In search of health information…

Searching for health information is a core activity for health library and knowledge workers, whether seeking to support health care workers in overcoming barriers to accessing drug information, exploring the potential of text mining in developing search filters, translating search filters for use on alternative databases, or the importance of updating search filters to ensure their ongoing utility.     

Lifescaping action research pedagogy

ABSTRACT

This article is a collaboration involving a professor and three graduate students. Together, they explore lifescaping action research pedagogy guided by the participatory inquiry process. Since the lesson taught is not the lesson learned, the first author presents a perspective about teaching PIP followed by the graduate students’ collective responses enacting what they learned in three different school settings.     

Caregivers of children feel confident about using the Internet for health information

Background

Caregivers of children may rely on internet sources, health care providers, peers or family for health information.

Objective

To examine the impact of sociodemographic factors on the use of the internet for health information by caregivers of children, and the impact on self-efficacy, effort and frustration.

Methods

Using data from the 2019 Health Information National Trends Survey, the effects of information source on self-efficacy, effort and frustration was examined using the complex samples module of SPSS.

Results

The internet was the most common source of health information for caregivers of children (n = 247), with high confidence, low frustration and effort reported. Younger, higher educated and higher income caregivers were significantly more likely to use the internet for health information. Information from Health Care Providers (HCPs) was associated with greater confidence, and information from peers associated with lesser effort and frustration. No significant effects on self-efficacy, effort or frustration for online health information was noted compared to other sources.

Conclusions

Efforts to reduce barriers to online health information may be required for some groups of caregivers, and health care providers may have a role to play in this.     

Updated generic search filters for finding studies of adverse drug effects in Ovid medline and Embase may retrieve up to 90% of relevant studies

Background

The most current objectively derived search filters for adverse drug effects are 15 years old and other strategies have not been developed and tested empirically.

Objective

To develop and validate search filters to retrieve evidence on adverse drug effects from Ovid medline and Ovid Embase.

Methods

We identified systematic reviews of adverse drug effects in Epistemonikos. From these reviews, we collated their included studies which we then randomly divided into three tests and one validation set of records. We constructed a search strategy to maximise relative recall using word frequency analysis with test set one. This search strategy was then refined using test sets two and three and validated on the final set of records.

Results

Of 107 systematic reviews which met our inclusion criteria, 1948 unique included studies were available from medline and 1980 from Embase. Generic adverse drug effects searches in medline and Embase achieved 90% and 89% relative recall, respectively. When specific adverse effects terms were added recall was improved.

Conclusion

We have derived and validated search filters that retrieve around 90% of records with adverse drug effects data in medline and Embase. The addition of specific adverse effects terms is required to achieve higher recall.