Lewinter Katherine E, Hudson Sharon M, Kysh Lynn, Lara Marielena, Betz Cecily L, Espinoza Juan
Division of Pediatric Pulmonology and Sleep Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Division of General Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
NPJ Digit Med. 2020 Dec 10;3(1):158. doi: 10.1038/s41746-020-00368-2.
Digital health is a rapidly developing field which is positioned to transform the manner in which healthcare is delivered, especially amongst adolescents and young adults. In order to assess the efficacy of novel medical devices, clinicians and researchers often turn to the literature for guidance. Randomized control trials and the systematic reviews and meta-analyses that they inform are considered to be at the top of the evidence hierarchy. While they are excellent tools to identify and to summarize the best available evidence to answer a specific research question, they are poorly equipped to provide a more expansive understanding of the body of relevant literature in a timely manner. In this letter we discuss the utility of the scoping review, an underutilized style of academic writing designed to map key concepts in a body of literature. This method is ideal when reporting on the fast-paced field of digital medicine, as it allows for rapid synthesis of the available literature.
数字健康是一个快速发展的领域，它有望改变医疗保健的提供方式，尤其是在青少年和年轻人中。为了评估新型医疗设备的疗效，临床医生和研究人员经常查阅文献以获取指导。随机对照试验以及由其提供信息的系统评价和荟萃分析被认为处于证据等级体系的顶端。虽然它们是识别和总结回答特定研究问题的最佳现有证据的优秀工具，但它们难以及时对相关文献主体提供更广泛的理解。在这封信中，我们讨论了范围综述的效用，这是一种未得到充分利用的学术写作方式，旨在梳理某一文献主体中的关键概念。当报道快速发展的数字医学领域时，这种方法非常理想，因为它能够快速综合现有文献。
