BMJ : British medical journal
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Exercise therapy after corticosteroid injection for moderate to severe shoulder pain: large pragmatic randomised trial.
To compare the effectiveness of subacromial corticosteroid injection combined with timely exercise and manual therapy (injection plus exercise) or exercise and manual therapy alone (exercise only) in patients with subacromial impingement syndrome. ⋯ In the treatment of patients with subacromial impingement syndrome, injection plus exercise and exercise only are similarly effective at 12 weeks. Trial registration ISRCT 25817033; EudraCT No 2005-003628-20.
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To examine the prevalence of outcome reporting bias-the selection for publication of a subset of the original recorded outcome variables on the basis of the results-and its impact on Cochrane reviews. ⋯ Outcome reporting bias is an under-recognised problem that affects the conclusions in a substantial proportion of Cochrane reviews. Individuals conducting systematic reviews need to address explicitly the issue of missing outcome data for their review to be considered a reliable source of evidence. Extra care is required during data extraction, reviewers should identify when a trial reports that an outcome was measured but no results were reported or events observed, and contact with trialists should be encouraged.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effect on peer review of telling reviewers that their signed reviews might be posted on the web: randomised controlled trial.
To see whether telling peer reviewers that their signed reviews of original research papers might be posted on the BMJ's website would affect the quality of their reviews. ⋯ Telling peer reviewers that their signed reviews might be available in the public domain on the BMJ's website had no important effect on review quality. Although the possibility of posting reviews online was associated with a high refusal rate among potential peer reviewers and an increase in the amount of time taken to write a review, we believe that the ethical arguments in favour of open peer review more than outweigh these disadvantages.
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To examine the reporting characteristics and methodological details of randomised trials indexed in PubMed in 2000 and 2006 and assess whether the quality of reporting has improved after publication of the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) Statement in 2001. ⋯ Reporting of several important aspects of trial methods improved between 2000 and 2006; however, the quality of reporting remains well below an acceptable level. Without complete and transparent reporting of how a trial was designed and conducted, it is difficult for readers to assess its conduct and validity.
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To evaluate current processes by which young children presenting with a febrile illness but suspected of having serious bacterial infection are diagnosed and treated, and to develop and test a multivariable model to distinguish serious bacterial infections from self limiting non-bacterial illnesses. Design Two year prospective cohort study. Setting The emergency department of The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, Australia. ⋯ Emergency department physicians tend to underestimate the likelihood of serious bacterial infection in young children with fever, leading to undertreatment with antibiotics. A clinical diagnostic model could improve decision making by increasing sensitivity for detecting serious bacterial infection, thereby improving early treatment.