Background. Transportation settings such as bus stops and train station platforms are increasingly the target for new smokefree legislation. Relevant issues include secondhand smoke exposure, nuisance, litter, fire risks and the normalization of smoking. We therefore aimed to pilot study aspects of smoking behavior and butt disposal at bus stops. Methods. Systematic observation of smoking and b...

BACKGROUND Discharge communication is an important aspect of high-quality emergency care. This study addresses the gap in knowledge on how to describe discharge communication in a paediatric emergency department (ED). OBJECTIVE The objective of this feasibility study was to develop and test a coding scheme to characterize discharge communication between health-care providers (HCPs) and caregi...

Much medical research is observational. The reporting of observational studies is often of insufficient quality. Poor reporting hampers the assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of a study and the generalisability of its results. Taking into account empirical evidence and theoretical considerations, a group of methodologists, researchers, and editors developed the Strengthening the Reporti...

Routine vaccination programmes have led to substantial declines in the incidence of most of the target diseases. In these circumstances, vaccine effects beyond those on the target diseases may become evident. Several studies have suggested that certain vaccines may influence mortality in low income settings in ways that cannot be attributed to effects on target diseases. Trials of such 'non-spe...

BACKGROUND The United States Preventive Services Task Force found that effective interventions for extending breastfeeding duration are generally begun during the prenatal period, provide ongoing support for patients and combine information with face-to-face guidance. A 2001 literature review had similar findings but also found that employing a lactation consultant in the clinical setting may i...

BACKGROUND From a philosophy of science perspective, the literature has posited that different research approaches influence field studies. Studies addressing interdisciplinary research have focused on the challenges of organizing and running interdisciplinary teams, cultural differences between and within disciplines, and constraints in conducting interdisciplinary research. Studies exploring ...

he use of hand-held mobile phones/cellular phones while driving is a known risk factor for road traffic accidents.1 In Iran, the use of mobile phones has increased dramatically in recent years. However, little research has been done to determine the prevalence of mobile phone use while driving in Iran. We conducted an observational, cross-sectional study to document patterns of mobile phone use...

Randomized controlled trials are the "gold standard" for estimating the causal effects of treatments. However, it is often not feasible to conduct such a trial because of ethical concerns or budgetary constraints. We expand upon an approach to the analysis of observational data sets that mimics a sequence of randomized studies by implementing propensity score models within each trial to achieve...

BACKGROUND Recruiting an adequate number of participants into medical research studies is challenging for many researchers. Over the past 10 years, the use of social media websites has increased in the general population. Consequently, social media websites are a new, powerful method for recruiting participants into such studies. OBJECTIVE The objective was to answer the following questions: ...

BACKGROUND The aims of this analysis were to identify factors associated with early response (at 4 weeks) to olanzapine treatment and to assess whether early response is associated with better longer-term outcomes for patients with schizophrenia in the People's Republic of China. METHODS A post hoc analysis of a multi-country, 6-month, prospective, observational study of outpatients with schi...