P15S03: Female sexual dysfunction
Bottom line: Information on female sexual
dysfunction was used to justify the
management of a patient (no medication). There were no information-related patient health outcomes.
Level 1 outcome (situational relevance): On July 28, 2008, P15 did a search at work, by themselves, and before
an encounter with a patient. They retrieved one information hit about Female sexual
dysfunction. The reported search
objectives were: to address a clinical question, to search in general or for
curiosity, to share information with a patient, to exchange information with
other health professionals and to plan, manage or coordinate tasks with other
health professionals. The doctor wanted me to see the patient,
because she was having sexual dysfunction, and also had a history of cancer. So
she wanted me to look into it, find out if there was any therapy to help her
libido. [...] The doctor wrote me a note about the patient. [...] The clinical
question was to determine what kind of medication was available for this woman [in her
mid-sixties], to increase her libido. [...] I didn't know a
lot of information about it, so I was reading the whole page. [...] I was going to
let the doctor know [what I had discussed with the patient], [and
then] make punctual plan [...] of what we were going to do for this patient,
and what time frame we were looking [at]. According to P15, the information from e-Therapeutics+
was in agreement and less relevant than the information from another electronic
resource (Medline). [A review
article was] just more detailed.
Level 2 outcome (cognitive impact): One hit was associated with a report of positive cognitive impact (see table). Regarding
practice improvement and learning, P15 stated: All the information was new to me [
] [In
particular,] I would not give testosterone to this lady [...] because she had
a history of breast cancer. [
] I probably wouldn't have, I would have looked at the
lot of information before making a decision [future patients. [
] Having [e-Therapeutics+] was
handy.
Retrieved
information hit:
1) e-Therapeutics+ (CIRT): Therapeutics tab Keyword: Sexual dysfunction Female sexual dysfunction
Highlight (P15S03H01)
Level 3 outcome
(information use): Information on Female sexual dysfunction was
retrieved, and used to better understand a specific issue with
respect to the management of the patient, and to justify
the management of the patient (information used as presented in
e-Therapeutics+). I was trying to find
out what medication was available for this patient, so, testosterone patches
were not an option for her. [...] At this point, she's not on
any medication.
Level 4 outcome (patient health): There was no clear relationship between the use of information and
patient health outcomes.
Levels of outcome of information-seeking
|
Situational relevance |
Positive cognitive
impact |
Information use |
Patient health |
|
Address a clinical question Satisfy curiosity Share information Exchange information Manage patient care |
Practice improved Learned something Reminded something Confirmed Reassured |
Justify choice Understand issue |
No outcome |