Cochrane Db Syst Rev
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In type 2 diabetes mellitus, impairment of insulin secretion is an important component of the disease. Meglitinide analogues are a class of oral hypoglycaemic agents that increase insulin secretion, in particular, during the early phase of insulin release. ⋯ Meglitinides may offer an alternative oral hypoglycaemic agent of similar potency to metformin, and may be indicated where side effects of metformin are intolerable or where metformin is contraindicated. However, there is no evidence available to indicate what effect meglitinides will have on important long-term outcomes, particularly mortality.
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Postal questionnaires are widely used for data collection in epidemiological studies but non-response reduces the effective sample size and can introduce bias. Finding ways to increase response rates to postal questionnaires would improve the quality of health research. ⋯ Health researchers using postal questionnaires can increase response rates using the strategies shown to be effective in this systematic review.
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Many treatments are available for whiplash patients but there is little scientific evidence for their accepted use. Patients with whiplash-associated disorders (WAD) can be classified by the severity of signs and symptoms from Grade 0 (no complaints or physical signs) to Grade 4 (fracture or dislocation). ⋯ The current literature is of poor methodological quality and is insufficiently homogeneous to allow the pooling of results. Therefore, clearly effective treatments are not supported at this time for the treatment of acute, subacute or chronic symptoms of whiplash-associated disorders.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Apr 2007
ReviewIncentives and disincentives to participation by clinicians in randomised controlled trials.
Patients and clinicians need reliable, up-to-date information from randomised controlled trials (RCTs) on the costs and benefits of treatments. Recruitment difficulties arise when clinicians do not invite patients to participate in trials. ⋯ The impact of factors varied across studies. Researchers need to be aware that aspects of the design and conduct of trials can affect clinicians' willingness to invite patients to participate. Further research is needed.
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Vascular dementia (VD) is a syndrome or diagnosis that has different causes and clinical manifestations relating to several different vascular mechanisms and changes in the brain. Some traditional Chinese herbal medicines were developed for treating VD. DH: Yizhi capsule is one such herbal concoction which is reported to improve clinical symptoms significantly. The efficacy and adverse effects of Yizhi capsule need to be reviewed systematically and assessed critically to inform clinical practice and guide the continued search for new treatment regimens. ⋯ There is no evidence from randomised controlled trials to support or proscribe against the use of 'Yizhi capsule' as a treatment for vascular dementia.