UNLABELLED We assessed the efficacy of nonpharmacologic techniques to prevent postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) by systematic review. These studies included acupuncture, electroacupuncture, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, acupoint stimulation, and acupressure. Of the 24 randomized trials retrieved by a search of articles indexed on the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases (1980-1997...

OBJECTIVE To determine the numbers needed to treat (NNT) and relative risk reduction (RRR) associated with neuromuscular training programs aimed at preventing noncontact anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in female athletes. DATA SOURCES We searched PubMed, MEDLINE, SPORT Discus, CINAHL, and Web of Science from 1966 through 2005 using the terms knee, injury, anterior cruciate ligament,...

Main results People receiving sertraline maintenance had better psychosocial outcomes compared to placebo (table). Depression recurrence was 6% with sertraline and 23% with placebo maintenance (NNT 6, 95% CI 4 to 15; relative risk reduction 74%, 95% CI 49% to 99%). Symptom re-emergence was 26% with sertraline versus 50% with placebo (NNT 4, 95% CI 3 to 11, relative risk reduction 48%, 95% CI 25...

It is by no means straightforward to analyse the change in the rate of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations in clinical trials. Exacerbation rates do not follow a normal distribution, nor do they occur at random. High exacerbation rates in a few patients can make average rates difficult to calculate and interpret. So, surely, transforming exacerbation rates into numbers ne...

In this paper an ARIMA model is used for time-series forecast involving wind speed measurements. Results are compared with the performance of a back propagation type NNT. Results show that ARIMA model is better than NNT for short time-intervals to forecast (10 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours and 4 hours). Data was acquired from a unit located in Southern Andalusia (Peñaflor, Sevilla), with a soft orog...

The number needed to treat (NNT) is becoming increasingly popular as an index for reporting the results of randomized trials and other clinical studies. It represents the expected number of patients who must be treated with an experimental therapy in order to prevent one additional adverse outcome event (or, depending on the context, to expect one additional beneficial outcome), compared to the...

Background Several recent trials in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have assessed the effectiveness of fluticasone–salmeterol combination inhaler preventing COPD exacerbations, while finding an increased risk pneumonia. The number needed to treat (NNT) is a simple measure perform comparative benefit–risk impact, but its calculation involving repeated outcome events such as...

Although nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase (NNT)-deficient C57BL/6J (6J) mice are known to be highly susceptible to diet-induced metabolic disease, this notion stems primarily from comparisons of 6J mice to other inbred strains. To date, very few studies have directly compared metabolic disease susceptibility between NNT-deficient 6J mice and NNT-competent C57BL/6 substrains. In this stu...

OBJECTIVE Comparison of the efficacy and tolerability of five newer anti-obesity medications to guide clinical decision making, examining bupropion-naltrexone combination, liraglutide, lorcaserin, orlistat, and phentermine-topiramate combination. METHODS A brief literature review and internet search for high-powered, randomized and placebo-controlled drug trials was conducted. Drug trial info...