Nutritional interventions in community-dwelling Alzheimer patients with (risk of) undernutrition: a systematic review

Background: Weight loss and undernutrition are common in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and associated with negative health outcomes. In the current guidelines on diagnosis and treatment of AD, no recommendations for treatment of (risk of) undernutrition in community-dwelling AD patients are given. Methods: We conducted a systematic review on the effect of nutritional interventions in community-dwelling AD patients with (risk of) undernutrition, according to the methods outlined by the Cochrane Collaboration. Three electronic databases and three trial registers were searched from inception till April 2013. Results: Literature search in the electronic databases yielded 546 records of which one was relevant for this review. This study, with a high risk of bias, demonstrated that oral nutritional supplements improved nutritional outcomes without effect on clinical and biochemical outcomes. The search in the trial registers yielded 369 records of which two were relevant. One trial was terminated because of failing inclusion, the other is ongoing. Conclusions: This systematic review on the effect of nutritional interventions in community-dwelling AD patients with (risk of) undernutrition, reveals a serious lack of evidence. Therefore, it is not possible to state what the best approach is

Artificial intelligence supports literature screening in medical guideline development: towards up-to-date medical guidelines

In a time of exponential growth of new evidence supporting clinical decision making, combined with a labor-intensive process of selecting this evidence, there is a need for methods to speed up current processes in order to keep medical guidelines up-to-date. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance and feasibility of active learning to support the selection of relevant publications within the context of medical guideline development

Hoe vaak verwijzen richtlijnen naar artikelen in hetNTvG?

OBJECTIVE: For Dutch medical guidelines, Dutch research articles published in the NTvG (NederlandsTijdschriftvoorGeneeskunde) and other medical journals are not searched systematically and are only used sporadically. Using these publications in the process of guideline development can be useful for recommendations regarding the Dutch context of care. In this research, we have investigated how often and in which parts of Dutch guidelines articles published in NTvG are used. DESIGN: We specifically investigated how often articles published in NTvG are mentioned in Dutch medical guidelines published on www.richtlijnendatabase.nl, that were developed in 2019, 2020 and 2021. METHOD: In all parts of new or revised Dutch medical guidelines published in these years on www.richtlijnendatabase.nl, we searched for references of articles published in NTvG. RESULTS: The results show that in 3% of all Dutch medical guidelines a reference to an article published in NTvG is made. These references were made in the literature summaries (21% of the references), the reflections on the literature for the Dutch context of care (48% of the references), or in other areas such as the introduction (10% of the references) or appendices (21% of the references). CONCLUSION: Articles published in NTvG may be relevant for making recommendations in Dutch medical guidelines, as these publications usually reflect the Dutch care context, and may do more so than research published in international journals. The results of this research show that the number of Dutch guidelines where these articles are used is limited. Dutch research articles may be a source of information that is yet to be tapped into

Hoe vaak verwijzen richtlijnen naar artikelen in hetNTvG?

OBJECTIVE: For Dutch medical guidelines, Dutch research articles published in the NTvG (NederlandsTijdschriftvoorGeneeskunde) and other medical journals are not searched systematically and are only used sporadically. Using these publications in the process of guideline development can be useful for recommendations regarding the Dutch context of care. In this research, we have investigated how often and in which parts of Dutch guidelines articles published in NTvG are used. DESIGN: We specifically investigated how often articles published in NTvG are mentioned in Dutch medical guidelines published on www.richtlijnendatabase.nl, that were developed in 2019, 2020 and 2021. METHOD: In all parts of new or revised Dutch medical guidelines published in these years on www.richtlijnendatabase.nl, we searched for references of articles published in NTvG. RESULTS: The results show that in 3% of all Dutch medical guidelines a reference to an article published in NTvG is made. These references were made in the literature summaries (21% of the references), the reflections on the literature for the Dutch context of care (48% of the references), or in other areas such as the introduction (10% of the references) or appendices (21% of the references). CONCLUSION: Articles published in NTvG may be relevant for making recommendations in Dutch medical guidelines, as these publications usually reflect the Dutch care context, and may do more so than research published in international journals. The results of this research show that the number of Dutch guidelines where these articles are used is limited. Dutch research articles may be a source of information that is yet to be tapped into

Palliative care interventions in intensive care unit patients - a systematic review protocol.

BACKGROUND: Even though data suggest that palliative care (PC) improves patient quality of life, caregiver burden, cost, and intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay, integration of PC in the ICU is far from being universally accepted. Poor understanding of what PC provides is one of the barriers to the widespread implementation of their services in ICU. Evidence suggests that the availability of specialist PC is lacking in most European countries and provided differently depending on geographical location. The aim of this systematic review is to compare the numbers and types of PC interventions and gauge their impact on stakeholder outcomes and ICU resource utilisation. METHODS: We will undertake a systematic review of the published peer-reviewed journal articles; our search will be carried out MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane, CINAHL, and PsycINFO. The search strategy will include variations in the term palliative care and intensive care. All studies with patient populations undergoing palliative care interventions will be selected. Only full-text articles will be considered, and conference abstracts excluded. There will be no date restrictions on the year of publications or on language. The primary aim of the present study is to compare the numbers and types of PC interventions in ICU and their impact on stakeholder (patient, family, clinician, other) outcomes. Reporting of findings will follow the Preferred Reporting Items of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. DISCUSSION: This review will provide insight into the implementation of palliative care in ICU, elucidate differences between countries and health systems, reveal most effective models, and contribute to identifying research priorities to improve outcomes. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: International Prospective Register of Systematic reviews PROSPERO ( CRD42018094315 )

Artificial intelligence supports literature screening in medical guideline development: towards up-to-date medical guidelines

In a time of exponential growth of new evidence supporting clinical decision making, combined with a labor-intensive process of selecting this evidence, there is a need for methods to speed up current processes in order to keep medical guidelines up-to-date. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance and feasibility of active learning to support the selection of relevant publications within the context of medical guideline development