A mastite lactacional é um processo inflamatório da mama que pode, ou não ser acompanhada de infecção, causa manifestações clínicas desconfortáveis, contribuindo para o desmame precoce, onerando os custos no cuidado, tornando-se um problema de saúde pública. Este estudo teve como objetivo propor uma nova ficha de registro para mulheres que internam por mastite lactacional no município de Ribeirão Preto, com base na prática assistencial e evidências científicas. Foi desenvolvido em três fases, a primeira buscou informações para o tratamento de mulheres que necessitaram de internação na rede pública hospitalar do município de Ribeirão Preto em registros do projeto \"Floresce uma vida\", vinculado ao Programa de Aleitamento Materno de Ribeirão Preto e em prontuários médicos, a segunda visou a buscar evidências científicas para o tratamento de mastite lactacional através de revisão integrativa de literatura e a terceira fase constou de uma nova proposta de ficha para registro de mulheres que necessitam de internação no município de Ribeirão Preto. A fase I mostrou o perfil de 114 mulheres internadas para tratamento de mastite lactacional na rede pública de referência entre os anos de 2009 a 2013. As características dos dados sociodemográficos não coincidem com o que vem sendo descrito na literatura atual. Em relação aos dados obstétricos o estudo mostrou que as mais acometidas são as primíparas e que a maioria teve alguma intercorrência frente à amamentação antes da necessidade de internação, 62 (54,4%) mulheres tiveram abscesso mamário, 27 (51,9%) tiveram resultado de Staphylococcus aureus e 21(18,4%) desmamaram em consequência do abscesso. A terapêutica para mastite lactacional uniu medicação tópica, sistêmica e terapêutica complementar. A fase II selecionou nove artigos que respondiam à questão do estudo entre 2000-2013, as terapêuticas encontradas para mastite lactacional foram alternativas com probióticos, convencional e para abscessos. A fase III validou a nova \"Ficha de registro da assistência à mulher na amamentação durante a internação por intercorrências mamárias\" com a concordância de especialistas entre 80% e 100%. Este estudo uniu a prática assistencial e evidências científicas como base na formulação de um instrumento com o objetivo de identificar práticas não aceitáveis para mastite lactacional, proporcionando aos profissionais de saúde melhores informações no desenvolvimento de sua prática clínica / Lactational Mastitis is an inflammation of the breast that may or may not be accompanied by infection, cause uncomfortable clinical manifestations, contributing to early weaning, burdening the cost in care, making it a public health problem. This study aimed to propose a new record form to women hospitalized for lactational mastitis in Ribeirão Preto, based on care practice and scientific evidence. Was developed in three phases, the first information sought for the treatment of women who required hospitalization in the public health hospitals in Ribeirão Preto in the \"Bloom a Life\" project, linked to the Breastfeeding Program of Ribeirão Preto, and hospital records, the second aimed sought scientific evidence for the treatment of lactational mastitis through integrative literature review and the third phase included a new proposal of a record form for women who require hospitalization in Ribeirão Preto. Phase I showed the profile of 114 women hospitalized for treatment of lactation mastitis in public reference hospitals between the years 2009 and 2013. A Sociodemographics characteristic of the data does not coincide with what has been described in the literature. Regarding obstetric data the study showed that the most affected are the primiparous women and the majority had some complication towards breastfeeding before hospitalization, 62 (54.4%) women had breast abscess, 27 (51.9%) of the breast milk was colonized by Staphylococcus aureus and 21 (18.4%) weaned as a result of the abscess. The treatment for lactational mastitis attached topical, systemic therapy and complementary medicine. Phase II selected nine articles that answered the question of the study between 2000-2013, the therapeutic lactational mastitis were with three categories: alternate with probiotics, conventional and abscesses. Phase III validated the new \"Registration Card assisting women with breastfeeding during hospitalization for breast complications\" with the agreement of experts from 80% to 100%. This study joined the healthcare practice and scientific evidence as a basis in formulating an instrument in order to identify unacceptable practices for lactational mastitis, providing healthcare professionals information on the development of best clinical practice

Evidence based medicine (EBM) is defined as the use of best available evidence for decision making, and it has been the predominant paradigm in clinical decision making for the last 20 years. EBM requires evidence from multiple sources to be combined, as published results may not be directly applicable to individual patients. For example, randomised controlled trials (RCT) often exclude patients with comorbidities, so a clinician has to combine the results of the RCT with evidence about comorbidities using his clinical knowledge of how disease, treatment and comorbidities interact with each other. Bayesian networks (BN) are well suited for assisting clinicians making evidence-based decisions as they can combine knowledge, data and other sources of evidence. The graphical structure of BN is suitable for representing knowledge about the mechanisms linking diseases, treatments and comorbidities and the strength of relations in this structure can be learned from data and published results. However, there is still a lack of techniques that systematically use knowledge, data and published results together to build BNs. This thesis advances techniques for using knowledge, data and published results to develop and refine BNs for assisting clinical decision-making. In particular, the thesis presents four novel contributions. First, it proposes a method of combining knowledge and data to build BNs that reason in a way that is consistent with knowledge and data by allowing the BN model to include variables that cannot be measured directly. Second, it proposes techniques to build BNs that provide decision support by combining the evidence from meta-analysis of published studies with clinical knowledge and data. Third, it presents an evidence framework that supplements clinical BNs by representing the description and source of medical evidence supporting each element of a BN. Fourth, it proposes a knowledge engineering method for abstracting a BN structure by showing how each abstraction operation changes knowledge encoded in the structure. These novel techniques are illustrated by a clinical case-study in trauma-care. The aim of the case-study is to provide decision support in treatment of mangled extremities by using clinical expertise, data and published evidence about the subject. The case study is done in collaboration with the trauma unit of the Royal London Hospital.

Svår sepsis och septisk chock är sjukdomstillstånd som kan orsaka ett stort lidande för patienten genom att de är förknippade med hög mortalitet och morbiditet. Tidig identifiering och adekvat antibiotikabehandling är avgörande för prognosen. Detta ställer höga krav på ambulanssjukvårdens kvalitet. Ambulanssjukvården har behandlingsriktlinjer som ska utgöra beslutsunderlag och kvalitetssäkring för den givna vården. De potentiella vinsterna med en behandlingsriktlinje blir dock aldrig bättre än kvaliteten på behandlingsriktlinjen i sig. Studiens syfte var att granska och värdera kvaliteten på den svenska ambulanssjukvårdens behandlingsriktlinjer rörande patienter med misstänkt svår sepsis och septisk chock. En kvantitativ metod nyttjades och en totalundersökning av behandlingsriktlinjer i svensk ambulanssjukvård genomfördes, där respektive ambulansorganisation i Sveriges tjugoen landsting kontaktades. Svarsfrekvensen var 76%. Utav dessa kunde nio inkluderades i studien (N = 9). De erhållna prehospitala behandlingsriktlinjerna granskades därefter med hjälp av AGREE II-instrumentet. Resultatet belyser dels att flera organisationer helt saknar behandlingsriktlinjer rörande patienter med misstänkt svår sepsis och septisk chock (33% av alla tjugoen kontaktade landsting. 44% av de sexton som svarade) samt att de övriga behandlingsriktlinjerna har metodologiska brister i rapporteringen kring hur behandlingsriktlinjerna togs fram. Detta utgör ett hinder för att behandlingsriktlinjerna ska kunna utgöra den kvalitetssäkring de är avsedda att vara. Bristerna kan härledas till ambulanssjukvårdens organisation och skulle eventuellt kunna avhjälpas genom centralt utvecklade nationella behandlingsriktlinjer finansierade av vårdgivaren. / Program: Specialistsjuksköterskeutbildning med inriktning mot ambulanssjukvård

Orientador: Regina Paolucci El Dib / Coorientador: José Fernando Marques Barcellos / Coorientador: Ana Lúcia Vasílio Carneiro / Banca: Antonio Maria Jóse Cataneo / Banca: Paulo do Nascimento Junior / Banca: Eduardo Grossmann / Banca: Frederico Motta Gonçalves Leite / Resumo: A Colaboração Cochrane (CC) é uma organização internacional que tem como objetivo ajudar profissionais da área da saúde a tomar decisões clínicas bem informadas através da preparação, manutenção e promoção da acessibilidade às revisões sistemáticas sobre os efeitos das intervenções, sensibilidade e especificidade de testes diagnósticos em saúde e associação de fatores de risco e ocorrência de determinada doença. Entretanto, alguns estudos apontaram a constante ausência ou insuficiência de evidências nas revisões sistemáticas da Colaboração Cochrane para a tomada de decisão clínica. Verificar a proporção de revisões sistemáticas completas do grupo de Odontologia da Colaboração Cochrane que permitem ou não a aplicação prática dos resultados, cujos autores consideram reunir evidências suficientes para recomendá-las ou desestimulá-las. Estudo sistemático de revisões da Biblioteca Cochrane, edição 8, 2013. Foram incluídas todas as revisões sistemáticas completas do grupo de Odontologia que preencheram os critérios de inclusão deste trabalho.143 revisões sistemáticas foram analisadas, o que correspondeu a 100% da totalidade disponível na Biblioteca pertinente ao grupo de Odontologia da Colaboração Cochrane. Evidências que apoiam a intervenção 22,38% (95% IC 16 - 29); evidências contra a intervenção 6,29% (95% IC 3 - 10); ausência de evidências 71,33% (95% IC 64 - 78). O total de revisões sistemáticas que recomendam a realização de mais estudos foi de 140 (97,90 %) (95% IC, 96 - 100). A média do número de estudos incluídos foi de 13 e o total de meta-análises incluído nas revisões sistemáticas avaliadas foi de 161. Somente 28,67% das revisões sistemáticas completas do grupo de Odontologia da Colaboração Cochrane mostraram evidências suficientes para recomendar ou desestimular o tratamento de interesse e ainda, sugeriam novos ... / Abstract: The Cochrane Collaboration (CC) is an international organization that aims to help health care professionals to making clinical decisions well informed by preparing, supporting and promoting the accessibility of systematic reviews about the intervention effects, sensibility and specificity of diagnostic health tests and association of risk factors and occurrence of a particular disease. However, some studies indicated the constant absence or insufficient evidences in systematic reviews from the Cochrane Collaboration to making clinical decision. To determine the proportion of complete systematic reviews of the Cochrane Collaboration Dentistry Group which allow or not the practical application of the results, which author consider bring enough evidence to recommend or discourage them. Systematic study of the reviews from Cochrane Library, Issue 8, 2013. Was included all the complete systematic reviews of the Dentistry Group who met inclusion criteria for this study. 143 systematic reviews were analyzed, corresponding to 100% of all available of the Library pertinent to the Cochrane Collaboration dentistry Group. Evidences supporting intervention 22,38% (95% IC 16 - 29); evidence against intervention 6,29% (95% IC 3 - 10); absence of evidence 71,33% (95% IC 64 - 78). The total of systematic reviews that recommend further studies was 140 (97,90 %) (95% IC, 96 - 100). The mean of included studies was 13 and the total of meta-analyzes included in systematic reviews evaluated was 161. Only 28,67 of the complete systematic reviews of the the Cochrane Collaboration Dentistry Group showed sufficient evidence to recommend or discourage the treatment of interest and also suggested further studies, or be, none of them showed consistent results. In 71,33% of them still absence, failing to provide to the user the best way to making clinical decision in Dentistry / Doutor

Orientador: Paulo do Nascimento Junior / Coorientador: Regina Paolucci El Dib / Banca: Yara Marcondes Machado Castiglia / Banca: Rosa Inês Costa Pereira / Resumo: As revisões sistemáticas da Colaboração Cochrane visam oferecer informações atualizadas, objetivas e com evidências consistentes para a prática clínica e para o estabelecimento de políticas de saúde. Entretanto, verifica-se frequentemente uma inconsistência de evidências e incapacidade de gerar recomendações. O objetivo desse estudo foi analisar as revisões sistemáticas do Grupo Anestesiologia da Colaboração Cochrane e mapear sua utilidade para a prática clínica e para a pesquisa científica. Realizou-se estudo transversal com análise de todas as revisões sistemáticas publicadas no Grupo Anestesiologia da Colaboração Cochrane até fevereiro de 2014, verificando-se qual o tipo de recomendação para a prática clínica e para a pesquisa científica, por meio da análise das conclusões de seus autores. Os valores são apresentados em porcentagem e intervalo de confiança de 95%. Além disso, computou-se o número de ensaios clínicos e meta-análises por revisão sistemática. 115 revisões foram analisadas. Evidências que apoiam a intervenção, com recomendação para a realização de mais estudos ou sem recomendação para mais estudos: 32,2% [IC 95% 23,7; 40,7] e 2,6% [IC 95% 0; 5,5], respectivamente. Evidências contrárias a intervenção, com recomendação para realização de mais estudos ou sem recomendação para mais estudos: 6,1% [IC 95% 1,7; 10,4] e 1,7 [IC 95% 0; 4,0], respectivamente. Ausência de evidências, com recomendação para a realização de mais estudos ou sem recomendação para mais estudos: 57,4% [IC 95% 48,4; 66,4] e 0%, respectivamente. Do total, 95,7% das revisões sugerem a realização de mais estudos independentemente dos resultados obtidos. O número médio de ensaios clínicos nas revisões foi de 19,6, variando entre zero e 737 e o número médio de meta-análises foi igual a 9,3, variando entre entre zero e 92. A maioria das revisões sistemáticas do Grupo de ... / Abstract: Cochrane Collaboration systematic reviews aim to offer updated, objective and consistent information for clinical practice and in order to settle Health policies. However, inconsistence of evidence, as well as inability of raising recommendations is being observed. The aim of this study is to analyze the systematic reviews of Cochrane Collaboration Anesthesia Group and to map its use for clinical practice and scientific research. Methods: A systematic study was conducted, having the analyzes of all systematic reviews of Cochrane Collaboration Anesthesia Group until February, 2014, and then validating which recommendation for clinical practice, based on the author's conclusions, would be more suitable. Data are shown in percentage and 95% confidence interval (CI). Besides, the number of clinical assays and meta-analyzes per systematic review is demonstrated. Results: 115 systematic reviews were analyzed. There is enough evidence to support recommendation either with or without the need of more studies, as in 32.2% and 2.6% [CI 95% 23.7; 40.7], respectively. Evidences that were opposite to interventions, with or without the need of further studies, consisted in 6.1% [CI 95% 1.7; 10.4] and 1.7% [IC 95% 0; 4.0], respectively. Absence of evidence, with or without the need of other studies, was found in 57.4% [CI 95% 48.4; 66.4] e 0%, respectively. Of all, 95.7% of the reviews suggest that independently of the results, more studies are needed to be made. The average number of clinical assays in the reviews was 19.6, ranging from zero to 737, and the average number of meta-analyzes was 9.3, ranging from zero to 92. Conclusion: Most of the systematic reviews of Cochrane Collaboration Anesthesia Group results in lack of evidence or insufficient evidence in order to recommend interventions for clinical practice, thus highlighting the need of new controlled and randomized clinical studies / Mestre

Orientador: Luciane Cruz Lopes / Banca: Juliana Alvares Duarte Bonini Campos / Banca: Jorge Otávio Maia Barreto / Resumo: Introdução: A busca da melhoria e sustentabilidade da qualidade da saúde, em sistemas públicos e privados, fortalece a necessidade da adoção de práticas de saúde baseadas em evidências (SBE) entre os profissionais de saúde. No Brasil, as percepções, conhecimentos e atitudes dos profissionais de saúde relacionados à SBE permanecem incertas. Conhecer como as práticas de SBE são implementadas, as barreiras e facilitadores para sua aplicação permite identificar quais são as necessidades educacionais e apoio para facilitar e promover a prática de SBE. Objetivo: Desenvolver e iniciar o processo de validação de um instrumento de pesquisa para avaliação da percepção, conhecimento e atitudes dos profissionais de saúde sobre as práticas de SBE. Método: Trata-se de estudo transversal de construção e validação de instrumento de pesquisa. Para selecionar os domínios a serem utilizados na elaboração do instrumento realizou-se a revisão da literatura científica. Utilizou-se a "Classification Rubric for Evidence Based Practice Assessment Tools in Education" (CREATE) como direcionamento para formulação do itens. Para a validação de conteúdo utilizou-se o método de Delphi, no qual, diferentes especialistas em SBE analisaram a representatividade dos itens em relação às áreas de conteúdo e à relevância dos objetivos a serem medidos. Para extração dos domínios efetuou-se a análise fatorial exploratória por meio da análise dos componentes principais. Realizou-se rotação ortogonal, segundo o método... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Attempts to improve the quality of healthcare and make it sustainable in public and private systems support the implementation of evidence-based health practices (EBHP) among health professionals. In Brazil, perceptions, knowledge and attitudes of health professionals on EBHP remain uncertain. Knowing how to apply EBHP, as well as barriers and facilitators to their implementation, allows to identify the education and support necessary to facilitate and promote EBHP. Objective: To develop and start the validation process of a research instrument to assess the perception, knowledge and attitudes of health professionals on EBHP. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study for the development and validation of a research instrument. To select the domains to be used, the scientific literature was reviewed. The "Classification Rubric for Evidence Based Practice Assessment Tools in Education" (CREATE) was used as a guideline to formulate the items. To validate the content, the Delphi method was used, in which different specialists in EBHP analyzed the representativeness of the items for the content areas and the relevance of the objectives to be measured. To extract the domains, an exploratory factorial analysis was performed by analyzing the main components. An orthogonal rotation was performed by following the Varimax method. The appropriateness of data to this analysis was verified by using Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) criteria and through Bartlett's test. To confirm the extraction of the number of domains, the following criteria were followed: (1) eigenvalues >1; (2) factor loadings lower than 0,50 were excluded; and... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

A prospective intervention study, using clinical practice improvement (CPI) methodology, was undertaken to reduce unnecessary x-ray examinations in the early management of patients presenting to the Emergency Department (ED). This was achieved through raising the awareness of medical and allied health staff to medical radiation by means of clinical education and implementing evidence based diagnostic imaging requisition. The main study was conducted in the ED of a public hospital located in the western Sydney, Australia. A second hospital within the area health service, with similar bed size, activity levels and demographics, was used as the control site. The first phase intervention raised the awareness of the health professionals to medical radiation. The second phase intervention used CPI methodology to attain efficient clinical practices so as to eliminate unnecessary examinations and requests. A multi-disciplinary CPI Project Team involved in the process of imaging examination requisition was empowered to improve the appropriateness of the requested examination utilisation. This it achieved mainly through the implementation of evidence based clinical decision rules and imaging guidelines. An additional method of validating the outcomes was provided through the simultaneous rollout of the interventions at another hospital within the same area health service. At the completion of the study, unnecessary examinations such as Skull, Ribs, Nasal Bone and Kidney Ureter Bladder (KUB) requests at the intervention Hospital site were significantly reduced by 92.6% (p (less than) 0.0001), whereas at the control site Hospital there was minimal reduction which was found to be not statistically significant (p=0.2110). Other frequently requested examinations such as Ankle, Knee and Spine requests were marginally though significantly reduced at the intervention Hospital by 22.7% (p (less than) 0.001), whereas at the control site Hospital the reduction was similarly found to be not significant (p=0.1055). Most importantly, the overall x-ray requisition for every 100 ED presentations at Hospital ‘B’ was reduced by 27%. The results of this study, demonstrated that Radiation Awareness educational programs, targeting medical and allied health staff, will reduce the unnecessary requisition of examinations found not to contribute to the process of the patient’s clinical management. The use of a CPI project approach was found to be important in the process of establishing, implementing and sustaining the achieved improvements, and in particular, the rules and guidelines of evidence based imaging requisition. Importantly, the study also confirmed that the CPI methodology that had been used for the main intervention was adaptable to other organisations when it was found to have been successfully rolled out at another hospital. This confirmed that the main outcomes of the investigation could be generalised to other health facilities. There was an immediate reduction in the requisition of unnecessary examination similar to the results at the main intervention hospital. The implementation and adoption of the CPI intervention across the health care system in general could significantly reduce unnecessary x-ray examinations, saving significant health care resources, and sparing patients from potential cancer risks associated with avoidable exposure to ionising medical radiation. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD (Health))

Interventions are needed to improve health outcomes by increasing the practice of evidence based medicine ( EBM ). Patient mediated interventions have been little studied but hold promise : they target identified barriers to EBM and particular types of patient mediated intervention have shown success. Furthermore, consumers are now being given information about evidence but the effects of this on EBM have yet to be properly assessed. The aim of this study was to show whether informing patients about research evidence leads to improved application of that evidence in their medical care. The study trialed a relatively low cost manual, developed using current best practice, which summarised Cochrane Reviews of evidence. The study focused on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ( COPD ), a high - cost, high - burden chronic disease, showing a large gap between evidence and clinical practice. The study comprised a controlled before - and - after trial and a process evaluation. The trial assessed the success of this manual in changing medical practice for three indicator treatments ( influenza vaccination, bone density testing and pulmonary rehabilitation ) and in changing patient quality of life, knowledge, communication with doctor, satisfaction with information and anxiety. Results were analysed by median split of socioeconomic disadvantage. At 3 months the manual was associated with lower anxiety for participants with lowest socioeconomic disadvantage. At 12 months the manual was associated with higher pulmonary rehabilitation enrolment for participants with greatest socioeconomic disadvantage. Other outcome measures showed no significant change. Limitations included loss of power from unexpectedly good baseline care and adjustments for baseline differences. The process evaluation showed that the manual was read more than a control pamphlet at both 3 and 12 months but a minority of manual recipients reported talking to their doctor about topics from the manual. Very little treatment change was reported. Patient attitudes to evidence and doctor / patient communication norms appeared to be barriers for this patient group. New protocols for the design of behavioural interventions provide a framework for overcoming these barriers in future interventions. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--School of Medicine, 2006.

<p>Att arbeta evidensbaserat innefattar både ett förhållningssätt och en process, vilket ställer krav på den enskilde arbetsterapeuten att kontinuerligt ompröva olika arbetsmetoder. Syftet med denna uppsats var att belysa arbetsterapeuters kunskap om och attityd till evidensbaserad praxis. Vidare att undersöka vilka hinder som angavs och förslag till lösning av eventuella hinder för att arbeta evidensbaserat. Metoden litteraturstudie användes och artiklarna valdes utifrån systematisk litteratursökning. Tio artiklar, publicerade 2000-2005, från fyra olika länder granskades avseende olika aspekter av evidensbaserad praxis. Resultatet visade att arbetsterapeuter har en positiv inställning till evidensbaserad praxis men arbetar förhållandevis litet evidensbaserat och på en låg nivå. Bristande kunskap/färdighet och tidsbrist var de största hindren som arbetsterapeuter angav för att implementera ett evidensbaserat arbetssätt. I de granskade artiklarna gavs också förslag till lösningar för att möjliggöra en evidensbaserad praxis och dessa lösningar fanns på flera organisatoriska nivåer.</p>

Syftet med avhandlingen var att beskriva diagnostiken och utvärdera handläggningen i primärvård av patienter med subacromial smärta. Avhandlingen omfattar fyra studier. I den första studien användes ett frågeformulär och resultaten beskriver hur distriktsläkare och distriktssjukgymnaster i ett svenskt län diagnosticerar och handlägger primärvårdspatienter med subacromial smärta. Den andra studien beskriver distriktsläkares och distriktssjukgymnasters tilltro till effekten av olika behandlingsmetoder för dessa patienter. Med utgångspunkt från de tilltrodda behandlingsmetoderna genomfördes en systematisk litteraturöversikt. Den tredje studien utvärderar intra- och interbedömar reliabilitet för ett styrketest som ingår i ett utvärderingsinstrument ‘the Constant-Murley shoulder assessment’. Den avslutande studien är en randomiserad klinisk studie som utvärderar och jämför effekten av två behandlingsstrategier, akupunktur och ultraljud, båda i kombination med hemträning. Distriktsläkare och distriktssjukgymnaster visade sig använda en likartad diagnostik. Det troligaste valet av behandling för distriktsläkare var antiinflammatoriska läkemedel och kortisoninjektion i den subacromiala bursan och för distriktssjukgymnaster rörelseträning samt ergonomiska åtgärder. Dock var de flesta behandlingsalternativen troliga val, vilket tolkas som en osäkerhet om behandlingarnas effekt. Med utgångspunkt från de behandlingsmetoder som distriktsläkare och distriktssjukgymnaster tilltrodde som effektiva för patienter med subacromial smärta, genomfördes en systematisk kritisk litteraturöversikt. Fyrtio studier inkluderades och deras evidensnivå utvärderades. Endast kortisoninjektion i den subacromiala bursan visade sig ha definitiva bevis för effekt. Akupunktur visade sig ha troliga bevis för effekt och ultraljudsbehandling konkluderades som ineffektivt för patienter med subacromial smärta. Det förelåg en låg grad av samstämmighet mellan tilltro och tillgängliga vetenskapliga bevis. En digital dynamometer kan ersätta den konventionella fjädervågen i det standardiserade styrketestet. En nästan perfekt överensstämmelse vad gäller både intra- och interbedömarreliabilitet vid test av unga skulderfriska personer, oberoende av om en ”håll emot-” eller ”dragteknik” användes eller om medel- eller maxvärden användes vid beräkningen av överensstämmelse. I den randomiserade kliniska studien inkluderades 85 patienter. Tre utvärderingsinstrument, kombinerade i resultatanalysen, utvärderade förändringen under en uppföljningsperiod på 12 månader tillsammans med patienternas subjektiva skattning av resultatet. Resultaten visade att akupunktur i kombination med hemträning är att föredra. Båda behandlingsgrupperna förbättrades signifikant och fortsatte förbättras över tid oberoende av behandling. De flesta patienter uppnådde ett tillfredställande behandlingsresultat efter 12 månader. Åtminstone tre fjärdedelar i varje behandlingsgrupp skattade sig mycket förbättrade eller helt återställda. Detta tolkas som en behandlingseffekt i kombination med naturalförloppet. Avhandlingen har beskrivit handläggningen i primärvård av patienter med subacromial smärta och har bidragit med vetenskapliga bevis för distriktsläkare att behandla med kortisoninjektion i subacromiala bursan och för distriktssjukgymnaster att behandla med akupunktur kombinerat med hemträning. / The aim of the thesis was to describe the diagnostic approach and evaluate primary care management of patients with subacromial pain. The thesis includes four different studies, a questionnaire study describing attitudes among general practitioners and physiotherapists in a Swedish county toward the diagnostic approach and management of primary care patients with subacromial pain; a combination of a systematic review and general practitioners and physiotherapists beliefs in interventions for patients with subacromial pain; a study of intra- and inter-observer reliability for the strength test in the Constant-Murley shoulder assessment; and a randomised clinical trial to evaluate and compare the efficacy of two treatment strategies for patients with subacromial pain, acupuncture combined with home exercises and continuous ultrasound combined with home exercises. In the questionnaire study we described that general practitioners and physiotherapists have a uniform diagnostic approach. The most probable choice of treatment was non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and corticosteroid injection into the subacromial bursa for general practitioners and movement exercises together with ergonomics/adjustments at work for physiotherapists, but most treatments were probable choices, reflecting an uncertainty about their effectiveness. The treatments trusted by general practitioners and physiotherapists were systematically reviewed. Forty studies were included and the level of evidence was summarised. Only corticosteroid injections into the subacromial bursa, had definitive evidence for efficacy. Acupuncture had tentative evidence for efficacy and therapeutic ultrasound was concluded as ineffective for patients with subacromial pain. The association between trusted treatments and available scientific evidence was weak. A digital dynamometer can replace the conventional spring-balance in the standardised strength test. An almost perfect agreement was found for intra- and inter-observer reliability in young shoulder-healthy persons, regardless of whether a 'resisted-force' or a 'pull-force' was used or if calculated with mean or maximum values. Eighty-five patients were included in the randomised clinical trial. Three shoulder scores, combined in the analysis, measure change during a 12 months follow-up together with a ‘patient self-evaluation’ of the experienced result. The results favoured acupuncture combined with home exercises. Both groups improved significantly and continued to improve over time independent of treatment and most of the patients reached a satisfactory result at 12 months. At least three fourths of the patients, in each treatment group, reported large improvements or felt completely recovered. This is interpreted as a combination of treatment effect and the natural course. This thesis has described the primary care management of patients with subacromial pain and provided scientific evidence for general practitioners to use corticosteroid injection and for physiotherapists to use acupuncture combined with home exercises, when treating these patients. / On the day of the defence date the status on article III was Accepted and article IV was Submitted.