Final Quality Score Research Articles

IX th MESOT Congress: Quality of the Abstracts

Background We assessed the abstracts of the IXth Congress of the Middle East Society for Organ Transplantation (MESOT) held December 6 to 10, 2004, in Ankara, Turkey. Methods Assessment was done with a 19-item quality assessment checklist, which was developed by Timmer et al (2003) with a good interrater agreement (intraclass coefficient 0.61 to 0.81). From the total 396 Congress abstracts, cluster random sampling was applied to select abstracts from oral and poster presentations. We assessed 109 abstracts, by recording presentation type, study type, country of study, number of authors, and transplantation type. We also evaluated study design and obtained a final quality score for each sample. Evaluation of the abstracts was performed by a single investigator. Results The mean (SD) quality score of all abstracts was 0.60 ± 0.11 (range: 0.33 to 0.81). More than 80% had a score above 0.50. Human observational studies showed higher scores compared with human and basic interventional studies ( P = .001). Other variables showed no association with quality scores. The strongest parts of the abstracts were the appropriateness of the subjects and a sufficient description of them. The weakest parts of abstracts for common items were characteristic of subjects, method of selection, and sufficient detail of results. Conclusion Overall, the quality of the abstracts presented at the IXth MESOT congress was acceptable. However, according to our study, better description of the subjects, their method of selection, and detailed report of the results would improve their quality.

Outdated and Incomplete: A Review of Thyroid Cancer on the World Wide Web

To evaluate the most frequently searched thyroid cancer websites for completeness, accuracy, and consumer friendliness. The 50 most popular thyroid cancer websites were evaluated using a novel instrument developed by a Delphi panel of endocrine experts and based on practice guidelines. Each website received independent scores for disease-specific information and a final quality score. Quality was related to website demographics using the Student t test, chi-square, and ANOVA analyses. Interrater reliability was excellent (kappa = 0.81). Most websites were not specific to thyroid cancer alone (72%), contained advertisements (72%), lacked references (66%), and were privately sponsored (50%). Only 38% had been updated within 2 years. "Government" and "Non-Profit" websites were the most consumer friendly. Mean quality score of medical content was 38%, with websites receiving the highest score in "Anatomy/Physiology" (55%) and lowest in "Surgery" (29%). Low quality score was attributed to information deficiency rather than inaccuracy. On univariate analysis, no significant associations were found between quality score and country of origin, currency, sponsorship, authorship, administration, advertisements, or references. Thyroid cancer websites are out of date and incomplete, lacking important information sought by patients, particularly surgical information. An accurate, comprehensive, easily available, and patient-oriented thyroid cancer Internet resource is needed for patients.

TU-EE-A2-04: A Hybrid Dose Evaluation Method for Rapid Monte Carlo-Based IMRT Optimization

Purpose: To develop and test a hybrid method for optimizing IMRT plans using Monte Carlo(MC) dose calculation algorithms which retains the accuracy of MC while reducing the MC dose computational requirements. Method and Materials: A hybrid dose calculation strategy in which initial optimization is performed with a fast pencil beam (PB) algorithm using deliverable‐based IMRToptimization. Following convergence, doses are re‐computed with the VMC++ MC algorithm to determine correction factors for further PB‐based optimization. The correction/re‐optimization procedure is repeated until convergence. The hybrid method was benchmarked with respect to MC‐deliverable—based optimization for 5‐prostate IMRT plans. Figures of merit included number of MC dose computations required, final plan quality score, and optimization dose‐volume indices. Results: The hybrid method required a maximum of 3 MC dose calculations to converge to a result which provided equivalent dose coverage to the complete MC‐based optimization plan. The complete MC‐based optimization required between 6 and 9 MC dose computations to converge, depending on the specific patient. After 2 MC dose computations, the hybrid plan quality score was equal to or less than the MC‐based score for 4 of the 5 plans, the remaining plan required 3 iterations to achieve a score equal to that for the MC‐based optimization. Monitor units for the hybrid and complete MC‐optimization were within 5%. Conclusion:Hybrid PB‐MC‐IMRT dose calculation method is practical and results in plans equivalent to those achieved when MC‐dose calculation is used for all optimization iterations. The hybrid method reduced the number of MC calculations by a factor of ∼3, reducing overall optimization time by a factor of 2.8, and allowing for VMC++ MC‐based optimization to be completed in <30 min on a 20×2.4 Ghz CPU cluster. (Supported in part by NIH‐R01CA98524).

Effectiveness of rehabilitation for patients with Subacromial impingement syndrome: a systematic review

Prior systematic reviews of rehabilitation for nondescript shoulder pain have not yielded clinically applicable results for those patients with subacromial impingement syndrome (SAIS). The purpose of this study was to examine the evidence for rehabilitation interventions for SAIS. The authors used data source as the method. The computerized bibliographic databases of Medline, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were searched from 1966 up to and including October 2003. Key words used were “shoulder,” “shoulder impingement syndrome,” “bursitis,” and “rotator cuff” combined with “rehabilitation,” “physical therapy,” “electrotherapy,” “ultrasound,” “acupuncture,” and “exercise,” limited to clinical trials. Randomized clinical trials that investigated physical interventions used in the rehabilitation of patients with SAIS with clinically relevant outcome measures of pain and quality of life were selected. The search resulted in 635 potential studies, 12 meeting inclusion criteria. Two independent reviewers graded all 12 trials with a quality checklist averaged for a final quality score. The mean quality score for 12 trials was 37.6 out of a possible 69 points. Various treatments were evaluated: exercise in six trials, joint mobilizations in two trials, laser in three trials, ultrasound in two trials, and acupuncture in two trials. The limited evidence currently available suggests that exercise and joint mobilizations are efficacious for patients with SAIS. Laser therapy appears to be of benefit only when used in isolation, not in combination with therapeutic exercise. Ultrasound is of no benefit, and acupuncture trials present equivocal evidence. The low to mediocre methodologic quality, small sample sizes, and general lack of long-term follow-up limit these findings for the development of useful clinical practice guidelines. Further trials are needed to investigate these rehabilitation interventions, the superiority of one intervention over another, and the long-term outcomes of rehabilitation. Moreover, it is imperative that clinical guidelines are developed to indicate those patients who are likely to respond to rehabilitation.

Use of principal component analysis for the evaluation of judge performance at wine competitions

Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to evaluate the performance of five wine judges using a 20‐point quality scoring system. Data were collected for 97 wines as part of a wine competition. Principal component plots were used to (1) identify underlying mechanisms that judges used to differentiate wine quality, and (2) evaluate the relationships among the quality components. Judges’ ‘styles’ differed according to their use, or lack of use, of the individual quality components (appearance, aroma, flavour, acidity, finish, body, balance and overall character) in making a final quality assessment of the wines. In general, judges showed individual patterns of separating the wines according to the presence or absence of aroma and flavour and overall character. These component scores were highly correlated with each other and with the final wine quality score. A comparison of the PCA plots with eggshell plots, an established methodology, indicated that judges who used a systematic approach to quality evaluation were closer to the group consensus. This technique serves as a complement to existing methodologies to assist competition co‐ordinators in future judge selection.