Matthew R. McGrail

Publish or Perish: A Systematic Review of Interventions to Increase Academic Publication Rates.

Academics are expected to publish. In Australia universities receive extra funding based on their academic publication rates and academic promotion is difficult without a good publication record. However, the reality is that only a small percentage of academics are actively publishing. To fix this problem, a number of international universities and other higher education institutions have implemented interventions with the main aim being to increase the number of publications. A comprehensive literature search identified 17 studies published between 1984 and 2004, which examined the effects of these interventions. Three key types of interventions were identified: writing courses, writing support groups and writing coaches. The resulting publication output varied, but all interventions led to an increase in average publication rates for the participants.

Routine versus clinically indicated replacement of peripheral intravenous catheters: a randomised controlled equivalence trial

BACKGROUND The millions of peripheral intravenous catheters used each year are recommended for 72-96 h replacement in adults. This routine replacement increases health-care costs and staff workload and requires patients to undergo repeated invasive procedures. The effectiveness of the practice is not well established. Our hypothesis was that clinically indicated catheter replacement is of equal benefit to routine replacement. METHODS This multicentre, randomised, non-blinded equivalence trial recruited adults (≥18 years) with an intravenous catheter of expected use longer than 4 days from three hospitals in Queensland, Australia, between May 20, 2008, and Sept 9, 2009. Computer-generated random assignment (1:1 ratio, no blocking, stratified by hospital, concealed before allocation) was to clinically indicated replacement, or third daily routine replacement. Patients, clinical staff, and research nurses could not be masked after treatment allocation because of the nature of the intervention. The primary outcome was phlebitis during catheterisation or within 48 h after removal. The equivalence margin was set at 3%. Primary analysis was by intention to treat. Secondary endpoints were catheter-related bloodstream and local infections, all bloodstream infections, catheter tip colonisation, infusion failure, catheter numbers used, therapy duration, mortality, and costs. This trial is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, number ACTRN12608000445370. FINDINGS All 3283 patients randomised (5907 catheters) were included in our analysis (1593 clinically indicated; 1690 routine replacement). Mean dwell time for catheters in situ on day 3 was 99 h (SD 54) when replaced as clinically indicated and 70 h (13) when routinely replaced. Phlebitis occurred in 114 of 1593 (7%) patients in the clinically indicated group and in 114 of 1690 (7%) patients in the routine replacement group, an absolute risk difference of 0·41% (95% CI -1·33 to 2·15%), which was within the prespecified 3% equivalence margin. No serious adverse events related to study interventions occurred. INTERPRETATION Peripheral intravenous catheters can be removed as clinically indicated; this policy will avoid millions of catheter insertions, associated discomfort, and substantial costs in both equipment and staff workload. Ongoing close monitoring should continue with timely treatment cessation and prompt removal for complications. FUNDING Australian National Health and Medical Research Council.

Spatial accessibility of primary health care utilising the two step floating catchment area method: an assessment of recent improvements.

BackgroundThe two step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method has emerged in the last decade as a key measure of spatial accessibility, particularly in its application to primary health care access. Many recent ‘improvements’ to the original 2SFCA method have been developed, which generally either account for distance-decay within a catchment or enable the usage of variable catchment sizes. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of various proposed methods within these two improvement groups. Moreover, its assessment focuses on how well these improvements operate within and between rural and metropolitan populations over large geographical regions.ResultsDemonstrating these improvements to the whole state of Victoria, Australia, this paper presents the first comparison between continuous and zonal (step) decay functions and specifically their effect within both rural and metropolitan populations. Especially in metropolitan populations, the application of either type of distance-decay function is shown to be problematic by itself. Its inclusion necessitates the addition of a variable catchment size function which can enable the 2SFCA method to dynamically define more appropriate catchments which align with actual health service supply and utilisation.ConclusionThis study assesses recent ‘improvements’ to the 2SFCA when applied over large geographic regions of both large and small populations. Its findings demonstrate the necessary combination of both a distance-decay function and variable catchment size function in order for the 2SFCA to appropriately measure healthcare access across all geographical regions.

The index of rural access: an innovative integrated approach for measuring primary care access

BackgroundThe problem of access to health care is of growing concern for rural and remote populations. Many Australian rural health funding programs currently use simplistic rurality or remoteness classifications as proxy measures of access. This paper outlines the development of an alternative method for the measurement of access to primary care, based on combining the three key access elements of spatial accessibility (availability and proximity), population health needs and mobility.MethodsThe recently developed two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method provides a basis for measuring primary care access in rural populations. In this paper, a number of improvements are added to the 2SFCA method in order to overcome limitations associated with its current restriction to a single catchment size and the omission of any distance decay function. Additionally, small-area measures for the two additional elements, health needs and mobility are developed. By utilising this improved 2SFCA method, the three access elements are integrated into a single measure of access. This index has been developed within the state of Victoria, Australia.ResultsThe resultant index, the Index of Rural Access, provides a more sensitive and appropriate measure of access compared to existing classifications which currently underpin policy measures designed to overcome problems of limited access to health services. The most powerful aspect of this new index is its ability to identify access differences within rural populations at a much finer geographical scale. This index highlights that many rural areas of Victoria have been incorrectly classified by existing measures as homogenous in regards to their access.ConclusionThe Index of Rural Access provides the first truly integrated index of access to primary care. This new index can be used to better target the distribution of limited government health care funding allocated to address problems of poor access to primary health care services in rural areas.

Risk factors for peripheral intravenous catheter failure: a multivariate analysis of data from a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE To assess the relative importance of independent risk factors for peripheral intravenous catheter (PIVC) failure. METHODS Secondary data analysis from a randomized controlled trial of PIVC dwell time. The Prentice, Williams, and Peterson statistical model was used to identify and compare risk factors for phlebitis, occlusion, and accidental removal. SETTING Three acute care hospitals in Queensland, Australia. PARTICIPANTS The trial included 3,283 adult medical and surgical patients (5,907 catheters) with a PIVC with greater than 4 days of expected use. RESULTS Modifiable risk factors for occlusion included hand, antecubital fossa, or upper arm insertion compared with forearm (hazard ratio [HR], 1.47 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.28-1.68], 1.27 [95% CI, 1.08-1.49], and 1.25 [95% CI, 1.04-1.50], respectively); and for phlebitis, larger diameter PIVC (HR, 1.48 [95% CI, 1.08-2.03]). PIVCs inserted by the operating and radiology suite staff had lower occlusion risk than ward insertions (HR, 0.80 [95% CI, 0.67-0.94]). Modifiable risks for accidental removal included hand or antecubital fossa insertion compared with forearm (HR, 2.45 [95% CI, 1.93-3.10] and 1.65 [95% CI, 1.23-2.22], respectively), clinical staff insertion compared with intravenous service (HR, 1.69 [95% CI, 1.30-2.20]); and smaller PIVC diameter (HR, 1.29 [95% CI, 1.02-1.61]). Female sex was a nonmodifiable factor associated with an increased risk of both phlebitis (HR, 1.64 [95% CI, 1.28-2.09]) and occlusion (HR, 1.44 [95% CI, 1.30-1.61]). CONCLUSIONS PIVC survival is improved by preferential forearm insertion, selection of appropriate PIVC diameter, and insertion by intravenous teams and other specialists. TRIAL REGISTRATION The original randomized controlled trial on which this secondary analysis is based is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (http://www.anzctr.org.au; ACTRN12608000445370).

Getting Doctors into the Bush: General Practitioners' Preferences for Rural Location

A key policy issue in many countries is the maldistribution of doctors across geographic areas, which has important effects on equity of access and health care costs. Many government programs and incentive schemes have been established to encourage doctors to practise in rural areas. However, there is little robust evidence of the effectiveness of such incentive schemes. The aim of this study is to examine the preferences of general practitioners (GPs) for rural location using a discrete choice experiment. This is used to estimate the probabilities of moving to a rural area, and the size of financial incentives GPs would require to move there. GPs were asked to choose between two job options or to stay at their current job as part of the Medicine in Australia: Balancing Employment and Life (MABEL) longitudinal survey of doctors. 3727 GPs completed the experiment. Sixty five per cent of GPs chose to stay where they were in all choices presented to them. Moving to an inland town with less than 5000 population and reasonable levels of other job characteristics would require incentives equivalent to 64% of current average annual personal earnings (

Routine Replacement versus Clinical Monitoring of Peripheral Intravenous Catheters in a Regional Hospital in the Home Program: A Randomized Controlled Trial

116,000). Moving to a town with a population between 5000 and 20,000 people would require incentives of at least 37% of current annual earnings, around

A new index of access to primary care services in rural areas.

68,000. The size of incentives depends not only on the area but also on the characteristics of the job. The least attractive rural job package would require incentives of at least 130% of annual earnings, around

Helping policy‐makers address rural health access problems

237,000. It is important to begin to tailor incentive packages to the characteristics of jobs and of rural areas.

Who should receive recruitment and retention incentives? Improved targeting of rural doctors using medical workforce data

This randomized, controlled trial involving 316 patients in the home setting found no difference in the rate of phlebitis and/or occlusion among patients for whom a peripheral intravenous catheter was routinely resited at 72-96 hours and those for whom it was replaced only on clinical indication (76.8 events per 1,000 device-days vs 87.3 events per 1,000 device-days; P = .71). There were no bloodstream infections.