UNLABELLED Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WRMSDs) are widespread in many countries, with substantial costs and impact on quality of life. WRMSDs create a significant financial burden to both employer and employee that includes the cost of treatment and lost work time. There is a growing demand to implement early identification and effective prevention strategies, aimed at early interve...

OBJECTIVE To determine the risk of thromboembolic cardiovascular events associated with the use of etoricoxib, a COX-2 inhibitor. DESIGN Systematic review and meta-analysis of placebo-controlled randomised double-blind clinical trials of etoricoxib that were of at least 6 weeks duration and presented data on cardiovascular thromboembolic events. DATA SOURCES Six databases including Medline ...

BACKGROUND Alcohol is responsible for a large and growing proportion of the global burden of disease, as well as being the cause of social problems. Brief interventions are one component of comprehensive policy measures necessary to reduce these harms. Brief interventions increasingly take advantage of the Internet to reach large numbers of high risk groups such as students. The research litera...

INTRODUCTION Evidence suggests that pre-clerkship courses in clinical skills and clinical reasoning positively impact student performance on the clerkship. Given the increasing emphasis on reducing diagnostic reasoning errors, it is very important to develop this critical area of medical education. An integrated approach between clinical skills and clinical reasoning courses may better predict ...

As consumers, payers, and regulatory agencies require evidence regarding health care qualities the demand for process of care measures will grow. Although outcome measures of quality represent the desired end results of health care, validated process of care measures provide an important additional element to quality improvement efforts, as they illuminate exactly which provider actions could b...

Several tools have been introduced in clinical trials to quantify the severity and the response to a given therapeutic regimen of both psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Each method present specific advantages and limitations. Here we will discuss some of the most popular clinical outcome measures of both psoriasis (Psoriasis Severity Index, Physician Global Assessment, National Psoriasis Funda...

BACKGROUND Little is known about the link between hospitalists and performance on hospital-level quality indicators. METHODS From October 1, 2005, through September 31, 2006, we linked the Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA) data to the American Hospital Association data on the presence of hospitalists. Main outcome measures included composite measurements of hospital-level quality of care for 3 ...

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to establish gender and age reference values of static back extensor muscle endurance in healthy Nigerian adults. SUBJECTS AND METHODS This study involved 373 consecutive participants aged between 21 and 60 years who were grouped into four age strata. A modification of the Sørensen test of Static Muscular Endurance (BSME) was used to quantify static endurance. The m...

Cognitive remediation is a promising pathway for ameliorating cognitive impairment of patients with schizophrenia. Here, we investigate predictors of improvement in problem-solving ability for two different types of cognitive remediation - specific problem-solving training and training of basic cognition. For this purpose we conducted a re-analysis of a randomized controlled trial comparing the...

INTRODUCTION Hospital readmission rates are increasingly used for both quality improvement and cost control. However, the validity of readmission rates as a measure of quality of hospital care is not evident. We aimed to give an overview of the different methodological aspects in the definition and measurement of readmission rates that need to be considered when interpreting readmission rates a...