TrialPanorama/TrialPanorama-benchmark huggingface dataset:
Background: Homeopathic medicines are used by patients with cancer, often alongside conventional treatment. Cancer treatments can cause considerable morbidity and one of the reasons patients use homeopathic medicines is to help with adverse effects.
Objectives: Evaluate effectiveness and safety of homeopathic medicines used to prevent or treat adverse effects of cancer treatments.
Selection criteria: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of homeopathic medicines in participants with a clinical or histological diagnosis of cancer where the intervention was aimed at preventing or treating symptoms associated with cancer treatments. All age groups, and all stages of disease were included.
Background: Parecoxib was the first COX-2 available for parenteral administration, and may, given intravenously or intramuscularly, offer advantages over oral medication when patients have nausea and vomiting or are unable to swallow, such as in the immediate postoperative period.
Objectives: Assess the efficacy of single dose intravenous or intramuscular parecoxib in acute postoperative pain, the requirement for rescue medication, and any associated adverse events.
Selection criteria: Randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials of parecoxib compared with placebo for relief of acute postoperative pain in adults.
Background: Diclofenac is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), available as a potassium salt (immediate-release) or sodium salt (delayed-release). This review updates an earlier review published in The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (Issue 2, 2004) on 'Single dose oral diclofenac for postoperative pain'.
Objectives: To assess single dose oral diclofenac for the treatment of acute postoperative pain.
Selection criteria: Randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials of single dose, oral diclofenac (sodium or potassium) for acute postoperative pain in adults.
Background: Dog bites can have dramatic consequences for children and adolescents. Educating young people on how to interact with dogs could contribute to reducing dog bite injuries.
Objectives: To determine the effectiveness of educational interventions that target children and adolescents in reducing dog bite injuries and their consequences.
Selection criteria: We included randomised controlled trials and controlled before-after studies that evaluated the effectiveness of educational interventions, in populations under 20 years old, for preventing dog bites.
Background: Psychosexual dysfunction (sexual difficulties not directly due to physical factors) is known to be a common complication of treatment for gynaecological cancer. It has a considerable impact on quality of life (QoL) for the increasing number of women who are survivors of gynaecological cancer.
Objectives: To determine the effectiveness of interventions for psychosexual dysfunction in women who have been treated for gynaecological malignancy (cancer of uterine cervix, uterine corpus, ovary, vulva).
Selection criteria: We selected all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of a medical or psychological intervention to prevent or treat psychosexual dysfunction in adult women previously treated for gynaecological cancer.
Background: Despite modern treatment approaches and a focus on community care, there remains a group of people who cannot easily be discharged from psychiatric hospital directly into the community. Twenty-four hour residential rehabilitation (a 'ward-in-a-house') is one model of care that has evolved in association with psychiatric hospital closure programmes.
Objectives: To determine the effects of 24 hour residential rehabilitation compared with standard treatment within a hospital setting.
Selection criteria: We included all randomised or quasi-randomised trials that compared 24 hour residential rehabilitation with standard care for people with severe mental illness.
Background: It is estimated that more than 20% of pregnant women worldwide consume alcohol. Current research suggests that alcohol intake of seven or more standard drinks (one standard drink = 13.6 grams of absolute alcohol) per week during pregnancy places the baby at risk of serious, lifelong developmental and cognitive disabilities. Psychological and educational interventions may help women to reduce their alcohol intake during pregnancy.
Objectives: To determine the effectiveness of psychological and educational interventions to reduce alcohol consumption during pregnancy in pregnant women or women planning pregnancy.
Selection criteria: Randomized controlled trials examining the effectiveness of psychological and educational interventions for reducing consumption of alcohol among pregnant women, or women planning for pregnancy.
Background: It is more common for women in the developed world, and those in low-income countries giving birth in health facilities, to labour in bed. There is no evidence that this is associated with any advantage for women or babies, although it may be more convenient for staff. Observational studies have suggested that if women lie on their backs during labour this may have adverse effects on uterine contractions and impede progress in labour.
Objectives: The purpose of the review is to assess the effects of encouraging women to assume different upright positions (including walking, sitting, standing and kneeling) versus recumbent positions (supine, semi-recumbent and lateral) for women in the first stage of labour on length of labour, type of delivery and other important outcomes for mothers and babies.
Selection criteria: Randomised and quasi-randomised trials comparing women randomised to upright versus recumbent positions in the first stage of labour.
Background: Combination chemotherapy regimens are frequently favoured over single agents for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer, in an attempt to achieve superior tumour response rates. It is not known however whether giving more intensive chemotherapy regimens results in better health outcomes, when both survival and toxicity are considered, and whether better response rates and rates of progression free survival actually translate to better overall survival.
Objectives: To compare single agent with combination chemotherapy for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer.
Selection criteria: Randomised trials of single agent chemotherapy compared to combination therapy in metastatic breast cancer.
Background: Male circumcision is defined as the surgical removal of all or part of the foreskin of the penis and may be practiced as part of a religious ritual, as a medical procedure, or as part of a traditional ritual performed as an initiation into manhood. Since the 1980s, over 30 observational studies have suggested a protective effect of male circumcision on HIV acquisition in heterosexual men. In 2002, three randomised controlled trials to assess the efficacy of male circumcision for preventing HIV acquisition in men commenced in Africa. This review evaluates the results of these trials, which analysed the effectiveness and safety of male circumcision for preventing acquisition of HIV in heterosexual men.
Objectives: To assess the evidence of an interventional effect of male circumcision for preventing acquisition of HIV-1 and HIV-2 by men through heterosexual intercourse
Selection criteria: Randomised controlled trials of male circumcision versus no circumcision in HIV-negative heterosexual men with HIV incidence as the primary outcome.
Background: Evidence for the effectiveness of nutritional supplements containing protein and energy, often prescribed for older people, is limited. Malnutrition is more common in this age group and deterioration of nutritional status can occur during illness. It is important to establish whether supplementing the diet is an effective way of improving outcomes for older people at risk from malnutrition.
Objectives: This review examined trials for improvement in nutritional status and clinical outcomes when extra protein and energy were provided, usually as commercial 'sip-feeds'.
Selection criteria: Randomised and quasi-randomised controlled trials of oral protein and energy supplementation in older people, with the exception of groups recovering from cancer treatment or in critical care.
Background: Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) are common complications following surgery and anaesthesia. Drugs to prevent PONV are only partially effective. An alternative approach is to stimulate the P6 acupoint on the wrist. This is an update of a Cochrane review first published in 2004.
Objectives: To determine the efficacy and safety of P6 acupoint stimulation in preventing PONV.
Selection criteria: All randomized trials of techniques that stimulated the P6 acupoint compared with sham treatment or drug therapy for the prevention of PONV. Interventions used in these trials included acupuncture, electro-acupuncture, transcutaneous nerve stimulation, laser stimulation, capsicum plaster, an acu-stimulation device, and acupressure in patients undergoing surgery. Primary outcomes were the risks of nausea and vomiting. Secondary outcomes were the need for rescue antiemetic therapy and adverse effects.
Background: Educational meetings are widely used for continuing medical education. Previous reviews found that interactive workshops resulted in moderately large improvements in professional practice, whereas didactic sessions did not.
Objectives: To assess the effects of educational meetings on professional practice and healthcare outcomes.
Selection criteria: Randomised controlled trials of educational meetings that reported an objective measure of professional practice or healthcare outcomes.
Background: Few studies examined treatments for amphetamine withdrawal, although it is a common problem among amphetamine users. Its symptoms, in particular intense craving, may be a critical factor leading to relapse to amphetamine use. In clinical practice, medications for cocaine withdrawal are commonly used to manage amphetamine withdrawal although the pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic properties of these two illicit substances are different.
Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of pharmacological alone or in combination with psychosocial treatment for amphetamine withdrawals on discontinuation rates, global state, withdrawal symptoms, craving, and other outcomes.
Selection criteria: All randomised controlled and clinical trials evaluating pharmacological and or psychosocial treatments (alone or combined) for people with amphetamine withdrawal symptoms.
Background: Medicines are the most common intervention in most health services. As with all treatments, those taking medicines need sufficient information: to enable them to take and use the medicines effectively, to understand the potential harms and benefits, and to allow them to make an informed decision about taking them. Written medicines information, such as a leaflet or provided via the Internet, is an intervention that may meet these purposes.
Objectives: To assess the effects of providing written information about individual medicines on relevant patient outcomes (knowledge, attitudes, behaviours and health outcomes) in relation to prescribed and over-the-counter medicines.
Selection criteria: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of medicine users, comparing written medicines information with no written medicines information; or trials that compared two or more styles of written medicines information. We only included trials that measured a knowledge, attitudinal or behavioural outcome. There were no language restrictions.
Background: Hydrotubation with oil-soluble contrast media for unexplained infertility and adhesiolysis for infertility due to peritubal adhesions are primary procedures that are of recognised benefit. It is less clear whether postoperative procedures such as hydrotubation or second-look laparoscopy with adhesiolysis are beneficial following pelvic reproductive surgery.
Objectives: To assess the value of postoperative hydrotubation and second-look laparoscopy with adhesiolysis following female pelvic reproductive surgery.
Selection criteria: All randomised controlled trials in which a postoperative procedure was compared with a control group following pelvic reproductive surgery were considered for inclusion in the review.
Background: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), a nonmalignant enlargement of the prostate, can lead to obstructive and irritative lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). The pharmacologic use of plants and herbs (phytotherapy) for the treatment of LUTS associated with BPH is common. The extract of the berry of the American saw palmetto, or dwarf palm plant, Serenoa repens (also known by its botanical name of Sabal serrulatum), is one of several phytotherapeutic agents available for the treatment of BPH.
Objectives: This systematic review aimed to assess the effects of Serenoa repens in the treatment of LUTS consistent with BPH.
Selection criteria: Trials were eligible if they (1) randomized men with symptomatic BPH to receive preparations of Serenoa repens (alone or in combination) for at least four weeks in comparison with placebo or other interventions, and (2) included clinical outcomes such as urologic symptom scales, symptoms, and urodynamic measurements. Eligibility was assessed by at least two independent observers.
Background: Asthma is the most common chronic childhood illness and is a leading cause for paediatric admission to hospital. Asthma management for children results in substantial costs. There is evidence to suggest that hospital admissions could be reduced with effective education for parents and children about asthma and its management.
Objectives: To conduct a systematic review of the literature and update the previous review as to whether asthma education leads to improved health outcomes in children who have attended the emergency room for asthma.
Selection criteria: We included randomised controlled trials of asthma education for children who had attended the emergency department for asthma, with or without hospitalisation, within the previous 12 months.
Background: Many different surgical techniques have been described for the internal fixation of extracapsular hip fractures.
Objectives: To compare different aspects of surgical technique used in operations for internal fixation of extracapsular hip fractures in adults.
Selection criteria: All randomised and quasi-randomised trials investigating operative techniques used in operations for the treatment of extracapsular hip fractures in adults.
Background: Prayer is amongst the oldest and most widespread interventions used with the intention of alleviating illness and promoting good health. Given the significance of this response to illness for a large proportion of the world's population, there has been considerable interest in recent years in measuring the efficacy of intercessory prayer for the alleviation of ill health in a scientifically rigorous fashion. The question of whether this may contribute towards proving or disproving the existence of God is a philosophical question lying outside the scope of this review of the effects of prayer. This revised version of the review has been prepared in response to feedback and to reflect new methods in the conduct and presentation of Cochrane reviews.
Objectives: To review the effects of intercessory prayer as an additional intervention for people with health problems already receiving routine health care.
Selection criteria: We included any randomised trial comparing personal, focused, committed and organised intercessory prayer with those interceding holding some belief that they are praying to God or a god versus any other intervention. This prayer could be offered on behalf of anyone with health problems.
Background: After a first ischaemic stroke, further vascular events due to thromboembolism are common and often fatal. Anticoagulants could potentially reduce the risk of such events, but any benefits could be offset by an increased risk of fatal or disabling haemorrhages.
Objectives: To assess the effect of prolonged anticoagulant therapy compared with placebo or open control following presumed non-cardioembolic ischaemic stroke or transient ischaemic attack.
Selection criteria: Randomised and quasi-randomised trials comparing at least one month of anticoagulant therapy with control in people with previous, presumed non-cardioembolic, ischaemic stroke or transient ischaemic attack.
Background: The tendency for authors to submit, and of journals to accept, manuscripts for publication based on the direction or strength of the study findings has been termed publication bias.
Objectives: To assess the extent to which publication of a cohort of clinical trials is influenced by the statistical significance, perceived importance, or direction of their results.
Selection criteria: Studies containing analyses of the association between publication and the statistical significance or direction of the results (trial findings), for a cohort of registered clinical trials.
Background: Acupuncture is often used for tension-type headache prophylaxis but its effectiveness is still controversial. This review (along with a companion review on 'Acupuncture for migraine prophylaxis') represents an updated version of a Cochrane review originally published in Issue 1, 2001, of The Cochrane Library.
Objectives: To investigate whether acupuncture is a) more effective than no prophylactic treatment/routine care only; b) more effective than 'sham' (placebo) acupuncture; and c) as effective as other interventions in reducing headache frequency in patients with episodic or chronic tension-type headache.
Selection criteria: We included randomized trials with a post-randomization observation period of at least 8 weeks that compared the clinical effects of an acupuncture intervention with a control (treatment of acute headaches only or routine care), a sham acupuncture intervention or another intervention in patients with episodic or chronic tension-type headache.
Background: Multiple sclerosis is a neurological disease that frequently affects adults of working age, resulting in a range of physical, cognitive and psychosocial deficits that impact on workforce participation. Although, the literature supports vocational rehabilitation (VR) approaches in persons with multiple sclerosis (pwMS), the evidence for its effectiveness is yet to be established.
Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of VR programs compared to alternative programs or care as usual on return to work, workability and employment in pwMS; to evaluate the cost effectiveness of these programs.
Selection criteria: Randomized and controlled clinical trials, including before - after controlled trials, that compare VR rehabilitation with alternative intervention such as standard or a lesser form of intervention or waitlist controls.
Background: Alzheimer's dementia (AD) is the most common form of dementia in people with Down Syndrome [DS]. Acetylcholine is a chemical found in the brain that has an important role in memory, attention, reason and language. Donepezil a reversible inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase, which is thought to maintain levels of acetylcholine, and is reported to have some benefits for people with AD in the general population. It is important to note that people with DS tend to present with AD at a much younger age than the normal population as well as having subtle differences in physiology (e.g. metabolism and heart rate) and may therefore have different requirements from the general population.
Objectives: To determine the effectiveness and safety of donepezil for people with DS who develop AD.
Selection criteria: Randomised controlled trials of participants with DS and AD in which treatment with donepezil was administered compared with a placebo group.
Background: Formoterol has a fast onset of action and can therefore be used to relieve symptoms of asthma. A combination inhaler can deliver formoterol with different doses of inhaled corticosteroid; when used as a reliever both drugs will be delivered more frequently when asthma symptoms increase. This has the potential to treat both bronchoconstriction and inflammation in the early stages of exacerbations.
Objectives: To assess the efficacy and safety of combined inhalers containing both formoterol and an inhaled corticosteroid when used for reliever therapy in adults and children with chronic asthma.
Selection criteria: Randomised trials in adults and children with chronic asthma, where a combination inhaler containing formoterol and inhaled corticosteroid is compared with fast-acting beta2-agonist alone for the relief of asthma symptoms. This should be the only planned difference between the trial arms.
Background: Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is increasingly recognised as occurring in people with intellectual disability (ID), although treatment of ADHD in this population has not been tested widely. Amfetamine has been used to treat ADHD in people with and without ID, although the evidence for its efficacy in people with ID is unclear.
Objectives: To examine the effectiveness of amfetamine for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in people with intellectual disabilities.
Selection criteria: All randomised controlled studies, both published and unpublished, in any language, in which children or adults with ADHD and ID were treated with amfetamine.
Background: Congenital hypothyroidism (CHT) affects approximately one in 3000 to 4000 infants. CHT is one of the most common preventable causes of learning difficulties. Optimal management of CHT requires early diagnosis and prompt treatment to avoid abnormal neurodevelopmental outcome. One of the main issues in the management of CHT relates to the initial dose of levothyroxine to be used in order to achieve optimal results in terms of intellectual development. Currently, it remains unclear whether high dose thyroid hormone replacement is more effective than low dose in the treatment of CHT. Further research is required to determine an appropriate dose that improves mental and psychomotor developmental outcomes.
Objectives: To determine the effects of high versus low dose of initial thyroid hormone replacement for congenital hypothyroidism.
Selection criteria: Randomised controlled clinical trials investigating the effects of high versus low dose of initial thyroid hormone replacement for congenital hypothyroidism were included.
Background: Fatigue is a common symptom in cancer patients receiving active treatment. There are a limited number of reviews evaluating interventions for fatigue during active treatment, and they are restricted to patients with advanced cancer, or to patients during radiotherapy. To date there is no systematic review on psychosocial interventions for fatigue during cancer treatment.
Objectives: To evaluate if psychosocial interventions are effective in reducing fatigue in cancer patients receiving active treatment for cancer, and which types of psychosocial interventions are the most effective.
Selection criteria: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) were included which evaluated psychosocial interventions in adult cancer patients during treatment, with fatigue as an outcome measure.
Background: Blood loss during elective liver resection is one of the main factors affecting the surgical outcome. Different parenchymal transection techniques have been suggested to decrease blood loss.
Objectives: To assess the benefits and risks of the different techniques of parenchymal transection during liver resections.
Selection criteria: We considered for inclusion all randomised clinical trials comparing different methods of parenchymal dissection irrespective of the method of vascular occlusion or any other measures used for lowering blood loss.