for and evaluate observational research data in selected disciplines. Two analytical frameworks, rooted in information retrieval and science and technology studies, are used to identify key similarities in practices as a first step toward developing a model describing data retrieval.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24165
  5. Rev Esp Cir Ortop Traumatol. 2019 Nov 22. pii: S1888-4415(19)30172-9. [Epub ahead of print]
       OBJECTIVE: There is a current trend in the population to search the Internet for unqualified medical information that may affect the recommendations given in specialist consultation. The aim of this study was to analyse the tendency of the Spanish population to search the Internet for unqualified information on current treatments for osteoarthritis.
    MATERIAL AND METHOD: Google Trends was used analyse the information gathered from the Internet, combining potential key search terms related to the current treatment of osteoarthritis. For each term the relative search volume was calculated, and its trend between 2009 and 2019. Spearman's correlation was used to study the direction of the trend.
    RESULTS: All the infiltration methods had increasing trends and no statistically significant differences were found between them (P=.769). The term that showed the best correlation over time was «prp» with Spearman's correlation =.90, and the term with the highest relative search volume was «growth factors». Prosthetic treatment generated more interest than conservative treatments, where there was more interest in knee replacement than hip replacement (P<.001).
    CONCLUSION: In Spain, the search for unqualified information on the treatment of osteoarthritis has increased over the past 10 years. There is more interest in prosthetic treatment than the more conservative treatments. There is more interest in knee replacement than hip replacement. There are no differences with regard to the different methods of joint injections.
    Keywords:  Artrosis; Big data; Factores de crecimiento; Growth factors; Osteoarthritis; Plasma rich in platelets; Plasma rico en plaquetas; Tendencias; Trends
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.recot.2019.10.003
  6. Plast Surg (Oakv). 2019 Nov;27(4): 325-333
       Objective: This study aims to assess the quality and readability of Internet-based patient resources for vascular tumours in order to understand which areas require improvement.
    Methods: A World Wide Web search was performed, in addition to a literature review using PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, and EMBASE. Any material that contained information on vascular tumours pertaining to patient education was included. We evaluated resources with DISCERN and Flesch Reading Ease scores when applicable. The language of publication was restricted to English and French. This review was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42018087885).
    Results: A total of 117 online resources were screened, with 73 resources included in the final analysis. The overall DISCERN rating for the patient resources was 1.8 (0.8). The majority of online resources failed to depict the entire spectrum of benign vascular tumours. The mean Flesch score was 36 (19), which translates to a college-level readability.
    Conclusion: The majority of resources were not adequate or comprehensive and were written at a much higher level than the average reader would be expected to comprehend.
    Keywords:  comprehension; haemangioma; health literacy; patient education as topic; pediatric; vascular anomalies; vascular tumour
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1177/2292550319880911
  7. Crit Care Resusc. 2019 Dec;21(4): 305-10
       OBJECTIVES: To investigate the use, understanding, trust and influence of the internet and other sources of health information used by the next of kin (NOK) of patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU).
    DESIGN: Multicentre structured survey.
    SETTING: The ICUs of 13 public and private Australian hospitals.
    PARTICIPANTS: NOK who self-identified as the primary surrogate decision maker for a patient admitted to the ICU.
    MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The frequency, understanding, trust and influence of online sources of health information, and the quality of health websites visited using the Health on the Net Foundation Code of Conduct (HONcode) for medical and health websites.
    RESULTS: There were 473 survey responses. The median ICU admission days and number of ICU visits by the NOK at the time of completing the survey was 3 (IQR, 2-6 days) and 4 (IQR, 2-7), respectively. The most commonly reported sources of health information used very frequently were the ICU nurse (55.6%), ICU doctor (38.7%), family (23.3%), hospital doctor (21.4%), and the internet (11.3%). Compared with the 243 NOK (51.6%) not using the internet, NOK using the internet were less likely to report complete understanding (odds ratio [OR], 0.57; 95% CI, 0.38-0.88), trust (OR, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.19-0.59), or influence (OR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.38-0.88) associated with the ICU doctor. Overall, the quality of the 40 different reported websites accessed was moderately high.
    CONCLUSIONS: A substantial proportion of ICU NOK report using the internet as a source of health information. Internet use is associated with lower reported understanding, trust and influence of the ICU doctor.
  8. Genet Med. 2019 Nov 26.
       PURPOSE: Clear and accurate genetic information should be available to health-care consumers at an individualized level of comprehension. The objective of this study is to evaluate the complexity of common online resources and to simplify text content using automated text processing tools.
    METHODS: We extracted all text from Genetics Home Reference and MedlinePlus in bulk and analyzed content using natural language processing. We applied custom tools to improve the readability and compared readability before and after text optimization.
    RESULTS: Commonly used educational materials were more complex than the recommended reading level for the general public. Genetic health information entries from Genetics Home Reference (n = 1279) were written at a median 13.0 grade level. MedlinePlus entries, which are not exclusively genetic (n = 1030), had a median grade level of 7.7. When we optimized text for the 59 actionable conditions by prioritizing medical details using a standard structure, the average reading grade level improved.
    CONCLUSION: Factors that increase complexity are long sentences and difficult words. Future strategies to reduce complexity include prioritizing relevant details and using more illustrations. Simplifying and providing standardized online health resources would benefit diverse consumers and promote inclusivity.
    Keywords:  consumer health informatics; educational resources; genomics; infographics; natural language processing
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41436-019-0695-7
  9. Foot Ankle Spec. 2019 Nov 26. 1938640019888058
      The American Medical Association (AMA) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) currently suggest that health care materials be written at a sixth-grade reading level. Our study investigates the readability of online information on Achilles rupture and reconstruction. Achilles tendon rupture, Achilles tendon repair, and Achilles tendon reconstruction were queried using advanced search functions of Google, Bing, and Yahoo!. Individual websites and text from the first 3 pages of results for each search engine were recorded and categorized as physician based, academic, commercial, government and nongovernmental organization, or unspecified. Individual readability scores were calculated via 6 different indices: Flesch-Kincaid grade level, Flesch Reading Ease, Gunning Fog, SMOG, Coleman-Liau index, and Automated Readability Index along with a readability classification score and average grade level. A total of 56 websites were assessed. Academic webpages composed the majority (51.8%), followed by physician-based sources (32.1%). The average overall grade level was 10.7 ± 2.54. Academic websites were written at the highest-grade level (11.5 ± 2.77), significantly higher than physician-based websites (P = .040), and only 2 were written at, or below, a sixth-grade reading level. Currently, online information on Achilles tendon rupture and reconstruction is written at an inappropriately high reading level compared with recommendations from the AMA and NIH. Level of Evidence: Level IV.
    Keywords:  Achilles tendon reconstruction; Achilles tendon rupture; health care literacy; readability
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1177/1938640019888058