title: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Publication Types in Quality Improvement Journals.
abstract: Despite widespread engagement in quality improvement activities, little is known about the designs of studies currently published in quality improvement journals. This study's goal is to establish the prevalence of the types of research conducted in articles published in journals dedicated to quality improvement. A cross-sectional analysis was performed of 145 research articles published in 11 quality improvement journals in 2011. The majority of study designs were considered pre-experimental (95%), with a small percentage of quasi-experimental and experimental designs. Of the studies that reported the results of an intervention (n = 60), the most common research designs were pre-post studies (33%) and case studies (25%). There were few randomized controlled trials or quasi-experimental study designs (12% of intervention studies). These results suggest that there are opportunities for increased use of quasi-experimental study designs.
authors.affiliation: University of Washington, Seattle, WA cjwong@uw.edu.
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
authors.forename: Andrew A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: White
authors.affiliation: University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
authors.forename: Susan E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Merel
authors.affiliation: University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
authors.forename: Douglas M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Brock
authors.affiliation: University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
authors.forename: Thomas O
authors.initials: TO
authors.lastname: Staiger
mesh_terms: D065187:Controlled Before-After Studies / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D019982:Organizational Case Studies / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010506:Periodicals as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D058996:Quality Improvement / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012107:Research Design / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: health services research; intervention studies; patient safety; quality improvement; research design