Cochrane Db Syst Rev
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2003
ReviewModification of the home environment for the reduction of injuries.
Injury in the home is extremely common, accounting for around a third of all injuries. The majority of injuries of children under five and people aged 75 and over occur at home. Multi-factorial injury prevention interventions have been shown to reduce injuries in the home. However, few studies have focussed specifically on the impact of physical adaptations to the home environment and the effectiveness of such intervention needs to be ascertained. ⋯ There is insufficient evidence to determine the effects of interventions to modify environmental home hazards. Further interventions to reduce hazards in the home should be evaluated by adequately designed randomised controlled trials measuring injury outcomes. Recruitment of large study samples to measure effect may be a major consideration for future trials.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2003
ReviewLong acting beta-agonists versus theophylline for maintenance treatment of asthma.
Theophylline and long acting beta-2 agonists are bronchodilators used for the management of persistent asthma symptoms, especially nocturnal asthma. They represent different classes of drug with differing side-effect profiles. ⋯ Long-acting beta-2 agonists are at least as effective than theophylline in reducing asthma symptoms including night waking and improving lung function. Fewer adverse events occurred in subjects using long-acting beta-2 agonists(salmeterol and formoterol) as compared to theophylline.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2003
ReviewContinuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) versus hospital or home haemodialysis for end-stage renal disease in adults.
Renal replacement therapy (RRT) with dialysis and transplantation is the only means of sustaining life for patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Although transplantation is the treatment of choice, the number of donor kidneys are limited and transplants may fail. Hence many patients require long-term or even life-long dialysis. Continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) is an alternative to hospital or home haemodialysis for patients with ESRD. ⋯ Data are not available to allow conclusions to be drawn about the relative effectiveness of CAPD compared with hospital or home haemodialysis for adults with ESRD. Efforts should be made to start and complete adequately powered RCTs, which compare the different dialysis modalities.
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Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease that affects mostly the weight-bearing joints in the knees and hips. As the affected joint degenerates pain and restriction of movement often occur. Inflammation can also occur sometimes resulting in edema of the joint with OA. Treatment focuses on decreasing pain and improving movement. ⋯ Ice massage compared to control had a statistically beneficial effect on ROM, function and knee strength. Cold packs decreased swelling. Hot packs had no beneficial effect on edema compared with placebo or cold application. Ice packs did not effect pain significantly compared to control in patients with OA. More well designed studies with a standardized protocol and adequate number of subjects are needed to evaluate the effect of thermotherapy in the treatment of OA of the knee.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2003
ReviewVitamin E supplementation for prevention of morbidity and mortality in preterm infants.
Treating very low birth weight (VLBW) infants with pharmacologic doses of vitamin E as an antioxidant agent has been proposed for preventing or limiting retinopathy of prematurity, intracranial hemorrhage, hemolytic anemia, and chronic lung disease. However, excessive doses of vitamin E may result in side effects. ⋯ Vitamin E supplementation in preterm infants reduced the risk of intracranial hemorrhage but increased the risk of sepsis. In very low birth weight infants it increased the risk of sepsis, and reduced the risk of severe retinopathy and blindness among those examined. Evidence does not support the routine use of vitamin E supplementation by intravenous route at high doses, or aiming at serum tocopherol levels greater than 3.5 mg/dl.