bims-librar 2022-01-09 papers

bims-librar

Biomed News

on Biomedical librarianship

Issue of 2022–01–09
eight papers selected by
Thomas Krichel, Open Library Society

Key concepts for searching evidence: an introduction for healthcare professionals.
History with Heart-and Impact: The National Library of Medicine Michael E. DeBakey Fellowship in the History of Medicine.
Relation of corona-specific health literacy to use of and trust in information sources during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Quality Analysis of Online Resources for Patients with Peripheral Artery Disease.
COVID-19 Health Information on Google: A QUEST Cross-Sectional Quality and Readability Analysis.
Use of YouTube as a Source of Information for Quitting or Cutting Down Alcohol.
Critical Quality and Readability Analysis of Online Patient Education Materials on Parotidectomy: A Cross-Sectional Study.
Quality and Reliability of YouTube Videos on Surgical Treatment of Uterine Leiomyomas.

Medwave. 2022 Jan 07. 22(1): e8512

Key concepts for searching evidence: an introduction for healthcare professionals.

Leonel Fabrizio Trivisonno, Camila Escobar Liquitay, Laura Vergara-Merino, Javier Pérez-Bracchiglione, Juan Víctor Ariel Franco.

  The currently abundant bibliography on healthcare can make the search process an exhausting and frustrating experience. For this reason, it is essential to learn the basic concepts of research question formulation, information sources, and search strategies to make this process more efficient and user-friendly. The search strategy is an iterative process that allows the incorporation of tools and terms in the strategy design to optimize evidence retrieval. Each strategy varies according to the questions, the language used, the source of information accessed, and the available tools. This article is part of a methodological series of narrative reviews on biostatistics and clinical epidemiology. This narrative review describes the essential elements for developing a literature search strategy and identifying the relevant evidence concerning a clinical question through familiar and accessible sources (such as Google and Google Scholar), as well as search interfaces and technical-scientific databases focused on biomedical knowledge (PubMed and The Cochrane Library).

Keywords:   Bibliographic; Bibliographies as topic; Databases; Evidence-based medicine

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.5867/medwave.2022.01.002512
Methodist Debakey Cardiovasc J. 2021 ;17(5): 100-105

History with Heart-and Impact: The National Library of Medicine Michael E. DeBakey Fellowship in the History of Medicine.

Jeffrey S Reznick, Kenneth M Koyle.

  The National Library of Medicine (NLM) Michael E. DeBakey Fellowship in the History of Medicine is a unique program in a unique institution: the world's largest biomedical library, which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The fellowship is rooted in strong connections between its namesake and the NLM and is an expression of Dr. Michael E. DeBakey's longstanding appreciation of the library and the role of the humanities in medical education and practice. This article explains Dr. DeBakey's connections to the NLM and describes the origins, development, and structure of the NLM Michael E. DeBakey Fellowship in the History of Medicine. It also highlights research achievements of selected NLM Michael E. DeBakey Fellows, demonstrating that the fellowship is successfully carrying forward Dr. DeBakey's principles and practices of weaving science, technology, and the humanities to form holistic understanding of the human condition, inspiring well-rounded careers built on both scientific and humanistic knowledge.

Keywords:  history; humanities; public service; research

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.14797/mdcvj.1047
BMC Public Health. 2022 Jan 06. 22(1): 42

Relation of corona-specific health literacy to use of and trust in information sources during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Saskia Maria De Gani, Fabian Marc Pascal Berger, Elena Guggiari, Rebecca Jaks.

   BACKGROUND: COVID-19 has developed into a worldwide pandemic which was accompanied by an «infodemic» consisting of much false and misleading information. To cope with these new challenges, health literacy plays an essential role. The aim of this paper is to present the findings of a trend study in Switzerland on corona-specific health literacy, the use of and trust in information sources during the COVID-19 pandemic, and their relationships.
METHODS: Three online surveys each with approximately 1'020 individuals living in the German-speaking part of Switzerland (age ≥ 18 years) were conducted at different timepoints during the COVID-19 pandemic, namely spring, fall and winter 2020. For the assessment of corona-specific health literacy, a specifically developed instrument (HLS-COVID-Q22) was used. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate data analyses have been conducted.
RESULTS: In general, a majority of the Swiss-German population reported sufficient corona-specific health literacy levels which increased during the pandemic: 54.6% participants in spring, 62.4% in fall and 63.3% in winter 2020 had sufficient corona-specific health literacy. Greatest difficulties concerned the appraisal of health information on the coronavirus. The most used information sources were television (used by 73.3% in spring, 70% in fall and 72.3% in winter) and the internet (used by 64.1, 64.8 and 66.5%). Although health professionals, health authorities and the info-hotline were rarely mentioned as sources for information on the coronavirus, respondents had greatest trust in them. On the other hand, social media were considered as the least trustworthy information sources. Respondents generally reporting more trust in the various information sources, tended to have higher corona-specific health literacy levels.
CONCLUSIONS: Sufficient health literacy is an essential prerequisite for finding, understanding, appraising, and applying health recommendations, particularly in a situation where there is a rapid spread of a huge amount of information. The population should be supported in their capability in appraising the received information and in assessing the trustworthiness of different information sources.

Keywords:  COVID-19; Coronavirus; Health information; Health literacy; Infodemic; Information seeking behavior; Information sources; Trust; Use of media

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-12271-w
Ann Vasc Surg. 2022 Jan 04. pii: S0890-5096(21)01048-7. [Epub ahead of print]

Quality Analysis of Online Resources for Patients with Peripheral Artery Disease.

John A Treffalls, Rebecca N Treffalls, Zachary Harbin, Wesley Clothier, Preston H Tolbert, Qi Yan, Mark G Davies.

   INTRODUCTION: The burden of peripheral artery disease is significant for public health but the readily available on-line information on the disease is poorly studied. This study seeks to evaluate the quality and readability of patient resources and identify gaps that appear in the top search results for peripheral artery disease.
METHODS: Internet searches were performed for "PAD" and "Peripheral Artery Disease" and "PVD" on three search engines and two metasearch engines. The top 30 websites from each search engine were compiled, screened, and evaluated across four categories of information to assess overall quality: accountability, interactivity, structure, and content. Four indices were used to evaluate readability of the text for the viewer. Statistical analyses was performed using Rstudio with ANOVA.
RESULTS: Sixty-three websites met inclusion criteria, of which 25 were open access (34.9%), 30 were from hospital/healthcare organization (48%), 5 were from a governmental agency (8%), 4 were industry sponsored (6%), and 2 were from professional medical societies (3%). Median total quality score was 19 out of 47 (IQR, 15-30): of the components of this score, accountability was 5 out of 17 (2-10), interactivity was 2 out of 5 (2.0-2.0), site structure was 3 out of 4 (2.5-3.0), and site content was 11 out of 21 (7-14). Total score varied significantly by organization type (P = 0.007). Open access (30, 17-34, median, IQR) and governmental agency (30, 29-31) websites scored the highest while hospital/healthcare organization (16, 14-21) websites scored the lowest. Overall readability was low with a median Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Score of 10.7 (IQR, 10-12). Using this index, only one website (1.6%) was written below the recommended 6th grade reading level.
CONCLUSION: Freely available online patient education materials for peripheral artery disease are poor, have varying quality, and are largely written at a level higher than that of an average US adult thus depriving the patient from understanding the existing information. We recommend that the vascular surgery community re-examine the current offering and provide improved readable websites to patients to facilitate patient education and shared decision making.

Keywords:  Online patient resources; Patient education; Peripheral artery disease; quality; readability

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avsg.2021.12.079
JMIR Form Res. 2022 Jan 06.

COVID-19 Health Information on Google: A QUEST Cross-Sectional Quality and Readability Analysis.

Vismaya S Bachu, Heba Mahjoub, Albert E Holler, Tudor Crihalmeanu, Dheevena M Bachu, Varun Ayyaswami, Pearman D Parker, Arpan V Prabhu.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic spurred an increase of online information regarding disease spread and symptomatology.
OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to systematically assess the quality and readability of articles resulting from frequently Google-searched COVID-19 terms in the United States.
METHODS: We utilized Google Trends to determine the 25 most commonly searched health-related phrases between 2/29/20 and 4/30/20. The first 30 search results for each term were collected, and articles were analyzed using Quality Evaluation Scoring Tool (QUEST). Three raters scored each article in authorship, attribution, conflict of interest, currency, complementarity, and tone. A readability analysis was conducted.
RESULTS: Exactly 709 articles were screened, and 195 fulfilled inclusion criteria. The mean article score was 18.4 ± 2.6 out of 28 with 7% scoring in the top quartile. National news outlets published the largest share (36%) of articles. Peer-reviewed journals attained the highest average QUEST score compared to national/regional news outlets, national/state government sites, and global health organizations (all p < 0.05). The average reading level was 11.7 ± 1.9 (range 5.4 to 16.9). Only 3 (1.6%) articles were written at the recommended 6th grade levels.
CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 related articles are vastly varied in their attributes and levels of bias and would benefit from revisions for increased readability.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2196/32443
Front Public Health. 2021 ;9 787994

Use of YouTube as a Source of Information for Quitting or Cutting Down Alcohol.

Abdullah Al Mahmud, Anh Le, Omar Mubin.

  Background: Although research has been done on considering YouTube for dissuading and encouraging unhealthy behaviours such as smoking, less focus has been placed on its role in quitting or cutting down alcohol. This study aims to analyse the alcohol cessation videos available and accessible on YouTube to gain a more in-depth insight into the ways that YouTube as a platform is being used to persuade with relation to alcohol cessation. Methods: We systematically searched for content on YouTube related to alcohol cessation and these videos were analysed and evaluated for the format, themes, specific alcohol cessation advice, and uploader. Results: The results demonstrated that the collected alcohol cessation videos included a fairly even presence of the themes of discussing the negative impacts of alcohol and the benefits of quitting or staying away from it. At the same time, however, we found the videos were not sourced from professional institutions, such as government or anti-alcohol misuse non-government organisations. Conclusion: More research is needed to investigate utilising YouTube to support those looking to quit or cut down alcohol.

Keywords:  YouTube; alcohol; alcohol cessation; content analysis; human-computer interaction; social media

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.787994
Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol. 2022 Jan 06. 34894211066670

Critical Quality and Readability Analysis of Online Patient Education Materials on Parotidectomy: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Elysia Miriam Grose, Emily YiQin Cheng, Marc Levin, Justine Philteos, Jong Wook Lee, Eric A Monteiro.

   PURPOSE: Complications related to parotidectomy can cause significant morbidity, and thus, the decision to pursue this surgery needs to be well-informed. Given that information available online plays a critical role in patient education, this study aimed to evaluate the readability and quality of online patient education materials (PEMs) regarding parotidectomy.
METHODS: A Google search was performed using the term "parotidectomy" and the first 10 pages of the search were analyzed. Quality and reliability of the online information was assessed using the DISCERN instrument. Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) and Flesch-Reading Ease Score (FRE) were used to evaluate readability.
RESULTS: Thirty-five PEMs met the inclusion criteria. The average FRE score was 59.3 and 16 (46%) of the online PEMs had FRE scores below 60 indicating that they were fairly difficult to very difficult to read. The average grade level of the PEMs was above the eighth grade when evaluated with the FKGL. The average DISCERN score was 41.7, which is indicative of fair quality. There were no significant differences between PEMs originating from medical institutions and PEMs originating from other sources in terms of quality or readability.
CONCLUSION: Online PEMs on parotidectomy may not be comprehensible to the average individual. This study highlights the need for the development of more appropriate PEMs to inform patients about parotidectomy.

Keywords:  health literacy; parotidectomy; patient education material; quality; readability

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1177/00034894211066670
Cureus. 2021 Nov;13(11): e20044

Quality and Reliability of YouTube Videos on Surgical Treatment of Uterine Leiomyomas.

Aslihan Ergul.

  Introduction To determine the quality of English language YouTube videos on uterine leiomyomas (UL) and their surgical treatment. Methods The present study was performed from October 1 to October 8, 2021. A gynecologist with 10 years of experience searched for keywords on YouTube, including 'UL surgery', 'laparoscopic myomectomy,' 'myomectomy,' 'surgical treatments for UL,' and 'operations for UL.' Videos were categorized into three groups according to content as informative videos, personal experience videos, and news update videos. All videos characteristics, including the number of views, the length and duration of the video, number of 'likes,' 'dislikes,' and 'comments,' were recorded. Medical information and content index (MICI) score, DISCERN score, and Global Quality Score (GQS) were calculated for each video. Results In total, 54 videos were categorized as informative videos, 46 videos were classified as patient experience videos, and 37 videos were accepted as news agency videos. The mean comment numbers were 105.6 for patient experience videos, and the difference was statistically different in favor of patient experience videos (p= 0.001). The GQS and DISCERN scores were significantly higher for the informative group in comparison with the other two groups (p=0.001 and p=0.001 for both groups). Clinical symptoms and treatment outcomes were the most frequently mentioned content in informative videos (81.8% and 97.1%). The mean MICI score was 2.7. Conclusion The present study demonstrated that YouTube videos about UL and its surgical treatments have low quality and utility. However, informative videos that are mostly uploaded by professional health providers have significantly better DISCERN and GQS scores.

Keywords:  discern; global quality score; leiomyomas; mici; youtube

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.20044