Journal of clinical epidemiology
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To determine the prevalence of trial registration in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in 2010 (PUBMED/LILACS) from Latin America and the Caribbean's (LAC) and to compare methodological characteristics between registered and nonregistered RCTs. ⋯ This study shows that trial registration rates are still low in LAC and the quality of reporting needs to be improved.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Covariate adjustment increased power in randomized controlled trials: an example in traumatic brain injury.
We aimed to determine to what extent covariate adjustment could affect power in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a heterogeneous population with traumatic brain injury (TBI). ⋯ Moderate gains in power may be obtained using covariate adjustment from logistic regression in heterogeneous conditions such as TBI. Although analyses of RCTs might consider covariate adjustment to improve power, we caution against this approach in the planning of RCTs.
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To measure the relative influence that industry authors have on collaborative research communities and evidence production. ⋯ Industry-based authors are more central in their networks and are deeply embedded within highly connected drug research communities. As a consequence, they have the potential to influence information flow in the production of evidence.
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A "review of reviews" was undertaken to assess methodological issues in studies evaluating nondrug rehabilitation interventions in stroke patients. ⋯ The eligible systematic reviews identified important methodological flaws in the evaluated primary studies, suggesting the need for improvement of research methods and reporting.
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Multicenter Study
The use of weekly text messaging over 6 months was a feasible method for monitoring the clinical course of low back pain in patients seeking chiropractic care.
This study critically evaluates a new method of collecting frequent data using mobile phones and text messages. Fluctuating conditions such as low back pain (LBP) need frequent monitoring to describe the clinical course in detail and to account for individual and subgroup variations. ⋯ Weekly text messages are a useful method of data collection to examine the clinical course of LBP in the primary care sector.