Objective To compare the reported effect sizes of cardiovascular biomarkers in datasets from observational studies with those in datasets from randomised controlled trials. Design Review of meta-analyses. Study selectionMeta-analyses of emerging cardiovascular biomarkers (not part of the Framingham risk score) that included datasets from at least one observational study and at least one randomi...

OBJECTIVE To compare the reported effect sizes of cardiovascular biomarkers in datasets from observational studies with those in datasets from randomised controlled trials. DESIGN Review of meta-analyses. STUDY SELECTION Meta-analyses of emerging cardiovascular biomarkers (not part of the Framingham risk score) that included datasets from at least one observational study and at least one ra...

Factorial trials are an efficient method of assessing multiple treatments in a single trial, saving both time and resources. However, they rely on the assumption of no interaction between treatment arms. Ignoring the possibility of an interaction in the analysis can lead to bias and potentially misleading conclusions. Therefore, it is often recommended that the size of the interaction be assess...

Up to now there are no generally accepted ethical guidelines for controlled studies. The issue is hardly discussed in the Helsinki Declaration even in its last version. The reason might be that in many of these studies it is difficult to determine whether to classify them as 'mere patient-care' or as research. If they are to be considered as mere patient-care, the doctor is under the obligation...

Professor Trevor Duke and colleagues at the Centre for International Child Health, University of Melbourne, have made a remarkable contribution to international child health. Over the past 11 years, they have undertaken annual structured searches for published reports of controlled trials of interventions addressing child health in developing countries, and assembled summaries in a compendium t...

The Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) statement was developed to improve the reporting of randomised controlled trials. It was initially published in 1996 and focused on the reporting of parallel group randomised controlled trials. The statement was revised in 2001, with a further update in 2010. A separate CONSORT statement for the reporting of abstracts was published in 200...

BACKGROUND Carotid endarterectomy reduces the risk of stroke in people with recently symptomatic, severe carotid artery stenosis. However, there are significant perioperative risks which may be lessened by performing the operation under local rather than general anaesthetic. This is an update of a Cochrane review first published in 1996, and previously updated in 2004. OBJECTIVES To assess th...