BMJ open
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To investigate negative perceptions about generic medicines and evaluate the proportions of lay people, doctors and pharmacists who hold these perceptions. ⋯ A significant proportion of doctors, pharmacists and lay people hold negative perceptions of generic medicines. It is likely these attitudes present barriers to the wider use of generics.
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Comparative Study
Inequalities in physical comorbidity: a longitudinal comparative cohort study of people with severe mental illness in the UK.
Little is known about the prevalence of comorbidity rates in people with severe mental illness (SMI) in UK primary care. We calculated the prevalence of SMI by UK country, English region and deprivation quintile, antipsychotic and antidepressant medication prescription rates for people with SMI, and prevalence rates of common comorbidities in people with SMI compared with people without SMI. ⋯ Our findings highlight the health inequalities faced by people with SMI. The provision of appropriate timely health prevention, promotion and monitoring activities to reduce these health inequalities are needed, especially in deprived areas.
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Bloodstream infections are a major cause of death worldwide; blood culture (BC) sampling remains the most important tool for their diagnosis. Current data suggest that BC rates in German hospitals are considerably lower than recommended; this points to shortfalls in the application of microbiological analyses. Since early and appropriate BC diagnostics are associated with reduced case fatality rates and a shorter duration of antimicrobial therapy, a multicomponent study for the improvement of BC diagnostics was developed. ⋯ Ethics approval was obtained from the Ethics committee of the University Hospital Jena and from the Ethics committee of the State Chamber of Physicians of Thuringia. Findings of AlertsNet will be disseminated through public media releases and publications in peer-reviewed journals.
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Meta Analysis
Meta-analysis of the effectiveness of traditional Chinese herbal formula Zhen Wu Decoction for the treatment of hypertension.
Zhen Wu Decoction (ZWD), a famous classic herbal formula documented in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), is widely available in China for treating hypertensive patients with kidney yang deficiency and fluid retention syndrome. This systematic review aims to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of ZWD for hypertension. ⋯ This systematic review revealed no definite conclusion about the application of ZWD for hypertension due to the poor methodological quality, high risk of bias, and inadequate reporting on clinical data. More rigorously designed trials, especially addressing continuous BP and adverse effects, are warranted.