Journal of clinical epidemiology
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A new strategy to manage conflicts of interests (COIs) of a clinical guideline's panelists gives primary responsibility to a methodologist, puts equal emphasis on intellectual and financial COIs, and excludes panelists with primary conflicts from drafting or voting on recommendations. We explored the views of the methodologists and content experts regarding the new strategy. ⋯ The methodologists and lead content experts were uneasy regarding their counterpart's role. They disagreed about the potential effect of the new strategy on the quality of the guideline.
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To assess whether the reported methodological quality of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) reflects the actual methodological quality and to evaluate the association of effect size (ES) and sample size with methodological quality. ⋯ The largest study to date shows that poor quality of reporting does not reflect the actual high methodological quality. Assessment of the impact of quality on the ES based on reported quality can produce misleading results.
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To identify patient-specific self-assessment instruments, which measure physical function in patients with musculoskeletal disorders and to evaluate the descriptive properties and the psychometric qualities of these instruments. ⋯ The descriptive properties and psychometric quality of patient-specific instruments measuring physical function are only partly investigated. The PSFS was the most investigated instrument: nine different versions have been evaluated psychometrically. The version of Cleland et al. was most extensively investigated, obtained exclusively positive scores following the quality criteria by Terwee et al., and could be recommended for clinical use therefore. Future research will be necessary to confirm the psychometric quality of patient-specific instruments measuring physical function in patients with musculoskeletal disorders.
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Multicenter Study
Patients' regrets after participating in a randomized controlled trials depended on their involvement in the decision making.
To identify the factors associated with long-term regrets expressed a posteriori by randomized controlled trial (RCT) participants questioned about their decision to participate in an RCT. ⋯ Whether patients' regret depended on their level of participation in the decision making or vice versa could not be determined in this cross-sectional survey, but efforts should be made to ensure that patients' participation in trials is always based on an active personal decision.
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To determine the value of a single item on patients' satisfaction with their condition for assessing outcome in four common surgical procedures. ⋯ Inclusion of a single item on satisfaction provides additional insight into the impact of surgery.