PsycBITE™ wishes to thank...

Aim of PsycBITE™

To enable clinicians and researchers to quickly identify, evaluate and implement evidence-based interventions for psychological issues experienced by people with acquired brain impairment.

For more information about evidence-based practice, click here.

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How did PsycBITE™ start ?

In response to the interest of the Motor Accidents Authority of New South Wales in promoting evidence-based practice in clinical settings, our team has made a submission for a study to determine the feasibility of establishing a database specifically for cognitive and behavioural therapies for psychological problems/issues after acquired brain impairment. Members of the original team are a multidisciplinary group of researchers in Sydney, Australia, each of whom has many years of clinical experience in the management of people with acquired brain impairment:

Robyn Tate

Michael Perdices

Skye McDonald

Leanne Togher

Anne Moseley

Is PsycBITE™ unique?

PsycBITE™ is similar to two existing databases, both developed in Australia: the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro, launched on 1st September, 1999), and the Occupational Therapy Systematic Evaluation of Evidence (OTseeker, launched on 17th March, 2003).

Both PsycBITE™ and OTseeker were modelled on PEDro, a database of systematic reviews, evidence-based guidelines, and randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in physiotherapy which is available on the internet free of charge, (Herbert, Moseley & Sherrington, 1998/99).

PsycBITE™ differs from PEDro and OTseeker in three important ways:

1. PsycBITE™ is not exclusive to a single discipline, but rather encompasses a range of disciplines including neurology, nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, psychiatry, psychogeriatrics, rehabilitation medicine, social work, and speech pathology obviously, psychology.
   
2. PEDro and OTseeker are restricted to higher levels of evidence (systematic reviews, evidence-based guidelines, and RCTs). By contrast, PsycBITE™ includes trials with a broader range of levels of evidence: systematic reviews (SRW), RCTs, non RCTs, Case series (CS) and Single Subject Design (SSD). The report must, however, contain empirical data about treatment efficacy (usually pre- and post-treatment test results). For this reason reports without such data (e.g., editorials, narrative reviews, case descriptions) are not included on PsycBITETM.
   
3. PEDro and OTseeker encompass all medical conditions, whereas PsycBITE™ is restricted to acquired brain impairment (ABI).

Which trials are accepted on PsycBITE™?

There are five selection criteria for inclusion on PsycBITE™.

1. the report is published as a full-length paper in a peer-reviewed scientific journal,
2. the population treated is human, with brain impairment of acquired aetiology that involves structural/morphological changes,
3. the population is older than 5 years of age,
4. treatment comprises at least one intervention that is psychologically-based and/or targets at least one psychological consequence of ABI, and
5. the report provides empirical data regarding treatment efficacy.

How are trials identified?

The PsycBITE™ identification process uses 85 search terms addressing five domains;
(i) target areas (i.e., area targeted for treatment, such as memory, social skills, anxiety, pain),
(ii) intervention (e.g., communication therapy, education, sexuality counselling, cognitive-behaviour therapy),
(iii) neurological group (e.g., Alzheimer's disease, stroke, traumatic brain injury),
(iv) age group (the broad categories of child, adolescent and adult), and
(v) study design (e.g., systematic review, RCT).

Seven databases are searched for potentially relevant studies:

1. Allied and Alternative Medicine Database (AMED)
2. Cumulated Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL)
3. The Cochrane Library
4. Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE)
5. Educational Resources Information Centre database (ERIC)
6. Medline
7. PsycINFO

1. target area (22 terms)
2. intervention (29 terms)
3. neurological group (14 terms)
4. age group (3 terms)
5. study design (5 terms)

How reliable is PsycBITE™?

Inter-rater reliability studies of the identification process and indexing procedure have been conducted (for details, see Tate et al., submitted).

Inter-rater agreement on the identification process of 2,000 reports was very high (Kappa coefficient 0.92).

For the indexing procedure using 52 reports, overall agreement on the primary indexing terms was 98% (agreement on 254/260 data points).

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How is PsycBITE™ financed?

Like PEDro and OTseeker, PsycBITE™ is available free of charge. Therefore we are dependent on external funding to run PsycBITE™. If you would like to support the continuation and expansion of PsycBITE™ click here.

Initial funding for 12 months was provided by the Motor Accidents Authority (MAA) of New South Wales in 2001 to determine the feasibility of establishing PsycBITE™. The MAA also provided funding in 2002 to conduct inter-rater reliability studies on the identification and indexing procedures. Again in 2004 the MAA provided funding to establish the website.

PsycBITE™ is located at the Rehabilitation Studies Unit, Royal Rehabilitation Centre Sydney, which has provided infrastructure support since the project's inception in 2001.The FRS Dawes Library resources at the Royal Rehabilitation Centre Sydney have been indispensable.

In 2003 the Australian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment contributed to the library costs incurred by PsycBITE™.

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PsycBITE™ - ©2004