Background
Although there are thousands of published recommendations in anesthesiology clinical practice guidelines, the extent to which these are supported by high levels of evidence is not known. This study hypothesized that most recommendations in clinical practice guidelines are supported by a low level of evidence.
Methods
A registered (Prospero CRD42020202932) systematic review was conducted of anesthesia evidence-based recommendations from the major North American and European anesthesiology societies between January 2010 and September 2020 in PubMed and EMBASE. The level of evidence A, B, or C and the strength of recommendation (strong or weak) for each recommendation was mapped using the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association classification system or the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) system. The outcome of interest was the proportion of recommendations supported by levels of evidence A, B, and C. Changes in the level of evidence over time were examined. Risk of bias was assessed using Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE) II.
Results
In total, 60 guidelines comprising 2,280 recommendations were reviewed. Level of evidence A supported 16% (363 of 2,280) of total recommendations and 19% (288 of 1,506) of strong recommendations. Level of evidence C supported 51% (1,160 of 2,280) of all recommendations and 50% (756 of 1,506) of strong recommendations. Of all the guidelines, 73% (44 of 60) had a low risk of bias. The proportion of recommendations supported by level of evidence A versus level of evidence C (relative risk ratio, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.18 to 4.74; P = 0.933) or level of evidence B versus level of evidence C (relative risk ratio, 1.63; 95% CI, 0.72 to 3.72; P = 0.243) did not increase in guidelines that were revised. Year of publication was also not associated with increases in the proportion of recommendations supported by level of evidence A (relative risk ratio, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.93 to 1.23; P = 0.340) or level of evidence B (relative risk ratio, 1.05; 95% CI, 0.96 to 1.15; P = 0.283) compared to level of evidence C.
Conclusions
Half of the recommendations in anesthesiology clinical practice guidelines are based on a low level of evidence, and this did not change over time. These findings highlight the need for additional efforts to increase the quality of evidence used to guide decision-making in anesthesiology.
Editor’s Perspective
What We Already Know about This Topic
What This Article Tells Us That Is New
In 2012 the National Library of Medicine awarded several academic medical libraries informationist grants to become embedded with a research team for the purposes of data management. The University of Rochester Medical Center was among those recipients. This article will give background on the research project and team that won the grant, discuss the process of applying for the grant, identify the data management role that the informationist librarians have agreed to work on, how they embedded into the research team, and relay lessons learned thus far in the project.
Simulation training has become increasingly relevant in the educational curriculum of surgical trainees. The types of simulation models used, goals of simulation training, and an objective assessment of its utility and effectiveness are highly variable. The role and effectiveness of cadaveric simulation in cardiothoracic surgical training has not been well established. The objective of this study was to evaluate the current medical literature available on the utility and the effectiveness of cadaveric simulation in cardiothoracic surgical residency training. A literature search was performed using PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, Scopus, and CINAHL from inception to February 2019. Of the 362 citations obtained, 23 articles were identified and retrieved for full review, yielding ten eligible articles that were included for analysis. One additional study was identified and included in the analysis. Extraction of data from the selected articles was performed using predetermined data fields, including study design, study participants, simulation task, performance metrics, and costs. Most of these studies were only descriptive of a cadaveric or perfused cadaveric simulation model that could be used to augment clinical operative training in cardiothoracic surgery. There is a paucity of evidence in the literature that specifically evaluates the utility and the efficacy of cadavers in cardiothoracic surgery training. Of the few studies that have been published in the literature, cadaveric simulation does seem to have a role in cardiothoracic surgery training beyond simply learning basic skills. Additional research in this area is needed. Anat Sci Educ 13: 406-418.
While problem-based learning has been used in medical practice for several decades, dental education was slower to adapt this education model. However, as dental curricula are embracing this pedagogy, dental and other health sciences librarians are in a position to provide important curricular support. This article will detail one dental liaison librarian's experience with facilitating a problem-based, case-based studies course within the curriculum of a dental school.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.