Aim To determine construct validity and reliability indicators of the Cochrane risk of bias (RoB) tool in the context of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods Confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate a unidimensional model consisting of 9 RoB categorical indicators evaluated across 94 RCTs addressing interventions for ASD. Results Only five o...

BACKGROUND In response to high burden of opioid abuse in Iran, Ministry of Health has launched a large-scale opioid maintenance treatment program, delivered through a network of certified drug treatment centers. To promote opioid pharmacotherapies, there is an urgent need to develop and introduce evidence-based psychosocial interventions into the network. PATIENTS AND METHODS This is a random...

OBJECTIVE To identify and summarize randomized clinical trials (RCTs) that assessed the effectiveness of chemoprophylaxis to prevent leprosy in contacts of patients newly diagnosed with the disease. METHODS All studies were extracted from Medline (PubMed 1966 to November 2008), the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register (number 3 2008), LILACS (1982 to November 2008), and Scirus (November 2008)....

The OMERACT module on systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) dealt with the definition of preliminary core sets of outcome domains for randomized clinical trials (RCT) and longitudinal observational studies (LOS). After lectures introducing the problems and addressing the key issues, 6 discussion groups, 3 each for LOS and RCT, discussed and weighted more than a dozen possible items for use as outc...

This study was a systematic review of the available evidence on quality of life in patients after laparoscopic or open colorectal surgery. A systematic review was performed of all randomized clinical trials (RCTs) that compared laparoscopic with open colorectal surgery. Study selection, quality assessment and data extraction were carried out independently by two reviewers. Primary endpoint was ...

A (nonsystematic) search of the literature through Google Scholar revealed that the term “systematic review” was first used in a medical context in 1855 by Simpson et al:1 “As the papers composing this volume have been published before in some shape or other, many of them years ago, and have received the approval or condemnation of the profession, it would be quite misplaced to enter into any l...

In the present article the authors propose to modernize relationship therapy by integrating novel sensor and actuator technologies that can help optimize people's thermoregulation, especially as they pertain to social contexts. Specifically, they propose to integrate Social Thermoregulation Theory (IJzerman et al., 2015a; IJzerman and Hogerzeil, 2017) into Emotionally Focused Therapy by first d...

CLINICAL EPIDEMIOLOGY AS A DISCIPLINE has evolved rapidly dur ing the last decade. However, application of epidemiotogic principles in surgical clinical research has been limited. In the March 1996 issue of SURGERY we discussed the principles, application, and limitations of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) in surgery. RCTs are often viewed as the gold standard for evaluation of therapeutic ef...

BACKGROUND Although Fingolimod (FGD) and Natalizumab (NTZ) appear to be effective in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), they have never been directly compared in a randomized clinical trial (RCT). METHODS AND FINDINGS We evaluated the comparative efficacy of FGD vs. NTZ using a meta-analytical approach. Data from placebo-controlled RCTs was used for indirect comparisons and observ...

This article revisits the case formulation approach to psychotherapy outcome research, first proposed by Persons (1991). Persons asserted that randomized clinical trials (RCTs) of psychotherapy do not test the theoretical underpinnings of psychotherapy models since these trials standardize rather than individualize patient problems, ignore the link between individualized assessment and treatmen...