OBJECTIVES To perform a meta-analysis to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in differentiating malignant from benign thyroid nodules. DESIGN A meta-analysis. DATA SOURCES AND STUDY SELECTION Medical and scientific literature databases were searched for original articles published up to August 2015. Studies were selected if they (1) included diagnostic DWI f...

Multiscale entropy (MSE) is a widely used metric for characterizing the nonlinear dynamics of physiological processes. Significant variability, however, exists in the methodological approaches to MSE which may ultimately impact results and their interpretations. Using publications focused on balance-related center of pressure (COP) dynamics, we highlight sources of methodological heterogeneity ...

Background A home exercise program (HEP) is integral in the management of rotator cuff related shoulder pain (RCRSP). There are many methods measuring HEP adherence and possible interventions to promote adherence. Understanding rates strategies used important order interpret existing evidence for use RCRSP.Objectives To report synthesize understand limitations current base make recommendations ...

OBJECTIVES To critically evaluate the effectiveness of yoga as a treatment of hypertension. METHODS Seventeen databases were searched from their inceptions to January 2014. Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) were included, if they evaluated yoga against any type of control in patients with any form of arterial hypertension. Risk of bias was estimated using the Cochrane criteria. Three independ...

Background & aim: This systematic overview of reviews on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) was performed to summarize the clinical efficacy of this approach in the treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED) and assess methodological quality of the included reviews. Methods: A comprehensive search was performed to find the systematic reviews and meta-analyses on CAM interventions (e.g., a...

BACKGROUND Distinguishing hydatidiform moles (HMs) from non-molar specimens and the subclassification of HM are important because complete hydatidiform mole (CHM) is associated with an increased risk of gestational trophoblastic neoplasia. However, diagnosis based solely on morphology has poor interobserver reproducibility. Recent studies have demonstrated that the use of p57KIP2 immunostaining...

Evidence based medicine tells us that we should not accept published research at face value. Even research from established teams published in the highest impact journals can have methodological flaws, biases and limited generalisability. The critical appraisal of research studies can seem daunting, but tools are available to make the process easier for the non-specialist. Understanding the lan...

PURPOSE The Braden Scale is one of the most intensively studied risk assessment scales used in identifying the risk of developing pressure sore. However, not all studies show that the predictive validity of this scale is sufficient. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Braden Scale for predicting pressure ulcer development. METHODS Articles published 1946 and 2013 from periodicals in...

OBJECTIVE Measuring the incidence of healthcare-associated infections (HAI) is of increasing importance in current healthcare delivery systems. Administrative data algorithms, including (combinations of) diagnosis codes, are commonly used to determine the occurrence of HAI, either to support within-hospital surveillance programmes or as free-standing quality indicators. We conducted a systemati...