Detecting the extent of control over selection bias relating to oral health and otorhinolaryngology: cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: The authors of randomized controlled trials will usually claim that they have met the randomization process criterion. However, sequence generation schemes differ and some schemes that are claimed to be randomized are not genuinely randomized. Even less well understood, and often more difficult to ascertain, is whether the allocation was really concealed. OBJECTIVE: To detect the extent of control over selection bias, in a comparison between two Cochrane groups: oral health and otorhinolaryngology; and to describe the methods used to control for this bias. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional study conducted in a public university in São Paulo, Brazil. METHODS: The risk of selection bias in 1,714 records indexed in Medline database up to 2018 was assessed, independent of language and access. Two dimensions implicated in the allocation were considered: generation of the allocation sequence; and allocation concealment. RESULTS: We included 420 randomized controlled trials and all of them were evaluated to detect selection bias. In the sample studied, only 28 properly controlled the selection bias. Lack of control over selection bias was present in 80% of the studies evaluated in both groups. CONCLUSION: The two groups were similar regarding control over selection bias. They are also similar to the methods used. The dimension of allocation concealment appears to be a limiting factor with regard to production of randomized controlled trials with low risk of selection bias. The quality of reporting in studies on oral health and otorhinolaryngology is suboptimal and needs to be improved, in line with other fields of healthcare.

Epidemiologic Profile of an Otolaryngologic Emergency Service

Introduction According to current research, the number of patients seen in the emergency room is progressively increasing. There are few studies on the characteristics of ear, nose, and throat diseases treated in the emergency room. Objectives (1) To establish the epidemiologic profile of patients with these complaints treated at a referral emergency hospital in locoregional city Curitiba, and (2) to evaluate the calls that truly required emergency care. Methods This is a contemporary cross-study of urgent and emergency referrals to a hospital with otolaryngologic services during the year 2012. Data were collected and epidemiologic characteristics analyzed. Results We analyzed 1,067 patients: 312 presented in spring, 255 in summer, 253 in autumn, and 247 in winter. We found 17 diseases that were common during the year, with 244 (23.99%) upper respiratory tract infections being the most frequent disease. There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of diseases, except that acute otitis media was most common during the summer (p = 0.02); distribution between the sexes was balanced. The predominant age group was adults. We found 9.27% cases were true emergencies. Conclusion Patients were 20 to 40 years, with upper respiratory tract infection the most incident disease; 9.27% of cases were emergencies...