Postgraduate medical journal
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Review Meta Analysis
Effect of vitamin E in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.
The efficacy of vitamin E among patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is unclear. The current qualitative and quantitative analyses aimed to ascertain the efficacy of vitamin E on clinical outcomes of patients with NAFLD. A systematic search of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) was performed using databases (PubMed, ProQuest, Scopus, EBSCOhost and Ovid) from inception to July 2018. ⋯ Lifestyle interventions along with vitamin E can provide much better results. Data, including the impact of vitamin E on hepatic histology, are still lacking. Moreover, the short duration of trials limits the conclusion on the safety and efficacy of proposed treatments.
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Meta Analysis
Association between outdoor PM2.5 and prevalence of COPD: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
There were conflictions and differences among the results of cross-sectional studies association between PM2.5 and COPD prevalence. We aimed to explore the real association between outdoor PM2.5 and COPD prevalence, analyze the possible cause to the differences and conflictions in previous cross-sectional studies. Cross-sectional literatures about the association between outdoor PM2.5 and COPD prevalence were selected up to 12 September 2018. ⋯ This meta-analysis study demonstrated a conclusive association between PM2.5 and prevalence of COPD (OR: 2.32, 95%CI 1.91-2.82). The significant heterogeneity among selected studies was mainly caused by age (over 60 or not). High PM2.5 concentration should be needed in further research of the relationship between PM2.5 and chronic diseases.
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To examine junior doctors' experience and perceptions of medical errors in which they had been involved. ⋯ There is a need to prepare junior doctors to manage, and cope with, medical error and to ensure that healthcare professionals are adequately supported throughout their careers.
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Scientific conferences in the UK are attended by practising doctors and medical students for sharing research, networking and professional development. Student/trainee conferences are typically cheaper than professional conferences, but as they are not acknowledged in national scoring systems for medical and surgical training applications, they may have worse attendance than otherwise possible. We questioned whether student/trainee conferences are of a similar scientific quality to professional conferences, while being considerably cheaper. ⋯ Our results show that student/trainee conferences offer a similar level of scientific quality to professional medical conferences in the UK at a fraction of the cost, which should be reflected within the national scoring systems.