Report
Gender Differences in Response to Alcohol Use Disorder Treatment: A Systematic Review
If men and women respond differently to treatments for alcohol use disorder, this would be important to consider in treatment selection. The authors of this systematic review sought to synthesize evidence for gender differences in treatment effects.
Nov 6, 2019
Report
The Use of Technology to Augment Clinical Care in Depression and Anxiety Disorders: An Evidence Map
This evidence map provides an overview of the existing research evaluating technology in depression and anxiety care and documents upcoming research to evaluate the role of technology to support clinical care.
Aug 15, 2019
Journal Article
Obesity Prevention Interventions and Implications for Energy Balance in the United States and Mexico: A Systematic Review of the Evidence and Meta-Analysis
Obesity is preventable and yet continues to be a major risk factor for chronic disease. This review searched the vast literature on obesity prevention interventions to assess their effects on daily energy consumed and energy expended.
Aug 8, 2019
Journal Article
Elusive Search for Effective Provider Interventions: A Systematic Review of Provider Interventions to Increase Adherence to Evidence-Based Treatment for Depression
Low quality of evidence and lack of replication of specific intervention strategies across studies limit conclusions that can be drawn from the existing research about the effectiveness of interventions to improve adherence to antidepressant medications.
Dec 20, 2018
Report
Effects of Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) for Opioid Use Disorder on Functional Outcomes: A Systematic Review
This systematic review synthesizes evidence on the effects of medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder on functional outcomes, including cognitive, physical, occupational, social/behavioral, and neurological function.
Oct 30, 2018
Report
Provider Interventions to Increase Uptake of Evidence-Based Treatment for Depression: A Systematic Review
This systematic review synthesizes evidence of health care provider interventions to promote evidence-based treatment of depression across provider groups, care settings, and patient health.
Sep 10, 2018
Report
Access Management in Primary Care: Perspectives from an Expert Panel
This report outlines evidence-based access management priorities for health care organizations as they undertake initiatives to improve access to primary care.
Sep 5, 2018
Journal Article
The Use of Technology in the Clinical Care of Depression: An Evidence Map
This evidence map provides a broad overview of the existing research evaluating technology in depression care. Computer applications are most common. Almost all applications yield symptom improvement. Further research on these applications is needed.
Aug 22, 2018
Journal Article
Effects of Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) for Opioid Use Disorder on Functional Outcomes: A Systematic Review
A weak evidence base prevents strong conclusions about the effects of Medication Assisted Treatment for opioid use disorder on functional outcomes.
May 30, 2018
Journal Article
Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) Summary of Findings (SoF) Tables to Improve Understanding in the Presentation of Systematic Review Results: A Three-Arm, Randomised, Controlled, Non-Inferiority Trial
This study is an important first step in understanding how to present complex information to the multitude of systematic reviews users in an understandable and accessible way.
Mar 7, 2018
Journal Article
A Systematic Review in Support of the National Consensus Project Clinical Practice Guidelines for Quality Palliative Care, Fourth Edition
A substantial body of evidence exists to support clinical practice guidelines for quality palliative care but the quality of evidence is limited.
2018
Journal Article
AHRQ Series on Complex Intervention Systematic Reviews: Adapting Frameworks to Develop Protocols
Systematic reviews of complex interventions must acknowledge the context within which the interventions are researched and implemented.
Aug 25, 2017
Journal Article
Mindfulness-based Relapse Prevention for Substance Use Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Across studies, our analyses did not indicate that MBRP has beneficial clinical effects beyond comparator interventions (such as relapse prevention, health education, CBT, andTAU) on substance use relapse.
Aug 15, 2017
Journal Article
Acupuncture for the Treatment of Adults with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
A systematic review found little support for promoting acupuncture as an evidence-based treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.
May 30, 2017
Journal Article
A Systematic Review of Modifiable Risk Factors in the Progression of Multiple Sclerosis
MS progression was associated with low vitamin D levels, and smoking was associated with a more rapid decline in MS disability.
Mar 31, 2017
Report
Needle Acupuncture for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): A Systematic Review
RAND researchers conducted a systematic review that synthesized evidence from trials of needle acupuncture to provide estimates of its efficacy and safety for treating posttraumatic stress disorder.
Mar 15, 2017
Report
Meditation for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Systematic Review
RAND researchers conducted a systematic review that synthesized evidence from trials of meditation interventions to provide estimates of their efficacy and safety in treating adults diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder.
Feb 6, 2017
Report
Mindfulness Meditation for the Treatment of Tobacco Use: A Systematic Review
RAND researchers conducted a systematic review that synthesized evidence from trials of mindfulness meditation interventions to provide estimates of their efficacy and safety for treating tobacco use.
Jan 31, 2017
Journal Article
Efficacy of Mindfulness Meditation for Smoking Cessation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
This review synthesizes randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of mindfulness meditation (MM) interventions for smoking cessation.
Jan 23, 2017
Journal Article
Recruiting Rural Healthcare Providers Today: A Systematic Review of Training Program Success and Determinants of Geographic Choices
Exposing medical students and residents to rural practice during their training is a promising approach to addressing the shortfall of providers in rural communities.
2017
Journal Article
Meditation for Posttraumatic Stress: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
RAND researchers conducted a systematic review that synthesized evidence from trials of meditation interventions to provide estimates of their efficacy and safety in treating adults diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder.
Oct 7, 2016
Journal Article
Mindfulness Meditation for Chronic Pain: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Chronic pain patients increasingly seek treatment through mindfulness meditation. This study aims to synthesize evidence on efficacy and safety of mindfulness meditation interventions for the treatment of chronic pain in adults.
Oct 7, 2016
Report
Mindfulness Meditation for Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review
RAND researchers conducted a systematic review that synthesized evidence from trials of mindfulness meditation interventions to provide estimates of their efficacy and safety in alleviating chronic pain.
Oct 4, 2016
Journal Article
A Systematic Review of St. John's Wort for Major Depressive Disorder
A systematic review evaluated the efficacy and safety of St. John's wort (SJW) in adults with major depressive disorder (MDD) compared to placebo and active comparator and whether the effects vary by severity of MDD.
Sep 8, 2016
Journal Article
An Evidence Map of the Effect of Tai Chi on Health Outcomes
An evidence map based on 107 systematic reviews shows the focus and distribution of research on Tai Chi and its effects on health outcomes.
Aug 24, 2016
Journal Article
EPC Methods: AHRQ End-User Perspectives of Rapid Reviews
Provides insight into the perspectives of AHRQ evidence synthesis end-users, highlighting as important: the credibility of the review producer, relevance of key questions, and close working relationship between the end-user and review producer.
Aug 1, 2016
Report
Systematic Reviews for Occupational Safety and Health Questions: Resources for Evidence Synthesis
This report provides practical guidance to execute a systematic review and considerations and available resources specific to evidence synthesis for occupational safety and health questions.
Jul 11, 2016
Journal Article
Acupuncture for Substance Use Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
This systematic review aims to estimate the effects of acupuncture for adults with substance use disorders (SUDs).
Mar 9, 2016
Journal Article
What Is an Evidence Map? A Systematic Review of Published Evidence Maps and Their Definitions, Methods, and Products
We conducted a systematic review of publications that presented results with a process termed "evidence mapping" or included a figure called an "evidence map."
Feb 29, 2016
Journal Article
Development of the Quality Improvement Minimum Quality Criteria Set (QI-MQCS): A Tool for Critical Appraisal of Quality Improvement Intervention Publications
Valid, reliable critical appraisal tools advance quality improvement (QI) intervention impacts by helping stakeholders identify higher quality studies.
Dec 23, 2015
Journal Article
The Minimum Quality Criteria Set (QI-MQCS) for Critical Appraisal: Advancing the Science of Quality Improvement
This meeting abstract documents expert panel deliberations intended to develop a critical appraisal instrument to promote identification, dissemination and implementation of findings from high quality improvement initiative evaluations.
Nov 2, 2015
Report
Omega-3 Fatty Acids for Major Depressive Disorder: A Systematic Review
RAND researchers conducted a systematic review that synthesized evidence from trials of omega-3 fatty acids to provide estimates of their efficacy and safety in treating major depressive disorder.
Oct 6, 2015
Report
St. John's Wort for Major Depressive Disorder: A Systematic Review
RAND researchers conducted a systematic review that synthesized evidence from trials of St. Johns wort to provide estimates of its efficacy and safety in treating major depressive disorder.
Oct 6, 2015
Report
Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention for Substance Use Disorders: A Systematic Review
RAND researchers conducted a systematic review that synthesized evidence from trials of Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP) to provide estimates of its efficacy and safety for treating substance use disorders.
Jul 28, 2015
Report
Needle Acupuncture for Substance Use Disorders: A Systematic Review
RAND researchers conducted a systematic review that synthesized evidence from trials of needle acupuncture to provide estimates of its efficacy and safety for treating substance use disorders.
Jul 28, 2015
Journal Article
Wrong-site Surgery, Retained Surgical Items, and Surgical Fires: A Systematic Review of Surgical Never Events
Serious, preventable surgical events, termed never events, continue to occur despite considerable patient safety efforts.
Jun 12, 2015
Journal Article
A Scoping Review of Classification Schemes of Interventions to Promote and Integrate Evidence Into Practice in Healthcare
Many models and frameworks are currently used to classify or describe knowledge translation interventions to promote and integrate evidence into practice in healthcare.
Apr 29, 2015
Journal Article
Towards a Common Terminology: A Simplified Framework of Interventions to Promote and Integrate Evidence Into Health Practices, Systems and Policies
In 2012, we convened an international working group to explore the idea of developing a common terminology and an overarching framework for knowledge translation interventions.
May 1, 2014
Journal Article
Probiotics for Diarrhoea
In order to be of informational value, the effectiveness of probiotics needs to be demonstrated in strong research designs, such as randomized controlled trials, that hold up to scientific scrutiny.
Mar 1, 2014
Journal Article
Evidence Map of Acupuncture
Given the VA's desire to promote evidence-based practice, this evidence mapping project will help provide guidance to VA leadership about the distribution of evidence to inform policy and clinical decision making.
2014
Journal Article
Evidence Map of Mindfulness
Many Veterans desire complementary and alternative medicine or integrative medicine modalities, both for treatment and for the promotion of wellness.
2014
Journal Article
Evidence Map of Tai Chi
This evidence map provides an overview of Tai Chi research and describes its volume and focus.
2014
Journal Article
How Can We Recognize Continuous Quality Improvement?
Continuous quality improvement (CQI) methods are foundational approaches to improving healthcare delivery.
2014
Journal Article
Guidance for Research-Practice Partnerships (R-PPs) and Collaborative Research
The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence based guidance to researchers and practice personnel about forming and carrying out effective research partnerships.
2014
Journal Article
Risk of Bias: A Simulation Study of Power to Detect Study-Level Moderator Effects in Meta-Analysis
Although study characteristics, such as trial quality, may explain some proportion of heterogeneity across study results in meta-analyses, residual heterogeneity is a crucial factor in determining when associations between moderator variables and effect sizes can be statistically detected.
Nov 1, 2013
Journal Article
A Surveillance System to Assess the Need for Updating Systematic Reviews
This report describes the development and initial results of a surveillance system to assess produced by the Agency for Research and Quality (AHRQ) Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC) Program.
Nov 1, 2013
Journal Article
Inpatient Fall Prevention Programs as a Patient Safety Strategy: A Systematic Review
The purpose of this updated review is to reassess the benefits and harms of fall prevention programs in acute care settings and to identify factors associated with successful implementation of these programs.
Mar 1, 2013
Journal Article
A Pilot Study Using Machine Learning and Domain Knowledge to Facilitate Comparative Effectiveness Review Updating
Comparative effectiveness and systematic reviews require frequent and time-consuming updating. Results of earlier screening should be useful in reducing the effort needed to screen relevant articles.
2013
Journal Article
Prevention of Wrong Site Surgery, Retained Surgical Items, and Surgical Fires: A Systematic Review
The VA National Center for Patient Safety has requested an evidence review to examine the prevalence and the root causes of wrong site surgery, retained surgical items, and surgical fires.
2013
Journal Article
Surveillance and Identification of Signals for Updating Systematic Reviews: Implementation and Early Experience
The question of how to determine when a systematic review needs to be updated is of considerable importance. Developing and implementing a surveillance process for quickly identifying Comparative Effectiveness Reviews (CERs) in need of updating.
2013
Journal Article
Testing the Risk of Bias Tool Showed Low Reliability Between Individual Reviewers and Across Consensus Assessments of Reviewer Pairs
To assess the reliability of the Cochrane Risk of Bias (ROB) tool between individual raters and across consensus agreements of pairs of reviewers and examine the impact of study-level factors on reliability.
2013
Journal Article
Hospital Fall Prevention: A Systematic Review of Implementation, Components, Adherence, and Effectiveness
Better reporting of outcomes, implementation, adherence, intervention components, and comparison group information is necessary to establish evidence on how hospitals can successfully prevent falls.
2013
Journal Article
Incorporating Evidence Review Into Quality Improvement: Meeting the Needs of Innovators
Achieving quality improvement (QI) aims often requires local innovation.
2013
Journal Article
Machine Learning Methods in Systematic Reviews: Identifying Quality Improvement Intervention Evaluations
Electronic searches typically yield far more citations than are relevant, and reviewers spend a substantial amount of time screening titles and abstracts to identify potential studies eligible for inclusion in a review.
Sep 1, 2012
Journal Article
A Pilot Study Using Machine Learning and Domain Knowledge to Facilitate Comparative Effectiveness Review Updating
Comparative effectiveness reviews need to be updated frequently to maintain their relevance.
Sep 1, 2012
Journal Article
Probiotics for the Prevention and Treatment of Antibiotic-Associated Diarrhea: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Evidence suggests that probiotics are associated with a reduction in antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD).
May 1, 2012
Draft
Review of the Evidence on Falls Prevention in Hospitals: Task 4 Final Report
Reviews and documents the existing evidence base for interventions to prevent falls in hospitals, provides an overview of the performance of existing tools with known measurement properties, and compiles available online resources.
Mar 2, 2012
Journal Article
Validity and Inter-Rater Reliability Testing of Quality Assessment Instruments
Numerous tools exist to assess methodological quality, or risk of bias in systematic reviews; however, few have undergone extensive reliability or validity testing.
Mar 1, 2012
Journal Article
Detection of Associations Between Trial Quality and Effect Sizes
The amount of additional heterogeneity in effect sizes is a crucial factor in determining when associations between quality and effect sizes can be detected.
2012
Journal Article
Conducting Online Expert Panels: A Feasibility and Experimental Replicability Study
It is feasible to conduct online expert panels intended to facilitate consensus finding among geographically distributed participants. The online approach may be practical for engaging large and diverse groups of stakeholders around a range of health services research topics and can help conduct multiple parallel panels to test for the reproducibility of panel conclusions.
Dec 1, 2011
Journal Article
Identifying Quality Improvement Intervention Publications - a Comparison of Electronic Search Strategies
This review of search strategies for quality improvement interventions found that consensus development for QI medical subject headings is urgently needed.
Aug 1, 2011
Journal Article
What Context Features Might Be Important Determinants of the Effectiveness of Patient Safety Practice Interventions?
Four domains of contextual features seem important for implementing patient safety practices: safety culture and teamwork, structural organization, external factors such as regulation, and availability of implementation and management tools.
Jul 1, 2011
Journal Article
Empirical Evidence of Associations Between Trial Quality and Effect Size
Examines the empirical evidence for associations between a set of proposed quality criteria and estimates of effect sizes in randomized controlled trials across a variety of clinical fields and to explore variables potentially influencing the association.
Jun 1, 2011
Journal Article
Preventing Pressure Ulcers in Hospitals: A Systematic Review of Nurse-Focused Quality Improvement Interventions
This article describes results of a systematic literature review focused on which interventions can be integrated into routine care to prevent pressure ulcers.
Jun 1, 2011
Journal Article
The Role of Theory in Research to Develop and Evaluate the Implementation of Patient Safety Practices
Describing the theoretical basis for understanding why a given patient safety intervention works would help efforts to generalize evaluation results from one context to another.
May 1, 2011
Draft
Review of the Current Literature on Outcome Measures Applicable to the Medicare Population for Use in a Quality Improvement Program: Project Deliverable 2a, 2b
Reviews measures that have been used to assess quality improvement programs in Medicare or equivalent populations.
Feb 11, 2011
Journal Article
Advancing the Science of Patient Safety
This article describes findings from a group of experts assembled to help improve the science of patient safety.
2011
Journal Article
A Framework for Classifying Patient Safety Practices: Results from an Expert Consensus Process
This article describes a theoretical framework, derived from the literature, for classifying diverse patient safety practices.
2011
Journal Article
How Does Context Affect Interventions to Improve Patient Safety? An Assessment of Evidence from Studies of Five Patient Safety Practices and Proposals for Research
This study concluded that little evidence exists about the influence of context on patient safety interventions, but found significant gaps in the research that should be addressed by future work.
2011
Journal Article
Identifying Continuous Quality Improvement Publications: What Makes an Improvement Intervention 'CQI'?
Continuous quality improvement (CQI) refers to a method for improving care, but no consensus definition exists. As a step toward improving CQI evidence reviews, this study identified CQI definitional features and tested an instrument for identifying articles with key features.
2011
Journal Article
Safety of Probiotics to Reduce Risk and Prevent or Treat Disease
The existing scientific literature does not adequately address questions about the safety of probiotics.
2011
Journal Article
Assessing the Evidence for Context-Sensitive Effectiveness and Safety of Patient Safety Practices: Developing Criteria
This report addresses the need for clearer understanding of the evidence base regarding the effectiveness and context-sensitivity of patient safety practices and presents recommendations for future research on this topic.
Dec 1, 2010
Journal Article
Identifying Quality Improvement Intervention Evaluations: Is Consensus Achievable?
The variety of quality improvement interventions has impeded the use of evidence review to advance quality improvement activities. Addressing this problem will require development of a generalizable framework for identifying evaluations of quality improvement initiatives.
Aug 1, 2010
Journal Article
Guide to Designing, Conducting, Publishing, and Communicating Results of Clinical Studies Involving Probiotic Applications in Human Participants
Probiotics is the use of microorganisms in complementary and alternative medicine to prevent and treat certain illnesses. This review outlines the challenges associated with the design, implementation, data analysis, and interpretation of clinical trials in humans involving probiotics.
Jul 15, 2010
Journal Article
Meta-analysis: Effect of Interactive Communication Between Collaborating Primary Care Physicians and Specialists
Assesses the effects of interactive communication between collaborating primary care physicians and key specialists on outcomes for patients receiving ambulatory care.
Feb 16, 2010
Journal Article
Meta-analysis: Effect of Interactive Communication Between Collaborating Primary Care Physicians and Specialists
Assesses the effects of interactive communication between collaborating primary care physicians and key specialists on outcomes for patients receiving ambulatory care.
2010
Journal Article
Risk Factors for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis: A Systematic Scoping Review of Multiple Predictor Studies
The aetiology of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) is still unknown. The identification of risk factors for CFS/ME is of great importance to practitioners.
Jul 1, 2008
Journal Article
Finding Order in Heterogeneity: Types of Quality-Improvement Intervention Publications
Explores the heterogeneity in clinical quality improvement intervention publications. A classification framework was developed, and experts discussed unique issues and established standards relevant to each category to work toward synthesis.
2008
Journal Article
Psychosocial Interventions for Non-Professional Careers of People with Parkinson's Disease: A Systematic Scoping Review
Reviews evidence on psychosocial interventions for non-professional careers of people with Parkinson's disease. Most studies were not designed to assess the clinical- or cost-effectiveness of the intervention for the careers.
2008
Journal Article
Diagnostic Tests Used in the Investigation of Adult Haematuria: A Systematic Review
Haematuria can be a symptom of serious underlying pathology (e.g. urological malignancy), but also has many benign causes (e.g. vigorous exercise).
Dec 1, 2006
Journal Article
Interventions for the Treatment, Management and Rehabilitation of Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis: An Updated Systematic Review
The authors determine whether any particular intervention or combination of interventions is effective in the treatment, management and rehabilitation of adults and children with a diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME).
Oct 1, 2006
Journal Article
Diagnostic Value of Systematic Biopsy Methods in the Investigation of Prostate Cancer: A Systematic Review
Comparison of cancer detection rates and complications of different extended prostate biopsy schemes (greater than 6 cores) proposed for diagnostic evaluation in men scheduled for biopsy to identify the optimal scheme.
2006
Journal Article
Criticizing and Reassuring Oneself: An Exploration of Forms, Styles and Reasons in Female Students
This study developed two self-report scales to measure forms and functions of self-criticism and self-reassurance and explore their relationship to depression. It indicates a need for more detailed research into the variations of self-criticism and the mechanisms for developing self-reassurance.
2004
Journal Article
Perceived Parenting Styles, Depersonalisation, Anxiety and Coping Behaviour in Adolescents
The present study investigated the relationship between perceived parenting styles, depersonalisation, anxiety and coping behaviour in a normal high school student sample (N=276).
Feb 1, 2003
Journal Article
Personality and Attitudes Towards Current Political Topics
The authors presented a representative list of 162 political issues currently discussed in Germany and the German NEO-FFI to 184 subjects (45% university students).
Sep 1, 1993