Journal of clinical epidemiology
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To explore how patients' treatment preferences were expressed and justified during recruitment to a randomized controlled trial (RCT) and how they influenced participation and treatment decisions. ⋯ Exploring treatment preferences and providing evidence-based information can improve levels of informed decision making and facilitate RCT participation. Treatment preferences should be reconceptualized from a barrier to recruitment to an integral part of the information exchange necessary for informed decision making about treatments and RCT participation.
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The Pragmatic-Explanatory Continuum Indicator Summary (PRECIS) tool was designed to classify randomized clinical trials (RCT) as being more pragmatic or explanatory. We modified the PRECIS tool (called PRECIS-Review tool [PR-tool]) to grade individual trials and systematic reviews of trials. This should help policy makers, clinicians, researchers, and guideline developers to judge the applicability of individual trials and systematic reviews. ⋯ The PR-tool provides a useful estimate that gives insight by estimating quantitatively how pragmatic each RCT in the review is, which methodological domains are pragmatic or explanatory, and how pragmatic the review is.
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Full-scale scores of the Mini Mental State Examination can be generated from an abbreviated version.
To determine whether the full Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) scale range can be derived from an abbreviated 11-item version that was designed for testing general cognitive function in a cohort where only a small proportion were expected to be severely impaired or demented. ⋯ Full-scale MMSE scores can be reasonably accurately derived from an 11-item abbreviated version. This reduced version can be applied within other frameworks that require reduced test length but need results that are comparable to studies where the full version has been administered.
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To estimate the accuracy and reliability of the reporting of diagnoses and procedures related to severe acute maternal morbidity in French hospital discharge data. ⋯ Intensive care and procedures seem reliably reported in the hospital administrative database, which, therefore, can be used to monitor them. Using these data for monitoring diagnoses will require a greater investment by clinicians in the accuracy of their reporting.
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To examine the registration of noninferiority trials, with a focus on the reporting of study design and noninferiority margins. ⋯ Most registry records of noninferiority trials do not mention the noninferiority design and do not include the noninferiority margin. The registration of noninferiority trials is unsatisfactory and must be improved.