20 research outputs found
How to integrate individual patient values and preferences in clinical practice guidelines? A research protocol.
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88291.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: Clinical practice guidelines are largely conceived as tools that will inform health professionals' decisions rather than foster patient involvement in decision making. The time now seems right to adapt clinical practice guidelines in such a way that both the professional's perspective as care provider and the patients' preferences and characteristics are being weighed equally in the decision-making process. We hypothesise that clinical practice guidelines can be adapted to facilitate the integration of individual patients' preferences in clinical decision making. This research protocol asks two questions: How should clinical practice guidelines be adapted to elicit patient preferences and to support shared decision making? What type of clinical decisions are perceived as most requiring consideration of individual patients' preferences rather than promoting a single best choice? METHODS: Stakeholders' opinions and ideas will be explored through an 18-month qualitative study. Data will be collected from in-depth individual interviews. A purposive sample of 20 to 25 key-informants will be selected among three groups of stakeholders: health professionals using guidelines (e.g., physicians, nurses); experts at the macro- and meso-level, including guideline and decision aids developers, policy makers, and researchers; and patient representatives. Ideas and recommendations expressed by stakeholders will be prioritized by nominal group technique in expert meetings. DISCUSSION: One-for-all guidelines do not account for differences in patients' characteristics and for their preferences for medical interventions and health outcomes, suggesting a need for flexible guidelines that facilitate patient involvement in clinical decision making. The question is how this can be achieved. This study is not about patient participation in guideline development, a closely related and important issue that does not however substitute for, or guarantee individual patient involvement in clinical decisions. The study results will provide the needed background for recommendations about potential effective and feasible strategies to ensure greater responsiveness of clinical practice guidelines to individual patient's preferences in clinical decision-making
Examination of the Rumen Bacteria and Methanogenic Archaea of Wild Impalas (Aepyceros melampus melampus) from Pongola, South Africa
Although the rumen microbiome of domesticated
ruminants has been evaluated, few studies have explored the
rumen microbiome of wild ruminants, and no studies have
identified the rumen microbiome in the impala (Aepyceros
melampus melampus). In the present study, next-generation
sequencing and real-time polymerase chain reaction were
used to investigate the diversity and density of the bacteria
and methanogenic archaea residing in the rumen of five adult
male impalas, culled during the winter dry season in Pongola,
South Africa. A total of 15,323 bacterial 16S rRNA gene
sequences (from five impala), representing 3,892 different
phylotypes, were assigned to 1,902 operational taxonomic
units (OTUs). A total of 20,124 methanogen 16S rRNA gene
sequence reads (from four impala), of which 5,028 were
unique, were assigned to 344 OTUs. From the total sequence
reads, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, and Firmicutes were the
most abundant bacterial phyla. While the majority of the
bacterial genera found were unclassified, Prevotella and
Cupriavidus were the most abundant classified genera. For
methanogens, the genera Methanobrevibacter and
Methanosphaera represented 94.3 % and 4.0 % of the classified
sequences, respectively. Most notable was the identification
of Methanobrevibacter thaueri-like 16S rRNA gene sequence
reads in all four impala samples, representing greater than 30 % of each individual’s total sequences. Both data sets
are accessible through NCBI’s Sequence Read Archive (SRA),
under study accession number SRP [048619]. The densities of
bacteria (1.26×1010–3.82×1010 cells/ml whole rumen contents)
and methanogens (4.48×108–7.2×109 cells/ml of whole
rumen contents) from five individual impala were similar to
those typically observed in domesticated ruminants.http://link.springer.com/journal/2482016-04-30hb201