Cochrane Db Syst Rev
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Oct 2009
Review Meta AnalysisDay hospital versus outpatient care for people with schizophrenia.
This review considers the use of day hospitals as an alternative to outpatient care. Two types of day hospital are covered by the review: 'day treatment programmes' and 'transitional' day hospitals. Day treatment programmes offer more intense treatment for people who have failed to respond to outpatient care. Transitional day hospitals offer time-limited care to people who have just been discharged from inpatient care. ⋯ Evidence is limited and dated. Day hospital care may help avoid inpatient care but data are lacking on missing on a raft of outcomes that are now considered important, such as quality of life, satisfaction, healthy days, and cost.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Oct 2009
Review Meta AnalysisPneumococcal conjugate vaccines for preventing vaccine-type invasive pneumococcal disease and X-ray defined pneumonia in children less than two years of age.
Pneumonia, caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, is a major cause of morbidity and mortality among children in low-income countries. The effectiveness of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) against invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD), pneumonia, and mortality needs to be evaluated. ⋯ PCV is effective in preventing IPD, X-ray defined pneumonia, and clinical pneumonia among HIV-1 negative and HIV-1 positive children under two years. The impact was greater for VT-IPD than for all serotypes-IPD, and for X-ray defined pneumonia than for clinical pneumonia. An 11% reduction with a 95% CI of -1% to 21% and a P = 0.08 is compatible with reduction in all-cause mortality.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Oct 2009
Review Meta AnalysisSubcutaneous unfractionated heparin for the initial treatment of venous thromboembolism.
Venous thromboembolism is a prevalent condition with potentially dire consequences. Its medical treatment requires anticoagulation, which is usually achieved with either unfractionated or low molecular weight heparin (LMWH). Unfractionated heparin (UFH) is usually administered intravenously, but can be applied subcutaneously as well. ⋯ Subcutaneous unfractionated heparin for the treatment of venous thromboembolism cannot be considered non-inferior to other treatment modalities in terms of recurrent DVT and PE at three months, but seems as safe and effective with regards to rates of major bleeding and death.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Oct 2009
Review Meta AnalysisDynamic exercise programs (aerobic capacity and/or muscle strength training) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
An up-to-date overview of the effectiveness and safety of dynamic exercise therapy (exercise therapy with a sufficient intensity, duration, and frequency to establish improvement in aerobic capacity and/or muscle strength) is lacking. ⋯ Based on the evidence, aerobic capacity training combined with muscle strength training is recommended as routine practice in patients with RA.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Oct 2009
Review Meta AnalysisChinese herbal medicines for esophageal cancer.
Esophageal cancer is the seventh leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Traditional Chinese herbal medicines are sometimes used as an adjunct to radiotherapy or chemotherapy for this type of cancer. ⋯ We were unable to find any evidence from RCTs on the effectiveness of TCM in the treatment of esophageal cancer. New trials should be carried out and we recommend that they are large scaled, correctly randomised and that the assessors of the results are blinded to the conditions of allocation.