INTRODUÇÃO: Lesões vegetantes malignas (LVM) resultam da infiltração cutânea por células cancerígenas e, ao se exteriorizarem, adquirem aspecto vegetante. Odor fétido, exsudato profuso, sangramento, dor e infecção são sintomas comuns, que se somam ao sofrimento físico e psíquico destes pacientes. O cuidado de LVM insere-se na assistência aos pacientes em cuidados paliativos. OBJETIVOS: Caracterizar a produção científica sobre LVM e identificar evidências para o tratamento tópico do odor fétido de LVM. MÉTODOS: Trata-se de revisão sistemática. A questão clínica de pesquisa, construída utilizando-se a estratégia PICO, foi “Quais são os tratamentos tópicos/curativos utilizados para o controle dos sintomas odor, exsudato, sangramento, dor e/ou infecção das lesões vegetantes malignas?" A busca bibliográfica ocorreu em 09/2006 e utilizou 14 bases de dados: Banco de Teses – Capes, Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações – USP, Proquest, Current Controlled Trials, BDENF, CINAHL, Embase, PubMed, Ovid, PsycInfo, Scopus, Web of Science, Lilacs e EBM Reviews. Não houve restrição quanto ao desenho de estudo e idioma. Os dados foram extraídos pelo pesquisador A, checados pelo B e decisões ocorreram em consenso. Pela análise dos resumos, foram incluídos estudos sobre LVM e que abordaram no mínimo 1 dos 5 sintomas investigados. Os estudos sobre odor foram analisados na íntegra e classificados quanto à qualidade do estudo, nível de evidência e grau de recomendação. RESULTADOS: Obteve-se 11.111 estudos, dos quais 325 (2.93%) referiam-se ao controle de algum dos sintomas das LVM por meio de intervenções tópicas: 12,37% relacionavam-se ao odor, 16,77% ao exsudato, 17,82% ao sangramento, 31,03% à dor e 22,01% à infecção de LVM; outros 202 estudos foram excluídos por não tratarem dos sintomas em análise. Entre os estudos (n=34) que analisaram o controle do odor, 5 foram ensaios clínicos (14,71%), 20 revisões narrativas (58,82%), 5 séries de casos, 3 relatos de caso (8,82%) e 1 estudo de prevalência (2,94%). Foram identificados 16 tratamentos tópicos. Gel de Metronidazol tópico apresentou Evidência Forte para o controle do odor (grau A, nível 1C); Curativo de Carvão Ativado e Curativo de Mesalt, Evidência moderada (grau B, nível 2B); Pomada de Curcumin, Evidência Moderada (grau B, nível 2C). Evidência Fraca (grau C) e Muito Fraca (grau D) foram observadas em 12 tratamentos tópicos, que foram: Intervenções com Antibióticos tópicos, Chá verde, Enzimas tópicas, Hidrogéis, Iogurte, Mel, Óleos essenciais, Óleo essencial tópico (associado à Clorofila VO e Antibiótico sistêmico), Pasta de açúcar, Soluções anti-sépticas, Sulfadiazina de Prata e Trióxido de arsênico. A heterogeneidade das intervenções e a qualidade metodológica dos estudos não permitiram metanálise. CONCLUSÕES: Dos 11.111 estudos identificados, 2.93% (n=325) referiam-se aos sintomas em análise por meio de tratamentos tópicos. Dos 59 estudos sobre odor, 34 estudos atenderam a todos os critérios de inclusão. Encontraram-se poucos estudos de boa qualidade e as principais limitações metodológicas foram os desenhos dos estudos, o tamanho da amostra e a ausência de escalas para mensuração do odor. Encontrou-se evidência Grau A ou B para o tratamento de LVM com Gel de Metronidazol Tópico, Curativo de Carvão Ativado, Curativo de Mesalt e Pomada de Curcumin. / INTRODUCTION: Fungating malignant wounds (FMW) is the result of the cutaneous infiltration by cancerous cells and, when exteriorized, they acquire fungating aspect. Malodour, exudate, bleeding, pain and infection are common symptoms, wich are added to the psychological and physical suffering of these patients. The manage of FMW is inserted in the assistance of patients in palliative care. OBJECTIVE: To characterize the scientific literature on FMW and to identify evidences for the topical therapy of malodour in FMW. METHODS: Systematic review. The clinical question of research, using the strategy PICO, was \"Which are the topical/dressings therapy are used for the control of the malodour, exudate, bleeding, pain or infection of FMW? \" The bibliographical search occurred in 09/2006 and it used 14 databases: Banco de Teses – Capes, Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações – USP, Proquest, Current Controlled Trials, BDENF, CINAHL, Embase, PubMed, Ovid, PsycInfo, Scopus, Web of Science, Lilacs and EBM Reviews. The data were extracted by reviewer A, checked by B and decisions were taken in consensus. By the analysis of the abstracts, studies about FMW that approached 1 of the 5 investigated symptoms were included. The studies about malodour were entirely analyzed and classified as regards the quality of the study, evidence level and recommendation degree. RESULTS: It was obtained 11.111 studies and of those, 325 (2.93%) referred to the control of some symptoms of FMW through of topical interventions: 12,37% related to the malodour, 16,77% to the exudate, 17,82% to the bleeding, 31,03% to the pain and 22,01% to the infection of FMW; other 202 studies were excluded once they treat other symptoms. Among the studies (n=34) that analyzed the control of the malodour, 5 were clinical trials (14,71%), 20 narrative reviews (58,82%), 5 series of cases, 3 case reports (8,82%) and 1 prevalence study (2,94%); they identified 16 topical treatments. Topical Metronidazole gel presented Strong Evidence for the control of the malodour (degree A, level 1C); Activated Charcoal Dressing and Mesalt Dressing, moderate Evidence (degree B, level 2B); Ointment of Curcumin, Moderate Evidence (degree B, level 2C). Weak evidence (degree C) and Very Weak (degree D) were observed in 12 topical therapy, that were: Interventions with topical Antibiotics, green Tea, topical Enzymes, Hidrogels, Honey, Yogurt, essential Oils, topical essential Oil (associate to the Clorofila PO and systemic Antibiotic), Paste of sugar, antiseptic Solutions, Silver Sulfadiazine and Arsenic trioxide lotion. The heterogeneity of the interventions and the methodological quality of the studies didn\'t allow meta-analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Among of the 11.111 identified studies, 2.93% (n=325) they referred to the symptoms in analysis through topical therapies. Of the 59 studies about malodour, 34 attended to all of the inclusion criteria. There were few studies of good quality and the main methodological limitations were the designs of the studies, the size of the sample and the absence of scales for mensuration of the malodour. Evidence degree A or B was found for treatment of FMW with Topical Metronidazol Gel, Activated Charcoal Dressing, Mesalt Dressing and Ointment of Curcumin

Made available in DSpace on 2016-01-26T12:51:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 wilsondaher_tese.pdf: 263101 bytes, checksum: dfa07428664787d43d21bbad4cb1b10a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-06-08 / This essay is a historical-review study aiming to revise some reports based on reflexions of authors of the health field in relation to Evidence-Based-Medicine since its beginning until the current tendencies. Despite the great technological and scientific advances nowadays, we have been wondering about if there is some space for medical practice as art connected with science. The research was outlined based in some events and figures from the history of medicine, mainly the ones concerned to Gerolamo Fracastoro,s seminaria prima , Louis Pasteur, s néants and Ignácio Philipe Semmelweis, s dirty hands . Through these, we were able to understand a direction to the scientific knowledge by means of these author,s privileged intuition and others to the highest point; that his, the so-called Evidence-Based-Medicine. Through history, we have been certified that our ancestor from the medical field had coped with precarious science, however using much work and art to fulfil such failure. This should guide to return of an intuitive creativity parallel to the current knowledge available nowadays, therefore, the Evidence-Based-Medicine can be the great further advances for clinical activities / Este ensaio de natureza histórica, teve como objetivo a revisão de trabalhos e reflexões de vários autores da área de saúde, desde a Renascença até a data atual, visando os primórdios e a compreensão crítica da atual tendência denominada Medicina Baseada em Evidências. Procuramos compreender se, malgrado os grandes avanços científicos e tecnológicos de nossa era, ainda restaria espaço para o exercício da medicina como arte aliada à ciência. Tomando como fio condutor da pesquisa, alguns fatos e personagens da história da medicina, principalmente os que se referem à concepção da seminária prima de Gerolamo Fracastoro, aos nadas de Louis Pasteur e às "mãos sujas" denunciadas por Ignácio Philipe Semmelweis, pudemos vislumbrar o caminho aberto para o conhecimento científico, tantas vezes pela intuição privilegiada destes e de outros autores, para a culminância da chamada Medicina Baseada em Evidências. Compreendemos que a história de nossos antepassados da área médica, de ciência precária, mas muito engenho e arte para suprir tal deficiência, deveria nortear-nos ainda, não para um retomo ao obscurantismo científico, mas a uma retomada da criatividade intuitiva que, aliada ao conhecimento atualmente disponível, poderá fazer da Medicina Baseada em Evidências, um verdadeiro salto para o futuro das atividades clínicas.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-24T19:22:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 THAYNARA BOING.pdf: 2103458 bytes, checksum: e706074b69bce3f72ba788d2a4560bc1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-04-26 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The aim of this systematic review was to compare the clinical effectiveness of non-carious cervical restorations with glass ionomer cement /resin-modified glass ionomer cement (GIC/RMGIC) or composite resin (CR). The following factors were analyzed: retention rates, color, surface texture, marginal adaptation, marginal discoloration and secondary caries. Methods:According to the PRISMA guidelines, systematic review was undertaken using a selection process in two phases, different references were identified and articles were included for qualitative analysis and were included in a meta-analysis. The authors searched the following electronic database: Cochrane, Lilacs, BBO, Pubmed, Scopus and Web Of Science. Additional search of grey literature was performed. Were also searched the abstracts from the IADR (1990-2015), ongoing trials in trials registries, the CAPES database for theses and the ProQuest database for theses and dissertations. We included only randomized clinical trials. Quality of the evidence for each outcome was assessed using the GRADE tool. Results: A total of 1530 articles were identified, but only 19 articles from 15 studies remained for analysis, which were all judged at “unclear” risk of bias. Ten of the 15 studies evaluated resin-modifed glass ionomer cements, (GIC/RMGIC) that showed higher retention rates in all follow-ups (1 to 3 years; p < 0.0001 and at 5 years; p< 0.00001). No difference was observed for marginal discoloration, marginal adaptation and secondary caries in all followups (p > 0.05). CR showed better color match than GIC/RMGIC only at 2 years (p = 0.03). Higher surface texture was observed in GIC/RMGIC in all follow-ups (at 1 year p= 0.0003; at 3 years p = 0.0004). Quality of evidence was graded as moderate or low due to the unclear risk of bias and imprecision in some outcomes. Conclusions: The retention rates of GIC/RMGIC were superior to composite resins in all study follow-ups, but a higher surface texture was observed in the GIC/RMGIC compared to CR. / Comparar a efetividade clínica de restaurações cervicais não cariosas com cimento de ionômero de vidro / cimento de ionômero de vidro modificado por resina (CIV/CIVMR) ou à base de resina composta (RC). Por meio de revisão sistemática da literatura, os seguintes fatores foram analisados: taxas de retenção, cor, textura de superfície, adaptação marginal, descoloração marginal e cárie secundária. Métodos: De acordo com a orientação do PRISMA, a revisão sistemática foi realizada utilizando um processo de seleção em duas fases, identificaram-se diferentes referências e os artigos foram incluídos para uma análise qualitativa e posteriormente meta– análises. Os autores pesquisaram nas seguintes bases de dados: Cochrane, Lilacs e BBO, Pubmed, Scopus e Web Of Science. Uma pesquisa adicional na literatura cinzenta foi realizada. Foram pesquisados também os resumos do IADR (1990-2015), os ensaios em andamento nos registros de ensaios clínicos, as bases de dados CAPES e ProQuest para teses e dissertações. Foram incluídos apenas ensaios clínicos randomizados. A qualidade da evidência para cada resultado foi avaliada usando a ferramenta GRADE. Resultados: Foram identificados 1530 artigos, mas apenas 19 artigos de 15 estudos (4 de acompanhamento de estudos anteriores) permaneceram para análise, os quais foram todos julgados com risco de viés "moderado". Dez dos 15 estudos avaliaram CIVMR. Os CIV/CIVMR apresentaram maiores taxas de retenção em todos os seguimentos (1 a 3 anos, p <0,0001 e 5 anos, p <0,00001). Não houve diferença para descoloração marginal, adaptação marginal e cárie secundária em todos os seguimentos (p> 0,05). A RC mostrou melhor estabilidade de cor do que CIV/CIVMR apenas aos 2 anos (p = 0,03). Observou-se maior rugosidade no CIV/CIVMR em todos os acompanhamentos (1 ano p = 0,0003, aos 3 anos p = 0,0004). A qualidade da evidência foi classificada como moderada ou baixa, devido ao risco indefinido de viés e imprecisão em alguns resultados. Conclusões: As taxas de retenção de CIV/CIVMR foram superiores às resinas compostas em todos os acompanhamentos do estudo, mas observou-se maior textura superficial nesses CIV/CIVMR em relação às RCs.

Submitted by William Justo Figueiro (williamjf) on 2015-07-06T22:12:30Z No. of bitstreams: 1 02a.pdf: 469334 bytes, checksum: d1ee27d63e3def5d073e04e680f2b027 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-06T22:12:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 02a.pdf: 469334 bytes, checksum: d1ee27d63e3def5d073e04e680f2b027 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Nenhuma / Verificou-se a prevalência do uso de medicamentos recomendados na prevenção secundária da síndrome coronariana aguda na alta hospitalar e seguimentos de seis meses e de um ano. Utilizaram-se dados de estudo de coorte no qual se incluíram pacientes de 30 anos ou mais, de ambos os sexos, egressos de hospital da região sul do Brasil. Os desfechos foram o uso dos medicamentos recomendados para prevenção secundária: antiagregante plaquetário, betabloqueador, estatina e inibidor da enzima conversora de angiotensina ou bloqueador do receptor de angiotensina; e uso de bloqueio antiplaquetário duplo. Entre as 138 pessoas incluídas, 36,2% receberam os quatro medicamentos na alta, e 64,5% usaram bloqueio antiplaquetário. Na análise não se verificou associação entre exposições e o uso dos quatro medicamentos. Quanto ao uso de bloqueio antiplaquetário verificou-se diminuição nos seguimentos, porém ele foi mais frequente nos indivíduos que realizaram intervenção coronária percutânea. A prevalência de uso dos medicamentos na alta e nos seguimentos mostrou subutilização desta terapêutica na prática clínica. / We verify the prevalence of medication recommended in secondary prevention of Acute Coronary Syndrome in patient discharge and follow-up of a six months and one year period. We used data from a cohort study which included patients 30 years old or older, of both genders, discharged of hospital in southern Brazil. The outcome was the simultaneous use of drugs recommended by scientific evidence for secondary prevention: antiplatelet agents, beta-blocker, statin and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker; and use of dual antiplatelet blockage. Among the 138 people included, 36.2% were prescribed the four drugs at discharge, and 64,5% and dual blockage. In the analysis there was no association between exposure and the use of the four drugs. Regarding the use of antiplatelet blockage there was a decrease in the follow-up, but he was more frequent in subjects who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention. The prevalence of drug use at discharge and follow-up showed underutilization of this therapy in clinical practice.

Nous avons réalisé un état des lieux de la prise en charge des femmes au moment d’un accouchement en France, dans un contexte où la médecine fondée sur les preuves occupe une place de plus en plus importante dans la pratique des professionnels, où la fermeture de nombreuses maternités entraîne une concentration des naissances dans des établissements publics et spécialisés de plus en plus grands, et où l’on souhaite répondre aux besoins des femmes et à certaines de leurs demandes.Dans une première partie nous avons décrit comment les caractéristiques des maternités contribuent à expliquer les variations dans la prise en charge des femmes. Nous avons abordé la question pour la durée du séjour en post-partum et l’organisation de la prise en charge médicale à la sortie de la maternité, et pour les actes réalisés pendant l’accouchement chez des femmes à bas risque (déclenchement, césarienne, extraction instrumentale et épisiotomie). Dans une deuxième partie nous avons cherché à estimer la part des césariennes avant travail potentiellement évitables et la part des déclenchements sans motif médical et nous avons recherché quels facteurs étaient associés à ces actes.Le contenu des soins différait peu selon la taille ou le niveau de spécialisation de la maternité, sauf pour les interventions potentiellement évitables ou sans motif médical, plus fréquentes dans les petites maternités moins spécialisées, et les durées de séjour en maternité, beaucoup plus courtes dans les grandes maternités et celles de type 3. A l’inverse, le statut privé de la maternité influençait de manière forte la prise en charge des femmes : les interventions y étaient plus fréquentes, parfois en réponse à des demandes des femmes (déclenchements sans motif médical). Les caractéristiques médicales des femmes avaient un impact sur la réalisation des interventions obstétricales, avec des associations similaires à celles déjà publiées, mais les caractéristiques sociales des femmes influaient peu sur le contenu des soins.Les résultats fournissent un bilan général, utile pour évaluer les politiques de santé publique. Ils soulèvent des questions sur l’organisation des services et les processus qui conduisent aux décisions de réaliser certaines interventions obstétricales. / We assessed practices during delivery and the postpartum period in France, in a context where evidence based medicine plays a more and more important role in professional practice, where the closure of maternity units leads to a concentration of births in large public and specialized units, and where professionals want to meet the needs of women and some of their requests.We first described how maternity units’ characteristics contribute to explain variations in obstetrical intervention’s rates. We studied postpartum length-of-stay and support for women after discharge from maternity unit, and interventions performed during labor among low-risk women (inductions, cesareans, instrumental deliveries and episiotomy).In a second part we estimated the proportions of potentially avoidable cesarean deliveries and inductions without medical indications; we also investigated which factors were associated with these interventions.Obstetrical practices differed slightly depending on the size or the level of care of maternity units, except potentially avoidable cesareans, which were more frequent in small and low-specialized units, and postpartum length-of-stay, which were shorter in large and type 3 units. On the contrary, the private status of the unit strongly influenced the management of delivery: all studied interventions were more frequent in private units, sometimes in response to maternal requests (inductions without medical indications for example). Women’s medical characteristics had an impact on obstetric intervention rates; the associations were similar to those previously reported in other publications. However social characteristics had little influence on the content of care.The results provide an overall evaluation, useful for assessing perinatal public health policies. They raise questions about maternity unit organization and processes that lead to decisions to perform obstetrical interventions.

Introdução: A Medicina Baseada em Evidências, apesar da grande profusão de publicações da área, enfrenta desafios no intuito de melhorar a qualidade da assistência à saúde. O conhecimento gerado por suas publicações demora a ser posta em prática. Os softwares CDSS de apoio à decisão clínica, podem ser a solução de incorporação das evidências na prática clínica. Esses sistemas já foram associados a melhorias na qualidade de diversos aspectos da assistência à saúde, como a organização, minimização de erros, redução de custos, aumento da eficiência dos cuidados, mas pesquisas com desfechos centrados no paciente ainda são raras. Como outra qualquer intervenção em saúde, as afirmações de que os CDSS são benéficos para o paciente necessitam de confirmação por ensaios clínicos. Objetivos: Verificar se o uso dos CDSS com base em evidências, está associado com melhores resultados clínicos orientados para o paciente. Métodos: Revisão sistemática da literatura dos ensaios clínicos controlados e randomizados que compararam diretamente o uso de CDSS com práticas clínicas convencionais considerando os desfechos clínicos classificados como orientados para o paciente. Resultados: Nossa estratégia de pesquisa identificou 51283 artigos na base MEDLINE-PubMed, sendo 311 selecionados para leitura de título e resumo após a aplicação do filtro para ensaio clínico randomizado, 45 selecionados para leitura do texto completo, dos quais 19 preencheram o critério de elegibilidade. Outros 9 ensaios foram incluídos através da realização de um overview das revisões sistemáticas anteriores. Os ensaios foram publicados entre os anos de 1995 e 2015 e realizados em cinco contextos assistenciais, com duração máxima de 12 meses. A maioria das fontes de evidências que alimentaram os sistemas foram diretrizes de órgão governamental ou sociedades de especialidades. Doze ensaios avaliaram mortalidade, 14 avaliaram hospitalizações ou atendimento de emergência e 6 avaliaram desfechos relacionados a presença de sintomas. Foram realizadas meta-análises de acordo com o contexto assistencial e o tipo de desfecho. Somente uma meta-análise envolvendo a mortalidade de pacientes tratados em ambulatório por diferentes condições clínicas se mostrou estatisticamente significante, favorável ao grupo CDSS, em 3 ensaios randomizados por aglomerado, com risco de viés considerado moderado, que compromete a qualidade da evidência. Conclusões Apesar do potencial dos CDSS no apoio de intervenções de saúde, não há evidência de boa qualidade de que sejam efetivos para aumentar a sobrevida ou a qualidade de vida dos pacientes. O número de ensaios que avaliam esses desfechos, os períodos de tempo pelos quais os pacientes foram seguidos, o número insuficiente de participantes, bem como a heterogeneidade entre os estudos analisados quanto aos cenários clínicos e as fontes de informação que alimentam os softwares não permitiram resultados mais conclusivos / Background: In spite of the wealth of publications in the field, Evidence-Based Medicine faces challenges in order to improve quality of health care. It takes too long for knowledge produced by its publications to be put into practice. Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) may be a solution for incorporation of evidence into clinical practice. These systems have been associated with improvements in quality of various aspects of health care, including its organization, error minimizations, cost reductions and increases in its efficiency, but patient-oriented outcomes are still rare in research literature. Like any other healthcare intervention, claims that CDSS are beneficial for patients need to be confirmed by clinical trials. Objective: To verify whether the use of evidence-based Clinical Decision Support Systems is associated with improved patient-oriented clinical outcomes. Methods: Systematic literature review of randomized controlled trials that directly compared the use of CDSS with usual practice considering clinical outcomes classified as patient-oriented. Results: Our search strategy has identified 51,283 entries in MEDLINE-PubMed and, after filtering for randomized controlled trials 311 papers were selected for title and abstract reading. Forty-five were selected for full-text reading of which 19 have met eligibility criteria. Another nine trials were included after an overview of previous systematic reviews. Trials were published between 1995 and 2015 and performed in five care settings with a maximum follow-up of 12 months. Most evidence sources feeding systems´ knowledge bases were government agency guidelines or specialty societies. Twelve trials have assessed mortality, 14 have assessed hospital admissions and/or emergency visits and nine have assessed symptom-related outcomes. Meta-analyses were performed according to trials´ care setting and outcome types. Only a meta-analysis of three cluster-randomized trials involving mortality among outpatients with different clinical conditions was statistically significant, favouring CDSS group, but risk of bias was moderate, compromising the quality of evidence. Conclusions: Despite the potential of CDSS to improve healthcare quality there is no reliable evidence that they improve patients´ life extension or quality. The insufficient numbers of trials assessing these outcomes, studies´ subjects and follow-up periods, the heterogeneities of clinical settings across studies and knowledge bases feeding the systems impede achieving results that are more conclusive

La longévité est un enjeu majeur des prochaines décennies. La conséquence de cette longévité est l'émergence des maladies chroniques. Il est aujourd'hui admis que le vieillissement individuel est fortement influencé par des variables biologiques, psychologiques, environnementales et sociales. La prévention commence à la naissance pour se poursuivre tout au long de la vie. C'est pourquoi, une consultation de prévention à des moments clés du parcours de vie notamment au moment de la retraite est largement conseillée. Notre travail de doctorat a consisté, grâce à la mise en place de plusieurs recherches-actions dans les Centres d'examens de santé de l'Assurance maladie, à documenter par la preuve scientifique, démarche qui rejoint celle de l'Evidence-Based Medecine, la construction d'un examen périodique de santé dédié aux séniors. Les recherches-actions ont concerné trois problématiques de santé publique des personnes âgées que sont la chute, les troubles cognitifs et la dégénérescence maculaire liée à l'âge. Chaque recherche-action a apporté sa contribution à la construction de cet examen de santé senior : une meilleure connaissance des caractéristiques des chuteurs avec élaboration d'un score prédictif de chute et de stratégies de prise en charge de ce risque, des outils simples de repérage des troubles cognitifs légers, un dépistage de la dégénérescence maculaire liée à l'âge via la télémédecine. D'autres thématiques de santé seront à explorer mais les Centres d'examens de santé se positionnent d'ores et déjà, comme des acteurs déterminants de la prise en charge des populations vieillissantes

This study examines tools and practices involved in a large scale and multi-sited clinical trial of a potential drug against obesity. Two tools are in focus: a clinical research protocol and a computer control system. The analysis is based on there being different ways in which the tools are localized in order for the work to flow smoothly and to produce reliable data. It does this through delineating different types of work performed: production tasks, classical managerial work, compliance work and the work of coordinating beliefs and goals. The study is based on interviews, observations and documentary analysis. Through describing these types of work and how it is organized, the study emphasizes the trial as being part of an industrial production process. Hence, the tools are used not only to produce reliable data, but also to manage the work of the tools’ users in order to enable a smooth production process. In line with such a description, the protocol and computer control system are seen as objects that discipline practice, something that also resonates in the way staff talk about their work. The dissertation shows how the tools, despite this, leave room for aspects of clinical trial work that are both rational/technical and experiential/contingent. The dissertation also shows that obesity is enacted in different ways in the practices performed in the trial. Making sense of these somewhat contradictory enactments requires work referred to as coordination of beliefs about what obesity is, as well as of the different goals of the trial. By such a focus on invisible work, the dissertation shows that those nurses, dieticians and doctors involved in the everyday follow-through of the trial have a strategic position in mediating between pharmaceutical companies and their potential market for the drug under study, namely the trial participants.

This thesis examines philosophical controversies surrounding the evaluation of medical treatments, with a focus on the evidential roles of randomised trials and mechanisms in Evidence-Based Medicine. Current 'best practice' usually involves excluding non-randomised trial evidence from systematic reviews in cases where randomised trials are available for inclusion in the reviews. The first paper challenges this practice and evaluates whether adding of evidence from non-randomised trials might improve the quality and precision of some systematic reviews. The second paper compares the alleged methodological benefits of randomised trials over observational studies for investigating treatment benefits. It suggests that claims about the superiority of well-conducted randomised controlled trials over well-conducted observational studies are justified, especially when results from the two methods are contradictory. The third paper argues that postulating the unpredictability paradox in systematic reviews when no detectable empirical differences can be found requires further justification. The fourth paper examines the problem of absence causation in the context of explaining causal mechanisms and argues that a recent solution (Barros 2013) is incomplete and requires further justification. Solving the problem by describing absences as causes of 'mechanism failure' fails to take into account the effects of absences that lead to vacillating levels of mechanism functionality (i.e. differences in effectiveness or efficiency). The fifth paper criticises literature that has emphasised functioning versus 'broken' or 'non-functioning' mechanisms emphasising that many diseases result from increased or decreased mechanism function, rather than complete loss of function. Mechanistic explanations must account for differences in the effectiveness of performed functions, yet current philosophical mechanistic explanations do not achieve this. The last paper argues that the standard of evidence embodied in the ICE theory of technological function (i.e. testimonial evidence and evidence of mechanisms) is too permissive for evaluating whether the proposed functions of medical technologies have been adequately assessed and correctly ascribed. It argues that high-quality evidence from clinical studies is necessary to justify functional ascriptions to health care technologies. / <p>QC 20150312</p>

L'information est un des besoins les plus importants des patients atteints de cancer. Leurs attentes fortes, variables et hétérogènes, en matière d'informations sur les différents aspects de la prise en charge de la maladie, soulèvent la question de la qualité de ces informations mises à disposition des patients. L'élaboration d'outils d'information et d'aide à la décision de qualité, qu'ils soient destinés aux cliniciens, tels que les recommandations pour la pratique clinique (RPC), ou aux patients, tels que des documents écrits d'information, implique la prise en compte des trois composantes essentielles de la décision médicale : données actuelles de la science (evidence-based medicine), expertise professionnelle, et préférences et valeurs des patients. Pour pouvoir baser la décision médicale sur ces trois dimensions, l'enjeu est de partager avec les patients les données actuelles de la science, et d'intégrer les préférences des patients dans les RPC. Notre hypothèse est qu'il est possible d'intégrer les préférences des patients à deux niveaux de production des connaissances : l'élaboration de documents écrits d'information des patients dans le cadre du programme SOR SAVOIR Patient d'une part, et l'élaboration de RPC pour les cliniciens d'autre part. Les résultats de ces travaux fournissent une contribution méthodologique pour améliorer la qualité des documents écrits et impliquer les patients atteints de cancer dans le développement de ces informations