Health technology assessment : HTA
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Health Technol Assess · Jun 2018
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyPressure garment to prevent abnormal scarring after burn injury in adults and children: the PEGASUS feasibility RCT and mixed-methods study.
Eleven million people suffer a fire-related injury worldwide every year, and 71% have significant scarring. Pressure garment therapy (PGT) is a standard part of burn scar management, but there is little evidence of its clinical effectiveness or cost-effectiveness. ⋯ We recommend that any future trial include an in-depth mixed-methods recruitment investigation and a process evaluation to account for this.
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Health Technol Assess · Jun 2018
Randomized Controlled TrialDoes progesterone prophylaxis to prevent preterm labour improve outcome? A randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial (OPPTIMUM).
Progesterone prophylaxis is widely used to prevent preterm birth but is not licensed and there is little information on long-term outcome. ⋯ In this study, progesterone had no significant beneficial or harmful effects on the primary obstetric, neonatal or childhood outcomes.The OPPTIMUM trial is now complete. We intend to participate in a comprehensive individual patient-level data meta-analysis examining women with a singleton pregnancy with a variety of risk factors for preterm birth.
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Health Technol Assess · May 2018
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyAntiEpileptic drug Monitoring in PREgnancy (EMPiRE): a double-blind randomised trial on effectiveness and acceptability of monitoring strategies.
Pregnant women with epilepsy on antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) may experience a reduction in serum AED levels. This has the potential to worsen seizure control. ⋯ Further evaluation of the risks of seizure deterioration for various threshold levels of reduction in AEDs and the long-term neurodevelopment of infants born to mothers in both randomised groups is needed. An individualised prediction model will help to identify those women who need close monitoring in pregnancy.
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Health Technol Assess · May 2018
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyAerobic and strength training exercise programme for cognitive impairment in people with mild to moderate dementia: the DAPA RCT.
Approximately 670,000 people in the UK have dementia. Previous literature suggests that physical exercise could slow dementia symptom progression. ⋯ Future work should concentrate on approaches other than exercise to influence cognitive impairment in dementia.
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Health Technol Assess · May 2018
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Observational StudyManaging with Learning Disability and Diabetes: OK-Diabetes - a case-finding study and feasibility randomised controlled trial.
Obesity and type 2 diabetes are common in adults with a learning disability. It is not known if the principles of self-management can be applied in this population. ⋯ A definitive RCT is feasible and would need to recruit 194 participants per arm. The main barrier is the resource-intensive nature of recruitment. Future research is needed into the effectiveness of obesity treatments in this population, particularly estimating the longer-term outcomes that are important for health benefit. Research is also needed into improving ways of assessing quality of life in adults with a learning disability.