Multifaceted Online Interventions to Increase Clinicians Searching of Current Best Evidence to Answer Clinical Questions (MPFS)
|
The safety and scientific validity of this study is the responsibility of the study sponsor and investigators. Listing a study does not mean it has been evaluated by the U.S. Federal Government. Read our disclaimer for details. |
| ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02038439 |
|
Recruitment Status :
Completed
First Posted : January 16, 2014
Last Update Posted : April 8, 2015
|
- Study Details
- Tabular View
- No Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
Translation of new knowledge from research into evidence-informed health care is a shared obligation of the clinical and the scientific communities. Unfortunately, studies of quality of care continue to show that this goal is substantially unrealized. One main barrier is lack of quick and easy identification, appraisal and synthesis of current best evidence. Clinicians' information have 5 to 8 questions about individual patients per daily shift, but face a large volume of 3000 articles published every day, accessible in many scattered resources.
To address theses problems, McMaster's Health Information Research Unit (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada) has developed and implemented "McMaster Premium LiteratUre Service Federated Search" (MPFS), an online search engine that provides a unique 1-stop search and organized access to current best evidence in daily practice. However additional barriers need to be overcome for clinicians to actually search and use this evidence in their practice. Theses include logistical barriers (time constraints, forgotten questions), as well as educational barriers (eg, lack of awareness of the "architecture" of evidence, limited searching skills, and lack of reference standards among peers for finding best evidence).
This randomized trial seeks to test 3 innovative online interventions among clinicians registered to MPFS to overcome these barriers and increase the quantity and quality of searching for current best evidence to answer clinical questions. These interventions build on effective models for the teaching of clinical skills at the point of care, so that clinicians are facilitated in using the search engine as a clinical tool, and perceive evidence retrieval skills as true clinical skills.
| Condition or disease | Intervention/treatment | Phase |
|---|---|---|
| Physicians Evidence Retrieval Skills | Behavioral: Intervention A - Online Clinical Questions Recorder Behavioral: Intervention B - Online Evidence Retrieval Coach Behavioral: Intervention C - Online Audit and Feedback | Not Applicable |
Show Detailed Description
| Study Type : | Interventional (Clinical Trial) |
| Actual Enrollment : | 908 participants |
| Allocation: | Randomized |
| Intervention Model: | Factorial Assignment |
| Masking: | Single (Investigator) |
| Official Title: | Multifaceted Online Interventions to Increase the Quantity and Quality of Searching for Current Best Evidence to Answer Clinical Questions |
| Study Start Date : | January 2014 |
| Actual Primary Completion Date : | October 2014 |
| Actual Study Completion Date : | October 2014 |
| Arm | Intervention/treatment |
|---|---|
|
Experimental: Interventions: A + B + C
See Interventions Description. In this arm, clinicians will be offered all 3 online interventions combined:
|
Behavioral: Intervention A - Online Clinical Questions Recorder
Clinicians allocated to this intervention will receive access to an online recorder for the clinical questions at the point of care. The recorder is accessible across a wide range of devices including phones, tablets, and desktop computers. Behavioral: Intervention B - Online Evidence Retrieval Coach Clinicians allocated to this intervention will receive online guidance, embedded in the MPFS search engine, in the form of short videos, animations, demos and tips and tricks regarding evidence retrieval. Behavioral: Intervention C - Online Audit and Feedback Clinicians allocated to this intervention will receive feedback on their current search performance compared to their peers, both online when using MPFS as well as by e-mail. |
|
Experimental: Interventions A + B
See Interventions Description. In this arm, clinicians will be offered the 2 following interventions combined:
|
Behavioral: Intervention A - Online Clinical Questions Recorder
Clinicians allocated to this intervention will receive access to an online recorder for the clinical questions at the point of care. The recorder is accessible across a wide range of devices including phones, tablets, and desktop computers. Behavioral: Intervention B - Online Evidence Retrieval Coach Clinicians allocated to this intervention will receive online guidance, embedded in the MPFS search engine, in the form of short videos, animations, demos and tips and tricks regarding evidence retrieval. |
|
Experimental: Interventions A + C
See Interventions Description. In this arm, clinicians will be offered the 2 following online interventions combined:
|
Behavioral: Intervention A - Online Clinical Questions Recorder
Clinicians allocated to this intervention will receive access to an online recorder for the clinical questions at the point of care. The recorder is accessible across a wide range of devices including phones, tablets, and desktop computers. Behavioral: Intervention C - Online Audit and Feedback Clinicians allocated to this intervention will receive feedback on their current search performance compared to their peers, both online when using MPFS as well as by e-mail. |
|
Experimental: Interventions B + C
See Interventions Description. In this arm, clinicians will be offered the 2 following online interventions combined:
|
Behavioral: Intervention B - Online Evidence Retrieval Coach
Clinicians allocated to this intervention will receive online guidance, embedded in the MPFS search engine, in the form of short videos, animations, demos and tips and tricks regarding evidence retrieval. Behavioral: Intervention C - Online Audit and Feedback Clinicians allocated to this intervention will receive feedback on their current search performance compared to their peers, both online when using MPFS as well as by e-mail. |
|
Experimental: Intervention A alone
See Interventions Description. In this arm, clinicians will be offered only the following intervention: * Intervention A - Online Clinical Questions Recorder |
Behavioral: Intervention A - Online Clinical Questions Recorder
Clinicians allocated to this intervention will receive access to an online recorder for the clinical questions at the point of care. The recorder is accessible across a wide range of devices including phones, tablets, and desktop computers. |
|
Experimental: Intervention B alone
See Interventions Description. In this arm, clinicians will be offered only the following intervention: * Intervention B - Online Evidence Retrieval Coach |
Behavioral: Intervention B - Online Evidence Retrieval Coach
Clinicians allocated to this intervention will receive online guidance, embedded in the MPFS search engine, in the form of short videos, animations, demos and tips and tricks regarding evidence retrieval. |
|
Experimental: Intervention C alone
See Interventions Description. In this arm, clinicians will be offered only the following intervention: * Intervention C - Online Audit and Feedback |
Behavioral: Intervention C - Online Audit and Feedback
Clinicians allocated to this intervention will receive feedback on their current search performance compared to their peers, both online when using MPFS as well as by e-mail. |
|
No Intervention: No intervention
In this arm, clinicians will be offered non of the 3 online interventions, but will just be using the usual features of the search engine available to all users.
|
- Utilization of evidence-based resources on MPFS as measured by rate of searches/month/user [ Time Frame: 6 months ]Each clinician participating in the trial has a personal online account in MPFS. When they are signed on their account, the system continuously tracks their searches and utilization of individual resources. We will record their utilization over the full duration of the trial (6 months) and analyze it in the end.
- Utility (satisfaction in meeting users' information needs) as assessed by the Impact Assessment Measure questionnaire [ Time Frame: 6 months ]This Impact Assessment Measure questionnaire will be sent to clinicians after a random sample of searches and completed online for a random sample of searches.
- Use (application of evidence in practice) as assessed by the Impact Assessment Measure questionnaire [ Time Frame: 6 months ]This Impact Assessment Measure questionnaire will be sent to clinicians after a random sample of searches and completed online for a random sample of searches.
- Perceived Usefulness in patient care and outcomes as assessed by the Impact Assessment Measure questionnaire [ Time Frame: 6 months ]This Impact Assessment Measure questionnaire will be sent to clinicians after a random sample of searches and completed online for a random sample of searches.
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contacts provided below. For general information, Learn About Clinical Studies.
| Ages Eligible for Study: | Child, Adult, Older Adult |
| Sexes Eligible for Study: | All |
| Accepts Healthy Volunteers: | No |
Inclusion Criteria:
- All postgraduate and faculty physicians currently registered for more than one month in the MPFS search engine,
- and working in the teaching hospitals and clinics of the Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario.
Exclusion Criteria:
- Registrants that are no longer working or training at McMaster University,
- Registrants that never logged in MPFS during the last 12 months counting back from the beginning of the trial.
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT02038439
| Canada, Ontario | |
| McMaster University | |
| Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, L8S 4K1 | |
| Principal Investigator: | Thomas Agoritsas, MD | McMaster University |
Additional Information:
Publications automatically indexed to this study by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number):
| Responsible Party: | McMaster University |
| ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: | NCT02038439 History of Changes |
| Other Study ID Numbers: |
FRN86465 |
| First Posted: | January 16, 2014 Key Record Dates |
| Last Update Posted: | April 8, 2015 |
| Last Verified: | April 2015 |
Keywords provided by McMaster University:
|
Evidence-Based Medicine Evidence Retrieval Knowledge Translation Medical Education |