Cochrane Db Syst Rev
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jul 2016
Review Meta AnalysisRoutine use of patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) for improving treatment of common mental health disorders in adults.
Routine outcome monitoring of common mental health disorders (CMHDs), using patient reported outcome measures (PROMs), has been promoted across primary care, psychological therapy and multidisciplinary mental health care settings, but is likely to be costly, given the high prevalence of CMHDs. There has been no systematic review of the use of PROMs in routine outcome monitoring of CMHDs across these three settings. ⋯ We found insufficient evidence to support the use of routine outcome monitoring using PROMs in the treatment of CMHDs, in terms of improving patient outcomes or in improving management. The findings are subject to considerable uncertainty however, due to the high risk of bias in the large majority of trials meeting the inclusion criteria, which means further research is very likely to have an important impact on the estimate of effect and is likely to change the estimate. More research of better quality is therefore required, particularly in primary care where most CMHDs are treated.Future research should address issues of blinding of assessors and attrition, and measure a range of relevant symptom outcomes, as well as possible harmful effects of monitoring, health-related quality of life, social functioning, and costs. Studies should include people treated with drugs as well as psychological therapies, and should follow them up for longer than six months.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jul 2016
Review Meta AnalysisRapamycin and rapalogs for tuberous sclerosis complex.
Previous studies have shown potential benefits of rapamycin or rapalogs for treating people with tuberous sclerosis complex. Although everolimus (a rapalog) is currently approved by the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) and the EMA (European Medicines Agency) for tuberous sclerosis complex-associated renal angiomyolipoma and subependymal giant cell astrocytoma, applications for other manifestations of tuberous sclerosis complex have not yet been established. A systematic review is necessary to establish the clinical value of rapamycin or rapalogs for various manifestations in tuberous sclerosis complex. ⋯ We found evidence that oral everolimus significantly increased the proportion of people who achieved a 50% reduction in the size of sub-ependymal giant cell astrocytoma and renal angiomyolipoma. Although we were unable to ascertain the relationship between the reported adverse events and the treatment, participants who received treatment had a similar risk of experiencing adverse events as compared to those who did not receive treatment. Nevertheless, the treatment itself significantly increased the risk of having dose reduction, interruption or withdrawal. This supports ongoing clinical applications of oral everolimus for renal angiomyolipoma and subependymal giant cell astrocytoma. Although oral everolimus showed beneficial effect on skin lesions, topical rapamycin only showed a non-significant tendency of improvement. Efficacy on skin lesions should be further established in future research. The beneficial effects of rapamycin or rapalogs on tuberous sclerosis complex should be further studied on other manifestations of the condition.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jul 2016
ReviewCombination of the non-invasive tests for the diagnosis of endometriosis.
About 10% of women of reproductive age suffer from endometriosis, a costly chronic disease causing pelvic pain and subfertility. Laparoscopy is the gold standard diagnostic test for endometriosis, but is expensive and carries surgical risks. Currently, there are no non-invasive tests available in clinical practice to accurately diagnose endometriosis. This review assessed the diagnostic accuracy of combinations of different non-invasive testing modalities for endometriosis and provided a summary of all the reviews in the non-invasive tests for endometriosis series. ⋯ None of the biomarkers evaluated in this review could be evaluated in a meaningful way and there was insufficient or poor-quality evidence. Laparoscopy remains the gold standard for the diagnosis of endometriosis and using any non-invasive tests should only be undertaken in a research setting.
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Cough in children is a commonly experienced symptom that is associated with increased health service utilisation and burden to parents. The presence of chronic (equal to or more than four weeks) cough in children may indicate a serious underlying condition such as inhaled foreign body or bronchiectasis. Codeine (and derivative)-based medications are sometimes used to treat cough due to their antitussive properties. However, there are inherent risks associated with the use of these medications such as respiratory drive suppression, anaesthetic-induced anaphylaxis, and addiction. Metabolic response and dosage variability place children at increased risk of experiencing such side effects. A systematic review evaluating the quality of the available literature would be useful to inform management practices. ⋯ This review has highlighted the absence of any randomised controlled trials evaluating codeine-based medications in the treatment of childhood chronic cough. Given the potential adverse events of respiratory suppression and opioid toxicity, national therapeutic regulatory authorities recommend the contraindication of access to codeine in children less than 12 years of age. We suggest that clinical practice adhere to clinical practice guidelines and thus refrain from using codeine or its derivatives to treat cough in children. Aetiological-based management practices continue to be advocated for children with chronic cough.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jul 2016
ReviewImmediate versus deferred delivery of the preterm baby with suspected fetal compromise for improving outcomes.
Immediate delivery of the preterm fetus with suspected compromise may decrease the risk of damage due to intrauterine hypoxia. However, it may also increase the risks of prematurity. ⋯ Currently there is insufficient evidence on the benefits and harms of immediate delivery compared with deferred delivery in cases of suspected fetal compromise at preterm gestations to make firm recommendations. There is a lack of trials addressing this question, and limitations of the one included trial means that caution must be used in interpreting and generalising the findings. More research is needed to guide clinical practice.Although the included trial is relatively large, it has insufficient power to detect differences in neonatal mortality. It did not report any maternal outcomes other than mode of delivery, or evaluate maternal satisfaction or economic outcomes. The applicability of the findings is limited by several factors: Women with a wide range of obstetric complications and gestational ages were included, and subgroup analysis is currently limited. Advances in Doppler assessment techniques may diagnose severe compromise more accurately and help make decisions about the timing of delivery. The potential benefits of deferring delivery for longer or shorter periods cannot be presumed.Where there is uncertainty whether or not to deliver a preterm fetus with suspected fetal compromise, there seems to be no benefit to immediate delivery. Deferring delivery until test results worsen or increasing gestation favours delivery may improve the outcomes for mother and baby.There is a need for high-quality randomised controlled trials comparing immediate and deferred delivery where there is suspected fetal compromise at preterm gestations to guide clinical practice. Future trials should report all important outcomes, and should be adequately powered to detect differences in maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality.