Article type
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Abstract
Introduction: Successful dissemination of information requires identification of the barriers which may be impeding its application. A survey conducted in 1993 suggested that access to up-to-date systematic reviews of interventions in pregnancy and childbirth, as conveyed in the Oxford Database of Perinatal Trials (ODPT), was the most immediate barrier needing to be overcome. An approximate upper estimate of the number of English hospital obstetric departments with access to ODPT was 50. In April 1994, there were in excess of 400 subscribers to the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Database (CCPC) with British addresses. Thus, a survey of UK-based subscribers to CCPC was undertaken to explore the nature of any change implied.
Objective: 1. To identify the characteristics of subscribers in terms of their place of work and occupational background. 2. To assess the uses that subscribers made of the database. 3. To identify difficulties that subscribers had using the database.
Methods: A postal survey was distributed in May 1994, followed by two reminders.
Results: 387 questionnaires were circulated; 274 (71%) responded. 140 respondents worked in organisations providing care, the majority of these being hospitals. The number of respondents who trained as midwives was similar to the number who were medically trained, 83 and 81 respectively. 56 librarians and information specialists made up a third substantial group. Over 200 respondents reported multiple uses of the database, the most common being to improve personal knowledge and to pass knowledge to others, either verbally or by showing them information on the database. 112 respondents made a copy of their database available to others by installation on a computer located in a common area, frequently a library. The most common reported difficulties involved viewing and understanding the information in the database, as mentioned by 76 and 52 respondents, respectively. Only 15 respondents mentioned having difficulty in applying the information in the database.
Discussion: The survey suggests that there has been improvement in access to the information contained in systematic reviews of interventions in pregnancy and childbirth. It also points to other barriers, which need to be surmounted if effective dissemination of systematic reviews on a computer database is to occur, in particular the need to facilitate the data's interpretation by users.
Objective: 1. To identify the characteristics of subscribers in terms of their place of work and occupational background. 2. To assess the uses that subscribers made of the database. 3. To identify difficulties that subscribers had using the database.
Methods: A postal survey was distributed in May 1994, followed by two reminders.
Results: 387 questionnaires were circulated; 274 (71%) responded. 140 respondents worked in organisations providing care, the majority of these being hospitals. The number of respondents who trained as midwives was similar to the number who were medically trained, 83 and 81 respectively. 56 librarians and information specialists made up a third substantial group. Over 200 respondents reported multiple uses of the database, the most common being to improve personal knowledge and to pass knowledge to others, either verbally or by showing them information on the database. 112 respondents made a copy of their database available to others by installation on a computer located in a common area, frequently a library. The most common reported difficulties involved viewing and understanding the information in the database, as mentioned by 76 and 52 respondents, respectively. Only 15 respondents mentioned having difficulty in applying the information in the database.
Discussion: The survey suggests that there has been improvement in access to the information contained in systematic reviews of interventions in pregnancy and childbirth. It also points to other barriers, which need to be surmounted if effective dissemination of systematic reviews on a computer database is to occur, in particular the need to facilitate the data's interpretation by users.