TrialPanorama/TrialPanorama-benchmark huggingface dataset:
Background: The policy in a number of countries is to provide people with a terminal illness the choice of dying at home. This policy is supported by surveys indicating that the general public and patients with a terminal illness would prefer to receive end of life care at home.
Objectives: To determine if providing home-based end of life care reduces the likelihood of dying in hospital and what effect this has on patients' symptoms, quality of life, health service costs and care givers compared with inpatient hospital or hospice care.
Selection criteria: Randomised controlled trials, interrupted time series or controlled before and after studies evaluating the effectiveness of home-based end of life care with inpatient hospital or hospice care for people aged 18 years and older.
Background: An earlier Cochrane review of dietary advice identified insufficient evidence to assess effects of reduced salt intake on mortality or cardiovascular events.
Objectives: 1. To assess the long term effects of interventions aimed at reducing dietary salt on mortality and cardiovascular morbidity.2. To investigate whether blood pressure reduction is an explanatory factor in any effect of such dietary interventions on mortality and cardiovascular outcomes.
Selection criteria: Trials fulfilled the following criteria: (1) randomised with follow up of at least six-months, (2) intervention was reduced dietary salt (restricted salt dietary intervention or advice to reduce salt intake), (3) adults, (4) mortality or cardiovascular morbidity data was available. Two reviewers independently assessed whether studies met these criteria.
Background: Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer in women and has a lifetime incidence of one in nine in the UK. Curative treatment requires surgery, and may involve adjuvant and neo-adjuvant therapy. In many women, post-mastectomy breast reconstruction is essential to restore body image and improve quality of life. Timing of reconstruction may be immediately at the time of mastectomy or delayed until after surgery. Outcomes such as psychosocial morbidity, aesthetics and complications rates may differ between the two approaches.
Objectives: To assess the effects of immediate versus delayed reconstruction following surgery for breast cancer.
Selection criteria: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing immediate breast reconstruction versus delayed or no reconstruction in women in any age group and stage of breast cancer. We considered any recognised methods of reconstruction to one or both breasts undertaken at the same time as mastectomy or at any time following mastectomy.
Background: Chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is an acquired autoimmune disorder that is characterized predominantly by a low platelet count. Thrombopoietin (TPO) receptor agonists increase production of platelets by stimulating the TPO receptor in people with chronic ITP.
Objectives: To determine the efficacy and safety of TPO receptor agonists in chronic ITP patients.
Selection criteria: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing TPO receptor agonists alone, or in combination with other drugs, to placebo, no treatment, other drugs, splenectomy or another TPO receptor agonist in patients with chronic ITP.
Background: Survival rates have greatly improved as a result of more effective treatments for childhood cancer. Unfortunately the improved prognosis has resulted in the occurrence of late, treatment-related complications. Liver complications are common during and soon after treatment for childhood cancer. However, among long-term childhood cancer survivors the risk of hepatic late adverse effects is largely unknown. To make informed decisions about future cancer treatment and follow-up policies it is important to know the risk of, and associated risk factors for, hepatic late adverse effects.
Objectives: To evaluate the existing evidence on the association between antineoplastic treatment for childhood cancer and hepatic late adverse effects.
Selection criteria: All studies except case reports, case series and studies including less than 10 patients that examined the association between antineoplastic treatment for childhood cancer (aged 18 years or less at diagnosis) and hepatic late adverse effects (one year or more after the end of treatment).
Background: Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for Plasmodium falciparum malaria use antibodies to detect either HRP-2 antigen or pLDH antigen, and can improve access to diagnostics in developing countries.
Objectives: To assess the diagnostic accuracy of RDTs for detecting P. falciparum parasitaemia in persons living in endemic areas who present to ambulatory healthcare facilities with symptoms suggestive of malaria by type and brand.
Selection criteria: Studies comparing RDTs with a reference standard (microscopy or polymerase chain reaction) in blood samples from a random or consecutive series of patients attending ambulatory health facilities with symptoms suggestive of malaria in P. falciparum endemic areas.
Background: Abdominal pain-related functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) are among the most common medical problems in paediatric medicine. Frequently, physicians prescribe antidepressants as a second-line treatment for children and adolescents with FGIDs. To date, the evidence on the benefits and harms of antidepressants for the treatment of abdominal pain-related FGIDs has not been assessed systematically.
Objectives: The primary objectives were to conduct a systematic review to evaluate the efficacy and safety of antidepressants for the treatment of abdominal pain-related FGIDs in children and adolescents.
Selection criteria: For efficacy we included double-blind, randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of antidepressants for treatment of abdominal pain-related FGIDs in children and adolescents 18 years or younger. Open-label and uncontrolled experimental studies, as well as observational studies were eligible for the assessment of harms. The minimum study duration was 4 weeks. The minimum study size was 30 participants.
Background: Tinnitus is the perception of sound or noise in the absence of an external or internal acoustic stimulation. It is a common and potentially distressing symptom for which no adequate therapy exists.
Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of anticonvulsants in patients with chronic tinnitus.
Selection criteria: We selected randomised controlled trials in patients with chronic tinnitus comparing orally administered anticonvulsants with placebo. The primary outcome was improvement in tinnitus measured with validated questionnaires. Secondary outcomes were improvement in tinnitus measured with self-assessment scores, improvement in global well-being or accompanying symptoms, and adverse drug effects.
Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a disease of irreversible airways obstruction in which patients often suffer exacerbations. Sometimes these exacerbations need hospital care: telehealthcare has the potential to reduce admission to hospital when used to administer care to the pateint from within their own home.
Objectives: To review the effectiveness of telehealthcare for COPD compared with usual face-to-face care.
Selection criteria: We selected randomised controlled trials which assessed telehealthcare, defined as follows: healthcare at a distance, involving the communication of data from the patient to the health carer, usually a doctor or nurse, who then processes the information and responds with feedback regarding the management of the illness. The primary outcomes considered were: number of exacerbations, quality of life as recorded by the St George's Respiratory Questionnaire, hospitalisations, emergency department visits and deaths.
Background: Anxiety during pregnancy is a common problem. Anxiety and stress could have consequences on the course of the pregnancy and the later development of the child. Anxiety responds well to treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy and/or medication. Non-pharmacological interventions such as mind-body interventions, known to decrease anxiety in several clinical situations, might be offered for treating and preventing anxiety during pregnancy.
Objectives: To assess the benefits of mind-body interventions during pregnancy in preventing or treating women's anxiety and in influencing perinatal outcomes.
Selection criteria: Randomized controlled trials, involving pregnant women of any age at any time from conception to one month after birth, comparing mind-body interventions with a control group. Mind-body interventions include: autogenic training, biofeedback, hypnotherapy, imagery, meditation, prayer, auto-suggestion, tai-chi and yoga. Control group includes: standard care, other pharmacological or non-pharmacological interventions, other types of mind-body interventions or no treatment at all.
Background: Acute diarrhoea is one of the principal causes of morbidity and mortality among children in low-income countries.  The cornerstone of treatment is oral rehydration therapy and dietary management.  However, there is a lack of data and studies on both the timing and type of feeding that should be adopted during the course of the illness.
Objectives: To compare the efficacy and safety of early and late reintroduction of feeding in children with acute diarrhoea.
Selection criteria: Randomized controlled trials of early versus late refeeding among children less than 10 years old with acute diarrhoea.  Early refeeding was defined as within 12 hours of start of rehydration and late refeeding was defined as more than 12 hours after start of rehydration.
Background: Chronically elevated blood glucose levels are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Many diabetes patients will eventually require insulin treatment to maintain good glycaemic control. There are still uncertainties about the optimal insulin treatment regimens for type 2 diabetes, but the long-acting insulin analogues seem beneficial. Several reviews have compared either insulin detemir or insulin glargine to NPH insulin, but research directly comparing both insulin analogues is limited.
Objectives: To assess the effects of insulin detemir and insulin glargine compared with each other in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Selection criteria: All randomised controlled trials comparing insulin detemir with insulin glargine with a duration of 12 weeks or longer were included.
Background: Comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) is a multidimensional, interdisciplinary diagnostic process to determine the medical, psychological and functional capabilities of a frail elderly person in order to develop a co-ordinated and integrated plan for treatment and long-term follow up.
Objectives: We sought to evaluate the effectiveness of CGA in hospital for older adults admitted as an emergency.
Selection criteria: We searched for randomised controlled trials comparing CGA (whether by mobile teams or in designated wards) to usual care.
Background: Viral epidemics or pandemics of acute respiratory infections like influenza or severe acute respiratory syndrome pose a global threat. Antiviral drugs and vaccinations may be insufficient to prevent their spread.
Objectives: To review the effectiveness of physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses.
Selection criteria: In this update, two review authors independently applied the inclusion criteria to all identified and retrieved articles and extracted data. We scanned 3775 titles, excluded 3560 and retrieved full papers of 215 studies, to include 66 papers of 67 studies. We included physical interventions (screening at entry ports, isolation, quarantine, social distancing, barriers, personal protection, hand hygiene) to prevent respiratory virus transmission. We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs), cohorts, case-controls, before-after and time series studies.
Background: Burkitt lymphoma (BL) is an important cancer found mostly in children but uncertainty remains as to the most effective form of management. In endemic areas, late-stage presentation as a result of delayed access to treatment compounds the situation.
Objectives: To assess the evidence for chemotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy and immunotherapy in the treatment of children with endemic BL.
Selection criteria: We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of any duration. We included studies conducted in children with a confirmed diagnosis of BL. We did not restrict studies by geographical location or by language of publication. We considered any therapeutic intervention. The primary outcome was overall survival.
Background: In some low- and middle-income countries, separate vertical programmes deliver specific life-saving interventions but can fragment services. Strategies to integrate services aim to bring together inputs, organisation, and delivery of particular functions to increase efficiency and people's access. We examined the evidence on the effectiveness of integration strategies at the point of delivery (sometimes termed 'linkages'), including integrated delivery of tuberculosis (TB), HIV/AIDS and reproductive health programmes.
Objectives: To assess the effects of strategies to integrate primary health care services on healthcare delivery and health status in low- and middle-income countries.
Selection criteria: Randomised controlled trials, non-randomised controlled trials, controlled before and after studies, and interrupted time series analyses of integration strategies, including strengthening linkages, in primary health care services. Health services in high-income countries, private public partnerships, and hospital inpatient care were excluded as were programmes promoting the integrated management of childhood illnesses. The main outcomes were indicators of healthcare delivery, user views, and health status.
Background: Mechanical ventilation is commonly used in Neonatal Intensive Care Units to assist breathing in a variety of conditions. Mechanical ventilation is achieved through the placement of an endotracheal tube (ETT) which is left in-situ. The ETT is suctioned to prevent a build-up of secretions and blockage of the airway. Methods of suctioning the endotracheal tube vary according to institutional practice and the individual clinician performing the task. The depth of suctioning is one of these variables. The catheter may be passed to the tip of the ETT or beyond the tip into the trachea or bronchi to facilitate removal of secretions. However, trauma to the lower airways may result from the suction catheter being passed into the airway beyond the tip of the endotracheal tube.
Objectives: To compare the effectiveness and complications of deep (catheter passed beyond the tip of the ETT) versus shallow (catheter passed to length of ETT only) suctioning of the endotracheal tube in ventilated infants.
Selection criteria: Controlled trials using random or quasi-random allocation of neonates receiving ventilatory support via an endotracheal tube to either deep or shallow endotracheal suctioning.
Background: The burden of coronary heart disease (CHD) worldwide is one of great concern to patients and healthcare agencies alike. Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation aims to restore patients with heart disease to health.
Objectives: To determine the effectiveness of exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation (exercise training alone or in combination with psychosocial or educational interventions) on mortality, morbidity and health-related quality of life of patients with CHD.
Selection criteria: Men and women of all ages who have had myocardial infarction (MI), coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) or percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), or who have angina pectoris or coronary artery disease defined by angiography.
Background: Cigarette smoking is one of the leading causes of preventable death in the world. Decisions to smoke are often made within a broad social context and therefore community interventions using coordinated, multi-component programmes may be effective in influencing the smoking behaviour of young people.
Objectives: To determine the effectiveness of multi-component community based interventions in influencing smoking behaviour, which includes preventing the uptake of smoking in young people.
Selection criteria: Randomized and non randomized controlled trials that assessed the effectiveness of multi-component community interventions compared to no intervention or to single component or school-based programmes only. Reported outcomes had to include smoking behaviour in young people under the age of 25 years.
Background: Alcohol abuse and dependence represents a very serious health problem worldwide with major social, interpersonal and legal interpolations. Pharmacological treatments presently used are of uncertain effectiveness and there is even more doubt on the comparative effects and value for money.
Objectives: To summarize Cochrane reviews that assess the effectiveness and safety of pharmacological interventions in the treatment of alcohol withdrawal.
Background: Evidence on the benefits of admission tests other than cardiotocography in preventing adverse perinatal outcomes has not been established.
Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of admission tests other than cardiotocography in preventing adverse perinatal outcomes.
Selection criteria: Randomised (individual and cluster) controlled trials, comparing labour admission tests other than CTG for the prevention of adverse perinatal outcomes.
Background: Access to health information is critical to enable consumers to participate in decisions on health. Increasingly, such information is accessed via the internet, but a number of barriers prevent consumers making effective use of it. These barriers include inadequate skills to search, evaluate and use the information. It has not yet been demonstrated whether training consumers to use the internet for health information can result in positive health outcomes.
Objectives: To assess the effects of interventions for enhancing consumers' online health literacy (skills to search, evaluate and use online health information).
Selection criteria: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs), cluster RCTs and associated economic evaluations, quasi-RCTs, interrupted time series analyses, and controlled before and after (CBA) studies assessing interventions to enhance consumers' online health literacy, in any language.
Background: Recent studies have attempted to disaggregate therapeutic intervention packages by looking at the impact of structure and process characteristics of environment upon outcome. However, what is commonly referred to as the 'black box' of therapy has yet to be comprehensively unpacked. This failure to analyse the components of therapy means that it remains unclear how much therapy should be provided, who should provide it, and which patients should be targeted to ensure that functional outcomes are maximized. This review, therefore, seeks to assess the effectiveness of specific therapeutic interventions in the rehabilitation of the paretic upper limb post stroke.
Objectives: To identify if specific hands-on therapeutic interventions enhance motor activity and function of the upper limb post stroke.
Selection criteria: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving adults aged 18 years or over and including descriptions of specific hands-on interventions and techniques, rather than packages or approaches to treatment.
Background: Long-term treatment with antipsychotic medications in early episode schizophrenia spectrum disorders is common, but both short and long-term effects on the illness are unclear. There have been numerous suggestions that people with early episodes of schizophrenia appear to respond differently than those with multiple prior episodes. The number of episodes may moderate response to drug treatment.
Objectives: To assess the effects of antipsychotic medication treatment on people with early episode schizophrenia spectrum disorders.
Selection criteria: Studies with a majority of first and second episode schizophrenia spectrum disorders comparing initial antipsychotic medication treatment with placebo, milieu, or psychosocial treatment.
Background: Ovarian cancer is the sixth most common cancer and seventh cause of cancer death in women worldwide. Traditionally, many patients who have been treated for cancer undergo long-term follow up in secondary care. Recently however it has been suggested that the use of routine review may not be effective in improving survival, quality of life (QoL), and relieving anxiety. In addition, it may not be cost effective.
Objectives: To compare the potential benefits of different strategies of follow up in women with epithelial ovarian cancer following completion of primary treatment.
Selection criteria: All relevant randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that evaluated follow-up strategies for patients with epithelial ovarian cancer following completion of primary treatment.
Background: Proponents of early intervention have argued that outcomes might be improved if more therapeutic efforts were focused on the early stages of schizophrenia or on people with prodromal symptoms. Early intervention in schizophrenia has two elements that are distinct from standard care: early detection, and phase-specific treatment (phase-specific treatment is a psychological, social or physical treatment developed, or modified, specifically for use with people at an early stage of the illness).Early detection and phase-specific treatment may both be offered as supplements to standard care, or may be provided through a specialised early intervention team. Early intervention is now well established as a therapeutic approach in America, Europe and Australasia.
Objectives: To evaluate the effects of: (a) early detection; (b) phase-specific treatments; and (c) specialised early intervention teams in the treatment of people with prodromal symptoms or first-episode psychosis.
Selection criteria: We included all randomised controlled trials (RCTs) designed to prevent progression to psychosis in people showing prodromal symptoms, or to improve outcome for people with first-episode psychosis. Eligible interventions, alone and in combination, included: early detection, phase-specific treatments, and care from specialised early intervention teams. We accepted cluster-randomised trials but excluded non-randomised trials.
Background: Anthracyclines are among the most effective chemotherapeutic agents in the treatment of numerous malignancies. Unfortunately, their use is limited by a dose-dependent cardiotoxicity. In an effort to prevent this cardiotoxicity, different cardioprotective agents have been studied.
Objectives: The objective of this review was to assess the efficacy of different cardioprotective agents in preventing heart damage in cancer patients treated with anthracyclines.
Selection criteria: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in which any cardioprotective agent was compared to no additional therapy or placebo in cancer patients (children and adults) receiving anthracyclines.