Journal of clinical epidemiology
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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.
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Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are essential when evaluating many new treatments in health care; yet, current measures have been limited by a lack of precision, standardization, and comparability of scores across studies and diseases. The Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) provides item banks that offer the potential for efficient (minimizes item number without compromising reliability), flexible (enables optional use of interchangeable items), and precise (has minimal error in estimate) measurement of commonly studied PROs. We report results from the first large-scale testing of PROMIS items. ⋯ PROMIS item banks and their short forms provide evidence that they are reliable and precise measures of generic symptoms and functional reports comparable to legacy instruments. Further testing will continue to validate and test PROMIS items and banks in diverse clinical populations.