BACKGROUND While the few studies that have looked at the association between stunting and aflatoxin exposure have found surprisingly large effects, the results remain inconclusive due to a lack of randomized controlled studies. This protocol describes a non-blinded, cluster-randomized controlled trial with the specific objective of testing the impact of reduced aflatoxin exposure on (individual...

Several reviews and meta-analyses have examined the effects of iodine on mental development. None focused on young children, so they were incomplete in summarizing the effects on this important age group. The current systematic review therefore examined the relationship between iodine and mental development of children 5 years old and under. A systematic review of articles using Medline (1980-N...

A randomized controlled trial (RCT) is used to study the safety and efficacy of new treatments, by comparing patient outcomes an intervention group with a control group. Traditionally, RCTs rely on statistical analyses assess differences between treatment groups. However, such are generally not designed impact at individual level. In this paper, we explore machine learning models in conjunction...

Aims A pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) to assess the feasibility and potential efficacy of assertive community treatment (ACT) in adults with alcohol dependence. Methods Single blind, individually randomized, pilot RCT of 12 months of ACT plus treatment as usual (TAU) versus TAU alone in adults (age 18+ years) with alcohol dependence and a history of previous unsuccessful alcohol trea...

PURPOSE Functional electrical stimulation (FES), for dropped foot, has been shown to have positive benefits in chronic stroke. It has been suggested that similar benefits may be seen earlier after stroke. The aim of this feasibility study was to evaluate the trial methodology of undertaking a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of FES in sub-acute stroke. METHOD This was a randomized feasibilit...

At present, no consensus exists among clinical and academic experts regarding an appropriate placebo for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of spinal manipulative therapy (SMT). Therefore, we investigated whether it was possible to conduct a chiropractic manual-therapy RCT with placebo. Seventy migraineurs were randomized to a single-blinded placebo-controlled clinical trial that consisted of ...

OBJECTIVE To compare the estimated cost-effectiveness of childhood (adeno)tonsillectomy vs medical therapy for recurrent sore throats from the intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with that modeled on the recorded timing of surgical interventions as observed in all participants irrespective of their original group allocation. STUDY DESIGN A pragmatic RCT (t...

BACKGROUND Inhaled steroids have been studied for both prevention and treatment of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Results have been inconsistent. Recently, a large randomized controlled trial (RCT) has been reported. METHODS/DESIGN We will perform a comprehensive systematic literature search for randomized and quasi-randomized controlled trials that studied the efficacy and safety of inhal...

Randomized controlled trial (RCT) is generally considered to be one of the strongest study designs because the results it generates, have minimum bias and avoids confounders by virtue of the randomization and blinding technique which it employs. It has the potential to generate a Level B evidence on its own or even a Level A evidence when a pooled meta-analysis or a systematic review of several...

In 1960 Hodson and Edwards published their landmark paper about the association between chronic pyelonefritis and vesicoureteric reflux (VUR). Since then, the approach for VUR became more important (1). In the last 30 years there have been multiple publications on vesicoureteric reflux (VUR) and discussions at Pediatric Urology meetings with the purpose to give answers to the questions what ...