JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association
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To describe the performance of alcohol screening questionnaires in female patients. ⋯ The CAGE questionnaire was relatively insensitive in predominantly white female populations. The TWEAK and AUDIT questionnaires have performed adequately in black or white women, using lower cut points than usual.
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Meta Analysis
Treatment of acute otitis media with a shortened course of antibiotics: a meta-analysis.
To conduct a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials of antibiotic treatment of acute otitis media in children to determine whether outcomes were comparable in children treated with antibiotics for less than 7 days or at least 7 days or more. ⋯ This meta-analysis suggests that 5 days of short-acting antibiotic use is effective treatment for uncomplicated acute otitis media in children.
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A large number of epidemiologic studies have reported on associations between various "inflammatory" factors and coronary heart disease (CHD). ⋯ The published results from these prospective studies are remarkably consistent for each factor, indicating moderate but highly statistically significant associations with CHD. Hence, even though mechanisms that might account for these associations are not clear, further study of the relevance of these factors to the causation of CHD is warranted.
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Meta Analysis
Incidence of adverse drug reactions in hospitalized patients: a meta-analysis of prospective studies.
To estimate the incidence of serious and fatal adverse drug reactions (ADR) in hospital patients. ⋯ The incidence of serious and fatal ADRs in US hospitals was found to be extremely high. While our results must be viewed with circumspection because of heterogeneity among studies and small biases in the samples, these data nevertheless suggest that ADRs represent an important clinical issue.