Plos One
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With efforts to combat opioid use disorder, there is an increased interest in clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for opioid use disorder treatments. No literature exists examining the quality of systematic reviews used in opioid use disorder CPGs. This study aims to describe the methodological quality and reporting clarity of systematic reviews (SRs) used to create CPGs for opioid use disorder. ⋯ Although the SRs in the CPGs were of good quality, there are still areas for improvement. Systematic reviewers should consult PRISMA and AMSTAR when conducting and reporting reviews. It is important for CPG developers to consider methodological quality as a factor when developing CPG recommendations, recognizing that the quality of systematic reviews underpinning guidelines does not necessarily correspond to the quality of the guideline itself.
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Delirium is common in hip fracture patients and many risk factors have been identified. Controversy exists regarding the possible impact of intraoperative control of blood pressure upon acute (delirium) and long term (dementia) cognitive decline. We explored possible associations between perioperative hemodynamic changes, use of vasopressor drugs, risk of delirium and risk of new-onset dementia. ⋯ Risk factors for incident delirium seem to differ according to pre-fracture cognitive status. The use of vasopressors during surgery and/or postoperative hypertension is associated with new-onset dementia after hip fracture.
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Gifts from pharmaceutical companies are believed to influence prescribing behavior, but few studies have addressed the association between industry gifts to physicians and drug costs, prescription volume, or preference for generic drugs. Even less research addresses the effect of gifts on the prescribing behavior of nurse practitioners (NPs), physician assistants (PAs), and podiatrists. ⋯ Gifts from pharmaceutical companies are associated with more prescriptions per patient, more costly prescriptions, and a higher proportion of branded prescriptions with variation across specialties. Gifts of any size had an effect and larger gifts elicited a larger impact on prescribing behaviors. Our study confirms and expands on previous work showing that industry gifts are associated with more expensive prescriptions and more branded prescriptions. Industry gifts influence prescribing behavior, may have adverse public health implications, and should be banned.
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Relative effect of therapies indicated for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma (aRCC) after failure of first line treatment is currently not known. The objective of the present study is to evaluate progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of cabozantinib compared to everolimus, nivolumab, axitinib, sorafenib, and best supportive care (BSC) in aRCC patients who progressed after previous VEGFR tyrosine-kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment. ⋯ With all five families of distributions, cabozantinib was superior to all its comparators with a higher probability of longer PFS and OS during the analyzed 3 years, except with the Gompertz model, where nivolumab was preferred after 24 months.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
A randomized, double-blind, active-control trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a three day course of tafenoquine monotherapy for the treatment of Plasmodium vivax malaria.
Tafenoquine is an investigational 8-aminoquinoline for the prevention of Plasmodium vivax relapse. Tafenoquine has a long half-life and the potential for more convenient dosing, compared with the currently recommended 14-day primaquine regimen. ⋯ Although there was no difference in efficacy in this study, the slow rate of parasite, gametocyte and fever clearance indicates that tafenoquine should not be used as monotherapy for radical cure of P. vivax malaria. Also, monotherapy increases the potential risk of resistance developing to this long-acting agent. Clinical trials of single-dose tafenoquine 300 mg combined with standard 3-day chloroquine or artemisinin-based combination therapy are ongoing.