Introduction Threshold analysis is a novel statistical approach which can be used to investigate direct comparisons in network meta-analysis (NMA) have estimated relative effects that may not robust changes the evidence, either due possible bias, sampling variation, or relevance. Methods In health technology assessment of clinical effectiveness ablative and non-invasive therapies for patients w...

The double-blind randomized controlled trial (RCT) is accepted by medicine as objective scientific methodology that, when ideally performed, produces knowledge untainted by bias. The validity of the RCT rests not just on theoretical arguments, but also on the discrepancy between the RCT and less rigorous evidence (the difference is sometimes considered an objective measure of bias). A brief ove...

Patient-specific instrumentation (PSI) has been introduced as a tool to increase the accuracy of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) compared with conventional instrumentation (CLI). However, previous studies have shown inconsistent results. The authors conducted a meta-analysis to compare the performance of PSI to CLI in TKA. PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials electro...

Background: Individuals living with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) demonstrate extensive deficits in social cognition. To date, no studies have investigated the feasibility of an intranasal oxytocin (INOT) treatment to improve cognition individuals AD. Objective: We conducted a pilot trial determine recruitment feasibility, enrolment acceptability, and adherence INOT inform on subsequent design futur...

OBJECTIVE In obese women, 1) to assess whether lower gestational weight gain (GWG) during pregnancy in the lifestyle intervention group of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) resulted in differences in offspring anthropometrics and body composition, and 2) to compare offspring outcomes to a reference group of children born to women with a normal Body Mass Index (BMI). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METH...

OBJECTIVE To measure the effects of a summary-of-findings (SoF) table on user satisfaction, understanding, and time spent finding key results in a Cochrane review. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING We randomized participants in an evidence-based practice workshop (randomized controlled trial [RCT] I) and a Cochrane Collaboration entities meeting (RCT II) to receive a Cochrane review with or without an...

The choice of needle diameter can influence the pain felt by the patient. A well-designed randomized controlled trial (RCT) showed an inverse relation between needle diameter and pain. A smaller needle also forces the injector to slow down, minimizing pain from volume expansion. A longer needle (e.g., 1 1/4” v. 5/8”) is useful for injecting larger areas. In addition, warming the solution result...

There is increasing evidence to suggest that physical activity has a protective effect on brain functioning in older people. To date, no randomized controlled trial (RCT) has shown that regular physical activity prevents dementia, but recent RCTs suggests an improvement of cognitive functioning in persons involved in aerobic programs, and evidence is accumulating from basic research. Future pre...

OBJECTIVE The Ad Hoc Subcommittee for Evaluation of the Evidence Base for Psychodynamic Psychotherapy of the APA Committee on Research on Psychiatric Treatments developed the Randomized Controlled Trial Psychotherapy Quality Rating Scale (RCT-PQRS). The authors report results from application of the RCT-PQRS to 94 randomized controlled trials of psychodynamic psycho-therapy published between 19...

Purpose As breast cancer survivors (BCS) increasingly use complementary and alternative medicine, randomized controlled trials (RCT) are needed to assess the safety and efficacy of these therapies to guide appropriate clinical use. However, many RCTs face poor patient accrual, especially among populations at risk for health disparities. The purpose of this study is to quantify the barriers to p...