BACKGROUND Imaging use in the diagnostic workup of pulmonary embolism (PE) has increased markedly in the last 2 decades. Low PE prevalence and diagnostic yields suggest a significant problem of overuse. PURPOSE The purpose of this systematic review is to summarize the evidence associated with the interventions aimed at reducing the overuse of imaging in the diagnostic workup of PE in the emer...

BACKGROUND Systematic evaluations of the diagnostic accuracy of positron emission tomography (PET) imaging have been widely conducted in many countries. Although Japan's total number of PET units is the second highest in the world, very limited effort has been made to systematically assess the methodological quality of PET studies in Japan. We performed a systematic review to assess the charact...

PURPOSE To evaluate methodological and reporting quality of diagnostic accuracy studies of perimetry in glaucoma and to determine whether there had been any improvement since the publication of the Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy (STARD) guidelines. METHODS A systematic review of English language articles published between 1993 and 2013 reporting the diagnostic accuracy of peri...

The high incidence and diversity of factors attributed to the etiology of patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS) makes the diagnosis of this problem somewhat complex and susceptible to misinterpretation. Currently, there is not a defined set of procedures considered as ideal to diagnose PFPS. To investigate the diagnostic accuracy of clinical and functional tests used to diagnose PFPS through a sy...

OBJECTIVE Occupational therapy (OT) for cerebral palsy focuses on the development of skills necessary for the performance of activities of daily living. The aim of this systematic review was to determine whether OT interventions improve outcome for children with cerebral palsy (CP). METHODS An extensive search in MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, AMED and SCISEARCH was performed. Studies with controll...

OBJECTIVE This systematic review examines the diagnostic value of the digital rectal examination (DRE) for the diagnosis of prostate cancer. METHOD Only studies relating to unselected populations and using either biopsy or surgery as the reference standard were included. The methodological quality of the studies was used in an attempt to explain differences between studies. RESULTS Fourteen...

Cost-effective prevention strategies to prevent weight gain and the development of obesity should be based on appropriate knowledge of the determinants of weight gain. The body of evidence on the dietary determinants of weight gain is, however, fragmentary at best, partly because inappropriate research methods are used to study the determinants of obesity under normal circumstances. Evidence fr...

It has been suggested that differential diagnosis of headaches should consist of a robust subjective examination and a detailed physical examination of the cervical spine. Cervicogenic headache (CGH) is a form of headache that involves referred pain from the neck. To our knowledge, no studies have summarized the reliability and diagnostic accuracy of physical examination tests for CGH. The aim ...