BMJ open
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Intensive care-acquired weakness is a common problem, leads to significant impairment in physical functioning and muscle strength, and is prevalent in individuals with sepsis. Early rehabilitation has been shown to be safe and feasible; however, commencement is often delayed due to a patient's inability to co-operate. An intervention that begins early in an intensive care unit (ICU) admission without the need for patient volition may be beneficial in attenuating muscle wasting. The eRiCC (early rehabilitation in critical care) trial will investigate the effectiveness of functional electrical stimulation-assisted cycling and cycling alone, compared to standard care, in individuals with sepsis. ⋯ Ethics approval has been obtained from the relevant institution, and results will be published to inform clinical practice in the care of patients with sepsis to optimise rehabilitation and physical function outcomes.
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To examine the effects of stamped reply envelope and the timing of newsletter distribution. ⋯ The style of return envelope affected response rates of mail survey. The results of this study suggest that practices of provision of the additional information, should be handled individually in advance, as a separate event from sending follow-up questionnaire or reminder letters.
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Quality assessment of included studies is an important component of systematic reviews. ⋯ Inter-rater reliability was generally poor to fair and test-retest reliability was fair to excellent. A pilot rating phase following rater training may be one way to improve agreement.
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Introduction Breast cancer represents about one-third of all cancer diagnoses and accounts for about 15% of cancer deaths in women. Many of these patients experience depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances and cognitive dysfunction. This may adversely affect quality of life and also contribute to morbidity and mortality. ⋯ The secondary outcomes are anxiety measured by a Visual Analogue Scale, total sleep time, sleep efficiency, sleep latency and periods awake measured by actigraphy and changes in cognitive function measured by a neuropsychological test battery. Tertiary outcomes are fatigue, pain, well-being and sleep quality/quantity measured by Visual Analogue Scale and sleep diary and sleepiness measured by the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale. The PER3 genotype is also to be determined in blood samples.
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The aim of this study was to evaluate by meta-analysis the current level of evidence in order to establish the impact of a platelet transfusion on survival in patients on pre-injury antiplatelet agents who sustain an intracranial haemorrhage (either spontaneous or traumatic). ⋯ The results of this meta-analysis has shown, based upon six small studies, that there was no clear benefit in terms of survival in the administration of a platelet transfusion to patients with antiplatelet-associated ICH. Further work is required in order to establish any potential benefit in the administration of a platelet transfusion in patients with spontaneous or traumatic intracranial haemorrhage who were on pre-injury antiplatelet agents.