Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31931750›Full record

ArticleBMC family practice2020

Ultrasonography in assessing suspected bone fractures: a cross-sectional survey amongst German general practitioners.

Gordian Lukas Schmid, Beatrice Kühnast, Marcus Heise, Tobias Deutsch, Thomas Frese

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC family practice, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 40% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Silk-Based Materials for Hard Tissue Engineering.Materials (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Gordian Lukas SchmidDepartment of General Practice, Medical Faculty of the University of Leipzig, Philipp-Rosenthal-Str. 55, Leipzig, 04103, Deutschland. gordian.schmid@medizin.uni-leipzig.de.ORCID 0000-0002-8238-3302
Beatrice KühnastInstitute of General Practice and Family Medicine, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany.
Marcus HeiseInstitute of General Practice and Family Medicine, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany.
Tobias DeutschDepartment of General Practice, Medical Faculty of the University of Leipzig, Philipp-Rosenthal-Str. 55, Leipzig, 04103, Deutschland.
Thomas FreseInstitute of General Practice and Family Medicine, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany.
Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg · DELeipzig University · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundOver the last two decades, ultrasonography (US) has been shown to be an accurate tool for the diagnosis of suspected bone fractures; however, the integration of this application of US into routine care and outpatient settings needs to be explored. In this study, we surveyed German general practitioners (GPs) to assess their knowledge, attitudes, and utilization of US for the diagnosis of suspected fractures.

methodsNotification of the study, a self-designed questionnaire, and a reminder were mailed to 600 randomly selected GPs in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt.

resultsThe response rate was 47.7% (n = 286), and respondents did not differ from the population of all GPs in respect to sex and practice type. Among GPs surveyed, 48.6% used an US device in their practice. On average, GPs diagnosed six patients with suspected fractures per month, yet only 39.3% knew about the possibility of ultrasonographic fracture diagnosis, and only 4.3% of GPs using US applied it for this purpose. Among participants, 71.9% believed that US is inferior to conventional X-rays for the diagnosis of bony injuries. Users of US were better informed of and more commonly used US for fracture diagnosis compared to non-users.

conclusionThe need to rule out possible fractures frequently arises in general practice, and US devices are broadly available. Further efforts are needed to improve the knowledge and attitudes of GPs regarding the accuracy of US for fracture diagnosis. Multicenter controlled trials could explore the safety, usefulness, and effectiveness of this still seldom used diagnostic approach for suspected fractures.

Indexed as

Clinical CompetenceGeneral PractitionersPractice Patterns, Physicians'UltrasonographyCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleFractures, BoneGermanyHumansMaleRadiographyReimbursement MechanismsSurveys and QuestionnairesBone fractureFracture diagnosisGeneral practicePoint of careUltrasonographyUltrasound imaging

Identifiers

PMID31931750
PMCPMC6958739
OpenAlexW3010825867

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.