Table 1.
Summary of key study characteristics and quality.
| Study characteristic | Studies (N=25), n (%) | ||
| Participantsa |
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Practicing physicians | 12 (48) | |
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|
Physicians in postgraduate training | 12 (48) | |
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|
Medical students | 4 (16) | |
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|
Nurse practitioners | 3 (12) | |
|
|
Mix of user groups | 7 (28) | |
| Clinical topicsa |
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|
|
General medicine | 15 (60) | |
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|
Pediatrics | 5 (20) | |
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|
Surgery | 5 (20) | |
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|
Emergency medicine | 3 (12) | |
|
|
Medical specialties | 3 (12) | |
|
|
Anesthesia | 2 (8) | |
|
|
Laboratory medicine, pathology, and radiology | 1 (4) | |
|
|
Pharmacy | 1 (4) | |
| Patient setting |
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||
|
|
Outpatient | 11 (44) | |
|
|
Inpatient | 7 (28) | |
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|
Unspecified | 3 (12) | |
| Electronic knowledge resourcesb |
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|
|
UpToDate | 6 (24) | |
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|
InfoRetriever | 5 (20) | |
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Clinical evidence | 2 (8) | |
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|
DynaMed | 2 (8) | |
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|
Epocrates | 2 (8) | |
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|
MD Consult | 2 (8) | |
|
|
Micromedex | 2 (8) | |
|
|
Tripc | 2 (8) | |
|
|
Other | 9 (36) | |
| Comparison resourcesb |
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||
|
|
MEDLINE | 4 (16) | |
|
|
User choice of any nonknowledge resource | 3 (12) | |
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|
Journals | 3 (12) | |
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Paper resources | 3 (12) | |
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Curated (eg, library subject guides) | 3 (12) | |
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2 (8) | ||
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|
Other search engines | 2 (8) | |
| Quality measures |
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||
|
|
Number of groups |
|
|
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|
|
One study group | 5 (20) |
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Crossover design | 9 (36) |
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Two or more study groups | 11 (44) |
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|
Newcastle-Ottawa Scale results |
|
|
|
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Score: ≥4 | 8 (32) |
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Representative: yes | 9 (36) |
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Selection of comparison group: same community | 9/12 (75)d |
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Comparability of comparison group: high | 5/12 (42)d |
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Follow-up: high (>75%) | 16 (64) |
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Blinded outcomes assessment: yes | 9 (36) |
| Funding |
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|
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Potential conflict of interest | 10 (40) | |
aThe number of studies in some subgroups may add up to more than the total number of studies, and percentages may be more than 100%, because several studies included combinations of clinicians and/or study topics.
bSelected list of electronic knowledge resources and comparison resources; other resources were studied with lower frequency.
cTrip: Turning Research Into Practice.
dPercentage of two-group studies.