In the past three years, evidence based medicine emerged as a powerful force in an effort to improve quality and health outcomes, and to reduce cost of care. Computerized physician order entry (CPOE) applications brought safety and efficiency features to clinical settings, including ease of ordering medications via pre-defined sets. Order sets offer promise of standardized care beyond convenience features through evidence-based practices built upon a growing and powerful knowledge of clinical professionals to achieve potentially more consistent health outcomes with patients and to reduce frequency of medical errors, adverse drug effects, and unintended side effects during treatment. While order sets existed in paper form prior to the introduction of CPOE, their true potential was only unleashed with support of clinical informatics, at those healthcare facilities that installed CPOE systems and reap rewards of standardized care. Despite ongoing utilization of order sets at facilities that implemented CPOE, there is a lack of quantitative evidence behind their benefits. Comprehensive research into their impact requires a history of electronic medical records necessary to produce large population samples to achieve statistically significant results. The study, conducted at a large Midwest healthcare system consisting of several community and academic hospitals, was aimed at quantitatively analyzing benefits of the order sets applied to prevent venous thromboembolism (VTE) and treat pneumonia, congestive heart failure (CHF), and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) - testing hospital mortality, readmission, complications, and length of stay (LOS) as health outcomes. Results indicated reduction of acute VTE rates among non-surgical patients in the experimental group, while LOS and complications benefits were inconclusive. Pneumonia patients in the experimental group had lower mortality, readmissions, LOS, and complications rates. CHF patients benefited from order sets in terms of mortality and LOS, while there was no sufficient data to display results for readmissions and complications. Utilization of AMI order sets was insufficient to produce statistically significant results. Results will (1) empower health providers with evidence to justify implementation of order sets due to their effectiveness in driving improvements in health outcomes and efficiency of care and (2) provide researchers with new ideas to conduct health outcomes research.

O movimento \"Medicina baseada em evidências (EBM), surgido na década de 1990, encontrou rápida aceitação por parte da comunidade médica e dos sistemas de saúde. Entre suas principais características, encontram-se a exigência de que a prática clínica seja baseada na melhor evidência disponível, a hierarquização da evidência, a valorização dos ensaios clínicos e, sobretudo, o recurso extensivo a procedimentos de análise estatística. Neste trabalho, apresentamos a EBM, descrevemos seus conceitos e procedimentos centrais e indicamos alguns de seus antecedentes históricos. Damos especial atenção aos conceitos de randomização, significância estatística, evidência científica e eficácia terapêutica. Finalmente, desenvolvemos uma crítica às concepções de cientificidade e progresso defendidas pela EBM e a utilizamos como ponto de partida para tecermos considerações gerais acerca do estatuto epistemológico da medicina, do progresso médico e das funções que a estatística desempenha na medicina contemporânea. / Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is a medical movement whose first appearance dates back to the 1990s. Since then, it has received wide acceptance from the medical community and international health systems. Among its most important characteristics, it is possible to indicate the demand to base the clinical practice on the best current evidence, the hierarchies of evidence, the valorisation of the randomized-controlled trials, and, especially, the extensive recourse to procedures of statistical analysis. This Masters dissertation is intended to present the EBM movement, describe its main concepts and procedures, and identify some of its historical backgrounds. Special consideration is given to the concepts of randomization, statistical significance, scientific evidence, and therapeutic efficacy. Finally, we present some criticisms on the conceptions of medical science and medical progress defended by EBM proponents. We then use them as a starting point for the development of our own considerations about the epistemological status of medicine, the medical progress and the advancement of knowledge in the contemporary medical sciences.

L’essor de la statistique en médecine est l’ultime étape de la quête d’une médecine scientifique poursuivie tout au long de l’histoire de la discipline. Cette méthodologie de production des preuves médicales est reconnue par tous comme un gage de qualité justifiant les prises de décisions médicales au niveau individuel et collectif.Initialement, le concept est une démarche pédagogique prônant l’autonomie de chaque praticien dans la recherche, l’analyse critique et l’application personnalisée des preuves disponibles. La démarche rejette le dogmatisme médical. Ce concept a été et demeure largement controversé. Pour autant, il a rapidement traversé les frontières pour devenir une exigence déontologique et juridique au risque d’une dérive normative.La priorité laissée à la qualité méthodologique des preuves médicales au détriment de leur applicabilité en vraie-vie pose question.L’hypothèse de ce travail est qu’il existe, aux différentes étapes du circuit de la preuve médicale, des biais cognitifs et/ou méthodologiques qui peuvent impacter l’exercice pertinent de la médecine malgré son alibi scientifique.Au travers de l’exemple des maladies respiratoires chroniques, ce travail épistémologique se propose de caractériser la preuve médicale. Il décompose le circuit de la preuve médicale pour analyser sa méthodologie de production, ses sources, vecteurs et cibles de diffusion, les conséquences de l’implication des agences réglementaires et de l’Etat dans son applicabilité mais aussi les biais cognitifs auxquels sont soumis médecins et patients. Il vise à déterminer avec transparence sur quelles preuves la médecine se fonde pour en permettre une utilisation pertinente. / The use of statistics in medicine is the final step for the development of scientific medicine pursued throughout the history of the discipline. This method of production of medical evidence is recognized by healthcare professionals, drug manufacturers and political institutions as a pledge of quality that justifies medical decision-making at the individual and collective levels. Initially, the concept is an educational approach advocating the autonomy of each practitioner in bibliographic research and critical appraisal of available evidence for their use in the context of personalized medicine. The approach rejects medical dogmatism. This concept has been and remains largely controversial. However, it has quickly become a deontological and legal requirement that could drift back to dogmatism. The priority given to the methodological quality of medical evidence while poor attention is paid to its real-life applicability raises concerns. In this work we hypothesize that, from the production to the use of medical evidence there are cognitive and/or methodological biases that may alter the relevance of medicine practice despite its scientific alibi. Through the example of chronic respiratory diseases, this epistemological work aims at characterizing the medical evidence. To do so, we analyzed its production methodology, the sources, vectors and targets for dissemination, the consequences of the involvement of regulatory agencies and governments in its applicability and the cognitive biases that may apply to physicians and patients. It aims at determining transparently on what type of evidence medicine is based to enable its relevant practice.

There is compelling evidence that smokers are less responsive to vaccination. We reported that both therapeutic and prophylactic vaccines fail to protect and cure animals from disease due to negative effects of nicotine on DCs’ ability to generate effector T cells. We have been investigating whether vaccine formulated with TLR agonist(s) could potentially overcome the immunosuppressive effects of nicotine on human DC-NK cross-talk essential for effector T cell generation. Monocyte-derived DCs and nicDCs were stimulated with individual and combined TLR agonists prior to co-culture with purified T cells. The phenotypes and cytokine profiles of T cell were assessed using Flow Cytometry and ELISA, respectively. We found nicDCs cultured with TLR-8/7 alone or in combination with TLR-3 produce quantitatively and qualitatively similar IFN-γ producing effector T cells when compared to control DCs. Our data suggest that the addition of appropriate TLR agonist to vaccine formulation could potentially overcome the immunosuppression seen in smokers, thereby containing the spread of infectious disease to vulnerable population / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015 / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Na busca da qualidade de assistência nos serviços de saúde enfatiza-se a necessidade de conhecimento científico dos profissionais de enfermagem relacionado à prevenção da úlcera por pressão (UP), visto que frequentemente a prática não é baseada em evidências, e sim em mitos, tradições e experiências. Em âmbito internacional, existem várias diretrizes para a prática clínica que apresentam recomendações. Os objetivos deste estudo foram investigar o conhecimento dos membros da equipe de enfermagem que atuam diretamente na assistência a pacientes adultos e idosos em um hospital universitário sobre a prevenção da úlcera por pressão, e explorar a relação dos escores do teste de conhecimento com variáveis sócio-demográficas e estratégias de busca de informações científicas. Trata-se de pesquisa descritiva-exploratória, com métodos quantitativos. O projeto de pesquisa foi aprovado pelo comitê de ética da instituição e os dados foram coletados por meio de um instrumento estruturado e validado. Dos 386 participantes, 64,8% eram auxiliares/técnicos de enfermagem e 35,2% enfermeiros. A porcentagem média de acertos no teste de conhecimento foi 79,4% (DP 8,3) para os enfermeiros e 73,6% (DP 9,8) para os auxiliares/técnicos de enfermagem. Dos participantes, 92 (23,9%) acertaram menos de 70% no teste. Em relação à avaliação e classificação da UP, os itens com acertos menores do que 60% foram referentes à classificação da UP em estágio II (29,5%) e III (37%) e a presença da dor na UP em estágio II (56,5%). Os itens sobre prevenção com acertos menores do que 50% foram referentes ao uso da massagem (39,6%), rodas dágua ou de ar (35,2%), luvas dágua ou ar (47,9%), ao posicionamento do paciente quanto elevação da cabeceira do leito (27,7%), e ao período de tempo para reposicionamento quando sentado na cadeira (28%) e em decúbito lateral (37,3%). A porcentagem de acertos dos auxiliares/técnicos de enfermagem diminuiu com o tempo de formação profissional assim como com o tempo de serviço (p<0.05). A porcentagem de acertos dos enfermeiros com Especialização foi maior (80,6%) do que os sem Especialização (77,6%) e dos enfermeiros com Mestrado foi maior (83,1%) do que os sem Mestrado (79,1%). Os enfermeiros que participaram em pesquisa durante a graduação obtiveram porcentagem de acertos maiores do que aqueles que não participaram (p<0.05). As porcentagens de acertos dos que participaram em eventos científicos, comissões ou grupos de estudos e em atividades educacionais da instituição foram maiores dos que não participaram, (p<0.05). Os enfermeiros que faziam assinatura de revistas científicas e leitura de publicações científicas obtiveram maior porcentagem de acertos (p<0.05). Também os participantes que faziam o uso da biblioteca e da internet para a busca de informações científicas obtiveram melhor escore (p<0.05). Em relação às estratégias de busca de informações científicas com outros profissionais, a porcentagem de acertos obtida pelos participantes foi maior naqueles que afirmaram utilizar qualquer uma das formas. Os resultados obtidos podem auxiliar a identificar fatores antecedentes que interferem no conhecimento dos membros da equipe de enfermagem e nortear no contexto estudado, o planejamento de estratégias para disseminação e adoção de medidas preventivas tidas como inovações. / In the search for health service care quality, nursing professionals need for scientific knowledge on pressure ulcer (PU) prevention is emphasized, as practice frequently is not based on evidence, but on myths, traditions and experiences. In the international context, various guidelines for clinical practice present recommendations. This study aimed to examine the knowledge of nursing team members who deliver direct care to adult and elderly patients at a university hospital about pressure ulcer prevention, and to explore the relation between knowledge test scores, sociodemographic variables and scientific information search strategies.This descriptive-exploratory research used quantitative methods. The research project was approved by the ethics committee at the institution and data were collected through a structured and validated instrument. In total, there were 386 participants, 64.8% of whom were nursing auxiliaries/technicians and 35.2% nurses. The mean percentage of correct answers on the knowledge test was 79.4% (SD 8.3) for nurses and 73.6% (SD 9.8) for nursing auxiliaries/technicians. Among the participants, 92 (23.9%) gave less than 70% of correct answers on the test. As to PU assessment and classification, items answered correctly by less than 60% were related to PU classification in stage II (29.5%) and III (37%) and the presence of pain in stage II PU (56.5%). Items on prevention with less than 50% of correct answers referred to the use of massage (39.6%), water or air-filled cushions (35.2%), water or air-filled gloves (47,9%), patients positioning in terms of bed head elevation (27.7%), and to the period of time for repositioning when seated in a chair (28%) and in lateral decubitus (37.3%). The percentage of correct answers among nursing auxiliaries/technicians decreased with time since graduation and service time (p<0.05). Nurses with a Specialty degree gave more correct answers (80.6%) than nurses without this degree (77.6%), and nurses with a Masters degree scored higher (83.1%) than nurses without this degree (79.1%). Nurses who participated in research during their undergraduate program scored higher than those who did not participate (p<0.05). Correct answer percentages for participants who took part in scientific events, committee or study groups and in educational activities at the institution were higher than for those who did not (p<0.05). Nurses who subscribed to scientific journals and read scientific publications scored higher (p<0.05). The same was true for participants who used the library and internet to seek scientific information (p<0.05). As to strategies to seek scientific information from other professionals, participants who affirmed using any possible form scored higher. The obtained results can help to identify preceding factors interfering in nursing team members knowledge and guide the planning of dissemination strategies and the adoption of prevention measures considered innovative in the study context.

Submitted by Leoná Rodrigues (leonarodrigues@id.uff.br) on 2017-08-30T19:07:59Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Judicialização da Saude - Lorena Azevedo.pdf: 27265 bytes, checksum: a13ee89f0faba7526a6ca80908987678 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Biblioteca da Faculdade de Direito (bfd@ndc.uff.br) on 2017-09-06T14:38:04Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Judicialização da Saude - Lorena Azevedo.pdf: 27265 bytes, checksum: a13ee89f0faba7526a6ca80908987678 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-09-06T14:38:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Judicialização da Saude - Lorena Azevedo.pdf: 27265 bytes, checksum: a13ee89f0faba7526a6ca80908987678 (MD5) / A presente dissertação é apresentada como trabalho final do Mestrado Profissionalizante em Justiça Administrativa do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Justiça Administrativa da Universidade Federal Fluminense – UFF e tem por objetivo analisar a questão da judicialização da saúde no Brasil, em especial quanto ao acesso a medicamentos, fazendo uma reflexão sobre duas importantes diretrizes do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS): a descentralização e a integralidade. Resulta dessa análise o reconhecimento da importância de se observar a descentralização para o funcionamento do SUS e de se avaliar com critério o real significado do termo integralidade. Também se reconhece o valor agregado pela utilização da Medicina Baseada em Evidência como método de análise para a incorporação segura e eficiente de novas tecnologias ao SUS, funcionando como um instrumento de harmonização entre os interesses da Administração Pública e os interesses dos administrados, harmonização esta essencial para a manutenção do equilíbrio orçamentário e a garantia de acesso de milhões de brasileiros à saúde. A metodologia utilizada na elaboração desta dissertação foi essencialmente a pesquisa bibliográfica em fontes diversas, como livros, artigos, pareceres e sítios oficiais. O trabalho, que se estrutura em introdução, quatro partes principais, conclusão e bibliografia, tem por finalidade traçar um panorama do SUS e alertar para o fenômeno da judicialização da saúde no Brasil no que tange ao acesso a medicamentos. Os resultados alcançados apontam para a necessidade de se reduzir as ações judiciais, com enfoque para aquelas de fornecimento de medicamentos, ampliando, assim, o acesso ao SUS. / This dissertation is presented as the final work for the Professional Master´s degree in Administrative Justice of the Post-Graduate Program in Administrative Justice of the Fluminense Federal University - UFF and aims to examine the issue of health judicialization in Brazil, especially concerning to medications allowance, performing a discussion about two important guidelines of Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS): its decentralization and its completeness. An outcome of that examination is the recognition of perceiving importance of a SUS decentralization for an functional operation and for an accurate assessment of the real signification of the word completeness. Also, one recognize the added-value from the Evidence-based Medicine as a method of analysis for an efficient and reliable incorporation of new technologies to the SUS, working as a instrument for harmony between the Public Administration and the administrated interest, an essential harmony for budgetary balance maintenance and assurance of health treatment for millions of Brazilians. The methodology used on this dissertation was based substantially on reviewing several bibliographic sources, such as books, journals, technical opinions and official websites. This work is hierarchically structured on introduction, divided in four main parts, conclusion and bibliographic reference. It has as goal draw a SUS's prospect and warn about the Brazilian health system judicialization, concerning on medication assistance. The results obtained support the existence of needs for corrective judicial actions, focusing on the medications purveyance, broadening, therefore, the SUS patients admission.

A depressão é um dos maiores problemas de saúde pública do século XXI. Guias de prática clínica (GPCs) estão disponíveis para o tratamento da depressão e têm como objetivo fornecer a melhor e mais recente evidência disponível para os cuidados dos pacientes. Visando reduzir a duplicação de esforços e realizar a adequação de GPC ao contexto local o objetivo desta pesquisa é sintetizar as recomendações de GPCs de alta qualidade sobre o tratamento farmacológico da depressão em adultos na atenção primária. Foram realizadas as etapas busca sistemática dos GPCs, avaliação e seleção dos GPCs de melhor qualidade, e elaboração da síntese de recomendações de acordo com o preconizado no método ADAPTE. Foram considerados os GPCs com recomendações para o tratamento farmacológico da depressão em adultos em atenção primária, em língua inglesa, portuguesa ou espanhola, publicados a partir de 2011. Para a avaliação da qualidade dos GPCs, foi utilizado o Appraisal of Guidelines for Research & Evaluation II (AGREE II) sendo considerados de alta qualidade os GPCs com 80% ou mais no domínio \"rigor metodológico\". As características associadas à alta qualidade dos GPCs foram analisadas por meio do teste estatístico de Fisher. A extração das recomendações foi realizada de modo independente por dois avaliadores e estas foram organizadas em tópicos. Dos 28 GPC avaliados apenas cinco (18%) foram considerados de alta qualidade. A realização de revisão sistemática e da revisão externa e a aplicação de consenso formal foram características associadas à alta qualidade. Na síntese, além dos GPCs de alta qualidade, foram incluídos 2 GPCs muito empregados na prática clínica. Constatou-se que a maioria dos GPCs traz recomendações concordantes e complementares. Quase todos os GPCs recomendam o uso de inibidores seletivos de recaptação de serotonina como primeira escolha de tratamento. Uma das principais divergências é a recomendação de agomelatina, milnaciprano e mianserina por um dos GPCs como opção de primeira linha de tratamento. A pesquisa demonstra que a qualidade dos GPCs está aquém do desejável, tal qual evidenciado em outros estudos. A elaboração da síntese de recomendações permitiu evidenciar que há um GPC que se destacou por recomendar o uso de medicamentos considerados pouco eficazes na depressão. Considerando que a maioria das recomendações eram concordantes e os GPCs complementavam-se, essa síntese pode contribuir para que sejam realizadas discussões e adaptações locais, favorecendo a elaboração de novos GPCs que possam atender às necessidades de distintos grupos de usuários e demandas regionais. / Depression is one of the most significant public health problems of the 21st century. Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) are available for treating depression and are used for providing the best and latest evidence available for patient care. To avoid the duplication of effort and allow the adequacy of CPGs to regional healthcare networks, the objective of this study is to summarise the recommendations of high-quality CPGs on the pharmacological treatment of depression in adults in the primary healthcare network. The stages of this study were the systematic search of CPGs, analysis and selection of high-quality CPGs, and summarisation of the recommendations according to the ADAPTE guidelines. The CPGs published in English, Portuguese, and Spanish since 2011 with recommendations for the pharmacological treatment of depression in adults in the primary healthcare network were considered. The Appraisal of Guidelines for Research & Evaluation II (AGREE II) was used to evaluate the quality of CPGs. CPGs with a score of >=80% in the domain \'methodological rigour\' were considered high-quality. The factors associated with high quality were analysed using Fisher\'s exact test. The recommendations were extracted independently by two evaluators and organised into topics. Of the 28 evaluated CPGs, five (18%) were considered high-quality. The inclusion of systematic reviews and external reviews and the application of formal consensus were associated with high quality. In addition to high-quality CPGs, two CPGs commonly used in clinical practice were included in the summary. The recommendations provided by most CPGs were consistent and complementary. Almost all CPGs recommended using selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors as the first choice of treatment. One of the main divergences was the recommendation of agomelatine, milnacipran, and mianserin by one CPG as a first-line treatment option. The quality of CPGs was below desirable, and this result was corroborated by other studies. The analysis of the recommendations indicated that one CPG advised using medications with low efficacy in treating depression. Provided that most suggestions were concordant and the CPGs were complementary, this summary may contribute to local discussions and adaptations and promote the development of new CPGs that meet the needs of different user groups and regional demands.

A depressão é um dos maiores problemas de saúde pública do século XXI. Guias de prática clínica (GPCs) estão disponíveis para o tratamento da depressão e têm como objetivo fornecer a melhor e mais recente evidência disponível para os cuidados dos pacientes. Visando reduzir a duplicação de esforços e realizar a adequação de GPC ao contexto local o objetivo desta pesquisa é sintetizar as recomendações de GPCs de alta qualidade sobre o tratamento farmacológico da depressão em adultos na atenção primária. Foram realizadas as etapas busca sistemática dos GPCs, avaliação e seleção dos GPCs de melhor qualidade, e elaboração da síntese de recomendações de acordo com o preconizado no método ADAPTE. Foram considerados os GPCs com recomendações para o tratamento farmacológico da depressão em adultos em atenção primária, em língua inglesa, portuguesa ou espanhola, publicados a partir de 2011. Para a avaliação da qualidade dos GPCs, foi utilizado o Appraisal of Guidelines for Research & Evaluation II (AGREE II) sendo considerados de alta qualidade os GPCs com 80% ou mais no domínio \"rigor metodológico\". As características associadas à alta qualidade dos GPCs foram analisadas por meio do teste estatístico de Fisher. A extração das recomendações foi realizada de modo independente por dois avaliadores e estas foram organizadas em tópicos. Dos 28 GPC avaliados apenas cinco (18%) foram considerados de alta qualidade. A realização de revisão sistemática e da revisão externa e a aplicação de consenso formal foram características associadas à alta qualidade. Na síntese, além dos GPCs de alta qualidade, foram incluídos 2 GPCs muito empregados na prática clínica. Constatou-se que a maioria dos GPCs traz recomendações concordantes e complementares. Quase todos os GPCs recomendam o uso de inibidores seletivos de recaptação de serotonina como primeira escolha de tratamento. Uma das principais divergências é a recomendação de agomelatina, milnaciprano e mianserina por um dos GPCs como opção de primeira linha de tratamento. A pesquisa demonstra que a qualidade dos GPCs está aquém do desejável, tal qual evidenciado em outros estudos. A elaboração da síntese de recomendações permitiu evidenciar que há um GPC que se destacou por recomendar o uso de medicamentos considerados pouco eficazes na depressão. Considerando que a maioria das recomendações eram concordantes e os GPCs complementavam-se, essa síntese pode contribuir para que sejam realizadas discussões e adaptações locais, favorecendo a elaboração de novos GPCs que possam atender às necessidades de distintos grupos de usuários e demandas regionais. / Depression is one of the most significant public health problems of the 21st century. Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) are available for treating depression and are used for providing the best and latest evidence available for patient care. To avoid the duplication of effort and allow the adequacy of CPGs to regional healthcare networks, the objective of this study is to summarise the recommendations of high-quality CPGs on the pharmacological treatment of depression in adults in the primary healthcare network. The stages of this study were the systematic search of CPGs, analysis and selection of high-quality CPGs, and summarisation of the recommendations according to the ADAPTE guidelines. The CPGs published in English, Portuguese, and Spanish since 2011 with recommendations for the pharmacological treatment of depression in adults in the primary healthcare network were considered. The Appraisal of Guidelines for Research & Evaluation II (AGREE II) was used to evaluate the quality of CPGs. CPGs with a score of >=80% in the domain \'methodological rigour\' were considered high-quality. The factors associated with high quality were analysed using Fisher\'s exact test. The recommendations were extracted independently by two evaluators and organised into topics. Of the 28 evaluated CPGs, five (18%) were considered high-quality. The inclusion of systematic reviews and external reviews and the application of formal consensus were associated with high quality. In addition to high-quality CPGs, two CPGs commonly used in clinical practice were included in the summary. The recommendations provided by most CPGs were consistent and complementary. Almost all CPGs recommended using selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors as the first choice of treatment. One of the main divergences was the recommendation of agomelatine, milnacipran, and mianserin by one CPG as a first-line treatment option. The quality of CPGs was below desirable, and this result was corroborated by other studies. The analysis of the recommendations indicated that one CPG advised using medications with low efficacy in treating depression. Provided that most suggestions were concordant and the CPGs were complementary, this summary may contribute to local discussions and adaptations and promote the development of new CPGs that meet the needs of different user groups and regional demands.

As doenças cardiovasculares (DCV) de origem aterosclerótica estão entre as principais causas de morbimortalidade cardiovascular. A periodontite, por meio de bacteremia e endotoxemia, tem sido apontada como possível fator de risco para início e progressão da aterosclerose. A proposta desta revisão foi buscar, reunir e analisar evidências científicas atuais de nível I e II sobre a associação entre periodontite e aterosclerose em seres humanos. As bases de dados consultadas foram: Medline (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System), registro Cochrane de ensaios controlados (Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials - Central) e registro Cochrane de revisões sistemáticas (Cochrane Databasis of Systematic Reviews - CDSR). Foram identificados 532 estudos, sendo 22 elegíveis, dos quais nove atenderam aos critérios de inclusão. A amostra foi composta por 100% de ensaios clínicos randomizados controlados (ECRC). Oito estudos (89%) avaliaram o efeito do tratamento periodontal quanto aos parâmetros clínicos periodontais e marcadores relacionados à fisiopatologia da aterosclerose, em três destes (37,5%) o efeito do tratamento periodontal foi testado com antibioticoterapia e um (11%) avaliou o efeito somente da antibioticoterapia. Sete (78%) avaliaram níveis séricos de proteína C-reativa (PCR) antes e após o tratamento periodontal, em quatro (57%) houve redução deste marcador nas avaliações posteriores a seis semanas. Cinco (55,5%) avaliaram níveis séricos de interleucina-6 (IL-6), dos quais três (60%) relataram redução após mais de um mês do tratamento periodontal. Fatores lipídicos foram avaliados em três estudos (33%) e todos relataram melhoria significativa após tratamento periodontal. Evidências científicas de nível II apontam que a periodontite parece provocar alterações nos marcadores sistêmicos relacionados à fisiopatologia da aterosclerose podendo o tratamento periodontal ser benéfico para controlar marcadores séricos de risco para aterosclerose, com resultados significativos em casos mais severos de periodontite e para os marcadores lipídicos. / Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) caused by atherosclerosis are among the leading causes of cardiovascular morbity and mortality. Periodontitis through bacteremia and endotoxemia has been identified as a possible risk factor for initiation and progression of atherosclerosis. The purpose of this review was to seek, gather and analyze evidence of level I and II available in the literature on the association between periodontitis and atherosclerosis in the last ten years. The databases were consulted: Medline (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System), Cochrane register of controlled trials (Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials - Central) and record Cochrane systematic reviews (Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews - CDSR). We identified 532 studies, of which 22 eligible, of which 9 met the inclusion criteria. The sample consisted of 100% of randomized controlled trials (ECRC). Eight studies (89%) evaluated the effect of periodontal treatment on the clinical periodontal parameters and markers related to the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis in these three (37.5%) the effect of periodontal treatment has been tested with antibiotics and one (11%) evaluated only the effect of antibiotic therapy. Seven (78%) evaluated serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) before and after periodontal treatment in four (57%) decreased this marker in subsequent evaluations to six weeks. Five (55.5%) evaluated serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), of which three (60%) reported a decrease after more than a month of periodontal treatment. Lipid factors were evaluated in three studies (33%) and all reported significant improvement after periodontal treatment. Strong scientific evidence (Level II) indicate that periodontitis seems to cause changes in systemic markers related to the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis, periodontal treatment may be beneficial to control serum markers for atherosclerosis, with significant results in more severe cases of periodontitis and the lipid markers.

ABSTRACT Clinical evidence technologies (CETs) are information sources derived from medical research literature that may assist health care providers in continued learning, decision-making, and patient care. Examples of CETs include: MEDLINE/PubMed and Cochrane Reviews, research journal literature, print and electronic medical texts, clinical topic summaries, guidelines, and interactive decision tools. Clinicians utilize CETs to find answers to questions that arise during patient care. However, it was unclear if CETs had a measurable impact on provider practice or patient outcomes. A literature review identified twenty-two articles evaluating CETs’ impact. Study designs included surveys, observational studies, randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental methods. The review revealed mixed evidence of CET impact on provider-level outcomes such as improved diagnoses and treatments, and on patient level outcomes such as length of hospital stay and mortality. Additional research was needed to determine whether certain CETs or CET types have impact on patient care outcomes in clinically targeted areas. We conducted a cluster-randomized controlled trial (CRCT) to evaluate the effect of a dermatology-focused CET (VisualDx) when used by primary care providers. We found no difference in the patient skin disease outcomes of resolution of symptoms and return visits for the same problem in that trial. Thirty-two PCPs and 433 patients participated. In proportional hazards modelling adjusted for provider clusters, the time from index visit to skin problem resolution was similar in both groups (Hazard Ratio=0.92; 95% Confidence Interval (CI)=0.70, 1.21; P=0.54). Patient follow-up appointments did not differ significantly between groups (Odds Ratio=1.26; CI=0.94, 1.70; P=0.29). In a follow up mixed-methods study, we sought to understand why VisualDx did not make a difference. All CRCT provider participants were surveyed about their experience in the trial. VisualDx users (intervention arm) were interviewed about their experience using the CET. Ease of access and usefulness for patient communication facilitated successful use while irrelevant search results and use of other sources were barriers. Although PCPs reported benefits, they did not perceive the CET as useful often enough to motivate using it frequently or exclusively, thereby reducing the likelihood of it making a difference in the problem resolution and return appointment outcomes. There was no difference in skin problem resolution or number of follow-up visits when PCPs used VisualDx. PCPs did not perceive VisualDx as “useful” often enough for to use it frequently, or exclusively, thereby reducing the likelihood of this CET making a difference in patient-level outcomes.