Article type
Year
Abstract
Introduction: In the UK there is evidence from producers of human albumin that there has been an approximate 50% decrease in its use over the last year. It is probably reasonable to attribute at least some of this reduction to the Cochrane Review, the associated BMJ article and the resulting media coverage. However, this leaves unanswered which "version" of the review actually triggered action at a local level, and by whom this action was taken. Reviews of trials on the impact of printed material suggest that achieving such a large effect is unusual, even taking into account the dramatic nature of the findings and that the intervention was more than just simple dissemination of printed material, incorporating elements of a mass media campaign. Beginning to explore how any changes in human albumin use have come about at a local level must thus be worthy of detailed scrutiny. Setting: The West Midlands health region of the UK, a central inland mixed urban and rural area with a population of 5.6 million, centred on the city of Birmingham. There are 24 main acute hospitals.
Objectives: These are to:
1. Identify acute hospitals where records are kept of the amount of human albumin purchased.
2. In two hospitals, chosen at random from all those where the amount of human albumin purchased can be confirmed to have decreased, to identify the individuals who were its main users.
3. To interview all these to a) confirm whether or not they have consciously decreased their use of human albumin b) identify the ultimate source of what convinced them to decrease or leave unchanged their use of human albumin.
Methods: Telephone survey, followed by face-to-face interviews as necessary
Results: I have identified that in most hospitals in our region the ordering and distribution of human albumin is handled by departments of haematology. Further survey work will continue between. May and July 1999.
Discussion: It is anticipated that this simple study will provide useful insights into the successful dissemination of the results of Cochrane Reviews by documenting the path by which one particular review's results were transmitted to those who took direct action.
Objectives: These are to:
1. Identify acute hospitals where records are kept of the amount of human albumin purchased.
2. In two hospitals, chosen at random from all those where the amount of human albumin purchased can be confirmed to have decreased, to identify the individuals who were its main users.
3. To interview all these to a) confirm whether or not they have consciously decreased their use of human albumin b) identify the ultimate source of what convinced them to decrease or leave unchanged their use of human albumin.
Methods: Telephone survey, followed by face-to-face interviews as necessary
Results: I have identified that in most hospitals in our region the ordering and distribution of human albumin is handled by departments of haematology. Further survey work will continue between. May and July 1999.
Discussion: It is anticipated that this simple study will provide useful insights into the successful dissemination of the results of Cochrane Reviews by documenting the path by which one particular review's results were transmitted to those who took direct action.