Trip Database Blog

Trip has had patient information for many years. The logic being that a health professional may see a patient and then want to print off a patient information leaflet (PIL) to hand to the patient. Recently a contact asking if we’d heard of PIF TICK, we hadn’t! PIF TICK is:

“Having the PIF TICK on leaflets, websites, videos or apps shows an organisation’s health information has been through a professional and robust production process. To be awarded the PIF TICK an organisation must show its health information production process meets 10 criteria.“

To cut a long story short, we had a great conversation with Patient Information Forum (the ‘PIF’ in ‘PIF Tick’) and they alerted the organisations with the PIF TICK that Trip was interested in adding their content. Since then we’ve had lots of great new content from the likes of Target Ovarian Cancer, Crohn’s & Colitis UK and Mesothelioma UK.

This is a great initiative so please let us know of any great sources of patient information. Although PIF TICK is a UK-based initiative, we want global content. Don’t be shy…

I’ve just received the following from Twitter:

The article in question was Efficacy of single-dose and double-dose ivermectin early treatment in preventing progression to hospitalization in mild COVID-19: A multi-arm, parallel-group randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. This is featured in Trip as ‘Key Primary Research’ as it has gone through additional layers of quality control via the wonderful EvidenceAlerts system. As they say on their site:

“EvidenceAlerts is an Internet service that notifies physicians and researchers about newly-published clinical studies. Researchers at the McMaster Health Information Unit find the highest quality studies, reviews, and evidence-based clinical practice guidelines from 112 premier clinical journals and these articles are rated by practicing physicians for clinical relevance and interest. Alerts are curated to your own clinical interests.“

Their rating for that particular paper (the banned one) can be seen here. The raters gave it this score:

The conclusion of the actual paper was:

“Conclusion: Single-dose and double-dose ivermectin early treatment were not superior to the placebo in preventing progression to hospitalization and improving clinical course in mild COVID-19.“

So, is the mis-information the claim that ivermectin is no better than placebo?

There is so much information out there on ivermectin e.g.:

“We found no evidence to support the use of ivermectin for treating COVID-19 or preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection” (Cochrane)

“Why You Should Not Use Ivermectin to Treat or Prevent COVID-19” (FDA)

“The current evidence on the use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19 patients is inconclusive. Until more data is available, WHO recommends that the drug only be used within clinical trials” (WHO)

“Do not use ivermectin to treat COVID-19 except as part of an ongoing clinical trial” (NICE)

This is appalling!

UPDATE: the ban was temporary and our account is now back!

Below is a selection of the latest content added to Trip (Click here for a bit of background).

1. Mega-Map on Child Well-being Interventions in LMIC’s (UNICEF)
2. How FAST Can You Spot a Pneumothorax? Breaking Down a Surprising Result Comparing Ultrasound and Chest Radiograph in Traumatic Pneumothorax (Annals of Emergency Medicine Journal Club)
3. Compulsory licensing for expensive medicines (KCE – Belgian Health Care Knowledge Centre)
4. British Society of Gastroenterology guidelines on the management of functional dyspepsia (British Society of Gastroenterology)
5. Online interventions for reducing hate speech and cyberhate: A systematic review (Campbell Collaboration)
6. What is the role of positron emission tomography (PET) in the clinical management of patients with cancer, sarcoidosis, epilepsy, or dementia (Cancer Care Ontario)
7. Telehealth for Women’s Preventive Services (AHRQ)
8. Nonopioid Pharmacologic Treatments for Chronic Pain (AHRQ)
9. Monkeypox multi-country outbreak – first update (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control)
10. Progressive Pulmonary Fibrosis (James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership)
11. What are the biggest gaps in evidence about the impacts of climate change on population health in Canada, and adaptation and mitigation strategies that are applicable to Canada? (McMaster Health Forum)
12. Multiple sclerosis in adults: management (NICEP
13. Monkeypox (NHS England)
14. Was the NHS overwhelmed last winter? (Nuffield Trust)
15. Multi-Jurisdictional Monkeypox Outbreak 2022 – What We Know So Far (Public Health Ontario)
16. The effectiveness of comprehensive health assessments for people with disability (Sax Institute)
17. Predicting pain outcomes in primary care (SBU)
18. Physical activity is medicine: Prescribe it (Therapeutics Initiative)
19. Vitamin, Mineral, and Multivitamin Supplementation to Prevent Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer: Preventive Medication (U.S. Preventive Services Task Force)
20. WHO guideline on self-care interventions for health and well-being, 2022 revision: executive summary (WHO)

More evidence = more joy = more support for evidence-based practice