Hi,
Here's a summary of the responses I had re. software tools to help with the
design, management and analysis of healthcare randomised controlled trials.
The summary is a combination of responses from two discussion lists:
Evidence-based health and Allstat. Many thanks to all those that replied.
One of the respondants also sent me an Excel spreadsheet. I haven't
attached this to my summary, but if anyone would like it I'd be happy to
send it to him or her.
Regards,
Shaun Treweek
Dr Shaun Treweek
Health Services Research Unit (SAHT)
Folkehelsa
PO Box 4404 Nydalen
N-0403 Oslo
Norway
Tel.: 00 47 22 04 22 71
Fax.: 00 47 22 04 25 95
Mob.: 00 47 92 86 23 08
email: [log in to unmask]
Replies:
One website that immediately springs to mind is the website for the Resource
Centre for Randomised Trials, based here at the Institute of Health Sciences
in
Oxford. It is under development, but would seem to meet at least some of
what
you're looking to provide.
Best wishes,
Rachel Rowe
I do not know if this is of any use but the company I work for specialises
in the analysis and reporting of clinical trials.
Please let me know if you would like more information.
Kind regards
Ian
Ian Briggs MSc
Business Development Manager
Oxford Pharmaceutical Sciences Ltd
[log in to unmask]
Phone: +44 (0) 1491 834090
Fax: +44 (0) 1491 833334
Efax: +44 (0) 8704 580727
Mobile: +44 (0) 7887 947417
Web: www.ops-web.com < <http://www.ops-web.com>>
Shaun,
these resources might be of interest, especially if there's no other
software
available:
Java applets for power and sample size:
http://www.stat.uiowa.edu/~rlenth/Power/
Statistical considerations for clinical trials and scientific
experiments
http://hedwig.mgh.harvard.edu/size.html
CDC's EPi INFO Homepage
http://www.cdc.gov/epiinfo/
Execpt for CDC's Epi Info, I haven't used them yet (sorry).
The title of your project sounds extremely interesting to me, since I have
some
interest in design and analysis of pragmatic trials (not too experienced,
unfortunately), especially regarding the design and analysis of group
randomized
trials.
Would you be so kind to send me the URL of the project's homepage?
Regards,
Stefan Hebenstreit
You may find our new directory of randomisation software and services
useful:
http://www.sghms.ac.uk/depts/phs/guide/randser.htm
This is the first part of a planned guide for researchers applying for
NHS research funding. It contains some free stuff as well as telephone
randomisation etc.
Martin
Dr. Treweek,
I read with great interest your note to the EBM list. We have been working
on a software application here that I think may be of benefit to you in your
work. While not EBM specific, we are working with local health care
professionals in order to develop an EBM specific research tool.
I am with Salient Research Labs, Inc., located at the Research Park at the
University of Western Ontario, at London, Canada. Salient Research develops
innovative solutions in intelligent agent technology to efficiently access
and manage the overwhelming quantity of online research resources found on
the Internet, and intranets that are available to health care professionals.
We offer user-centric software applications that combine ease-of-use with
high performance. Our continuing mission is to discover innovative new ways
to reduce the time professionals spend on complex operations, and to make
their experience with new technologies more enjoyable.
Evidyne(tm) represents the flagship product at Salient Research Labs, Inc.
Evidyne(tm) is a software application that allows users to simultaneously
search multiple valid online medical resources using a standard
user-interface - and conveniently organizes the search results in a central
location.
If you would be interested in viewing a sample of the software I would be
happy to send you a cd in the mail. With the help of health care experts
like yourself, we can move forward on this project to develop the best
possible EBM specific tool.
Regards,
Chris
--------------------------------------------
Chris Blackman
Director, Business Development
www.evidyne.com
Salient Research Labs, Inc.
Research Park
The University of Western Ontario
100 Collip Circle, Suite 100
London, Ontario, Canada N6G 4X8
Phone: +1.519.858.5140
Fax : +1.519.858.5048
Toll Free(North America): +1.877.687.0654
I'm sure a lot of people have developed useful material. My own main
concern has been to develop useful methods for calculating confidence
intervals for proportions and their differences, which is an area
that SPSS and other software producers have neglected. I am
appending an Excel spreadsheet which calculates CIs for the single
proportion, the unpaired difference and the paired difference using
good methods - please feel free to make it widely available for use,
with the usual condition that methods should be adequately referenced
in all publications.
In pragmatic, hence parallel-groups studies, the second section of
the spreadsheet, which deals with the difference between 2
independent proportions, is likely to be the most useful. If anyone
is into crossover studies, then if these involve binary outcomes
(which is unusual) the third part can be used. But I also have
available a set of useful designs for small multi-treatment crossover
studies, including ones I have developed including 5 treatments, 15
subjects and 7 treatments, 21 subjects - I can easily email you these
if they would be of any use.
Best wishes for this important work.
Robert Newcombe.
..........................................
Robert G. Newcombe, PhD, CStat, Hon MFPHM
Senior Lecturer in Medical Statistics
University of Wales College of Medicine
Heath Park
Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK.
Phone 029 2074 2329 or 2311
Fax 029 2074 3664
Email [log in to unmask]
Dear Mrs. Treweek,
I am Physician for Internal Medicine in Münster-Germany. We are providing
the Search Catalogue Medknowledge in German with a extensive Part of
Evidence-based Medicine in Germany and International.
http://www.medknowledge.de/ebm/evidenz_basierte_medizin.htm
Our second Portal Medknowledge-Germany informs about German Medicine in
English.
http://www.medknowledge.de/germany
http://www.medknowledge.de/germany/research/ebm-germany.htm
We would be glad for a cooperation.
Many Greetings to Norway
Dr. Fevzi Koc
Dr. med. Fevzi Koc
E-Mail: [log in to unmask]
www.medknowledge.de
Dear Dr Shaun Treweek,
My name is Marius Marginean and I'm national coordinator of Sentinel
Dispensaries Network MEDINET from Romania. I'm family medicine senior
specialist and I work in the Institute of Public Health Timisoara, Romania.
I'm also a member of WONCA International Classification Committee and
president of Romanian Centre for Studies in Family Medicine.
This network is developed by the Romanian Society of General Medicine/Family
Medicine and managed by Romanian Centre for Studies in Family Medicine (
<http://www.medfam.ro/cnsmf/>).
We have 100 stations in all counties of Romania, where 100 GP's register all
consultation using a PC and an software named Medins. This software is
developed by us (with a software company) and is episode oriented, using
SOAP concept and codifying with ICPC-2 and ICD-10. We have an website, but
is in Romanian language ( <http://www.ispt.ro/medinet>, where you could find
some details regarding Medins and you could download a trial version. A
presentation of the history of our work in at the address
<http://www.ispt.ro/medinet/download/medinetoct2001_files/frame.htm>
Now, the network is quit organized and doctors start to send us data by
Internet on our central server. They could send data directly from the
software (if they has an Internet connection in the office) or via a webpage
( <http://medinet.ispt.ro>) if they don't has a direct access in the office.
We are in contact with all doctors using a mailing list (and off course by
telephone).
In this moment we collect data concerning morbidity and the pattern of
activity in family medicine (reasons for encounters, diagnosis, episodes,
procedures made by GP's, referrals). We are preparing also a collaboration
with the Institute of Public Health to study if is appropriate to use such
sentinel network for collecting data in Romania (because, traditionally, in
Romania all 15.000 doctors must report all kind of data by papers- monthly,
trimestrial, semestrial and yearly ! ).
We are working also to develop a web Portal dedicated to family medicine (
<http://www.medfam.ro>) where will be transferred all website for family
medicine. We intend to put together all informations that we create in the
last years and to offer more Internet services for Romanian doctors.
If you need to know more concerning our activity, please write me.
Please receive all my best regards.
Sincerely yours,
Dr.Marius Marginean
Marius Marginean, MD, MPH
Institute of Public Health
Bd.Dr.Victor Babes 16-18,
1900 Timisoara
ROMANIA
Phone: 091223384
Office: 056-192101
E-mail:[log in to unmask] <mailto:E-mail:[log in to unmask]>
<http://www.ispt.ro/mm/>
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