Med Clin Barcelona
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C-reactive protein (CRP) has been considered a marker for infection and an aid for diagnosing sepsis. We analyze the relation of CRP to infection and outcome in intensive care units (ICU) patients. ⋯ CRP level on admission is an useful marker for early infection but not for outcome in critically ill patients admited to the ICU.
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With the publication of the CONSORT statement there is now increased awareness of the need to adequately report the findings of randomised controlled trials. The CONSORT statement includes a checklist of items that should be addressed in the trial report. ⋯ The process of allocating groups of participants raises additional reporting considerations and led to the publication of an extension to the CONSORT statement specifically for cluster randomised trials. In this paper we review the CONSORT extension to cluster randomised trials, outlining the special features of the cluster randomised trial which must be considered.
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The increase in the number of published systematic reviews and meta-analyses over the last few years has highlighted the need to establish guidelines for their publication, in order to facilitate their interpretation and use. The Quality of Reporting of Meta-analyses Conference, which took place in 1996, resulted in the QUOROM statement, consisting of a checklist and flow diagram. ⋯ The flow diagram of randomized clinical trials (RCT) helps to provide information about the number of RCTs identified, included and excluded in the meta-analysis and the reasons for excluding them. Both tools provide standards for improving the quality of reporting of meta-analyses to make them rigorous, useful and reliable.