Articles: patients.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Enhancing communication between oncologists and patients with a computer-based training program: a randomized trial.
Quality cancer care requires addressing patients' emotions, which oncologists infrequently do. Multiday courses can teach oncologists skills to handle emotion; however, such workshops are long and costly. ⋯ National Cancer Institute.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Screening and brief interventions for hazardous and harmful alcohol use among patients with active tuberculosis attending primary care clinics in South Africa: a cluster randomized controlled trial protocol.
In 2008 the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that South Africa had the highest tuberculosis (TB) incidence in the world. This high incidence rate is linked to a number of factors, including HIV co-infection and alcohol use disorders. The diagnosis and treatment package for TB and HIV co-infection is relatively well established in South Africa. However, because alcohol use disorders may present more insidiously, making it difficult to diagnose, those patients with active TB and misusing alcohol are not easily cured from TB. With this in mind, the primary purpose of this cluster randomized controlled trial is to provide screening for alcohol misuse and to test the efficacy of brief interventions in reducing alcohol intake in those patients with active TB found to be misusing alcohol in primary health care clinics in three provinces in South Africa. ⋯ The trial will evaluate the impact of alcohol screening and brief interventions for patients with active TB in primary care settings in South Africa. The findings will impact public health and will enable the health ministry to formulate policy related to comprehensive treatment for TB and alcohol misuse, which will result in reduction in alcohol use and ultimately improve the TB cure rates.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Local anaesthetic wound infiltration after internal fixation of femoral neck fractures: a randomized, double-blind clinical trial in 33 patients.
Pain control may assist early mobilisation after internal fixation of femoral neck fractures. Systemic opioids have significant side effects in elderly patients. We present an evaluation of the effect of local anaesthetic infiltration in such cases , the objective being to decrease the need for postoperative opioids and to improve pain control for patients after surgery. 33 patients undergoing internal fixation with 2 parallel hook pins were randomized into 2 groups in a double blind study (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00529425). 33 patients received intraoperative infiltration followed by 6 postoperative injections through an intraarticular catheter in eight-hour intervals. 19 patients received ropivacaine and 14 received saline. ⋯ Apart from a reduction in nausea in the study group on the second postoperative day, there were no significant differences in the occurrence of side effects between the groups. On day 2 the placebo group had less pain than the study group. Local anaesthetic infiltration after fixation of femoral neck fractures does not reduce opioid consumption or pain'.
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Adherence to aftercare instructions following an emergency department visit may be essential for facilitating recovery and avoiding complications, but conditions for teaching and learning are less than ideal in the ED. The objective of this study was to identify and describe areas of patient confusion about ED discharge instructions. ⋯ This study demonstrated that patients commonly remain confused about aftercare information following treatment in an ED. Follow-up telephone calls may be useful for identifying and addressing ongoing learning needs.
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Zhonghua nei ke za zhi · Nov 2009
Randomized Controlled Trial[Adalimumab plus methotrexate for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: a multi-center randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study.].
To investigate the efficacy and safety of adalimumab plus methotrexate (MTX) for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). ⋯ Adalimumab plus MTX is better than single MTX in efficacy for the treatment of RA. Being generally safe and well tolerated, adalimumab plus MTX can significantly increase the response rate, continuously reduce the arthritic signs, symptoms and the inflammatory factors in patients, and also be helpful for reducing disabilities and improving the global quality of life for the patients.