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We identified eight RCTs involving 805 participants. Two trials comparing COCP with placebo were considered to be moderate quality and the remaining studies were low to very low quality, mainly because of serious risk of bias from lack of blinding and concerns over precision. COCP versus placebo COCP, with a step-down ...
Eight studies, which included 805 women, were identified that compared combined hormonal contraceptives (mostly, the combined contraceptive pill) with either no treatment, placebo or other medical treatments. The studies assessed the effects of interventions on menstrual bleeding, satisfaction, quality of life, adverse...
Three cross-over studies, with 175 women were included in the review. All three studies had an unclear risk of bias with regards to trial design and overall, the quality of evidence generated was judged to be poor. Two of the studies (n = 59) compared desmopressin (1-deamino-8-D-arginine vasopressin) with placebo. Mens...
The review included three studies on non-surgical treatments in 175 women with a bleeding disorder who were experiencing heavy menstrual bleeding. Twostudies compared desmopressin to placebo and one study compared desmopressin to tranexamic acid. The women included in the studies were selected for one treatment or the ...
We included three randomised controlled trials involving 212 participants. The evidence available does not demonstrate that FESS, as practised in the included trials, is superior to medical treatment with or without sinus irrigation in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis. A middle meatal antrostomy fashioned by FESS w...
Three randomised controlled trials, involving 212 participants, met the inclusion criteria for this review. The evidence available does not demonstrate that FESS, as practised in the included trials, is superior to medical treatment with or without sinus irrigation in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis. There were no...
One hundred thirty-seven studies involving 8333 eyes met the inclusion criteria. Placebo-controlled studies were heterogeneous in comparison with idoxuridine (RR 1.74; 95% CI 1.03 to 2.91) and few in number for vidarabine (RR 1.81; 95% CI 1.09 to 3.01), interferon (RR 1.32; 95% CI 1.06 to 1.64), and debridement. Vidara...
This update, current to December 2014, uses a network of 137 studies of 8333 eyes to compare antiviral medicines and to find out if interferon or debridement would help. Between one and 28 studies were available to compare seven ophthalmic antiviral drugs, an antiviral taken by mouth, interferon, office procedures to r...
The results of twenty-five studies were used in the meta-analysis. The results suggest that speech and language therapy is effective for children with phonological (SMD=0.44, 95%CI: 0.01,0.86) or vocabulary difficulties (SMD=0.89, 95%CI: 0.21,1.56), but that there is less evidence that interventions are effective for c...
This review examines the effectiveness of speech and language therapy interventions for children with primary speech and language delay/disorder.The review concludes that whilst there may be some support for the effectiveness of speech and language therapy for children with expressive phonological and expressive vocabu...
We included three studies which randomised women (1099) with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 kg/m2 (1 study) and 35 kg/m2 (2 studies), with outcomes available for 1034 participants. None of the studies assessed women with a BMI between 25 kg/m2and 29.9 kg/m2, therefore we could not assess the use of metformin in women co...
We searched for evidence (October 2017) and found three randomised controlled studies (1099 pregnant women) comparing metformin tablets with placebo (dummy) tablets taken by mouth from 10 to 20 weeks of pregnancy until birth. The studies involved women with obesity; we therefore could not assess the effect of metformin...
We identified 18 RCTs examining a range of complex interventions for people with multimorbidity. Nine studies focused on defined comorbid conditions with an emphasis on depression, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The remaining studies focused on multimorbidity, generally in older people. In 12 studies, the predomi...
We searched the literature up to September 2015 and identified 18 generally well-designed randomised controlled trials meeting the eligibility criteria. Nine of these studies focused on specific combinations of health conditions (comorbidity studies), for example diabetes and heart disease. The other nine studies inclu...
Forty-two studies were included in the review. There was evidence that MHWs caused significant reductions in PCP consultations (standardised mean difference -0.17, 95% CI -0.30 to -0.05), psychotropic prescribing (relative risk 0.67, 95% CI 0.56 to 0.79), prescribing costs (standardised mean difference -0.22, 95% CI -0...
This review investigated whether having mental health workers on-site to work with physicians at their offices would change the care that physicians provide. Forty-two studies were reviewed in which on-site mental health workers, such as counsellors or psychiatrists, worked alongside physicians to provide therapy to pa...
We identified 18 eligible primary publications (21 trial reports). A total of 3089 infants participated in the trials. The risk of bias varied with lack of clarity on methods to conceal allocation in half of the trials and lack of blinding of caregivers or investigators in all of the trials being the main potential sou...
Study characteristics: Our search (August 2015) identified 21 eligible trial reports (in 18 primary publications). In total, 3089 infants participated. Eight trials (2086 infants) examined the effect of topical ointments or creams. Most participants were very preterm infants cared for in health-care facilities in high-...
We included three randomised controlled trials, involving a total of 251 participants. All three trials were at high risk of performance bias reflecting the fact that surgeons could not be blinded. One trial was at low risk of selection bias but was undermined by a high attrition bias, in part resulting from post-rando...
This review includes evidence from three randomised controlled trials with a total of 251 participants. All three trials were at some risk of bias, which means that their results may not be reliable. Two trials compared radial head replacement with ORIF for treating highly fragmented radial head fractures. These trials...
We identified 16 trials involving a total of 616 participants. Eight different types of interventions were studied. Eight trials investigated the effects of electrical brain stimulation (transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and cranial electrotherapy stimulation (CES); five trials) or repetitive transcranial ...
We searched electronic databases until March 2011 and found 16 randomised controlled trials with a total of 616 participants. We grouped these studies by type of treatment into eight groups: Eight studies were on brain stimulation, of which five used electronic and three magnetic stimulation. Three studies were on exer...
There are no included studies in this review. The electronic search produced three relevant references, among which we identified two old planned trials that seem never to have started, and one which we excluded a study because it was a report of a case series. This is not an empty review - it is a review full of unans...
This review investigated the best available evidence for interventions aimed at preventing postnatal psychosis. Unfortunately, no studies were found that could be included. Nevertheless, this review raises many unanswered questions and strongly suggests that future research on postnatal psychosis is much needed. Despit...
Eight trials, which included 1132 participants in total, met the inclusion criteria of this Cochrane review. These trials were at high risk of bias trials. One trial (which included five participants) did not contribute any data to this Cochrane review, and we excluded 13 participants in the remaining trials after rand...
Eight studies met the inclusion criteria of this Cochrane review, and seven studies provided information for the review. The non-surgical treatment was chemoradiotherapy only in five studies and radiotherapy only in three studies. We included a total of 1114 participants undergoing non-surgical treatment (510 participa...
Combining the results of five randomised clinical trials randomising 499 patients with alcoholic hepatitis and/or cirrhosis demonstrated no significant effects of anabolic-androgenic steroids on mortality (relative risk (RR) 1.01, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.79 to 1.29), liver-related mortality (RR 0.83, 95% CI 0.60...
Several trials have addressed the effects of anabolic-androgenic steroids for alcoholic liver disease. This systematic review could not demonstrate any significant effects of anabolic-androgenic steroids on mortality, liver-related mortality, liver complications, and histology of patients with alcoholic liver disease. ...
Two trials of cytisine (937 people) found that more participants taking cytisine stopped smoking compared with placebo at longest follow-up, with a pooled risk ratio (RR) of 3.98 (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.01 to 7.87; low-quality evidence). One recent trial comparing cytisine with NRT in 1310 people found a benefi...
We searched for randomised controlled trials testing varenicline, cytisine or dianicline. We found 39 studies of varenicline compared to placebo, bupropion or nicotine patches. We also found four trials of cytisine, one of which compared it to nicotine replacement therapy. We include one trial of dianicline, which is n...
We identified 16 qualifying randomised controlled trials (RCTs) (7 statin, 9 fibrate). Thirteen of these trials (involving 62,197 participants) provided data on incident melanomas (6 statin, 7 fibrate). A total of 66 melanomas were reported in groups receiving the experimental drug and 86 in groups receiving placebo or...
Some studies have suggested that medicines (such as statins and fibrates) taken to lower blood cholesterol may reduce the risk of melanoma skin cancer. Our review of 16 studies did not find any clear evidence to support such a suggestion, but we cannot exclude a useful effect of such drugs until more studies become ava...
In updating the review, 49 new studies were identified for inclusion. A total of 81 trials involving more than 11,000 health professionals are now included in the review. Based on 30 trials (36 comparisons), the median adjusted RD in compliance with desired practice was 6% (interquartile range 1.8 to 15.9) when any int...
Eighty-one trials that evaluated the effects of educational meetings were included in this review. Based on these studies, we concluded that educational meetings alone or combined with other interventions can improve professional practice and the achievement of treatment goals by patients. The effect on professional pr...
Fifteen studies (1644 elderly women) were included. Three studies compared single dose with short-course treatment (3 to 6 days), six compared single dose with long-course treatment (7 to 14 days) and six compared short- with long-course treatment. Methodological quality of all studies was low except for a more recent ...
We identified 15 studies (1644 elderly women) comparing single dose, short-course (3 to 6 days) and long course (7 to 14 days) antibiotic treatment for uncomplicated symptomatic UTI in elderly women. Our review suggests that single dose treatments are less effective than short or long courses, but better accepted by th...
Nineteen studies (11 prevention, 8 treatment; 1,861 participants) were included. There was no difference in mortality between ANP and control in either the low or high dose prevention studies. Low (but not high) dose ANP was associated with a reduced need for RRT in the prevention studies (RR 0.32, 95% CI 0.14 to 0.71)...
Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) has been shown to increase urine production and to reduce kidney inflammation. The aim of this review was to investigate the use of ANP in preventing AKI and treating established AKI. We identified 19 studies (11 prevention and 8 treatment) using low or high dose ANP, enrolling 1,861 pa...
We found no randomised trials for inclusion in this review. One study is ongoing. As we did not identify any randomised trials for inclusion in this review, we are unable to comment on implications for practice at this stage. Although evidence from animals studies has supported a fetal neuroprotective role for melatoni...
We did not find any completed randomised controlled trials that assessed melatonin given to the mother during pregnancy to help protect the baby's brain. One ongoing trial (planning to include 60 women) was identified. This trial is designed to determine what dose of melatonin can reduce brain injury for babies when gi...
Ten studies enrolling 630 participants were included. Overall, the quality of evidence was suboptimal due to the small number of included studies enrolling small numbers of participants; short follow-up in each study; only a few studies in each comparison category; and major concerns with methodological bias. Four stud...
In this review we investigated the use of TwHF as an immunosuppressive therapy for patients with primary NS. We only considered two standardised TwHF extracts which have lower toxicity profiles and fewer adverse effects than other non-standardised preparations. We reviewed the evidence from 10 randomised studies enroll...
Our searches returned 546 trials, of which five met our inclusion criteria. These studies randomised 14,252 children to receive either an intervention or usual care. All studies were conducted in the Northern Hemisphere. Three interventions used a leukotriene receptor antagonist, one used omalizumab or a boost of inhal...
Our searches found 546 trials, of which five were relevant. In total, 14,252 children were randomly assigned to receive either an intervention targeting autumn asthma attacks or usual care. Four small studies (approximately 200 to 1200 children in each) gave children extra asthma medication; these additional medication...
We included six published RCTs, conducted in the USA (5 RCTs) and Israel (1 RCT), with 1097 children and adolescents (11 to 18 years old), in the review. We are very uncertain about the effect of client feedback on improvement of symptoms, as reported by youth in the short term because we considered evidence to be of v...
There have been few investigations of client feedback in psychological therapies for children and adolescents with mental health problems. Most of them were carried out in the USA with older children and adolescents (11 to 18 years old). There was no clear evidence supporting the effectiveness of client feedback in psy...
We identified 56 eligible studies involving 15,596 adults with CKD. Risks of bias in the included studies was generally high or unclear for more than half of studies in all of the risk of bias domains we assessed; no study was low risk for allocation concealment, blinding of outcome assessment and attrition from follow...
Several drugs are available to treat anaemia for people who have kidney disease but whether these drugs are similar or different in their ability to improve symptoms of anaemia, such as tiredness and breathlessness, and whether they are equally safe based on their risks of causing a stroke or a heart attack, is not cle...
Primary outcome Mean improvement in the maintenance of wakefulness test was available for two of the five identified trials accounting for 48 participants. The mean difference +2.52(95% confidence interval (CI) -2.32 to +7.37), was not significant and there was marked heterogeneity across these studies (I2= 50%). Seco...
In this updated review there were few randomized controlled trials which evaluated the efficacy and safety of psychostimulants in myotonic dystrophy. One randomized controlled trial of selegiline involving 11 participants did not demonstrate any benefit. Four studies of another drug modafinil suggested inconsistent and...
We identified 41 randomised controlled trials (RCTs) involving 194,035 participants from 6422 reports. We assessed studies as having high or unclear risk of bias across multiple domains. Low-quality evidence evidence suggests that providing CVD risk scores may have little or no effect on CVD events compared with usual ...
We searched scientific databases for randomised trials (clinical studies that randomly put people into different treatment groups) that systematically provided CVD risk scores or usual care to adults without a history of heart disease or stroke. The evidence is current to March 2016. Funding for the majority of trials ...
We included 38 studies involving 9445 participants. Among studies that measured diet adherence outcomes between an intervention group and a control/usual care group, 32 out of 123 diet adherence outcomes favoured the intervention group, 4 favoured the control group whereas 62 had no significant difference between group...
We identified 38 studies involving 9445 participants examining several types of interventions for enhancing adherence to dietary advice for preventing and managing many chronic diseases. The main chronic diseases involved were cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, hypertension, and renal diseases. Interventions shown to i...
Twelve studies were identified in the searches and seven of these were eligible for inclusion in the review. Five studies, involving 260 participants, provided data for analysis. One study showed that cognitive behaviour therapy significantly reduced the affective component of pain (feelings about pain), mean differenc...
We searched for randomised or quasi-randomised controlled trials which compared psychological treatments to each other or to no treatment in sickle cell disease. We included seven studies in the review, of which five, with 260 people, had data we could enter into the review. One study showed that cognitive behaviour th...
Eighteen RCTs were included in the review, of which 14 were included in the meta-analyses (in total 2279 couples). The evidence was current to October 2013. The quality of the evidence was low or very low for most comparisons . The main limitations in the evidence were failure to describe study methods, serious impreci...
We found 18 randomised controlled trials, all comparing different timing methods in one treatment cycle for IUI, with a total of 2279 couples. The evidence was current to October 2013. We found no evidence of a difference in live birth rates between timing methods. We also found no evidence of a difference between any ...
In the original version of the review we identified two RCTs; in this update we identified no additional studies. One trial (135 participants) compared enalapril with placebo in childhood cancer survivors with asymptomatic anthracycline-induced cardiac dysfunction. The other trial (68 participants) compared a two-week ...
We identified two randomised studies evaluating two different drugs in two different types of patients. One of these drugs, an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor (enalapril), had a short-term beneficial effect on heart function in survivors of childhood cancer with asymptomatic cardiac problems caused by ant...
Seventeen studies (14 ITS and 3 CBA studies) met the inclusion criteria in this updated version of the review. The ITS studies evaluated the effects of: introducing or changing regulations that laid down safety and health requirements for the construction sites (nine studies), a safety campaign (two studies), a drug-fr...
We conducted a systematic search of the literature on preventing occupational injuries among construction workers. We included 17 studies in this updated review, rating the evidence as very low quality. Multifaceted interventions and company incentives for upgrading equipment may be effective in reducing injury. Howeve...
Three studies met our inclusion criteria. In one study dichlorphenamide (DCP) vs placebo was tested in two groups of participants: 42 with hypokalemic periodic paralysis (HypoPP) and 31 with hyperkalemic periodic paralysis (HyperPP), based on clinical criteria. Thirty-four of 42 participants with hypokalemic periodic p...
We found two small studies demonstrating an improvement of muscle strength with pinacidil and acetazolamide. There was only one trial considering treatment of paralytic attacks, demonstrating a decrease in the severity and frequency of the attacks using diclorophenamide. We did not find other randomised or quasi-random...
Twenty-eight trials with 1273 menopausal women were included in this review. Data could be extracted from 16 trials to conduct the meta-analysis. The overall quality of the studies was moderate to low with the majority of studies that were included in the meta-analysis having reasonable methodology. Compared to placebo...
A total of 28 randomised controlled trials were included, with a total of 1273 menopausal women. Over 95% of the study populations were postmenopausal women. Women's ages ranged from 36 to 80 years. Treatment duration varied from one week to one year. In more than 80% of the trials DHEA was administered orally with the...
Forty-one trials (10,681 participants) met the inclusion criteria. Trials were grouped according to similar interventions (changes to organisation of nutritional care (N = 13; 3456 participants), changes to the feeding environment (N = 5; 351 participants), modification of meal profile or pattern (N = 12; 649 participa...
We included 41 randomised controlled studies (clinical studies where people are randomly put into one of two or more treatment groups) with a total of 10,681 people in our review. There were five different interventions which we call 'supportive interventions': changes to the organisation of nutritional care (13 studie...
This first update of the review identified two additional eligible studies, bringing the total number of included studies to 25 (forty seven randomised controlled comparisons involving 2543 children considered to be at normal risk of regurgitation or aspiration during anaesthesia). Only one incidence of aspiration and ...
However, the review of trials found that drinking clear fluids up to a few hours before surgery did not increase the risk of regurgitation during or after surgery. Indeed there is an added benefit of a more comfortable preoperative experience in terms of thirst and hunger. Some children are considered more likely to re...
We included 14 studies (747 participants). The studies included children (seven studies, 499 participants) and adults (seven studies, 248 participants). No studies reported outcomes beyond three months follow-up. Saline volumes ranged from 'very low' to 'high' volume. Where stated, studies used either hypertonic or iso...
We found 14 studies with a total of 747 participants (260 adults; 487 children). The volume of saline used in the studies varied: five studies used 'very low' volumes (nasal sprays providing less than 5 mL saline per nostril per application), two studies used low-volume (between 5 and 59 mL saline per nostril per appli...
We identified 20 randomised trials (211,818 participants), assessing beta-carotene (12 trials), vitamin A (4 trials), vitamin C (8 trials), vitamin E (10 trials), and selenium (9 trials). Trials quality was generally high. Heterogeneity was low to moderate. Antioxidant supplements were without significant effects on ga...
In this review prevention with antioxidant supplements of oesophageal, gastric, small intestinal, colorectal, pancreatic, liver, and biliary tract cancers is assessed. The review includes 20 randomised clinical trials. In total, 211,818 participants were randomised to antioxidant supplements (beta-carotene, vitamin A, ...
We identified 11 trials that enrolled 687 eyes of 679 participants. The studies were conducted in the United States, Europe, Asia and Africa. Five studies enrolled participants at low risk of trabeculectomy failure, five studies enrolled participants at high risk of failure, and one study enrolled people with both high...
We included 11 randomised controlled trials conducted in the United States, Europe, Asia and Africa in this review. In total, 687 eyes of 679 participants underwent routine trabeculectomy for glaucoma control. Some participants were at a higher risk of failure than others, for example if they had had previous glaucoma ...
The comprehensive searches found one randomised controlled trial of treatment for amphetamine psychosis meeting the criteria for considering studies. The study involved 58 participants and compared the efficacy and tolerability of two antipsychotic drugs, olanzapine (a newer antipsychotic) and haloperidol (a commonly u...
In one of the only randomised trials of antipsychotic medications for treating amphetamine psychosis, Leelahanaj (2005) reported that olanzapine and haloperidol delivered at clinically relevant doses both showed similar efficacy in resolving psychotic symptoms (93% and 79%, respectively), with olanzapine showing signif...
We excluded five studies that were not RCTs. There were no eligible trials for inclusion in this review. There is currently a lack of RCT evidence regarding the effectiveness of interventions for investigating and identifying the causes of stillbirth. Seeking to determine the causes of stillbirth is an essential compon...
We searched for evidence on 15 May 2017. We did not find any trials for inclusion in this review. We excluded five trials because they were not randomised controlled trials. There is no evidence available to guide how best to investigate the causes of stillbirth. Seeking to determine the causes of a baby's death is an ...
We found two small randomised controlled trails that fulfilled the eligibility criteria (Corbet 1977; Dixon 1999) and one unpublished pilot trial (Lawn 2005). Corbet 1977 compared treating infants with sodium bicarbonate infusion (N = 30) versus no treatment (N = 32) and did not find evidence of an effect on mortality ...
The review authors searched the medical literature and found two small randomised controlled trials (98 infants) measuring/investigating the benefit of either infusion of base or of a fluid injection (bolus) in the treatment of preterm infants with metabolic acidosis. Infants were given an infusion of sodium bicarbonat...
We included seven trials involving 500 participants that studied the effect of hyaluronidase on intraoperative pain. Four of the seven trials with 289 participants reported the primary outcome in a dichotomous manner, and we proceeded to meta-analyse the findings which showed a moderate heterogeneity that could not be ...
We included seven randomized controlled trials (clinical studies where people are randomly put into one of two or more treatment groups) in our review. These involved 500 adults undergoing eye surgery under local anaesthesia. We looked at any additional effect of adding hyaluronidase to local anaesthetic on the pain ex...
Fifty-eight community coalition-driven intervention studies were included. No study was considered to be at low risk of bias. Behavioral change outcomes and health status change outcomes were analyzed separately. Outcomes are grouped by intervention type. Pooled effects across intervention types are not presented becau...
This review, which included searches of databases from January 1990 through March 31, 2014, found 58 community coalition-driven studies, which addressed a wide array of health outcomes and risk behaviors. Only studies of community coalitions with at least one racial or ethnic minority group representing the target popu...
We included 15 studies. The total number of participants included in the analyses was 3520. Most studies were small with fewer than 120 participants, although two larger studies with 2012 and 671 participants were included. There was considerable variation in many of the study characteristics, including the anaesthetic...
We included 15 studies. The studies covered 3520 people. Although most studies were small with fewer than 120 participants, there were two larger studies with 2012 and 671 participants included. There was a great variation in many of the important elements among the studies, including the type of anaesthetics used and ...
When compared to placebo, misoprostol (400-600 µg given vaginally or sublingually), gemeprost, mifepristone (200 or 600 mg), prostaglandin E and F2α (2.5 mg administered intracervically) demonstrated larger cervical preparation effects. When misoprostol was compared to gemeprost, misoprostol was more effective in prepa...
This review found that cervical preparation decreased the length of time necessary for an abortion procedure, but did not seem to decrease rates of uncommon abortion complications. The medication called misoprostol worked better with less side-effects than other similar medications. Misoprostol is most effective with t...
We included three trials in this review, involving 134 patients who were 60 years of age or younger. The time window for the intervention was 30 hours from stroke onset in two studies and 96 hours in one study. All trials were stopped early. Surgical decompression reduced the risk of death at the end of follow-up (OR 0...
Results from recent clinical trials showed that surgery reduced the risk of death. However, survivors were left with moderate to severe disability requiring help in their daily life activities. These results only apply to people 60 years of age or younger.
We identified three trials with high risk of bias which compared veno-venous bypass (n = 65) versus no veno-venous bypass (n = 66). None of the trials reported patient or graft survival. There were no significant differences regarding renal failure or blood transfusion requirements between the two groups. None of the t...
We systematically searched various medical databases to determine whether veno-venous bypass is required routinely during liver transplantation. We identified a total of three randomised clinical trials with high risk of systematic error and high risk of random errors which compared veno-venous bypass (n = 65) with no ...
We included 13 articles reporting on nine studies with nine interventions. Four studies with 407 participants evaluated post-treatment programmes and five studies with 1113 participants evaluated exercise as a treatment modality. Four studies had a low risk of bias, one study a high risk and the remainder an unclear ri...
There were nine studies with 1520 participants. There was moderate quality evidence that post-treatment exercises can reduce both the rate and the number of recurrences of back pain. However, the results of exercise treatment studies were conflicting. Adverse (side) effects of exercising were not mentioned in any of th...
Five RCTs involving a total of 687 participants with a range of clinical indications were included. No new studies were included in this update. In one three-pronged study, vessel patency was greater with intra-arterial recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) than with intra-arterial streptokinase (P < 0.04) o...
This review found some evidence from five randomized controlled trials, involving a total of 687 patients that suggested local infusion of a drug into the affected artery is more effective than infusion into a vein, and is also associated with a lower risk of unwanted bleeding. No particular drug was more effective in ...
We included three multifaceted and six monofaceted intervention studies (3271 children). Physician diagnosed asthma in children less than five years, and asthma as defined by respiratory symptoms and lung function criteria in children aged five years and older, both favoured treatment with a multifaceted intervention c...
This review asks whether the risk of developing asthma, which is a disease caused by many factors, can be decreased by reducing single allergen levels in children with genetic susceptibility, or whether the reduction of more than one type of allergen exposure simultaneously will lead to a better outcome. As a direct co...
There were 15 trials with 11 included in the meta-analysis. Five trials showed relaxation reduced self-reported depression compared to wait-list, no treatment, or minimal treatment post intervention (SMD -0.59 (95% CI -0.94 to -0.24)). For clinician-rated depression, two trials showed a non-significant difference in th...
The review of 15 trials found that it was better than no treatment or minimal treatment, but not as effective as psychological therapies like cognitive-behaviour therapy. Relaxation techniques have potential as a simple first-line psychological treatment for depression. Those who do not respond within a set time could ...
We included 16 studies with a total of 1146 participants in the meta-analysis. Only one study including 52 participants had a low risk of bias and low applicability concern in the patient selection domain. The median pre-test probability of unresectable disease after CT scanning across studies was 41.4% (that is 41 out...
We performed a thorough literature search to identify studies published up to 15 May 2016. We identified 16 studies reporting information on 1146 people with pancreatic or periampullary cancers which were considered to be eligible for potentially curative surgery based on CT scan staging. These studies evaluated diagno...
There are now 30 studies involving 6334 participants (6339 fractures) included in this review, which was published in 2011. There was considerable variation in the quality of trial methodology and generally inadequate reporting of methods and trial findings. Allocation concealment was confirmed in one trial only. The m...
This review of randomised controlled trials included 30 studies involving more than 6000 participants. Most of the trials were poorly reported and had flaws in their methods that could have affected their results. Few trials tested the same comparison. Most of the results for the 25 separate comparisons, frequently tes...
One study fulfilled inclusion criteria involving 113 children randomised to an asthma education programme involving an IHW, compared to a similar education programme without an IHW. Eighty eight of these children completed the trial. Parents' asthma knowledge score (mean difference (MD) (7.49; 95% CI 5.52 to 9.46), par...
In this review, we examined if involvement of an indigenous healthcare worker (IHW) (when compared to absence of an IHW) in asthma education programs improves asthma related outcomes in Indigenous children and adults with asthma. There was only one study involving 113 people eligible for inclusion in this review. The p...
We included one trial reporting outcome at follow-up times ranging between two and 47 months for 81 participants with Mason type 1 and 2 radial head fractures. This poorly-reported trial was at particular high risk of detection and reporting biases. The trial found no significant differences between early and delayed m...
We searched for randomised controlled trials that compared early movement with delayed movement of the elbow after elbow fracture. We included one trial reporting results at times ranging from two to 47 months for 81 people who had had an elbow fracture that involved the head of the radius. The evidence from this trial...
We included 27 trials, involving 10,187 participants, testing urokinase, streptokinase, rt-PA, recombinant pro-urokinase or desmoteplase. Four trials used intra-arterial administration, while the rest used the intravenous route. Most data come from trials that started treatment up to six hours after stroke. About 44% o...
We identified 27 trials with a total of 10,187 participants in searches conducted up to November 2013. Most data come from trials testing one drug (recombinant tissue Plasminogen Activator, rt-PA) given into a vein up to six hours after acute ischaemic stroke, but several other drugs were also tested and at different t...
We only found studies (47 studies, 3581 participants) for 18 of the 29 eligible TCHMs as defined by our inclusion criteria. All were superiority trials conducted in China between 1997 and 2013, with most employing a two-arm parallel design with sample sizes ranging from 26 to 240 and a median treatment duration of 12 w...
We included 47 trials with 3581 participants of 18 TCHMs in this review. All were conducted in mainland China between 1997 and 2013 with participant numbers ranging from 26 to 240 and an average study duration of 12 weeks. There were significant problems with the methods in many of the trials, particularly with how par...
In this review update, an additional three studies and 220 participants were added. A total of seven RCTs (two in adults, four in children, one in both children and adults) with 837 participants (aged from one to 63 years) with asthma from ethnic minority groups were eligible for inclusion in this review. The methodolo...
Seven studies with 837 participants, aged from one to 63 years old were included in this review update. This review was limited by few studies and the quality of evidence was very low to low. In adults, we found that culture-specific programmes did not improve any of our primary outcomes, but were better in improving q...
Nine trials with 882 participants were included in the review. In five trials the outcome assessors were blind to the participants' intervention condition and in the remainder of trials it was unclear. In the majority of trials, participants were either not blind to their intervention condition, or it was unclear wheth...
This review aimed to determine the efficacy of early interventions, including psychological, social and pharmacological interventions to prevent relapse or recurrence of depressive disorders in children and adolescents.The review included nine studies that assessed the efficacy of antidepressant medication and psycholo...
We excluded nine studies because they were non-randomised trials or were withdrawn before enrolment. We included one study, which was conducted in two phases. During the first phase of the study, 77 children with ASD were randomly assigned to receive seven days of glutathione lotion or placebo lotion, followed by three...
We searched multiple databases to find studies that examined pharmaceutical chelating agents as treatment for ASD symptoms. We found only one randomised controlled trial that evaluated oral dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) for ASD, but this trial did not use ideal methods for answering our question. The evidence is curre...
The electronic literature search identified 1 original study that met the eligibility criteria. One unpublished study was also identified through manual searches. Therefore two randomized controlled trials met the inclusion criteria: Tscheikuna 2002 (via electronic searches) and Ruiz 1994 (via manual searches). Tscheik...
We identified two trials up to the 19th September 2016. Both of them evaluated the use of tranexamic acid, one for haemoptysis caused by tuberculosis and the other for haemoptysis from a variety of causes. Tranexamic acid significantly reduced the bleeding time, but it did not make any difference to the number of patie...
We included two studies, both comparing the effects of adding aspirin to standard antipsychotic treatment with adding placebo to standard antipsychotic treatment. We were hoping to find high-quality data for seven main outcomes of importance: clinically important change in global state, mental state, cognitive function...
After searching Cochrane Schizophrenia's database in March 2018 and assessing the search results, we included one randomised controlled trial (clinical studies where people are randomly put into one of two or more treatment groups) from the Netherlands (70 participants) and one from Iran (60 participants). Both trials ...
We included six trials with 520 patients comparing pre-operative biliary drainage (265 patients) versus no pre-operative biliary drainage (255 patients). Four trials used percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage and two trials used endoscopic sphincterotomy and stenting as the method of pre-operative biliary drainage...
We included six trials involving 510 patients for this review. The number of patients included in the trials varied from 40 to 202. All trials had a high risk of bias, that is, the trials may overestimate benefits and underestimate harms. There was no significant difference in risk of death between the two groups. The ...
One of 17 studies retrieved for full-text assessment for eligibility was included in the final analysis. This study included a total of 186 participants and investigated the effect of LMWH to prevent CVC-related thrombosis compared to standard care. The risk of bias of the study was assessed to be low, except for the u...
Therefore, we looked at all the research in children with central lines who received, or not, LMWH and only found one study with a total of 186 participants. This study did not have enough participants to show if this medication protects children with central lines from getting blood clots. The study also did not show ...
This review included 10 studies with a total number of 686 participants featuring in 20 different outcomes of interest. Overall, there was significant clinical improvement in clinical global state at medium term amongst people receiving trifluoperazine (3 RCTs, n = 417, RR 4.61, CI 1.54 to 13.84, low quality evidence) ...
This review is based on a search for trials carried out in July 2012, and includes 10 studies with 686 participants. The aim was to determine the effects of trifluoperazine for schizophrenia when compared with placebo (a ‘dummy’ treatment). As expected, people given trifluoperazine showed a significant improvement comp...
We included 8 trials involving 263 people with PD in the review. Risk of bias was unclear or high for all but one of the included studies. Study sample sizes were small, and there was a large amount of heterogeneity between trials with regard to study design and the outcome measures used. As a result, we graded the qua...
We conducted the literature search up until 26 November 2016. We identified 8 studies involving a total of 263 participants with PD. All trials aimed to improve either gait or balance function. Most of the studies compared VR with physiotherapy. VR interventions may lead to greater improvements in step and stride lengt...
Thirteen studies were identified as possibly eligible for inclusion. The majority of studies were excluded as they did not separate data for early and late onset infection. Two studies are still awaiting assessment. Only one small study, in 24 neonates, was included in this review. It compared beta-lactam therapy with ...
This Cochrane review examined which antibiotics are best for treating late onset neonatal sepsis, in terms of effectiveness and side effects. The authors searched the medical literature and found only one study that met all the criteria the authors were looking for. This study, from 1988, enrolled 28 newborn infants. S...
We included 32 trials (1836 participants). No trial compared a combination of manual therapy and exercise versus placebo or no intervention. Seven trials compared a combination of manual therapy and exercise versus other interventions but were clinically heterogeneous, so opportunities for meta-analysis were limited. T...
This summary of an updated Cochrane review presents what we know from research about the benefits and harms of manual therapy and exercise in people with frozen shoulder. After searching for all relevant studies published up to May 2013, we included 32 trials (1836 participants). Among the included participants, 54% we...
We included two trials that compared surgical with non-surgical treatment for patients with thoracolumbar burst fractures without neurological deficit. These recruited a total of 87 participants and reported outcomes for 79 participants at follow-up of two years or more. Both trials were judged at unclear risk of selec...
We included data from two trials, which included 87 participants. The trials compared surgical with non-surgical treatment for these fractures in the thoracolumbar region of the spine. Both trials had limitations in their methods that could reduce the reliability of their results. They reported contrasting results for ...
We included eight studies with 957 participants. The mean age of participants in the studies ranged from 78 to 88 years and in seven studies the mean MMSE score was 12 or lower. Seven studies were randomised controlled trials (three individually randomised, parallel group studies, one individually randomised cross-over...
Offering personally tailored activities to people with dementia living in care homes may slightly improve challenging behaviour when compared with usual care, although we did not find evidence that it was any better than offering activities which were not personally tailored. In one study, staff members reported that p...
We included 27 studies involving 3048 participants. The main comparators were clonidine or lofexidine (14 studies). Six studies compared buprenorphine versus methadone, and seven compared different rates of buprenorphine dose reduction. We assessed 12 studies as being at high risk of bias in at least one of seven domai...
We identified 27 randomised controlled trials (clinical studies where people are randomly put into one of two or more treatment groups), involving 3048 opioid-dependent participants. For 21 studies the average age of participants was in the range 25 to 40 years − in one study the average age was 47 years, while in two ...
We have included nine studies in this review. All were part of the original systematic review; no new trials meeting eligibility criteria were identified through our updated searches. The studies were conducted in eight different states of the USA, during the years 1967 to 1992. Nearly 1000 (946) juveniles or young adu...
This review, which is an update of one published in 2002, includes nine studies that involved 946 teenagers, almost all males. The studies were conducted in different parts of the USA and involved young people of different races whose average age ranged from 15 to 17 years. Results indicate that not only do these progr...
We were able to include two trials involving 321 people with severe mental illnesses. There was no significant difference in hospital admission (n=160, 1 RCT, RR 0.69 0.5 to 1.0), or number of psychiatric outpatient attendances between participants given advanced treatment directives or usual care. Similarly, no signif...
This review looks at whether having an advance statement leads to less hospitalisation (either voluntary or involuntary), less contact with mental health services and whether there is an improvement in general functioning. Two studies were found, involving 321 people. Both took place in England. One trial involved the ...
Thirty-five trials (3573 women) with 15 comparisons were included. Women allocated calcium channel blockers were less likely to have persistent high blood pressure compared to those allocated hydralazine (six trials, 313 women; 8% versus 22%; risk ratio (RR) 0.37, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.21 to 0.66). Ketanserin ...
During pregnancy, a woman's blood pressure falls in the first few weeks then rises again slowly from around the middle of pregnancy, reaching pre-pregnancy levels at term. Pregnant women with very high blood pressure (systolic over 160 mmHg, diastolic 110 mmHg or more) are at risk of developing pre-eclampsia with assoc...
Only two trials (60 participants) investigating the effect of metformin added to insulin therapy for three months in adolescents with poorly controlled type 1 diabetes could be included. Meta-analysis was not possible due to the clinical and methodological heterogeneity of data. Both studies suggested that metformin tr...
Only two trials (60 participants, three months treatment) could be included. Both studies suggested that metformin plus insulin treatment lowered HbA1c somewhat more than placebo plus insulin. Improvement in insulin sensitivity, body weight or serum lipids were not seen in either study. However, one study showed a smal...
A total of 3239 citations were identified through the searches. Only one RCT, with 15-year follow-up met the inclusion criteria (n = 13 clusters: 191,873 participants). There was no statistically significant difference in the oral cancer mortality rates for the screened group (15.4/100,000 person-years) and the control...
The evidence on which this review is based is up to date as of 22 July 2013. The only study included was based in rural areas of the city of Trivandrum in Kerala, India. The study included 191,873 apparently healthy adults aged 35 years or older living in 13 clusters with an average of 14,759 participants in each clust...
We identified three eligible trials involving a total of 222 participants with 333 groin wounds. Suction drainage was compared with no drainage in all studies. Two studies were parallel-group, randomized controlled trials, and one was a split-body, randomized controlled trial. Trial settings were not clearly described....
In June 2016 we searched for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) involving the use of drains after leg artery surgery. We identified three eligible trials involving 333 wounds in 222 patients, mainly aged over 65, who had leg artery surgery. Both men and women were included and all of the wounds were in the groin area ...
We included 11 studies (674 participants). The risk of bias was high or unclear in all of the included studies. All studies compared needle aspiration to incision and drainage. All but one of the 11 studies reported on the primary outcome of recurrence. When we pooled data from the 10 studies the recurrence rate was hi...
We included 11 studies with a total of 674 participants. The participants in the studies were aged from 8 to 79. The studies were conducted in a number of countries (six from Pakistan, two from the USA, one from Taiwan and two from South Africa). All but one of the 11 studies reported the difference in recurrence rate ...
We included five studies involving 419 randomized participants with APS. Only one study was at low risk of bias in all domains. One study was at low risk of bias in all domains for objective outcomes but not for quality of life (measured using the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire). We judged the other three studies to be at uncl...
The evidence is current to February 2017. We looked for studies that randomly allocated people with APS to different treatments, including anticoagulants, antiplatelets, or both. We identified five studies involving 419 participants. The average age of the participants was between 41 and 50 years, and the studies inclu...
We included six randomised clinical trials with 173 participants. All participants had Child-Pugh stage A or B cirrhosis. The intervention groups participated in eight to 14 weeks of physical exercise (aerobic: three trials; resistance: one trial; or aerobic plus resistance training: two trials). Control groups underwe...
We included six randomised clinical trials (where people are randomly allocated to one of two groups) with 173 participants. All participants had cirrhosis. Interventions consisted of different types of exercise including bicycling, treadmill walking, and weight lifting. Programmes were home-based or supervised and las...
We included four RCTs with a total of 453 participants and determined that none of these trials had overall low risk of bias. We found six ongoing trials from which we were unable to retrieve further data. Three trials provided data on mortality. Meta-analysis showed no statistical effect on overall mortality (RR 0.93,...
In the present Cochrane systematic review, we assessed the benefits and harms of prothrombin complex concentrate in vitamin K antagonist-treated bleeding and non-bleeding patients who are undertaking acute surgical intervention. We searched the databases until 1 May 2013. We identified four randomized trials (453 parti...
We included 32 studies that involved a total of 2601 participants. Acupuncture was either manually stimulated (24 studies) or electrically stimulated (8 studies). The aetiology of gastroparesis was diabetes (31 studies) or surgery (1 study). All studies provided data on the proportion of people with symptoms 'improved'...
We analysed 32 studies that involved a total of 2601 participants. Most trials involved people with diabetic gastroparesis, who received short-term treatment (often four weeks). Non-profit funding bodies (the Chinese government and a university) funded six out of the 32 studies and the others did not report the funding...
We included 12 RCTs (743 people). Among these RCTs, flexibility exercise training was compared to an untreated control group, land-based aerobic training, resistance training, or other interventions (i.e. Tai Chi, Pilates, aquatic biodanza, friction massage, medications). Studies were at risk of selection, performance,...
We searched the literature up to December 2017 and found 12 studies (743 individuals) that met our inclusion criteria. Flexibility interventions were compared with control (treatment as usual), aerobic training interventions (e.g. treadmill walking), resistance-training interventions (e.g. using weight machines that pr...
We identified three trials (κ = 1.00) involving 1272 participants. Comparing the capnography group to the standard monitoring group, there were no differences in the rates of oxygen desaturation (RR 0.89, 95% CI 0.48 to 1.63; n = 1272, 3 trials; moderate quality evidence) and hypotension (RR 2.36, 95% CI 0.98 to 5.69; ...
We searched for studies using multiple research databases, conference research abstracts, and by contacting experts in the field. The evidence is current to August 2016. We only considered studies with participants being sedated for procedures in the emergency department. We only included studies that compared capnogra...
We included 38 RCTs. Twenty-two had a split-mouth design, and 16 had a parallel design. The overall evaluated data included 1402 defects. Two studies were at unclear overall risk of bias, while the remaining 36 studies had a high overall risk of bias. 1. APC + OFD versus OFD alone Twelve studies were included in this c...
Authors from Cochrane Oral Health carried out this review and the evidence is up to date to 27 February 2018. We included 38 studies and a total of 1042 infrabony defects. We considered four different types of surgical treatments and compared each technique with the same one when APC was added. Overall we considered th...
Five RCTs with 202 participants met the inclusion criteria. The women participants were typically in their 50s, and the majority of them (about 82%) received reconstructive surgery following breast cancer, while the others had reconstructive surgery after prophylactic mastectomy. The studies were heterogenous in terms ...
The evidence is current to July 2015. We conducted a review to compare short- and long-term surgical complications (such as scar tissue forming around the implant and squeezing it - referred to as 'capsular contracture', and 'implant rupture'), cosmetic outcomes, women's postoperative quality of life and satisfaction w...
Ten trials (9 RCTs and 1 CCT) (954 participants and 73 caregivers) met the inclusion criteria. Eight RCTs scored well; while one RCT and one CCT scored poorly on the methodological quality assessment. Despite no change in the level of impairment, there was ’strong evidence’ to support inpatient MD rehabilitation in pro...
This review looked for evidence of MD rehabilitation in adults with multiple sclerosis. The authors concluded there was strong evidence that inpatient or outpatient rehabilitation can lead to improvement in activity (disability) and in overall ability to participate in society, even though there is no reduction in actu...
The search retrieved 16 studies (from 17 reports). Ten studies were excluded and one study is awaiting assessment. We included five studies involving 1065 women (1090 recruited). The five included studies were at moderate risk of bias. Data relating to one of our primary outcomes (UTI) was reported in four studies but ...
This review is based on five studies involving 1065 women undergoing CS. The studies were of moderate quality. The included studies did not use this review's criteria for diagnosis for UTI, so there are no data for this primary outcome. When considering UTI, as defined by the trial authors, there were no clear differen...
We included 50 trials involving 6510 women. Investigators compared oral antioxidants, including combinations of antioxidants, N-acetyl-cysteine, melatonin, L-arginine, myo-inositol, D-chiro-inositol, carnitine, selenium, vitamin E, vitamin B complex, vitamin C, vitamin D+calcium, CoQ10, pentoxifylline and omega-3-polyu...
The review includes 50 randomised controlled trials that compare antioxidants with placebo or with no treatment/standard treatment, or with another antioxidant, in a total of 6510 women. Funding sources were reported by only 14 of the 50 included trials. Very low-quality evidence suggests that antioxidants may be assoc...
No RCTs meeting the selection criteria were identified. Since it is unlikely, for ethical and practical reasons that an RCT of SCUs will be conducted, a systematic review of non-RCTs using the same protocol and criteria was conducted. There were eight non-RCTs that fulfilled the criteria for inclusion. Only four studie...
No randomized controlled trials (RCTs) can be found comparing the effect of SCUs against traditional nursing units in managing agitated behaviours in people suffering from dementia. This review has examined the results of non-RCTs. The findings about the outcomes of this review arise just from one study except for the ...
Nine safety and efficacy trials, and two safety trials, with over 3000 participants were included. In semi-immune children, RTS,S vaccine reduced clinical episodes of malaria by 26% (95% CI 13% to 37%) and severe malaria by 58% (95% CI 15% to 79%) for up to 18 months. Prevalence of parasitaemia was also reduced by 26% ...
This review looks at vaccines targeted at the 'pre-erythrocytic' phase of the parasite's life, the phase before the parasites first enter the bloodstream from the liver. Trials of four types of vaccine against P. falciparum, the most important human malaria species, were available for this review. One of these (the RTS...
We included data from 67,688 participants randomised into 13 RCTs. The included trials directly compared dose-adjusted warfarin with either apixaban, betrixaban, darexaban, edoxaban, idraparinux, idrabiotaparinux, or rivaroxaban. The majority of the included data (approximately 90%) was from apixaban, edoxaban, and riv...
We searched various sources up to 29 August 2017 and included 13 studies that involved 67,688 people with atrial fibrillation who received either a factor Xa inhibitor or a vitamin K antagonist. All included people were adults and on average aged between 65 and 74 years. Approximately one-third were women. We found tha...
Only one study evaluating lamotrigine in secondary progressive MS was eligible. One hundred and twenty people were included, 61 randomly assigned to lamotrigine treatment and 59 to placebo treatment. The average age of participants in the two groups was 51.9 years and 50.1 years, respectively. The proportion of male pa...
We searched for randomised controlled trials (RCTs), in which participants were randomly assigned to a treatment group or a control group. In most settings these studies provide the highest quality evidence. We were interested in studies that compared a sodium channel blocker with placebo, or used it as an add-on to an...
The review included 27 studies reported in 30 articles. The studies had 73,557 participants with 12 studies from the US; four from China; two from each of Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and the UK; and one from each of Israel, Greece and Brazil. Thirteen studies were RCTs, six were non-RCTs and eight were CBAs. Of ...
The evidence is current to June 2015. It includes the results from 27 studies of 73,557 children. It included boys and girls aged four to 18. The studies compared injury prevention education with either the usual curriculum or an alternative programme unrelated to injuries. The studies we included were aimed at prevent...
We included 35 RCTs analysing 3102 participants. Thirteen studies were at low risk of bias, 12 studies were at unclear risk of bias, and 10 studies were at high risk of bias. Our main findings were regarding keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) and are summarised as follows. There might be a reduction in the risk of modera...
Authors from Cochrane Oral Health carried out this review of existing studies and the evidence is current up to 10 May 2017. It includes 35 studies (published between 1993 and 2017) with 3102 participants, all patients being treated for cancer, aged from 1 to 87 years old. Review authors included studies comparing cyto...
We included seven RCTs and five CBA studies. Six studies evaluated the effectiveness of educational materials alone, one study evaluated educational meetings, four studies evaluated a combination of the two, and one study evaluated a multifaceted educational campaign for increasing the reporting of occupational disease...
We included 12 studies. Six studies evaluated the effectiveness of educational materials alone; one study evaluated the effectiveness of educational meetings; and four studies evaluated a combination of the two in increasing the reporting of occupational diseases by physicians. A further study evaluated the effectivene...
We included one randomised trial of 55 children aged between 16 months to 15 years. It compared anatomically-guided FICB versus systemic analgesia with intravenous morphine sulphate. The small sample size and the high risk of bias relating to lack of blinding resulted in a low quality rating for all outcomes. Overall, ...
We searched several medical databases and trial registries up to January 2013 and contacted researchers. We found one study that looked at the comparison we were interested in. This study was potentially biased, mainly because the care providers, parents and children were aware of the type of pain relief the children r...
We included 26 trials with 2084 participants analysed. Most of the studies were conducted in the United Kingdom (UK) and United States (US), and involved men and women experiencing their first episode of genital herpes, with the exception of three studies which included only women. We rated the majority of these studie...
We included 26 randomised controlled trials (RCTs) trials with 2084 participants that looked at treatments for first-episode genital herpes versus placebo or another treatment. The trials all included people who were having their first episode of genital herpes and were conducted in various countries around the world. ...
We included nine randomised trials, published between 1998 and 2014, involving 662 participants. The population consisted of both children and adolescents in four trials, only adults in four trials, and both children/adolescents and adults in one trial. Four studies examined only permanent teeth, and five studies evalu...
Cochrane Oral Health provided the search strategies and carried out the search in several electronic databases. We selected nine randomised trials for inclusion in this review that were conducted between 1998 and 2014. The evidence in the review is up to date as of 22 June 2016. The trials involved a total of 662 parti...
Three randomised controlled trials (340 patients) and 12 non-randomised studies (4081 patients) were included. There was significant statistical heterogeneity in the analysis of many of the outcomes. We found no significant difference between care pathway and control groups in terms of death or discharge destination. P...
The review found that patients treated within a care pathway may be less likely to suffer some complications (e.g. urine infections), and more likely to have certain tests (e.g. brain scans). However, the use of care pathways may also reduce the patient's likelihood of functioning independently when discharged from hos...