Thursday, August 7, 2014

Clinical Research Oriented Workshop (CROW) Meeting: July 31, 2014



Present:  Marianne Burke, Kairn Kelley, Rodger Kessler, Ben Littenberg, Connie van Eeghen

Start Up: FRED’s AV cables are kept in the drawer on the screen – useful fact to know and remember! According to Rodger, the only good gnocchi’s come from northern Italy.  Ben, Rodger and Connie are waiting for feedback from PCORI on an LOI – no news, in this case, is no news.

1.                  Discussion: Kairn’s research update
a.       Kairn previously sent out two documents describing her literature review:
                                                  i.      Spreadsheet with over 340 sources, with 7 studies that identify trials with subjects
                                                ii.      Whether there should be a formal, systematic level of literature review (such as meeting inclusion criteria) is the subject of today’s discussion
b.      The research question: what do we know about auditory tests to assess auditory systems of children from 7-14?
                                                  i.      There is very little in the literature that met what Kairn is looking for
                                                ii.      Strategies for discussing what is known:
1.      Chronological story of the development of literature, little that there is.  There are no norms or standardized assessment methods.  In fact, clinicians are told to “collect your own norms,” but there is no structure for doing so.
2.      Practice guidelines – little offered
3.      Bottom line: little studied, unknown efficacy.  These tests have never been evaluated in a broad population (beyond children referred for audiology testing) for routine clinical use.
c.       This literature review effort is intended to meet the requirements of the degree program but could be used to write an article with a major finding, which also meets the requirements.  The Graduate College wants to ensure that graduates know the basics of article generation; this can be demonstrated in several ways. For example:
                                                  i.      Key milestones in the development of evidence
                                                ii.      A biologically based assessment of plausibility for those milestone-studies (NOT all of them)
                                              iii.      Review of test development process, with pros/cons
1.      Address different tests, including experimental tests that have been discarded
2.      Currently available tests limited to a selected set
3.      Known intermediate outcomes on only those tests that are available.  These may be limited (there is an average of 38 subjects per study of the 7 that Kairn has found), but can be evaluated using a set of criteria that Kairn can develop
                                              iv.      Conclusion: criticality of the need for Kairn’s study.  The level of detail should be appropriate for a clinician audience of the journal; it will satisfy the requirements of the committee.
d.      Next steps
                                                  i.      Document the methodology, with the criteria that were the conditions of including and excluding the sources found (from the 340+), for example:
1.      Reference source
2.      Focused on children
3.      The type of tests used, including their availability
                                                ii.      This methodology may be different for different milestones in the literature review, which is A-OK.  Keep track of those that were useful; let go of the others – this is a tightening exercise. 
                                              iii.      Develop a standard “lit review” data collection tool, with the filters specified for each criteria.  The literature will not make it easy, so creating a tool to mine the data from the data is critical.
1.      Were the conclusions supported by the data and analysis?
2.      Is it germane to the topic?
                                              iv.      Identify the weak studies, and cite them.
                                                v.      Acknowledge what evidence does exist, regardless of how much/little there is.
                                              vi.      ETA for literature review draft: August 28

2.                  Next Workshop Meeting(s): Thursdays, 11:30 a.m. – 12:45 p.m., at Given Courtyard South Level 4.   Remember: the first 15 minutes are for checking in with each other.
a.       August 7: Marianne’s literature review with editor comments (no Ben)
b.      August 14: Rodger’s SIM proposal
c.       August 21: Kairn: draft of literature review
d.      August 28:

Recorder: Connie van Eeghen

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