< Volume 10 - November 2009 >
Cochrane Journal Club – join the
discussion!
Finally,
no more searching for relevant and interesting papers to discuss at your
next journal club session! Cochrane Journal Club presents a recent Cochrane
review and all the tools you need to support your discussion – background information,
podcasts, discussion questions and slides containing key figures and
tables.
Visit www.cochranejournalclub.com
to join the debate.
Award winner - Lifetime Achievement Award
from OHRI
Dr.
Jeremy Grimshaw, will be presented with the Dr. J. David Grimes Research Career Achievement Awardfor
his outstanding contributions to the field of knowledge translation and for
his leadership at the Ottawa Health Research Institute and beyond. Dr.
Grimshaw is full Professor in the Department of Medicine and a Principal
Scientist in the Institute of Population Health at the University of Ottawa
as well as Director of the Canadian Cochrane Centre.
Courriels Cochrane! A
new and free e-learning initiative
Courriels
Cochrane
are very brief synopses of Cochrane reviews selected for their relevance to
primary care. More than 1,700 French-speaking doctors from Canada and
around the world now receive a Courriel
Cochrane, once per week. With the help of an optional short
questionnaire, you can add Courriels
Cochrane to your continuing professional development
activities. Enroll now - write to courriel.cochrane@gmail.com
Feel free
to forward our email address and help to promote this project!
Dental hygienists getting on board with
evidence
The
Canadian Cochrane Centre is partnering with the Canadian Dental Hygienists
Association this winter to launch a webinar series, Getting on Board with
Evidence-based Practice. Visit www.cdha.ca
for more details and to register for this introductory series to Cochrane
and systematic reviews.
The impact of contracting out on health outcomes and
use of health services in low and middle-income countries
The impact of conditional cash transfers on health
outcomes and use of health services in low and middle income countries
Contracting
private providers of healthcare services and giving cash incentives to
patients are two strategies that have been proposed to increase access to
healthcare in low income countries. Several trials from a total of ten
studies on cash incentives provided strong evidence for positive health
impacts. Evidence from three trials that looked at the effectiveness of
contracting out health services, on the other hand, was relatively weak.
Cochrane Library
Spotlight - Issue 4, 2009
Rheumatoid arthritis
Dynamic exercise programs (aerobic
capacity and/or muscle strength training) in patients with rheumatoid
arthritis
Based on
the evidence in this updated review, aerobic capacity training combined
with muscle strength training is recommended as routine practice in
patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Dynamic exercise appears to improve
pain and physical function in the short term with no harmful effects.
Podcast
Biologics for rheumatoid
arthritis: an overview of Cochrane reviews
This
overview assessed all previous Cochrane systematic reviews of biologic
disease-modifying drugs (DMARDs) for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
Although all DMARDs were very effective, there are no direct comparison
studies. Based upon indirect comparisons, anakinra seemed less efficacious
than etanercept, adalimumab and rituximab. Etanercept seemed to cause fewer
withdrawals due to adverse events than adalimumab, anakinra and infliximab.
Podcast
Abatacept for rheumatoid arthritis
Abatacept
is a member of a new class of drug that targets immune cells to treat
rheumatoid arthritis. It is effective against rheumatoid arthritis in
comparison to placebo treatment, but is expensive and should not be used
with other biologics.
Podcast
Senior’s health
Pharmacotherapy for hypertension
in the elderly
Hypertension
(high blood pressure) is common among elderly people and increases the risk
of heart attack and stroke. An assessment of trials of blood pressure
lowering therapy in people 60 years and over with hypertension showed that
treatment reduced death, strokes and heart attacks. The trials mostly
evaluated first-line thiazide diuretic therapy for an average of 4.5 years.
Podcast
Public health
Mobile phone-based interventions
for smoking cessation
Innovative
effective smoking cessation interventions are required to appeal to those
who are not using traditional means to quit smoking. This review found text
message cell phone programmes to be effective in the short-term (six
weeks), and a combined Internet-mobile phone programme to be effective for
up to 12 months. Results are less clear in the longer term.
Rapid viral diagnosis for acute
febrile respiratory illness in children in the emergency department
Children
brought to hospitals with cold and flu symptoms and fever are usually
submitted to a variety of diagnostic tests causing a significant burden on
emergency departments. Routine rapid viral diagnosis tests for respiratory
diseases could enable doctors to reach a quicker diagnosis and reduce
antibiotic use.
Alternative therapies
Chinese herbal medicines for
people with impaired glucose tolerance or impaired fasting blood glucose
Some
Chinese herbal medicines can help to prevent diabetes. Combining herbal
medicines with lifestyle changes is twice as effective as lifestyle changes
alone at normalizing patients’ blood sugar levels. However, the high degree
of bias in the 16 trials in this review prevents confident conclusions.
Rehabilitation
Physical fitness training for
stroke patients
Physical
fitness is low in stroke patients and it was thought that improving
physical fitness may help to reduce disability. However, due to the diverse
outcome measures from these trials, the effects of training on death,
dependence and disability after a stroke are unclear.
Podcast
Oral health
Interventions
for cleaning dentures in adults
Brushing
and soaking in chemical products are two of the most commonly used methods
of cleaning dentures. The six trials included in this review had a wide
range of different interventions and outcome variables making it unclear
which method is the most effective. Weak evidence shows that soaking
dentures in effervescent tablets or enzymatic solutions and brushing with
paste are more effective than the controls.
Podcast
Other
Antiviral treatment for Bell's
palsy (idiopathic facial paralysis)
Antiviral
drugs against herpes simplex virus are commonly used to treat Bell’s palsy;
a condition which causes paralysis on one side of the face. However, this
updated review of seven trials found that antivirals were no more effective
than placebo. Antivirals were also significantly less effective than
corticosteroids.
Podcast
Psychological treatments for
bulimia nervosa and binging
This
updated review of psychotherapies found that cognitive behavioural therapy
was better than other therapies or control treatment (waiting lists) at
reducing binge eating. Other psychotherapies were better than no treatment
in reducing binge eating.
8th Annual Canadian Cochrane Symposium,
Ottawa
Evidence
in uncertain times: Meeting the challenge
19-20 May 2009
Take note: Pre-conference workshops, student poster award, Cochrane review
of the year award
Abstract deadline: 12 February 2010
www.ccncsymposium.com
Free Cochrane Library online training
The
Cochrane Library – An introduction
Nov 5, 10, 17, 19, 23, 26
Register here
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