Journal of clinical epidemiology
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The fall risk profile developed in the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA) identifies community-dwelling elderly at high risk for recurrent falling. This study assessed the predictive validity of this profile in older persons seeking care after a fall. ⋯ The discriminative ability of the LASA fall risk profile was moderate. The predictive validity of the LASA fall risk profile to identify recurrent fallers is limited among older persons who consulted the emergency department or general practitioner after a fall.
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A recently published instrument (PRECIS) was designed to assist investigative teams in understanding the various design decisions that need to be made regarding pragmatic vs. explanatory trials. Our team used this instrument during an investigators' meeting to organize our discussion regarding the design of a planned trial and to determine the extent of consensus among the study investigators. ⋯ The investigative team found that applying PRECIS principles were useful for (1) detailing points of discussion related to trial design, (2) making revisions to the design to be consistent with the project goals, and (3) achieving consensus. We believe our experiences with PRECIS may prove valuable for trial researchers in much the same way that case reports can provide valuable insights for clinicians.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Quebec Back Pain Disability Scale was responsive and showed reasonable interpretability after a multidisciplinary treatment.
To investigate responsiveness and interpretability of the Quebec Back Pain Disability Scale. ⋯ This study proposes values for responsiveness and interpretability indicators for patients with chronic low back pain referred for multidisciplinary treatment. The baseline score and the way to cluster patients with regard to this score have to be taken into account while interpreting the score change after treatment.
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Review Comparative Study
Calculating kappas from adjusted data improved the comparability of the reliability of triage systems: a comparative study.
It is difficult to compare the reliability of triage systems with the kappa statistic. In this article, a method for comparing triage systems was developed and applied to previously conducted triage reliability studies. ⋯ When comparing triage systems with different numbers of categories, one should report both the normal and quadratically weighted kappa. Calculating normal kappas from previously conducted triage reliability studies revealed substantial theoretical differences in interrater reliability of triage systems than previously reported.
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To evaluate the reporting quality of key methodological items of randomized control trials (RCTs) in 55 of the highest ranked journals. ⋯ Reporting of varied CONSORT items remains suboptimal. Registration in a trial registry was associated with improved reporting. Further efforts to enhance RCT registration could contribute to this improvement.