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1.
Emerg Med J ; : 660-665, 2019 Nov 06.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31694858

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the association between the publication of the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials extension for abstracts (CONSORT-EA) and other variables of interest on the quality of reporting of abstracts of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) published in emergency medicine (EM) journals. METHODS: We performed a survey of the literature, comparing the quality of reporting before (2005-2007) with after (2014-2015) the publication of the dedicated CONSORT-EA in 2008. The quality of reporting was measured as the sum of items of the CONSORT-EA checklist reported in each abstract, ranging from 0 to 15. The main explanatory variable was the period of publication: pre-CONSORT-EA versus post-CONSORT-EA public. Other explanatory variables were journal's endorsement of the CONSORT statement, number of centres participating in the study, study's sample size, type of intervention, significance of results, source of funding and study setting. We analysed the data using generalised estimation equations, performing a univariate and a multivariable analysis. RESULTS: We retrieved 844 articles, and randomly selected 60 per period for review, after stratifying for journal. The mean (SD) number of items reported was 6.4 (1.9) in the period before and 6.9 (1.8) in the period after the publication of the CONSORT-EA, with an adjusted mean difference (aMD) of 0.47 (95% CI -0.13 to 1.06). Abstracts of trials of pharmacological interventions had a significantly larger mean number of reported items than those of trials of non-pharmacological interventions (aMD 1.59; 95% CI 0.94 to 2.24). CONCLUSIONS: The quality of reporting in abstracts of RCTs published in EM journals is low and was not significantly impacted by the publication of a dedicated CONSORT-EA.

2.
BMJ Open ; 7(4): e014981, 2017 04 27.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-28450467

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: The quality of reporting of abstracts of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in major general medical journals and in some category-specific journals was shown to be poor before the publication of the ConsolidatedStandards of ReportingTrials (CONSORT) extension for abstracts in 2008, and an improvement in the quality of reporting of abstracts was observed after its publication. The effect of the publication of the CONSORT extension for abstracts on the quality of reporting of RCTs in emergency medicine journals has not been studied. In this paper, we present the protocol of a systematic survey of the literature, aimed at assessing the quality of reporting in abstracts of RCTs published in emergency medicine journals and at evaluating the effect of the publication of the CONSORT extension for abstracts on the quality of reporting. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The Medline database will be searched for RCTs published in the years 2005-2007 and 2014-2015 in the top 10 emergency medicine journals, according to their impact factor. Candidate studies will be screened for inclusion in the review. Exclusion criteria will be the following: the abstract is not available, they are published only as abstracts, still recruiting, or duplicate publications. The study outcomes will be the overall quality of reporting (number of items reported) according to the CONSORT extension and the compliance with its individual items. Two independent reviewers will screen each article for inclusion and will extract data on the CONSORT items and on other variables, which can possibly affect the quality of reporting. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This is a library-based study and therefore exempt from research ethics board review. The review results will be disseminated through abstract submission to conferences and publication in a peer-reviewed biomedical journal.


Subject(s)
Emergency Medicine , Publications/standards , Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic/standards , Research Report/standards , Humans
3.
Intern Emerg Med ; 10(5): 595-601, 2015 Aug.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-25944128

ABSTRACT

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is diagnosed for the first time in about 5 % of patients admitted for acute ischemic stroke. Advanced aged and arterial hypertension are risk factors for AF. We evaluated the prevalence of silent AF in subjects with advanced age and systemic arterial hypertension. Subjects of both gender, aged 65 years or more with systemic arterial hypertension were randomly identified from the patient lists of the participating general practitioners in the Perugia area, in Italy. Study subjects underwent baseline 12-lead ECG and, if this did not show AF, 48-h Holter monitoring was performed. AF was known and confirmed by 12-lead ECG in 4 out of the 308 evaluated subjects (1.3 %). Baseline 12-lead ECG showed no cases of silent AF. Holter monitoring was performed in 300 subjects, mean age 70 ± 4. Twenty-six recordings were not evaluable for the presence of artifacts; therefore, 274 subjects were included in the analysis. Holter monitoring showed AF in 27 out of 274 subjects (10 %; 95 % confidence interval 6.4-13.5 %); AF was longer than 30 s in four of the subjects. In 56 additional subjects, Holter monitoring revealed excessive supraventricular ectopic activity (20 %; 95 % confidence interval 15.3-24.7 %). Holter monitoring was able to detect silent AF in about 10 % of subjects aged 65 or above with systemic arterial hypertension. The risk of stroke associated with screened silent AF should be carefully evaluated.


Subject(s)
Atrial Fibrillation/diagnosis , Atrial Fibrillation/epidemiology , Electrocardiography, Ambulatory , Hypertension/complications , Hypertension/physiopathology , Age Factors , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Cohort Studies , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Italy , Male , Middle Aged , Prevalence
4.
Eur J Cancer Prev ; 18(5): 404-6, 2009 Sep.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-19433981

ABSTRACT

Household pesticide exposure has been associated with cancer risk in both adults and children. We investigated the reliability of reported lifetime household pesticide exposure through repeated administration of a standardized questionnaire. A questionnaire including detailed questions about lifetime frequency and duration of pesticide use in nonoccupational circumstances was administered on two occasions to 163 cutaneous melanoma cases and 113 controls. We investigated the agreement between the two measurements taken on average 12 months apart and studied the association between differences in the two measurements and a set of explanatory variables. According to the results of the reliability analysis, we also corrected the odds ratio estimates from the main study. The agreement for duration and frequency of use of pesticides outdoors was 89.5% (Cohen's kappa = 0.48) and 92.0% (Cohen's kappa = 0.40), respectively, whereas duration and frequency of use of pesticides indoors agreement was 75.4% (Cohen's kappa = 0.32) and 77.4% (Cohen's kappa = 0.28), respectively. The agreement was higher for duration (97.4%; Cohen's kappa = 0.72) and use of pesticides on domestic animals (86.4%; Cohen's kappa = 0.68). The corrected odds ratio showed a moderate increase with a reinforcement of the effect of pesticides. Overall, there was a good reproducibility in self-reported exposure to pesticides. This findings may reinforce earlier studies that showed that residential pesticides may cause cancer.


Subject(s)
Environmental Exposure , Environmental Pollutants/toxicity , Melanoma/epidemiology , Pesticides/toxicity , Skin Neoplasms/epidemiology , Case-Control Studies , Environmental Exposure/statistics & numerical data , Household Products , Humans , Middle Aged , Reproducibility of Results , Surveys and Questionnaires
5.
Acta Derm Venereol ; 84(3): 213-7, 2004.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-15202838

ABSTRACT

Although mental disorders are frequent among dermatological patients, little is known about their recognition by dermatologists. This study aimed to assess dermatologists' ability to recognize depressive and anxiety disorders. All adult outpatients who visited four dermatologists on predetermined days (n=317) completed the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and the section on depressive and anxiety disorders of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ). Dermatologists, masked to GHQ-12 and PHQ scores, rated patients' mental health status. The analysis was performed on 277 patients (87%) with complete data. With the PHQ as criterion standard, the dermatologists' assessment sensitivity was 33%, while specificity was 76%. In most cases of disagreement between the dermatologists and the PHQ, the GHQ-12 corroborated the PHQ classification. Anxiety disorders tended to be recognized better than depressive disorders. Among patients with a PHQ diagnosis, male gender tended to be associated with misclassification by dermatologists. Although limitations inherent in self-report psychiatric assessment should be considered, this study suggests that mental disorders often go unrecognized in dermatological patients. This issue might be addressed by implementing specific training programmes, using validated screening questionnaires for depression and anxiety, and developing rational consultation-liaison services.


Subject(s)
Anxiety Disorders/diagnosis , Clinical Competence , Depression/diagnosis , Diagnostic Errors , Skin Diseases/psychology , Adult , Age Factors , Anxiety Disorders/psychology , Depression/psychology , Female , Humans , Italy , Logistic Models , Male , Middle Aged , Outpatients/psychology , Practice Patterns, Physicians' , Sensitivity and Specificity , Severity of Illness Index , Sex Factors , Surveys and Questionnaires
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