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The Case Study

CASE REPORT Design Execution Reporting. The Case Study. The case may be an individual, an event, a policy, etc. e.g., a case of deafness and SMT (Harvey Lillard). Types of case studies. Case reports in the larger scheme of things:. Randomized clinical trial Cohort study

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The Case Study

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  1. CASE REPORT Design Execution Reporting The Case Study

  2. The case may be an individual, an event, a policy, etc. e.g., a case of deafness and SMT(Harvey Lillard) Types of case studies

  3. Case reports in the larger scheme of things: • Randomized clinical trial • Cohort study • Case control study • Case reports • single subject time series designs • case series • single case • Expert opinions The hierarchy of study designs

  4. Preliminary observations are frequently later refuted May rationalize questionable treatments e.g., thoracic SMT for deafness Biased reporting Negative studies may not be published Not experimental Except SS Time Series Design Case studies and reports are low on the totem pole

  5. RCTs are hard and expensive to carry out! Difficult to design an effective placebo Treatment by nature involves multiple components e.g., Ornish’s healthy heart regimen e.g., CBP lordotic curve alteration When the gold standard loses its luster . . .

  6. RCT difficulties (cont.) • Difficulty blinding participants • e.g., manipulation vs. massage • Everyone knows if they receive placebo • Randomization flaws • Recruiting patients from advertisements • Non-equivalent groups • Ethics involved in giving patients a placebo

  7. Not a clinical study per se, but high in clinical relevance Well-done case reports may offer more than lousy clinical trials In judging a prize fight, how to compare 300 light punches with 100 direct hits? May lead to clinical studies Enter the lowly case report

  8. Case reports (cont.) • In rare or new pathologies, may be first evidence • e.g., Thalidomide and birth defects, toxic shock syndrome, Lyme disease • 20-30% of medical articles involve < 10 patients

  9. Illustrate or support a hypothesis Atlas subluxation in a man with gastritis Prompt a new hypothesis Atlas subluxation can cause gastritis Report treatment failures Correcting atlas did not relieve gastritis Report iatrogenic reactions Gastritis better, but pt. developed brain tumor! Research valueof case reports

  10. Enter thechiropracticcase report • A case generic to medical literature may be unique in chiropractic context • Chiropractic vs. medical (conventional) care • Uniqueness of a chiropractic perspective: “subluxation” vs. “non-specific LBP of mechanical etiology”

  11. “Accounts of the diagnosis and treatment of unusual, difficult or otherwise interesting cases which may have independent educational value or may contribute to better standardization of care for a particular health problem when correlated with similar reports of others.” A definition from Chiropractic Journal of Australia

  12. “Biomedical story-telling” (Lawrence, 1991) A delivery vehicle for clinical education; indeed, “the case must have educational value” (Lawrence, 1991) A stimulant for more comprehensive and prospective research A case report is . . .

  13. An anecdote Def. - unpublished narrative A testimonial An advertisement “Persuasive communication” (Keating) A case report isnot. . .

  14. Unique cases New conditions or treatments Unexpected association Co-occurrence of two conditions - shared etiology? Unusual presentation A patient presents with a condition that is not typical Unexpected development usually adverse response to an intervention Kinds of major case reports

  15. The “every one should remember” type: Uncommon feature of an uncommon condition, like ankle edema w/Baker’s cyst Grand rounds case: Chiro. treatment of large disk herniation “I-am-a-clever-chap” case: How a lucky clinician found a clue to the correct diagnosis by accident “Introducing the Subluxometer 5000!” Kinds of minor case reports

  16. Minor case reports (cont.) • Variation-on-a-well-known-theme case: • 2 cases of SMT for ankylosing spondylitis • The Guinness-Book-of-World-Records case: • Usually describes a unique but irrelevant aspect of a well-recognized disease • e.g., carpal tunnel syndrome in a 100 year-old

  17. Sample case reports • Brucellosis: a rare cause of the unstable spine [clever chap] • RA: a case report [variation-well-known-theme] • Grand Rounds discussion: patient with acute LBP [Grand Rounds] • Membranous glomerulonephropathy associated with MS [unexpected co-occurrence] • Arthritis and cetyl myristoleate [advertisement] • Autism and chronic otitis media [unexpected co-occurrence ]

  18. Why the case is worth reporting What happened in the case Evidence that the case is unusual Alternative explanations for what happened Discussion, clinical implications Functional Components of a case report

  19. Title: impressive and suggestive Introduction: How case came to light Main features to report and why it deserves to be reported Type of literature search Formal sectionsof a case report

  20. Formal sections (cont.) • Case description: data, time line (amounts to methods and results) • Results of all relevant tests • Why other possible diagnoses were ruled out • Treatment • Discussion and Conclusion • May be separate or combined • Can be very short if there is an abstract

  21. Structure of a case study article

  22. Case should illustrate an important point regarding case management (e.g., examination, evaluation, intervention, outcome). Case does not have to have a positive outcome Case does not have to be unusual or unique Selecting a case

  23. Thinking time: deciding what to study Literature search (Medline, MANTIS, etc.) Bibliographic databases, e.g. EndNote Concept proposal Performing a case study

  24. Performing a case study (cont.) • Research design • Defining a successful outcome • Selecting measures • questionnaires • physiological measures • Execution • Publication

  25. Find mentor or read related papers Be aware of editor’s guidelines Be brief Choose relevant title Use proper key (indexing) terms Do . . .

  26. Do . . . (cont.) • Stick to basic format: • Introduction • Case description • Discussion • Conclusion • Keep introduction and conclusion short, concentrate on the actualcase

  27. Apologize Name the subject(s) Quote without reference Cite books (articles better) Say the “patient presented” (hackneyed) Provide unnecessary detail Don’t . . . Occam’s Razor - One should not increase, beyond what is necessary, the number of entities required to explain anything

  28. Don’t . . . (cont.) • Mix tenses or use jargon, like: • “This paper was written to relate how this patient is treated with . . .” • “head deviation” • Claim causality “proven” • Withdraw on 1st negative review

  29. Know your audience, get their interest Professional reviewers General readers, in and out of chiropractic Introduction components Define the condition How the case came to light Main features to report Introduction: A closer look

  30. Introduction: closer look (cont.) • Literature search conducted • Usual clinical outcome, based on previous literature • Statement of purpose • Describe your purpose for writing the article

  31. Describe the chief complaint History of present illness Past history Physical examination findings Laboratory examination Special tests: radiology, MRI, ortho/neuro, etc. Case description: A closer look

  32. Case description: A closer look (cont.) • Diagnosis • Treatment • Clinical course • Outcome of care

  33. Significance of the case Personal interpretation and opinions Compare current case with cases and studies previously reported Limitations of the study Very important! Be objective, not defensive Discussion: A closer look

  34. Need for further studies Type of studies Who would best conduct them Obstacles Implications for current clinical practice Conclusion: A closer look

  35. Strengths New discoveries Challenges accepted models Basic method of sharing observations Weaknesses Limited generalizability Not able to determine causes (no control) Observations usually influenced by unmeasured factors (confounders) In summary

  36. Follow the editor’s guidelines explicitly Illustrations must be of professional quality Keep author(s) name off all but title page Manuscript preparation

  37. Editor determines potential for publication Returned to author for more work, or Sent to 2 or more blinded reviewers/referees Comments returned to author Annotated manuscript Reviewer’s written comments Editor’s summary of criticisms Manuscript submission

  38. Manuscript submission (cont.) • Paper re-submitted (hopefully) • Almost all manuscripts are returned for revisions, so don’t be discouraged • Galley proofs follow • Sometimes further questions

  39. Manuscript submission (cont.)

  40. It is usually not necessary to obtain a separate patient consent to use the file data for a case study JMPT recently started to require consent for case reports Patient consent is needed if you plan on publishing pictures of the patient and the patient can be identified from the photos X-rays don’t count, just don’t include the name Patient Consent

  41. One shot case study Intervention then outcome assessment Pre-test, post-test study Initial measurement, intervention, outcome assessment Single-subject Time-series Repeated measures on and off the treatment Case study designs

  42. Variation on the theme of the solitary case report Retrospective look at series of cases that have features in common Common diagnosis, treatment, measures Each case may be separately described, or the cases may be lumped together with data summaries The case-series

  43. Example case series • McMakin, C.R., Microcurrent therapy: a novel treatment method for chronic low back myofascial pain. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, 2004. 8(2): p. 143-53. • Carolyn R. McMakin, M.A., D.C. • Case series study involving 22 patients with chronic low back pain

  44. Table 1 Outcomes in chronic low back pain patients. Clinical outcome Average Standard Range (n = 22) deviation Number of treatments 5.7 4.0 2–10 Treatment duration (weeks) 5.6 4.5 1–10 Pre-treatment pain 6.5/10 1.2/10 3–9 Post-treatment pain 1.7*/10 1.4/10 0–5 Chronicity (years) 8.8 5.4 1.5–20 * Statistically significant difference from pre-treatment mean (P < 0.005).

  45. Reporting median would have been better • Statistical comparisons?

  46. Quasi-experimental Repeated measures (at least 3) May show trend in baseline Identifies treatment impact during treatment phase Does not address acute patients Single-subject Time Series Design (TSD)

  47. TSD (cont.) • AB design • Observation, intervention • ABA design (time series reversal design) • Observe, treat, observe, treat, etc.

  48. Using citation management software • Examples are EndNote, ProCite, and RefWorks • Organize citations and format bibliographies • specific journal styles, APA, etc. • Search online databases and download directly to your computer

  49. EndNote • Invaluable when writing any kind of report that uses references • Case reports • Review articles for local newsletters and journals • Med-legal reports

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