Article type
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Abstract
Background: continuous medical education is essential for providing the best quality of care to patients. In the last two decades the availability of evidence and sources of information have been increasing. Despite this, it is not clear which sources physicians prefer for filling gaps in their medical knowledge.
Objectives: to summarize the available evidence about physicians’ preferences, and perceived barriers and facilitators to sources of information.
Methods: we undertook an overview of systematic reviews (SRs) according to PRISMA guidelines. We searched Epistemonikos from inception until March 2019. We also searched PROSPERO and performed a forward citation search in Scopus. Inclusion criteria considered SRs (qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods) that focused on physicians’ preferences about sources of information, as well as the perceived barriers and facilitators. Two authors independently screened and selected records for inclusion. We appraised the quality of included SRs using the Joanna Briggs Institute checklist, and the overlap of primary studies according to the corrected covered area formula (CCA). We conducted a narrative synthesis of quantitative data and a thematic analysis of qualitative findings.
Preliminary results: our initial search strategy yielded 4776 unique references, from which four SRs were finally included (Figure 1). Overall quality assessment was 81% and overlap was 0.64% (slight overlap). The main information sources reported by physicians were consultation with colleagues and electronic resources. Only one study explicitly mentioned Cochrane. The most important barriers perceived were lack of time, lack of search skills, and lack of recognition of information needs to fill gaps. The main perceived facilitators were the availability of access to electronic resources, and the current educational efforts around evidence-based medicine topics.
Conclusions: despite the increase in the number of sources of information, non-systematized resources, such as colleagues’ opinions, are still a frequent and preferred choice for physicians. Our findings might contribute to reinforce the need for developing effective educational programs that focus on overcoming barriers of usage of more updated and systematized resources, and also for adopting policies that guarantee the availability and time for using these resources.
Patient or healthcare consumer involvement: no patients were involved in the development of this research.
Objectives: to summarize the available evidence about physicians’ preferences, and perceived barriers and facilitators to sources of information.
Methods: we undertook an overview of systematic reviews (SRs) according to PRISMA guidelines. We searched Epistemonikos from inception until March 2019. We also searched PROSPERO and performed a forward citation search in Scopus. Inclusion criteria considered SRs (qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods) that focused on physicians’ preferences about sources of information, as well as the perceived barriers and facilitators. Two authors independently screened and selected records for inclusion. We appraised the quality of included SRs using the Joanna Briggs Institute checklist, and the overlap of primary studies according to the corrected covered area formula (CCA). We conducted a narrative synthesis of quantitative data and a thematic analysis of qualitative findings.
Preliminary results: our initial search strategy yielded 4776 unique references, from which four SRs were finally included (Figure 1). Overall quality assessment was 81% and overlap was 0.64% (slight overlap). The main information sources reported by physicians were consultation with colleagues and electronic resources. Only one study explicitly mentioned Cochrane. The most important barriers perceived were lack of time, lack of search skills, and lack of recognition of information needs to fill gaps. The main perceived facilitators were the availability of access to electronic resources, and the current educational efforts around evidence-based medicine topics.
Conclusions: despite the increase in the number of sources of information, non-systematized resources, such as colleagues’ opinions, are still a frequent and preferred choice for physicians. Our findings might contribute to reinforce the need for developing effective educational programs that focus on overcoming barriers of usage of more updated and systematized resources, and also for adopting policies that guarantee the availability and time for using these resources.
Patient or healthcare consumer involvement: no patients were involved in the development of this research.
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