bims-librar Biomed News
on Biomedical librarianship
Issue of 2022–06–05
nine papers selected by
Thomas Krichel, Open Library Society



  1. Res Synth Methods. 2022 Jun 03.
       BACKGROUND: Systematic searches are integral to identifying the evidence that is used in National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) public health guidelines (PHGs). This study analyses the sources, including bibliographic databases and other techniques, required for PHGs.
    AIMS: To analyse the sources used to identify the publications included in NICE PHGs; and to assess whether fewer sources could have been searched to retrieve these publications.
    METHODS: Data showing how the included publications had been identified was collated using search summary tables. Three scenarios were created to test various combinations of sources to determine whether fewer sources could have been used. The sample included 29 evidence reviews, compiled using 13 searches, to support 10 PHG topics.
    RESULTS: Across the PHGs, 23 databases and six other techniques retrieved included publications. A mean reduction in total results of 6.5% could have been made if the minimum set of sources plus Cochrane Library, Embase and MEDLINE were searched. On average, Cochrane Library, Embase and MEDLINE contributed 76.8% of the included publications, with other databases adding 11% and other techniques 12.2%.
    DISCUSSION: None of the searches had a minimum set that was comprised entirely of databases. There was not a core set of sources for PHGs.
    CONCLUSIONS: A range of databases and techniques, covering a multi-disciplinary evidence base, was required to identify all included publications. It would be possible to reduce the number of sources searched and make some gains in productivity. It is important to create a tailored set of sources to do an efficient search. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/jrsm.1577
  2. J Clin Epidemiol. 2022 May 30. pii: S0895-4356(22)00144-5. [Epub ahead of print]
       OBJECTIVE: Assessing changes in coverage, recall, review conclusions and references not found when searching fewer databases.
    STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: In 60 randomly selected Cochrane reviews, we checked included study publications' coverage (indexation) and recall (findability) using different search approaches with MEDLINE, Embase, and CENTRAL and related them to authors' conclusions and certainty. We assessed characteristics of unfound references.
    RESULTS: 1989/2080 included references, were indexed in ≥1 database (coverage=96%). In reviews where using one of our search approaches would not change conclusions and certainty (n=44-54), median coverage and recall were highest (range 87.9-100.0% and 78.2-93.3%, respectively). Here, searching ≥2 databases reached >95% coverage and ≥87.9% recall. In reviews with unchanged conclusions but less certainty (n=2-8): 63.3-79.3% coverage and 45.0-75.0% recall. In reviews with opposite conclusions (n=1-3): 63.3-96.6% and 52.1-78.7%. In reviews where a conclusion was no longer possible (n=3-7): 60.6%-86.0% and 20.0-53.8%. The 265 references that were indexed but unfound were more often abstractless (30% vs 11%) and older (28% vs. 17% published before 1991) than found references.
    CONCLUSION: Searching ≥2 databases improves coverage and recall and decreases the risk of missing eligible studies. If researchers suspect that relevant articles are difficult to find, supplementary search methods should be used.
    Keywords:  Database coverage; Literature search; Rapid review; Recall; Search strategy; Systematic review
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2022.05.022
  3. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2022 May 31. pii: ocac066. [Epub ahead of print]
       OBJECTIVE: We aim to investigate the application and accuracy of artificial intelligence (AI) methods for automated medical literature screening for systematic reviews.
    MATERIALS AND METHODS: We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, and IEEE Xplore Digital Library to identify potentially relevant studies. We included studies in automated literature screening that reported study question, source of dataset, and developed algorithm models for literature screening. The literature screening results by human investigators were considered to be the reference standard. Quantitative synthesis of the accuracy was conducted using a bivariate model.
    RESULTS: Eighty-six studies were included in our systematic review and 17 studies were further included for meta-analysis. The combined recall, specificity, and precision were 0.928 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.878-0.958], 0.647 (95% CI, 0.442-0.809), and 0.200 (95% CI, 0.135-0.287) when achieving maximized recall, but were 0.708 (95% CI, 0.570-0.816), 0.921 (95% CI, 0.824-0.967), and 0.461 (95% CI, 0.375-0.549) when achieving maximized precision in the AI models. No significant difference was found in recall among subgroup analyses including the algorithms, the number of screened literatures, and the fraction of included literatures.
    DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: This systematic review and meta-analysis study showed that the recall is more important than the specificity or precision in literature screening, and a recall over 0.95 should be prioritized. We recommend to report the effectiveness indices of automatic algorithms separately. At the current stage manual literature screening is still indispensable for medical systematic reviews.
    Keywords:  artificial intelligence; diagnostic test accuracy; evidence-based medicine; natural language process; systematic review
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocac066
  4. Database (Oxford). 2022 Jun 02. pii: baac037. [Epub ahead of print]2022
      Anthrax is a zoonotic infectious disease caused by Bacillus anthracis (anthrax bacterium) that affects not only domestic and wild animals worldwide but also human health. As the study develops in-depth, a large quantity of related biomedical publications emerge. Acquiring knowledge from the literature is essential for gaining insight into anthrax etiology, diagnosis, treatment and research. In this study, we used a set of text mining tools to identify nearly 14 000 entities of 29 categories, such as genes, diseases, chemicals, species, vaccines and proteins, from nearly 8000 anthrax biomedical literature and extracted 281 categories of association relationships among the entities. We curated Anthrax-related Entities Dictionary and Anthrax Ontology. We formed Anthrax Knowledge Graph (AnthraxKG) containing more than 6000 nodes, 6000 edges and 32 000 properties. An interactive visualized Anthrax Knowledge Portal(AnthraxKP) was also developed based on AnthraxKG by using Web technology. AnthraxKP in this study provides rich and authentic relevant knowledge in many forms, which can help researchers carry out research more efficiently. Database URL: AnthraxKP is permitted users to query and download data at http://139.224.212.120:18095/.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1093/database/baac037
  5. J Patient Exp. 2022 ;9 23743735221102675
      Aim: To evaluate the readability and quality of online patient information regarding treatment for constipation in the English language. Methods: By utilizing the Google © website, the keyword "treatment for chronic constipation" was searched. Each webpage was assessed by 2 authors independently for readability using both the Gunning Fog Index (GFI) and the Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES). The quality of the information produced on each individual website was assessed using the DISCERN instrument. Other parameters that were recorded included the country of origin, the organization type, and whether or not the website was issued a Health on the Net (HoN) certificate. Results: This study identified a mean GFI score of 13.2 and a mean FRES score of 48.9. This result indicates poor overall readability. A mean DISCERN score of 37.9 was produced, indicating an overall weak quality of online information on this topic. This study indicated that parameters such as website organization type and the presence or absence of HoN certification impacted the quality of the information websites on this topic. Conclusion: This study indicated a poor level of quality and readability of online information on the topic of chronic constipation treatment. Further resources should be directed towards improving website readability and quality. Patients may be advised that if they wish to access online information on this topic, websites that display HoN accreditation will likely produce higher quality information.
    Keywords:  Clinician–patient relationship; communication; education; patient education; patient engagement; patient expectations; patient safety; quality improvement
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1177/23743735221102675
  6. Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 2022 May 31.
       PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality and readability of information online for patients searching terms related to arthroscopic Bankart repair (ABR).
    METHODS: Google, Yahoo and Bing were searched with terms related to ABR. The quality of information was assessed using the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Benchmark criteria, DISCERN Score, and the Fleschâ€"Kincaid Reading Ease & Grade Level. The presence of the HONcode marker was noted. Additionally, we used a scoring system specific to content relating to the ABR (AB score), a 1-20 Likert scale. Websites were also categorised according to the source: academic institution, physician, allied healthcare, commercial, media or social media. Statistical analysis was performed using GraphPad Prism.
    RESULTS: Ninety-six unique websites were evaluated, with the most common website category being physician websites (52) and academic institution websites (24). There were nine websites with the HONcode marker. The average JAMA Benchmark criteria score was 1.95 (1-4), the average DISCERN score was 48.8 (20-78), with an average Flesch-Kincaid reading ease of 50.9 (11-96) and grade level of 8 (1-18). The average AB score was 5.9 (0-18), and there was a strong correlation with a higher DISCERN score (r=0.57), but not JAMA score (r=0.18) or Flesch-Kincaid grade (r=0.16). Websites with the HONcode marker did not score higher in any criteria than those without it (p>0.05). The quality of information on physician websites was better than (statistically insignificant) non-physician websites; however, the readability of information in the former was poorer (statistically significant) than the latter.
    CONCLUSION: There was wide variability in the quality and readability online of the information on ABR, and the AB scoring system was shown to correlate strongly with increased quality.
    Keywords:  Arthroscopic Bankart repair; Health literacy; Orthopaedic surgery; Quality; Readability
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1308/rcsann.2022.0024
  7. Front Psychol. 2022 ;13 877061
      With the wide application of computers and digital technologies, online information searching is being integrated into students' learning process. Improving students' creative question generation through online information searching is an emerging research topic in the creativity and pedagogy field. Online information searching brings diversified information, but it also leads to cognitive load brought by a large amount of online information. Using online information searching to generate creative questions depends on students' cognitive properties. However, the existing literature ignores the joint influence of students' online information searching strategies and cognitive properties on their creative question generation. This study puts forward three hypotheses: first, the two strategies of students' online information searching ("keywords" and "Web page exploration") will increase their creative question generation; second, the impact of "keywords" is negatively moderated by students' need for cognitive closure (NFCC); third, the impact of "Web page exploration" is positively moderated by NFCC. The main reason is that high NFCC prevents students from obtaining diversified perspectives by using different keywords, but it helps to avoid distractions caused by a large amount of online information and promote the persistency of their reading information. Based on the data of quasi-experimental tasks completed by 90 students in Grade 7 and Grade 8, the results support the above hypothesis. The contributions of creative question generation theory and NFCC theory, as well as important issues of future study, are discussed.
    Keywords:  creative question generation; creativity; middle school students; need for cognitive closure; online information searching
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.877061
  8. Health Info Libr J. 2022 Jun 02.
       BACKGROUND: Many adolescents believe that online health information is reliable, particularly when they are familiar with the source of information.
    OBJECTIVE: To analyse the degree of influence of online health information on high school students' health decisions and examine whether socio-demographic characteristics, digital literacy, use of different websites and interest in specific health topics are associated with a stronger influence of online health information on adolescents' health-related decisions.
    METHODS: Participants were students from four public high schools in Belgrade, Serbia. Socio-demographic and behavioural questionnaire as well as the e-health literacy scale (eHEALS) were used to collect data.
    RESULTS: The study sample comprised 702 students. A total of 79.6% of students reported that online health information influenced their health decisions to a certain extent (from 'a little' to 'a lot'). Being a boy, using the internet since younger age, better self-perceived e-health literacy, using health apps, Google, health forums, websites of health institutions, social media and YouTube, being interested in diet/nutrition, sexually transmitted infections and cigarettes were the characteristics associated with a stronger influence of online health information on students' health decisions.
    CONCLUSION: This study provides clues about how online health-related information can be used to adjust and enhance health promotion amongst adolescents.
    Keywords:  adolescents; consumer health information; demography; information services; information-seeking behaviour; internet
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1111/hir.12440