Use of Wikis and Evidence-Based Medicine in Surgical Practice

Evidence Based Medicine Clinical Trial

Official title:

Using Wikis to Improve the Dissemination, Evaluation, and Application of Evidence-Based Medicine in Surgical Practice

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT01051050
• Other study ID #: HSC-MS-09-0573
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: January 14, 2010
• Last updated: October 14, 2011
• Start date: January 2010
• Est. completion date: September 2011

Study information

• Verified date: October 2011
• Source: The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: United States: Institutional Review Board
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The goal of this study is to improve surgical residents' skills in critically appraising the literature and to promote the dissemination and application of the best available evidence to surgical practice. The hypothesis is that mandatory participation, with faculty oversight, in a journal club wiki will improve the dissemination, evaluation, and application of evidence-based medicine (EBM) in a surgical residency program at University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UT-Houston).

Description:

The translation of evidence-based medicine (EBM) to clinical practice requires training in literature searching and critical appraisal, which is particularly lacking in surgery. The demands of surgical residency coupled with the 80-hour work week make attendance at journal clubs suboptimal. Internet technology such as wikis, which are free user-friendly collaborative websites, may be a solution to improving resident participation in journal club-related activities, but their utility is highly dependent upon resident contributions and usage. We propose a pilot randomized trial of mandatory versus voluntary participation in a general surgery journal club wiki to verify its feasibility, sustainability, and impact on resident EBM skills as measured with a validated questionnaire. Secondary outcomes will include resident self-assessment of wiki usage and comfort with EBM skills and faculty-assessed resident application of these skills in weekly morbidity and mortality conferences. If the wiki is feasible and sustainable, then the project will be expanded to include other surgical disciplines and cohorts (i.e. students, fellows, other institutions, other medical disciplines) to ensure generalizability. If beneficial, wikis could not only improve resident EBM skills, but also have a halo effect on students and faculty, and ultimately wikis could improve patient care. The assembled multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional team has significant collective expertise in evidence-based medicine, medical education, library skills, and clinical trial design and analysis which are necessary for this project.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 45
• Est. completion date: September 2011
• Est. primary completion date: September 2011
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: Both
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• General surgery residents at UT Health Science Center at Houston

Exclusion Criteria:

• Not a general surgery resident at UT Health Science Center at Houston

Study Design

Allocation: Randomized, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Open Label

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Evidence Based Medicine

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Mandatory use of surgery wiki
Mandatory participation in the surgery wiki. This will include adding to and reviewing information posted on the wiki. Contribution of an evidence-based review will be required at least once during the study period.
• Voluntary use of the surgery wiki
Voluntary participation in the surgery wiki. Participants can choose to use the information in the wiki as well as contribute to the wiki.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	University of Texas Health Science Center-Houston	Houston	Texas

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston	University of Texas

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Change in performance on a questionnaire		1 year	No
Secondary	self-assessment of wiki usage		1 year	No
Secondary	use of EBM in daily practice before and after the trial		1 year	No
Secondary	comfort with critical appraisal of the literature using a 5-point Likert scale		1 year	No