Search

Objective: In 2019, members of the Health Technology Assessment international (HTAi) Interest Group for Disinvestment and Early Awareness (DEA-IG) and the HTAi Interest Group for Information Retrieval (IR-IG) agreed to produce quarterly current awareness alerts for members of the DEA-IG. The purpose was to pilot a predefined strategy for sharing new publications on methods and topical issues in this area.Methods: Literature search strategies for PubMed and Google were developed. Retrieved citations were posted on the DEA-IG Web site. Members of the DEA-IG received an email notification when new alerts were available. An informal survey of the DEA-IG members was used to provide feedback after the pilot.Results: Six alerts were issued during the pilot (June 2019-September 2020) with a total of 170 citations. The bulk of the information were 124 PubMed indexed citations, and of these, 96 were retrieved by the PubMed search strategies. Google searches were not found to be useful, but ongoing horizon scanning work at the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) provided additional information. Based on retrospective sorting, we considered thirty-five PubMed citations to be highly relevant for health technology assessment (HTA). The response rate to the survey was limited (seventeen respondents), but most respondents found the alerts useful for their work.Conclusions: The results of this pilot project can be used to revise search strategies and information sources, improve the relevance of the alerts, and plan for expanded dissemination strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The history of European health technology assessment (HTA) goes back more than 30 years. Almost as old as HTA agencies themselves is the desire to achieve European collaboration. This gained further impetus with the establishment of the European Network of Health Technology Assessment (EUnetHTA) in 2006. In this context, the field of information management faced specific challenges. Although these services are an integral part of HTA and information specialists play a key role here, this field is often not adequately represented in the HTA agencies within EUnetHTA. Furthermore, the organization of HTA production, including the types of HTAs produced, as well as funding, varies considerably. In order to meet these different conditions, information specialists have created various products and defined processes. With the EUnetHTA guideline, a common methodological understanding for the production of rapid Relative Effectiveness Assessments now exists. Furthermore, the Standard Operating Procedures map the complex information retrieval processes within EUnetHTA in a hands-on manner. The newly established Information Specialist Network (ISN) will in future ensure that information specialists are involved in all EUnetHTA assessments and that the methods are applied consistently in all assessments. In addition, the steering committee of the ISN manages enquiries and can be contacted to discuss methodological issues. Major barriers such as heterogeneity in the daily work of the EUnetHTA members can only be overcome through more collaboration and training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Objectives: This study aims to compare two different search methods for determining the scope of a requested systematic review or health technology assessment. The first method (called the Direct Search Method) included performing direct searches in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR), Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE) and the Health Technology Assessments (HTA). Using the comparison method (called the NHS Search Engine) we performed searches by means of the search engine of the British National Health Service, NHS Evidence.Methods: We used an adapted cross-over design with a random allocation of fifty-five requests for systematic reviews. The main analyses were based on repeated measurements adjusted for the order in which the searches were conducted.Results: The Direct Search Method generated on average fewer hits (48 percent [95 percent confidence interval {CI} 6 percent to 72 percent], had a higher precision (0.22 [95 percent CI, 0.13 to 0.30]) and more unique hits than when searching by means of the NHS Search Engine (50 percent [95 percent CI, 7 percent to 110 percent]). On the other hand, the Direct Search Method took longer (14.58 minutes [95 percent CI, 7.20 to 21.97]) and was perceived as somewhat less user-friendly than the NHS Search Engine (−0.60 [95 percent CI, −1.11 to −0.09]).Conclusions: Although the Direct Search Method had some drawbacks such as being more time-consuming and less user-friendly, it generated more unique hits than the NHS Search Engine, retrieved on average fewer references and fewer irrelevant results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER] more...

We are pleased to present this information retrieval issue. Our goal is to highlight the variety of tasks and organizational structures of information retrieval within heath technology assessment (HTA). This special issue was planned and organized by the HTAi Information Retrieval Group (IRG). The choice of publications in this issue reflects the versatility and high competence in information retrieval methodology that is needed as an information specialist. Furthermore, it provides insights into the daily challenges faced by information specialists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Introduction: In 2019, the Norwegian Institute for Public Health and Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) received support from HTAi to produce a quarterly current awareness alert for the HTAi Disinvestment and Early Awareness Interest Group in collaboration with the HTAi Information Retrieval Interest Group. The alert focuses on methods and topical issues, and broader forecasts of potentially disruptive technologies that may be of interest to those involved in horizon scanning and disinvestment initiatives in health technology assessment (HTA). Methods: Information specialists at both agencies developed search strategies for disinvestment and for horizon scanning in PubMed and Google. The template for the alert was based on an e-newsletter developed by the Information Retrieval Interest Group. Information specialists and researchers reviewed the monthly (PubMed) and weekly (Google) search results and selected potentially relevant publications. Additional sources were also identified through regular HTA and horizon scanning work. Results: Alerts are posted quarterly on the HTAi Interest Group website; members receive an email notice when new alerts are available. While the revised PubMed searches are identifying relevant information, Google alerts have been disappointing, and this search may need to be revised further or dropped. When the one-year pilot project ends, in Fall 2020, interest group members will be surveyed to see if the alerts were useful, and whether they have suggestions for improving them. Conclusions: Collaborating on this alert service reduces duplication of effort between agencies, and makes new research in horizon scanning and disinvestment more accessible to colleagues in other agencies working in these areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Introduction: Health technology assessments (HTAs) are increasingly used by Norwegian health authorities as the evidence base when prioritizing which health care services to offer. HTAs typically consist of a systematic review of the effects and safety of two or more health care interventions, and an economic evaluation of the interventions, based on systematic literature searches in bibliographic databases. Objective: To identify the best performing of seven search filters to retrieve health economic evaluations used to inform HTAs, by comparing the cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) filter to six published filters in Ovid Embase, and achieve a sensitivity of at least 0.90 with a precision of 0.10, and specificity of at least 0.95. Methods: In this filter validation study, the included filters' performances were compared against a gold standard of economic evaluations published in 2008–2013 (n = 2,248) from the National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database (NHS EED), and the corresponding records (n = 2,198) in the current version of Ovid Embase. Results: The CEA filter had a sensitivity of 0.899 and precision of 0.029. One filter had a sensitivity of 0.880 and a precision of 0.075, which was closest to the objective. The filter with lowest sensitivity (0.702) had a precision of 0.141. Conclusions: Developing search filters for identifying health economic evaluations, with a good balance between sensitivity and precision, is possible but challenging. Researchers should agree on acceptable levels of performance before concluding on which search filter to use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The history of European health technology assessment (HTA) goes back more than 30 years. Almost as old as HTA agencies themselves is the desire to achieve European collaboration. This gained further impetus with the establishment of the European Network of Health Technology Assessment (EUnetHTA) in 2006. In this context, the field of information management faced specific challenges. Although these services are an integral part of HTA and information specialists play a key role here, this field is often not adequately represented in the HTA agencies within EUnetHTA. Furthermore, the organization of HTA production, including the types of HTAs produced, as well as funding, varies considerably. In order to meet these different conditions, information specialists have created various products and defined processes. With the EUnetHTA guideline, a common methodological understanding for the production of rapid Relative Effectiveness Assessments now exists. Furthermore, the Standard Operating Procedures map the complex information retrieval processes within EUnetHTA in a hands-on manner. The newly established Information Specialist Network (ISN) will in future ensure that information specialists are involved in all EUnetHTA assessments and that the methods are applied consistently in all assessments. In addition, the steering committee of the ISN manages enquiries and can be contacted to discuss methodological issues. Major barriers such as heterogeneity in the daily work of the EUnetHTA members can only be overcome through more collaboration and training. more...