Annals of internal medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
The effects of a smoking cessation intervention on 14.5-year mortality: a randomized clinical trial.
Randomized clinical trials have not yet demonstrated the mortality benefit of smoking cessation. ⋯ Smoking cessation intervention programs can have a substantial effect on subsequent mortality, even when successful in a minority of participants.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Outpatient care compared with hospitalization for community-acquired pneumonia: a randomized trial in low-risk patients.
The Pneumonia Severity Index (PSI) has been advocated as an objective measure of risk stratification to help determine the initial site of treatment for patients with community-acquired pneumonia. ⋯ In selected patients who had community-acquired pneumonia, PSI risk class II and III, and were treated with levofloxacin, outpatient care in the absence of respiratory failure, unstable comorbid conditions, complicated pleural effusions, and social problems was as safe and effective as hospitalization and provided greater patient satisfaction.
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Comparative Study
Patients exposed to rofecoxib and celecoxib have different odds of nonfatal myocardial infarction.
Studies have postulated that cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) selective inhibitors affect cardiovascular risk through various mechanisms. Some of these mechanisms could increase risk (for example, inhibition of prostacyclin production), and some could decrease risk (for example, inhibition of inflammation). ⋯ Celecoxib and rofecoxib were associated with different odds of MI. Cardiovascular effects among the COX-2 inhibitors seem different, but further studies, preferably randomized trials, are needed to fully understand the spectrum of effects of COX-2 inhibitors and potential differences among them.