BMJ open
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When used appropriately, transfusion of red blood cells (RBCs) is a necessary life-saving therapy. However, RBC transfusions have been associated with negative outcomes such as infection and organ damage. Seeking explanations for the beneficial and deleterious effects of RBC transfusions is necessary to ensure the safe and optimal use of this precious resource. This study will create a framework to analyse the influence of blood donor characteristics on recipient outcomes. ⋯ Our results will help determine whether we need to tailor transfusion based on donor characteristics, and perhaps this will improve patient outcome. Our results will be customised to target the different stakeholders involved with blood transfusions and will include presentations, peer-reviewed publications and the use of the dissemination network of blood supply organisations. We obtained approval from the Research Ethics boards and privacy offices of all involved institutions.
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Review Meta Analysis
Do cognitive interventions improve general cognition in dementia? A meta-analysis and meta-regression.
To review the efficacy of cognitive interventions on improving general cognition in dementia. ⋯ CS improves scores on MMSE and ADAS-Cog in dementia, but benefits on the ADAS-Cog are generally not clinically significant and difficulties with blinding of patients and use of adequate placebo controls make comparison with the results of dementia drug treatments problematic.
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Multicenter Study
Surgical care for the aged: a retrospective cross-sectional study of a national surgical mortality audit.
It is assumed that increased age signifies increased surgical care. Few surgical studies describe the differences in care provided to older patients compared with younger patients. We aimed to examine the relationships between increasing age, preoperative factors and markers of postoperative care in adults who died in-hospital after surgery in Australia. ⋯ The oldest patients received lower levels of care than the medium and youngest age groups.
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Drug counterfeiting has serious public health and safety implications. The objective of this study was to systematically review the evidence on the effectiveness of interventions to combat or prevent drug counterfeiting. ⋯ Policymakers and stakeholders would benefit from registration and WHO-prequalification of drugs and may also consider multifaceted interventions. Future effectiveness studies should address the methodological limitations of the available evidence.
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Multicenter Study
Trauma airway management in emergency departments: a multicentre, prospective, observational study in Japan.
Although successful airway management is essential for emergency trauma care, comprehensive studies are limited. We sought to characterise current trauma care practice of airway management in the emergency departments (EDs) in Japan. ⋯ In this multicentre prospective study in Japan, we observed a high overall success rate in airway management during trauma care. However, the methods of intubation and success rates were highly variable among hospitals.