Optimizing patient care when resources are limited is an ongoing global challenge. Meeting this challenge requires an unbiased tool for assessing the relative effectiveness of health care interventions. In an editorial co-published this week in Trials, editors from several medical journals set out guidelines for the conduct, reporting and publication of comparative effectiveness research. Comparative… Read more »
In a recent commentary published in BMC Medicine, researchers from the EQUATOR network (Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research) talk about improving the reporting of healthcare studies. Transparency and quality of reporting for biomedical research seriously affects the value and utility of literature. Not only that, but shortcomings in both of these are… Read more »
The selective reporting of trial results is a concern for those basing clinical or policy decisions on the results of published studies. In a review published last week in Trials, McGuaran and colleagues assess the prevalence of publication bias (non-publication of studies with negative or inconclusive results) and outcome reporting bias (non-reporting of specific outcomes… Read more »
Research by Valerie Hu and colleagues, recently published in Genome Medicine, suggests that microRNAs (miRNAs) have a role in the gene expression changes which can underlie autistic spectrum disorders. Autism spectrum disorders are neurodevelopmental in origin and often include behavioral and language abnormalities. In their article “Investigation of post-transcriptional gene regulatory networks associated with autism… Read more »
Taking an evidence-based approach comparable to that used in the development of the recently-updated CONSORT statement, an overlapping group of expert trialists recently finalized a new checklist of 33 essential items for trial protocols. Developed in response to increasing calls for transparency and thoroughness in published protocols, the Standard Protocol Items for Randomized Trials (SPIRIT)… Read more »
The latest issue of Critical Care features 10 free review articles co-published as part of a joint effort with the Springer Yearbook of Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine. The articles were selected by Editor-in-Chief Prof Jean-Louis Vincent, Belgium, for their relevance to health care professionals and researchers working in the area of intensive care medicine…. Read more »
Hailed as Breakthrough of the Year by Science back in 2008, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) have recently come under fire from some experts who question whether they are ever going to be suitable for transplanting to patients to treat disease. iPS cells, created using cell reprogramming techniques, are a source of stem cells without… Read more »
The amyloid hypothesis has led to a greater understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and has provided a foundation for the development of drugs to tackle the disease. Two large clinical trials investigating the clinical effects of two such novel compounds, bapineuzimab and tarenflurbil, on Alzheimer’s disease, have been recently published. Both drugs were designed to modulate… Read more »
In a new debate published in BMC Medicine, Peter Bachetti talks about the concept of statistical power in determining sample size, the undue weight that is given to power calculations in clinical research, and the way that power calculations can actually contribute to less transparent reporting. Randomised controlled trials are one of the highest forms… Read more »