The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
A randomized controlled trial of antibiotics on symptom resolution in patients presenting to their general practitioner with a sore throat.
Sore throat is a common symptom presented to general practitioners (GPs), and there remains controversy about the appropriate use of antibiotics. ⋯ Compared with placebo, cefixime can improve the rate of resolution of symptoms in patients with a sore throat who are selected for antibiotic treatment by their GP. The unexpected finding that cefixime was of benefit compared with placebo for patients without GABHS suggests that bacteria other than GABHS may be important in the pathogenesis of sore throat.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Global measures of outcome in a controlled comparison of pharmacological and psychological treatment of panic disorder and agoraphobia in primary care.
Panic disorder, with and without agoraphobia, is a prevalent condition which presents primarily in general practice. Previous clinical outcome studies have been conducted mainly in specialist university departments or hospital settings, and have tended to employ complex rating scales that are not well suited for use as outcome measures in primary care. ⋯ The brief global measures reported here proved adequate to the task of assessing treatment outcome. Results indicate that treatments including cognitive behaviour therapy can be effective in the treatment of panic disorder and agoraphobia in primary care.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Do patients with sore throat benefit from penicillin? A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial with penicillin V in general practice.
The effect of antibiotic therapy in sore throat is questionable and this dilemma has been complicated by the emergence of multiple resistant strains of micro-organisms. ⋯ Only GABHS-positive patients benefit from penicillin V in their clinical cure in the first few days. Therefore, rapid testing is necessary. Treatment may be beneficial with regard to the clinical course, but it is not necessary.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Ebeltoft project: baseline data from a five-year randomized, controlled, prospective health promotion study in a Danish population.
There is increasing political pressure on the medical profession to approach welfare diseases, such as coronary heart disease and diabetes, through prevention. General practitioners are required to offer regular health checks to healthy people, in spite of the lack of scientific evidence for the universal need, usefulness and side effects of such an intervention. Randomized controlled trials are needed. ⋯ There was considerable interest in participating in health promotion. Three out of four of those having a health check were given health advice. Two out of three of those offered a health talk with the general practitioner appeared willing to make relevant lifestyle changes. Long-term follow up is needed to determine effects and side effects of health checks and health talks.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Does 48 hours' bed rest influence the outcome of acute low back pain?
Bed rest is a traditional treatment for back pain, yet only in recent years has the therapeutic benefit of this been questioned. ⋯ The results of this pilot study did not indicate whether bed rest or remaining mobile was superior for the treatment of acute low back pain; however, the study sample was small. Subjects in the control group possibly fared better as they appeared to have better lumbar flexion at day seven. It appears that 48 hours' bed rest cannot be recommended for the treatment of acute low back pain on the basis of this small study. Large-scale definitive trials are required to detect clinically significant differences.