Bmc Med
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Reporting funding source or conflict of interest in abstracts of randomized controlled trials, no evidence of a large impact on general practitioners' confidence in conclusions, a three-arm randomized controlled trial.
Systematic reporting of funding sources is recommended in the CONSORT Statement for abstracts. However, no specific recommendation is related to the reporting of conflicts of interest (CoI). The objective was to compare physicians' confidence in the conclusions of abstracts of randomized controlled trials of pharmaceutical treatment indexed in PubMed. ⋯ We found no evidence of a large impact of trial report abstracts mentioning funding sources or CoI on GPs' confidence in the conclusions of the abstracts.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Phase II trial of standard versus increased transfusion volume in Ugandan children with acute severe anemia.
Severe anemia (SA, hemoglobin <6 g/dl) is a leading cause of pediatric hospital admission in Africa, with significant in-hospital mortality. The underlying etiology is often infectious, but specific pathogens are rarely identified. Guidelines developed to encourage rational blood use recommend a standard volume of whole blood (20 ml/kg) for transfusion, but this is commonly associated with a frequent need for repeat transfusion and poor outcome. Evidence is lacking on what hemoglobin threshold criteria for intervention and volume are associated with the optimal survival outcomes. ⋯ A higher initial transfusion volume prescribed at hospital admission was safe and resulted in an accelerated hematological recovery in Ugandan children with SA. Future testing in a large, pragmatic clinical trial to establish the effect on short and longer-term survival is warranted.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
School-based mental health intervention for children in war-affected Burundi: a cluster randomized trial.
Armed conflicts are associated with a wide range of impacts on the mental health of children and adolescents. We evaluated the effectiveness of a school-based intervention aimed at reducing symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety (treatment aim); and improving a sense of hope and functioning (preventive aim). ⋯ Given inconsistent effects across studies, findings do not support this school-based intervention as a treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder and depressive symptoms in conflict-affected children. The intervention appears to have more consistent preventive benefits, but these effects are contingent upon individual (for example, age, gender) and contextual (for example, family functioning, state of conflict, displacement) variables. Results suggest the potential benefit of school-based preventive interventions particularly in post-conflict settings.