BMJ : British medical journal
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Multicenter Study
Euthanasia and other end of life decisions and care provided in final three months of life: nationwide retrospective study in Belgium.
To explore the relation between the care provided in the final three months of life and the prevalence and types of end of life decisions in Belgium. Design Two year nationwide retrospective study, 2005-6 (SENTI-MELC study). ⋯ End of life decisions that shorten life, including euthanasia or physician assisted suicide, are not related to a lower use of palliative care in Belgium and often occur within the context of multidisciplinary care.
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Multicenter Study
Errors in administration of parenteral drugs in intensive care units: multinational prospective study.
To assess on a multinational level the frequency, characteristics, contributing factors, and preventive measures of administration errors in parenteral medication in intensive care units. ⋯ Parenteral medication errors at the administration stage are common and a serious safety problem in intensive care units. With the increasing complexity of care in critically ill patients, organisational factors such as error reporting systems and routine checks can reduce the risk for such errors.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Understanding why some ethnic minority patients evaluate medical care more negatively than white patients: a cross sectional analysis of a routine patient survey in English general practices.
To examine why patients from ethnic minorities give poorer evaluations of primary health care than white patients. ⋯ Important differences in assessments of care exist in different ethnic minority groups. Some negative evaluations may reflect communication issues. Among Asian patients, lower ratings of waiting times for appointments may also reflect different expectations of care. Adjusting survey results for ethnicity may be justified when comparing healthcare providers; however, health services also have a responsibility to meet legitimate patient expectations.
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Multicenter Study
Retention in the British National Health Service of medical graduates trained in Britain: cohort studies.
To report the percentage of graduates from British medical schools who eventually practise medicine in the British NHS. ⋯ The majority of British medical graduates from British medical schools practise in the NHS in both the short and long term. Differences between men and women in this respect are negligible. A majority of doctors from overseas homes remain in Britain for their years as junior doctors, but eventually about half leave the NHS.
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Multicenter Study
The venous thrombotic risk of oral contraceptives, effects of oestrogen dose and progestogen type: results of the MEGA case-control study.
To assess the thrombotic risk associated with oral contraceptive use with a focus on dose of oestrogen and type of progestogen of oral contraceptives available in the Netherlands. ⋯ Currently available oral contraceptives still have a major impact on thrombosis occurrence and many women do not use the safest brands with regard to risk of venous thrombosis.