A systematic review (SR) provides the best and most objective analysis of the existing evidence in a particular field. SRs and derived conclusions are essential for evidence-based strategies in medicine and evidence-based guidelines in clinical practice. The popularity of SRs has also increased markedly in the field of hepatology. However, although SRs are considered to provide a higher level of evidence with greater confidence than original articles, there have been no reports on the quality of SRs and meta-analyses (MAs) in the field of hepatology. Therefore, we performed a quality assessment of 225 SRs and MAs that were recently published in the field of hepatology (January 2011 to September 2014) using A MeaSurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews (AMSTAR). Using AMSTAR, we revealed both a shortage of assessments of the scientific quality of individual studies and a publication bias in many SRs and MAs. This review addresses the concern that SRs and MAs need to be conducted in a stricter and more objective manner to minimize bias and random errors. Thus, SRs and MAs should be supported by a multi-disciplinary approach that includes clinical experts, methodologists, and statisticians.
*Gastroenterology ; Humans ; *Meta-Analysis as Topic ; *Publication Bias ; *Review Literature as Topic

Currently, the number of systematic reviews on Chinese medicine (CM) increases gradually. However, the quality of the reviews varied, which resulted in great limitations in guiding clinical practice. This article refers to the Cochrane Handbook and PRISMA Statement to introduce the reporting specification of the systematic review, including asking a research question, review methods, presentation of the results, discussion and conclusion. We analyzed the methodology issues in the published systematic reviews on CM in order to improve the quality of future reviews.
Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Research Design ; Review Literature as Topic ; Writing ; standards

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to review the articles and theses on the patient safety culture of clinical nurses for identifying overall research trends regarding patient safety culture among hospital nurses, and to suggest strategies for improving nursing work environment related to patient safety culture. METHODS: The subjects for this study were 17 articles selected according to inclusion criteria from five databases in Korea. RESULTS: Seven articles were collected from nursing journals and ten from master's theses. The studies on the 17 articles were conducted at 66 hospitals from seven regions of Korea. The tools for patient safety culture were selected among the three tools from AHRQ and two Korean translation tools. The mean score of patient safety culture was 3.43. CONCLUSION: The findings from the article review indicate that, in order to improve nursing work environment for patient safety culture, the hospital and nursing manager should emphasize the education for patient safety, communication and open-minded reporting, and cooperation among the departments of hospital.
Education ; Korea ; Nursing* ; Patient Safety* ; Review Literature as Topic

Unknown (origin) ; Review [Publication Type] ; Choreoathetosis, NOS ; Literature

Objective: To review the latest developments in the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Method: Literature review Results: The treatment of AMD is rapidly evolving. New developments in the biophysical, biochemical and clinical sciences and greater understanding of the pathophysiology of AMD are being used to produce new treatment strategies Conclusion: While several promising novel treatment approaches are being developed for the treatment of AMD, treatment recommendations should be based on results of well-designed randomized clinical trials.
Human ; Aged ; Middle Aged ; LITERATURE REVIEW ; RADIOTHERAPY ; LASER SURGERY

Proliferating trichilemmal cyst is a rapidly growing large cutaneous adnexal neoplasm occurring on the head and neck region of elderly women. Malignant transformation has rarely been reported in these lesions. We describe here a 85-year-old lady who presented with a large ulcerated growth over the scalp for one year duration. Incisional biopsy revealed proliferating trichilemmal cyst with malignant transformation. She underwent wide local excision of this growth. She is alive and without evidence of disease after 14 months of follow up. Because of limited number of cases reported in literature, management of malignant proliferating trichilemmal cyst is controversial. Treatment mainly entails wide local surgical excision. Many other adjuvant modalities have been tried. This paper presents the diagnosis and management of one case of malignant proliferating trichilemmal cyst followed by review of the literature.
Cysts ; Literature ; Review [Publication Type] ; Malignant - descriptor ; Malignant Neoplasms

The concept of meta-epidemiology has been introduced with considering the methodological limitations of systematic review for intervention trials. The paradigm of meta-epidemiology has shifted from a statistical method into a new methodology to close gaps between evidence and practice. Main interest of meta-epidemiology is to control potential biases in previous quantitative systematic reviews and draw appropriate evidences for establishing evidence-base guidelines. Nowadays, the network meta-epidemiology was suggested in order to overcome some limitations of meta-epidemiology. To activate meta-epidemiologic studies, implementation of tools for risk of bias and reporting guidelines such as the Consolidated Standards for Reporting Trials (CONSORT) should be done.
Bias (Epidemiology) ; Epidemiology ; Meta-Analysis as Topic ; Review Literature as Topic

By searching the registry information of systematic review regarding acupuncture included before March 31, 2014 in PROSPERO systematic review registry platform, information in the project plan such as care gories of diseases, interventions, research team and the completion status was analyzed to make a comprehensive understanding on registry status of acupuncture systematic review in this platform. As a result, a total of 52 project plans was finally included. The health problem concerned was mainly painrelated diseases, and the interventions were mostly simple acupuncture or combination of acupuncture and moxibustion. The registered plan participated with Chinese team appeared comparatively late, which was featured with fewer independent projects and concentrated research organization, so its scientific research advantage in acupuncture did not present. In conclusion, it is believed that the consciousness on systematic review registry in domestic researchers needs to be improved, and researchers might take good advantages of the PROSPERO platform in the future.
Acupuncture Therapy ; Databases, Factual ; Humans ; Registries ; Review Literature as Topic

The burgeoning wealth of available scientific information – aided in part by (a) expansion in the definition of “literature”, (b) dramatic increase in the scientific output available for the scientific community's perusal, and (c) ease of access afforded by various databases and search engines – poses several challenges to researchers and to the credibility of their research findings. One method to discourage reference to “fraudulent, incomplete, or obsolete data” in the literature is citations searching. This paper presented a short overview of citations searching, its advantages and disadvantages, as well as its implications for stakeholders in the academic community.
Information Storage and Retrieval ; Research Design ; Review Literature as Topic

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to review articles and theses on Korean nursing students' stress, identifying overall research trends regarding such stress and suggesting strategies for stress management and nursing education system. METHODS: The subjects for this study were 31 articles selected from three databases according to specific inclusion criteria. RESULTS: Twenty-seven articles described survey research and four articles reported on experiments. Twenty-two studies related to stress from clinical practice among nursing students. Thirty-one articles reported on 40 regions and 44 colleges. Seventeen types of tools were used to measure nursing students' stress. The reported reliability of tools ranged from .76 to .96, and the mean score for nursing students' stress fell between 1.98 and 3.95. CONCLUSION: The findings from this review article indicate that nursing students exhibit different levels of stress as a result of school. Thus, they must learn to cope with stress to support their physical and psychological health. Moreover, finding ways to help student nurses handle job-related stress will require research related to the overall school, the curriculum, learning, and the life of nursing students, as well as stress intervention.
Curriculum ; Education ; Education, Nursing* ; Humans ; Learning ; Nursing* ; Review Literature as Topic ; Students, Nursing