Publication and related biases in health services research: a systematic review of empirical evidence

Background: Publication and related biases (including publication bias, time-lag bias, outcome reporting bias and p-hacking) have been well documented in clinical research, but relatively little is known about their presence and extent in health services research (HSR). This paper aims to systematically review evidence concerning publication and related bias in quantitative HSR. Methods: Databases including MEDLINE, EMBASE, HMIC, CINAHL, Web of Science, Health Systems Evidence, Cochrane EPOC Review Group and several websites were searched to July 2018. Information was obtained from: (1) Methodological studies that set out to investigate publication and related biases in HSR; (2) Systematic reviews of HSR topics which examined such biases as part of the review process. Relevant information was extracted from included studies by one reviewer and checked by another. Studies were appraised according to commonly accepted scientific principles due to lack of suitable checklists. Data were synthesised narratively. Results: After screening 6155 citations, four methodological studies investigating publication bias in HSR and 184 systematic reviews of HSR topics (including three comparing published with unpublished evidence) were examined. Evidence suggestive of publication bias was reported in some of the methodological studies, but evidence presented was very weak, limited in both quality and scope. Reliable data on outcome reporting bias and p-hacking were scant. HSR systematic reviews in which published literature was compared with unpublished evidence found significant differences in the estimated intervention effects or association in some but not all cases. Conclusions: Methodological research on publication and related biases in HSR is sparse. Evidence from available literature suggests that such biases may exist in HSR but their scale and impact are difficult to estimate for various reasons discussed in this paper. Systematic review registration: PROSPERO 2016 CRD42016052333

Psychometric Validation of the Sensory Experiences Questionnaire

We evaluated the psychometric properties of the Sensory Experiences Questionnaire (Version 1; Baranek, David, Poe, Stone, & Watson 2006), a brief caregiver questionnaire for young children with autismand developmental delays used to identify sensory processing patterns in the context of daily activities

Immanuel Kant. Il tempo interno del miglioramento: un paradigma del progresso storico?

Il soggetto kantiano, per sapersi morale, deve potersi pensare come un soggetto che non ha fine nel tempo sensibile: per pensarsi secondo questa forma dell’intelligibile egli postula una durata infinita della sua personalità. Con ciò si apre un orizzonte di senso immaginabile soltanto in un ‘futuro aperto’ e dilatato all’infinito: in questa dimensione temporale specifica trova senso l’esercizio morale di ogni individuo. La designazione temporale dell’immortalità dell’anima come durata infinita (unendliche Dauer) e il progresso intelligibile che è connesso al postulato mostrano un’interessante processualità inerente alla dimensione intelligibile - non spazio-temporalmente condizionata - dell’esistenza di ogni personalità morale. Seppure non tematizzato esplicitamente da Kant, attraverso questo postulato si indica un peculiare svolgimento - temporale - esclusivo del noumeno. Presenteremo l’aspetto contraddittorio della processualità infinita argomentata da Kant: com’è possibile, all’interno del sistema trascendentale, un tempo ascrivibile - paradossalmente - al noumeno? Il problema del tempo nella filosofia morale di Kant, e in particolare il riferimento non ordinario ad una temporalità riconducibile all’ordine noumenico, è un tema molto complesso: nel fornire uno spunto di riflessione e un primo avvicinamento a questa tematica, peraltro poco trattata dalla letteratura kantiana, ripercorriamo in questa sede gli studi che hanno mostrato e discusso quest’interessante paradosso, ipotizzando nel tempo interno del miglioramento un paradigma della comprensione della storia dalla prospettiva della filosofia critica

Carbine Caliber.30 M1,M1A1,M2 and M3

17 cm; 382 ha