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Quality, Equity and Utility of Observational Studies during 10 Years of Implementing the Structured Operational Research and Training Initiative in 72 Countries.

ABSTRACT: Introduction: Observational studies are often inadequately reported, making it difficult to assess their validity and generalizability and judge whether they can be included in systematic reviews. We assessed the publication characteristics and quality of reporting of observational studies generated by the Structured Operational Research and Training Initiative (SORT IT). Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of original publications from SORT IT courses. SORT IT is a global partnership-based initiative aimed at building sustainable capacity for conducting operational research according to country priorities and using the generated evidence for informed decision-making to improve public health. Reporting quality was independently assessed using an adapted version of 'Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology' (STROBE) checklist. Results: In 392 publications, involving 72 countries, 50 journals, 28 publishers and 24 disease domains, low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) first authorship was seen in 370 (94%) and LMIC last authorship in 214 (55%). Publications involved LMIC-LMIC collaboration in 90% and high-income-country-LMIC collaboration in 87%. The majority (89%) of publications were in immediate open access journals. A total of 346 (88.3%) publications achieved a STROBE reporting quality score of >85% (excellent), 41 (10.4%) achieved a score of 76-85% (good) and 5 (1.3%) a score of 65-75% (fair). Conclusion: The majority of publications from SORT IT adhere to STROBE guidelines, while also ensuring LMIC equity and collaborative partnerships. SORT IT is, thus, playing an important role in ensuring high-quality reporting of evidence for informed decision-making in public health.

SUBMITTER: Zachariah R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7709644 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Quality, Equity and Utility of Observational Studies during 10 Years of Implementing the Structured Operational Research and Training Initiative in 72 Countries.

Zachariah Rony R Rust Stefanie S Thekkur Pruthu P Khogali Mohammed M Kumar Ajay Mv AM Davtyan Karapet K Diro Ermias E Satyanarayana Srinath S Denisiuk Olga O Griensven Johan van JV Hermans Veerle V Berger Selma Dar SD Saw Saw S Reid Anthony A Aseffa Abraham A Harries Anthony D AD Reeder John C JC

Tropical medicine and infectious disease 20201106 4

<b>Introduction:</b> Observational studies are often inadequately reported, making it difficult to assess their validity and generalizability and judge whether they can be included in systematic reviews. We assessed the publication characteristics and quality of reporting of observational studies generated by the Structured Operational Research and Training Initiative (SORT IT). <b>Methods:</b> A cross-sectional analysis of original publications from SORT IT courses. SORT IT is a global partners ...[more]

PMID: 33172059

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Project description:BackgroundChinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) introduced the Structured Operational Research Training Initiative (SORT IT) into China to build a special capacity and equip public health professionals with an effective tool to support developing countries in strengthening their operational research. The paper aims to investigate and analyze the implementation, outcomes and challenges of the first cycle of SORT IT in China.Main textAs a result of the successful implementation, SORT IT China, Cycle 1 has demonstrated fruitful outputs as exemplified by the 18-month follow-up to the post-training initiatives of the twelve participants, who all achieved the four milestones required by SORT IT. Eleven of twelve (92%) manuscripts generated that focused on the prevention and control of malaria, influenza, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B, schistosomiasis, tuberculosis and Japanese encephalitis were published by peer-reviewed international journals with the impact factor ranging from 2.6 to 4.8. The most up-to-date citation count on February 19, 2021 was 53 times out of which 31 times were cited by Science Citation Index papers with 94.827 impact factor in total. Six senior professionals from China CDC also facilitated the whole SORT IT training scheme as co-mentors under the guidance of SORT IT mentors. The twelve participants who gained familiarity with the SORT IT courses and training principles are likely become potential mentors for future SORT IT, but they as the non-first language speakers/users of English also faced the challenge in thoroughly understanding the modules delivered in English and writing English academically to draft the manuscripts.ConclusionThe outcomes from the first cycle of SORT IT in China have led to studies contributing to narrowing the knowledge gap among numerous public health challenges nationally and internationally. It is believed the researchers who participated will continue to apply the skills learned within their domain and help build the training capacity for future operational research courses both in China and in developing countries with similar needs.

Project description:IntroductionSurgery and the training of young surgeons face various challenges. Work hour restrictions, demographic changes, medicolegal demands, as well as economic constraints have led to changes in patient care and thus changed surgical residency. In addition to the daily training at work, several theoretical and practical courses are offered to surgical residents. The aim of this manuscript is to provide an overview of the existing courses and programs for surgical residents in Germany. It describes the current structure of surgical training in Germany for 10 subspecialties and sets out existing approaches to implement structured surgical training by professional associations as well as by commercial providers.Materials and methodsThe official homepages of 10 surgical associations were analyzed for information on structured surgical training and a Google search for surgical training programs was conducted. Then, the websites of two commercial providers were searched for information in courses. In addition, the members of the German Young Surgeons Association were asked open questions about the existence of structured resident training and additional training opportunities in their specialty. The courses were analyzed for structural characteristics such as the price and type of course (single course, exam preparatory course, and structured program). A structured program was defined as a set of courses based on learning objectives that are designed to cover all aspects of the specialty and include some form of summative or formative assessment.ResultsSeveral courses are offered by varied providers; some of them associated with surgical associations and some commercial. Seven of 10 professional associations offer single courses and six of them offer exam preparatory courses. Commercial providers only offer single courses. All of these courses are optional; there is no requirement to take part in any of them. None of them is free of charge, but most offer discounts for members of surgical societies. Only one structured program exists for orthopedics and trauma surgery. A fixed schedule does not exist for any surgical subspecialty, but it is rather the responsibility of the trainee or his/her supervisor to pick or suggest a course that suits their personal state of knowledge.DiscussionUntil now, it depends on personal motivation and the generosity of hospitals whether or not surgical residents will receive training outside of their training hospital. Various external courses are offered in all surgical subspecialties to complement on-the-job training. It is unknown how many residents take part in them. The implementation of new, competence-based specialist training regulations in Germany in 2018 may facilitate a change in surgical education. Simulation-based education can promote the acquisition and consolidation of surgical skills. Additional training possibilities and structured programs should be implemented in surgical resident training to foster competence-based education and surgical proficiency.

Project description:BackgroundDespite significant investments to support primary care internationally, income-based inequities in access to quality health care are present in many high-income countries. This study aims to determine whether low- and middle-income groups are more likely to report poor quality of primary care (PC) than high-income groups cross-nationally.MethodsThe 2011 Commonwealth Fund Telephone Survey of Sicker Adults is a cross-sectional study across eleven countries. Respondents were recruited from randomly selected households. We used data from surveys conducted in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We identified all questions relating to primary care performance, and categorized these into five dimensions: 1) access to care, 2) coordination 3) patient-centered care, and 4) technical quality of care. We used logistic regression with low and middle-income as the comparison groups and high-income as the referent.ResultsFourteen thousand two hundred sixty-two respondents provided income data. Countries varied considerably in their extent of income disparity. Overall, 24.7% were categorized as low- and 13.9% as high-income. The odds of reporting poor access to care were higher for low- and middle-income than high-income respondents in Canada, New Zealand and the US. Similar results were found for Sweden and Norway on coordination; the opposite trend favoring the low- and middle-income groups was found in New Zealand, United Kingdom, and the United States. The odds of reporting poor patient-centered care were higher for low-income than high-income respondents in the Netherlands, Norway, and the US; in Australia, this was true for low- and middle-income respondents. On technical quality of care, the odds of reporting poor care were higher for the low- and middle-income comparisons in Canada and Norway; in Germany, the odds were higher for low-income respondents only. The odds of reporting poor technical quality of care were higher for high-income than low-income respondents in the Netherlands.ConclusionInequities in quality PC for low and middle income groups exist on at least one dimension in all countries, including some that in theory provide universal access. More research is needed to fully understand equity in the PC sector.

Project description:Background: In Brazil, secondary data for epidemiology are largely available. However, they are insufficiently prepared for use in research, even when it comes to structured data since they were often designed for other purposes. To date, few publications focus on the process of preparing secondary data. The present findings can help in orienting future research projects that are based on secondary data. Objective: Describe the steps in the process of ensuring the adequacy of a secondary data set for a specific use and to identify the challenges of this process. Methods: The present study is qualitative and reports methodological issues about secondary data use. The study material was comprised of 6,059,454 live births and 73,735 infant death records from 2004 to 2013 of children whose mothers resided in the State of São Paulo - Brazil. The challenges and description of the procedures to ensure data adequacy were undertaken in 6 steps: (1) problem understanding, (2) resource planning, (3) data understanding, (4) data preparation, (5) data validation and (6) data distribution. For each step, procedures, and challenges encountered, and the actions to cope with them and partial results were described. To identify the most labor-intensive tasks in this process, the steps were assessed by adding the number of procedures, challenges, and coping actions. The highest values were assumed to indicate the most critical steps. Results: In total, 22 procedures and 23 actions were needed to deal with the 27 challenges encountered along the process of ensuring the adequacy of the study material for the intended use. The final product was an organized database for a historical cohort study suitable for the intended use. Data understanding and data preparation were identified as the most critical steps, accounting for about 70% of the challenges observed for data using. Conclusion: Significant challenges were encountered in the process of ensuring the adequacy of secondary health data for research use, mainly in the data understanding and data preparation steps. The use of the described steps to approach structured secondary data and the knowledge of the potential challenges along the process may contribute to planning health research.

Dataset Information

Quality, Equity and Utility of Observational Studies during 10 Years of Implementing the Structured Operational Research and Training Initiative in 72 Countries.

Publications

Quality, Equity and Utility of Observational Studies during 10 Years of Implementing the Structured Operational Research and Training Initiative in 72 Countries.

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