Taking aspirin daily for at least 4 years reduces long-term risk of cancer death

Evid Based Nurs 2011;14:71 doi:10.1136/ebn1165 Systematic review with meta analysisElizabeth Ann Coleman

College of Nursing, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA Correspondence to Elizabeth Ann Coleman
Mail Slot 529, 4301 West Markham Street, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA; colemanann{at}uams.eduCommentary on: Rothwell PM, Fowkes FG, Belch JF, et al. Effect of daily aspirin on long-term risk of death due to cancer: analysis of individual patient data from randomised trials. Lancet 2011; 377: 31– 41.

? The study findings that daily aspirin reduced cancer death by 20% need to be factored into guideline recommendations. The large effect size of aspirin, even in low dose, in preventing cancer may outweigh the small risk of stomach bleeds.

? It may be recommended that persons at age 40 take daily low-dose aspirin to prevent cancer, not just of adenocarinoma of the gastrointestinal tract but of adenocarinoma of other tumour sites.

? More trial data are needed on cancers that affect women, especially breast and gynaecological cancers.

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A characterisation of factors determining postoperative ileus after laparoscopic colectomy enables the generation of a novel predictive score

Evid Based Nurs 2011;14:69-70 doi:10.1136/ebn1166 Annette Bisanz

Nursing Department, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USACorrespondence to Annette Bisanz
26 Grants Lake Circle, Sugar Land, TX 77479, USA; abisanz{at}mdanderson.orgCommentary on: Kronberg U, Kiran RP, Soliman MS, et al. A characterization of factors determining postoperative ileus after laparoscopic colectomy enables the generation of a novel predictive score. Ann Surg 2011; 253: 78– 81.

? Allows the identification of patients at risk for postoperative ileus (POI).

? Predictive information combined with evidence from the WHO provides guidelines to prevent POI.

? Improved preventive care can decrease the cost and length of hospital stays.

? Nurses can advocate for preventive measures even though they do not have prescriptive authority.

? Nurses can translate this information into their standard of care.

? Inspires nurses to get involved in the research process …

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People with Alzheimer's disease are at increased risk of hip fracture and of mortality after hip fracture

Evid Based Nurs 2011;14:78-79 doi:10.1136/ebn1160 Kilian Rapp

Department of Clinical Gerontology, Stuttgart and Institute of Epidemiology, Ulm University, Stuttgart, GermanyCorrespondence to Kilian Rapp
Department of Clinical Gerontology, Robert-Bosch-Hospital, Auerbachstr 110, 70376 Stuttgart, Germany; kilian.rapp{at}rbk.deCommentary on: Baker NL, Cook MN, Arrighi HM, et al. Hip fracture risk and subsequent mortality among Alzheimer's disease patients in the United Kingdom, 1988–2007. Age Ageing 2011; 40: 49– 54.

? People with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are a high-risk population for hip fractures.

? Mortality after a hip fracture is particularly high in such people. Therefore, prevention and management of potential causes like delirium and an early rehabilitation should be priorities in AD patients after a hip fracture.

AD as well as hip fractures increase exponentially with age. Both diseases are frequent and have a considerable effect on the person's function. Previous studies have demonstrated an association between AD and hip fractures. The objective of the study by Baker and colleagues was to evaluate whether AD is an independent risk factor for hip fractures. Furthermore, the study compared mortality after hip fracture in people with and without AD.

People with AD were identified by (1) diagnosis ‘AD’ …

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Efficacy of implementation intentions intervention on prevention of smoking among adolescents

Evid Based Nurs 2011;14:81-82 doi:10.1136/ebn1162 Maria Margarida da Silva Reis dos Santos Ferreira

Nursing College of Porto, Porto, PortugalCorrespondence to Maria Margarida da Silva Reis dos Santos Ferreira
Escola Superior de Enfermagem do Porto, Rua Doutor António Bernardino de Almeida, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal; mrs{at}esenf.pt Commentary on: Conner M, Higgins AR. Long-term effects of implementation intentions on prevention of smoking uptake among adolescents: a cluster randomized controlled trial . Health Psychol 2010; 29: 529– 38.

? Implementation intention interventions which address the adolescent's intentions for the adoption of a healthy lifestyle are one of the strategies to use to avoid the adoption of risk behaviours and therefore improve their healthy behaviours.

? Implementation intention interventions are a strategy to control the consumption of tobacco in adolescence. These interventions should be started early to empower adolescents.

? Interventions which aim at health promotion should not be performed in isolation but should be repeated over a period of time.

? To prove the viability of randomised controlled trial (RCT, considered the best study design to evaluate the effect of an intervention) with long-time follow-up of studies developed with adolescents.

Nurses are in a unique position to promote the health of adolescents by developing formal and informal health education sessions. These interventions aim to develop the adolescent's personality, the acquisition of knowledge, critical-reflexive capacity, decision-making skills and the capacity of the adolescent to assess their own actions.

Research is essential to obtain gains …

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The organisational culture of nursing staff providing long-term dementia care is related to quality of care

Evid Based Nurs 2011;14:88-89 doi:10.1136/ebn1158 Claire Goodman

Centre for Research in Primary and Community Care, University of Hertfordshire, Hertfordshire, UKCorrespondence to Claire Goodman
Centre for Research in Primary and Community Care, University of Hertfordshire, Hertfordshire AL10 9AB, UK; c.goodman{at}herts.ac.ukCommentary on: van Beek AP, Gerritsen DL. The relationship between organizational culture of nursing staff and quality of care for residents with dementia: questionnaire surveys and systematic observations in nursing homes. Int J Nurs Stud 2010; 47: 1274– 82.

? Structured approaches that enable nursing staff to consider the culture of care they work within are likely to support reflection, critical discussion and improved quality of care.

? The physical and psychosocial care environment, characteristics of the nursing work and nursing staff, influence the well-being of people with dementia.

? Understanding how organisational culture can influence the quality of care is an important topic for nursing research.

? How the culture of care affects residents' quality of life and health outcomes needs further research.

? Intervention studies in care homes need to consider how to assess organisational context and culture and how different cultural contexts influence outcomes.

As the population ages and more people require long-term care, how the culture of a nursing …

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What is a systematic review?

Jane ClarkeCorrespondence to Jane Clarke
4 Prime Road, Grey Lynn, Auckland, New Zealand; janeclarkehome{at}gmail.comA high-quality systematic review is described as the most reliable source of evidence to guide clinical practice. The purpose of a systematic review is to deliver a meticulous summary of all the available primary research in response to a research question. A systematic review uses all the existing research and is sometime called ‘secondary research’ (research on research). They are often required by research funders to establish the state of existing knowledge and are frequently used in guideline development. Systematic review findings are often used within the …

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Using research findings in nursing practice

Alison TwycrossCorrespondence to Alison Twycross
Reader in Children's Nursing, Faculty of Health and Social Care Science, Kingston University- St George's University of London, London SW17 0RE, UK; a.twycross{at}sgul.kingston.ac.ukWelcome to the July edition of Evidence-Based Nursing ( EBN). In this edition, there are two new features which we hope will enable readers to use evidence in practice more effectively. The first of these is the Research Made Simple series. This will provide a one-page overview about key areas of research with the aim of increasing readers' understanding of the research process. The first article in the series, written by Jane Clarke, one of the associate editors for the journal, identifies the key features of a systematic review. Other articles in the series will explore other areas of research including ‘what is a randomised controlled trial?’ and ‘qualitative data analysis’.

The other new item in this edition is the Resource Page. This page will be included in each edition of the journal and will bring together new and updated sources of information about current evidence for nursing practice. Information has been collated from the Cochrane Nursing Network, …

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