5,082,344 papers found

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The literature related to visual hallucinations in ophthalmological settings from 2007 to 2008 is presented as a review of recent developments and trends. RECENT FINDINGS: Acuity, contrast sensitivity, age and sex emerge as significant and consistent risk factors for visual hallucinations, together…

Studies and treatments for the symptomatic menopausal woman have been reviewed elsewhere. The aim of this clinical review series is to examine the evidence for the diagnosis and treatment of the woman who presents with distressing symptoms that she attributes to menopause, whose actual etiology may be a psychiatric dis…

In a systematic review (SR), the available evidence for a clinical problem is systematically and comprehensively collected from different studies, the likelihood of bias is assessed and the results are summarised in a reproducible manner. The results of an SR can be used in either individual patient care or the formula…

BACKGROUND: The use of review articles and meta-analysis has become an important part of epidemiological research, mainly for reconciling previously conducted studies that have inconsistent results. Numerous methodologic issues particularly with respect to biases and the use of meta-analysis are still controversial. M…

Valid guidelines, when appropriately disseminated and implemented, can lead to changes in clinical practice and improvements in patient outcome. Guidelines are more likely to be valid if they are developed using systematic reviews, national or regional guideline development groups (including representatives of key disc…

BACKGROUND: Digital services can be effective and cost-efficient options for treating non-communicable diseases, but generalizability is limited due to heterogeneous treatment effects. This umbrella review aims to evaluate the impact of digital services on population health, costs, and patient and healthcare profession…

BACKGROUND: The existing evidence base indicates increased interest in knowledge translation (KT), or, the dissemination of research to ensure uptake and impact. Given this definition, this study aimed to review existing scholarship on knowledge translation (KT) of health research to people living with disabilities (PL…

BACKGROUND: Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) are used to mitigate harms from high-risk medicines including misuse, prescription shopping, overdoses, and death. Previous systematic reviews report inconsistent findings. We undertook a systematic review of reviews to 1) describe and identify the methods and o…

BACKGROUND: The rate of elective Caesarean Section (CS) is rising in many countries. Many obstetric units in the UK have either introduced or are planning to introduce enhanced recovery (ER) as a means of reducing length of stay for planned CS. However, to date there has been very little evidence produced regarding the…

BACKGROUND: Systematic reviews of preclinical studies, in vivo animal experiments in particular, can influence clinical research and thus even clinical care. Dissemination bias, selective dissemination of positive or significant results, is one of the major threats to validity in systematic reviews also in the realm of…

BACKGROUND: Medical and public health decisions are informed by reviews, which makes the quality of reviews an important scientific concern. OBJECTIVE: We systematically assessed the quality of published reviews on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and health, which is a controversial topic that is important to public…

The aim of this paper was to review the evidence for early-life (from conception to 5 years of age) determinants of obesity. The design is review of published systematic reviews. Data sources included Medline, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, PsycINFO. Identification of 22 eligible reviews from a datab…

Appropriate diagnosis is essential in providing proper and effective therapy. The field of diagnostic accuracy tests is dynamic with new tests being developed at a fast pace along with improvement in technology of existing tests on a continuous basis. Well-designed diagnostic test accuracy studies can help in making ap…

BACKGROUND: The Cochrane Collaboration, an international not-for-profit organization that prepares and maintains systematic reviews of randomized trials of health care therapies, has produced reviews summarizing much of the evidence on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Our objective was to review the evidence base ac…

BACKGROUND: Systematic reviews provide a structured overview of the available evidence in medical-scientific research. However, due to the increasing medical-scientific research output, it is a time-consuming task to conduct systematic reviews. To accelerate this process, artificial intelligence (AI) can be used in the…

BACKGROUND: Cancer-related fatigue is a widely prevalent global public health concern with serious consequences. Increasing evidence suggests the effectiveness of exercise intervention in treating cancer-related fatigue, but there is a lack of a summary of relevant literature on the same to help reach a clear consensus…

BACKGROUND: Global health workforce shortages exist with disparities in the skill mix and distribution of health workers. Rural and underserved populations are often disadvantaged in terms of access to health care. METHODS: This systematic review summarized all systematic reviews that assessed interventions for improv…

There exists a large body of literature examining the association between built environment factors and dietary intake, physical activity, and weight status; however, synthesis of this literature has been limited. To address this gap, we conducted a scoping review of reviews and identified 74 reviews and meta-analyses…