Journal of evidence-based medicine
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The Study Within a Trial (SWAT) program exists to 'embed research within research, so as to resolve uncertainties about the different ways of designing, conducting, analyzing, and interpreting evaluations of health and social care' (1). Published in this journal in 2013, a template for the first SWAT protocol outlined an investigation into the effects of site visits by the principal investigator on recruitment in multicentre randomized controlled trials (1). We have now designed a SWAT protocol to extend this question and ask 'does it matter who conducts the site visit?' Our aim is to provide a protocol that trials can implement to address this research question.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Pragmatic Clinical Trial
Radial artery blood gas sampling: a randomized controlled trial of lidocaine local anesthesia.
Radial artery puncture is a common procedure and yet the role of local anesthesia for reducing the pain of this procedure continues to be debated. Clinical practice is variable and there is potential for substantial financial savings. This is the first randomized trial to investigate the effectiveness of subcutaneously injected lidocaine anesthesia on the perceived pain of radial artery puncture and the financial impact. ⋯ Local anesthesia did not reduce the perceived pain of radial artery puncture.
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To examine the reporting characteristics and key methodological factors of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in the field of traditional Chinese medicine and assess whether use of the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) statement is associated with improvement in the quality of reports of RCTs. ⋯ Although a large room needs to improve the reporting of randomized clinical trials in traditional Chinese medicine, the impact for improvement of reporting of TCM RCTs has been proven in some extent.
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To systematically review the methodological assessment tools for pre-clinical and clinical studies, systematic review and meta-analysis, and clinical practice guideline. ⋯ We have successfully identified a variety of methodological assessment tools for different types of study design. However, further efforts in the development of critical appraisal tools are warranted since there is currently a lack of such tools for other fields, e.g. genetic studies, and some existing tools (nested case-control studies and case reports, for example) are in need of updating to be in line with current research practice and rigor. In addition, it is very important that all critical appraisal tools remain subjective and performance bias is effectively avoided.
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Evidence Aid, an initiative established by members of The Cochrane Collaboration in the aftermath of the Indian Ocean Tsunami in December 2004, celebrates its first 10 years later this year. Whilst the principles of the Evidence Aid initiative are firmly rooted in evidence-based medicine and public health practice, the initiative itself was born of a humanitarian imperative, compassion and the expressed moral duty to help. The evidence-base for Evidence Aid, (that is, for knowledge translation interventions focused on dissemination of evidence), was not, and is not, well-established This article, which is based on a presentation at the Evidence Aid Symposium on 20 September 2014, at Hyderabad, India presents a unifying conceptual framework for use when researching the impact of Evidence Aid as a knowledge translation intervention. It highlights how each of the core activities can be mapped to this framework and identifies key outcomes of interest for evaluation.