Guest Editorial: How valuable are systematic reviews for primary health care practitioners?

The evolution of assessing bias in Cochrane systematic reviews of interventions: celebrating methodological contributions of the Cochrane Collaboration

Background The global evidence base for health care is extensive, and expanding; with nearly 2 million articles published annually. One estimate suggests 75 trials and 11 systematic reviews are published daily [1]. Research syntheses, in a variety of established and emerging forms, are well recognised as essential tools for summarising evidence with accuracy and reliability [2]. Systematic revi...

Sexual and reproductive health care issues in nurse practitioner preparation: the dialogue continues.

As nurse practitioners (NPs) assume an ever increasing share of the primary care services provided in the U.S., the skills and education of the NP workforce will be tested and carefully scrutinized. Our history thus far has demonstrated we are more than capable to assume this increased workload and to examine our own preparedness. One of the reasons NPs have fared well is our model of education...

Reviewing the literature: adopting a systematic approach.

Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care 2004: 30(1) Introduction Review articles are often commissioned or submitted for publication in the Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care. Review papers summarise current knowledge and often attempt to reconcile conflicting scientific results from individual primary studies. As such, they are an essential resource for bus...

Guest Editorial: Improving the general practice discipline through higher degree study.

Efficacy of educational interventions targeting primary care providers' practice behaviors: an overview of published systematic reviews.

OBJECTIVES Primary care providers (e.g., family physicians, pediatricians, registered nurses, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners) could play a pivotal role in the provision of preventive services, especially for very young children (younger than 3 years old) and population groups with limited access to dental care. Given the current problems with access to dental care among low-incom...