Journal of clinical epidemiology
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To evaluate the effects of missing data on analyses of data from trauma databases, and to verify whether commonly used techniques for handling missing data work well in theses settings. ⋯ Great care is required whenever missing data arises. This is especially true in trauma databases, which often have much missing data and where the data may not missing at random.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Evaluation of the minimal important difference for the feeling thermometer and the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire in patients with chronic airflow obstruction.
The chronic respiratory questionnaire (CRQ), the St. Georges Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), and the feeling thermometer (FT) evaluate change in health-related quality of life (HRQL) in patients with chronic airflow limitation (CAL). Although the interpretability, and in particular the minimal important difference (MID) in score changes, is well established for the CRQ, this is not the case for the SGRQ and FT. The objective of our study is to explore the interpretation of the SGRQ and FT. ⋯ An MID for the SGRQ approximates the previously suggested estimate of 4 on a scale of 0 to 100. The MID for the FT in patients with CAL is approximately 5 to 8 units on the 0 to 100 scale. These MID estimates should facilitate interpretation of clinical trials in which outcome measures include the SGRQ or FT.
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The objective of this study was to determine whether standard deviations (SDs) used in sample size calculations are smaller than those found in the resulting study sample, thereby leading to underpowered studies. ⋯ Trials reporting sample size calculations for continuous endpoints published in the most reputable medical journals are often underpowered. There seems to be insufficient understanding that the SD of a sample of patients is a random variable, associated with imprecision, that cannot easily be extrapolated from one population to another.
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Review Meta Analysis Comparative Study
Short versus prolonged bed rest after uncomplicated acute myocardial infarction: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Recently updated guidelines by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association and the European Society of Cardiology recommend at least 12 hours bed rest in patients with uncomplicated myocardial infarction. ⋯ We concluded that bed rest ranging from 2 to 12 days seems to be as safe as longer periods of bed rest.
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Medical diagnosis can be studied using various sources of information, such as medical and hospital discharge records and laboratory measurements. These sources do not always concur. The objective of the present study was to assess the sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of hospital discharge diagnosis compared with clinical laboratory data for the identification of hyponatremia. ⋯ This study suggests that ICD codes for hyponatremia represent only one third of the patients admitted to the hospital and experiencing hyponatremia. About two thirds of the patients with hyponatremia were classified as hospitalized for other reasons. To assess the validity of case finding of patients with hyponatremia, the use of analytical techniques, such as certain laboratory measurements, is advisable.