Tag Archives: Evidence based medicine

New edition of the Cochrane Library: Issue 1, 2012

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Issue 1, 2012 of the Cochrane Library is out and the Cochrane Oral Health Group would like to highlight two new updated searches for existing systematics reviews this month.

Interventions for replacing missing teeth: treatment of peri-implantitis

Marco Esposito, Maria Gabriella Grusovin, Helen V Worthington

This review looks at the most effective treatments for peri-implantitis, a condition which can cause dental implants to be lost.  Nine studies were included in the review, which evaluated eight different treatments. The review looks at deep manual cleaning of diseased implants in addition to locally applied antibiotics, and also the placement of bone substitute with a resorbable barrier. Follow the link to read  the conclusions.

Orthodontic treatment for deep bite and retroclined upper front teeth in children

Declan T Millett, Susan Cunningham, Kevin D O’Brien, Philip E Benson, Alison Williams, Cesar M de Oliveira

This review found no evidence to recommend or discourage any type of orthodontic treatment to correct deep bite in children. Clinical trials are needed in this area to determine which of the two main treatment options used by orthodontists is the most effective.

Other highlights of the Cochrane Library, Issue 1, 2012 include an editorial on Neuraminidase inhibitors for influenza: methods change, principles don’t. Find other highlights at Wiley Blackwell.

Did You Know?
3909 reviews now contain at least 1 translated abstract (605 Spanish, 3541 Traditional Chinese,19 French), and 242 have two translations.

 

Training for January / February 2012

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The following training courses are available, follow the links for more information:

Developing a Systematic Review
18-20 January, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

A two and a half day workshop to guide participants through the steps of developing a systematic review, including hands on practice at using the Review Manager software.

Participative Research and Policy
18 January–2 May (Online), EPPI Centre, Institute of Education, University of London

An online 15 week course, designed to enable you to involve policy-makers, practitioners and service users in doing and using research. Participants will critically engage with the latest theories and debates about the relevance and application of research findings for policy practice and personal decisions.

Mentored Training: Systematic Reviews in Health Care
7 February–31 July, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

A six month mentored training course on systematic reviews, intended for clinicians, researchers, healthcare professionals, graduate students, decision makers, and those wishing to undertake a systematic review.

Systematic Reviews Course Part II: Conducting a Cochrane Systematic Review
8-9 February, Leuven, Belgium (Belgian Branch of the Dutch Cochrane Centre)

A two-day course on practical aspects related to the conduct of Cochrane systematic reviews. Topics include: doing the searches, assessing risk of bias, data analysis and interpretation. Includes hands on training with the Review Manager software.

New titles for the Cochrane Oral Health Group – December 2011

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The Cochrane Oral Health Group met for their December Editorial Meeting and agreed to register the following two titles:

Systemic antibiotics for apical periodontitis and localised apical abscess
This review is being undertaken by a team based in Cardiff, Wales. The objective is to provide reliable evidence regarding the effects of prescribing systemic antibiotics for acute apical periodontitis and localised apical abscess in adults.

Hypnosis for alleviation of anxiety in adults undergoing dental treatment
The team leading this review are based at the Universities of Manchester and Leeds in the UK. The review will look at the effectiveness of hypnosis (with or without conscious sedation or general anaesthesia) in reducing dental anxiety.

The Oral Health Group looks forward to publishing both protocols in the near future.

New publications by the Cochrane Oral Health Group in Issue 12 of the Cochrane Library for 2011

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Issue 12 of the Cochrane Library for 2011 has been published – the final edition of the year. It was a bumper month for the Cochrane Oral Health Group. We published three brand new reviews:

Flossing for the management of periodontal diseases and dental caries in adults by Dario Sambunjak, Jason W. Nickerson, Tina Poklepovic, Trevor M Johnson, Pauline Imai, Peter Tugwell, Helen V Worthington

The review included 12 trials with a total of 1083 participants. It found that overall there is weak, unreliable evidence to suggest that flossing plus toothbrushing is associated with a small reduction in plaque after 1 or 3 months. However, the trials were generally of poor quality and conclusions are therefore unreliable.

Fluoride supplements (tablets, drops, lozenges or chewing gums) for preventing dental caries in children by Stéphanie Tubert-Jeannin, Candy Auclair, Emmanuel Amsallem, Paul Tramini, Laurent Gerbaud,
Christiane Ruffieux, Andreas G Schulte, Martin J Koch, Myriam Rège-Walther, Amid Ismail

11 studies were included in this review, involving 7,196 children. The review found that no conclusion could be reached about the effectiveness of  supplemental fluoride treatments in preventing tooth decay in young children with deciduous teeth.

Interventions for the management of dry mouth: topical therapies by Susan Furness, Helen V Worthington, Gemma Bryan, Sarah Birchenough, Roddy McMillan

36 trials were included, with 1597 participants. The review found that there is no strong evidence that any one topical therapy is effective for relieving the symptoms of dry mouth. It did find some differences between treatments: for example, oxygenated glycerol triester spray used as a saliva substitute was more effective than a water based electrolyte spray. Chewing gum and mouthcare systems are also evaluated in this review.

Other highlights of the Cochrane Library, Issue 12 for 2011:

This is the last issue of the Cochrane Library for 2011! The next publication date is 18 January 2012. Merry Christmas and a happy new year to all our authors, referees and contributors. Let’s make 2012 a successful year for the Oral Health Group.

 

 

 


Cochrane and related training for November and December

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The following training events are available for November/December:
25 November 2011, UK Cochrane Centre, Oxford
This one-day workshop is aimed at Cochrane Review Authors based in the UK but from any CRG who are undertaking reviews of complex interventions using experimental treatments and quasi experimental designs including cluster randomised, controlled before and after studies and interrupted time series.
28-29 November 2011, Danube University, Krems, Austria
This workshop aims to provide sound theoretical and methodological background that is necessary for the critical evaluation of studies, with an opportunity to gain practical experience. The workshop will be held in German and English. It is geared towards people who want to gain the ability to read published medical studies and be able to assess their validity and credibility (e.g. decision-makers in health care, readers of medical literature, and others).
29 November 2011 (10am-4:30pm), Penang Medical College, PenangThis one day workshop is suitable for people working in health care. It is an opportunity to answer all your questions about systematic reviews and meta-analysis and how to interpret Cochrane Systematic Reviews and use them to make health care decisions. 

Cochrane systematic review protocol development workshop – Penang, Malaysia
30 November – 1 December 2011 (8:30am to 5:00pm), Penang Medical College, Penang

Want to author a systematic review? Or would you like to find out what it involves? These two days will equip you with the basics on how to do this type of research. It is best suited for those who wish to do a Cochrane review. There will be a mixture of interactive sessions and small group activities. You will also be assisted in registering a title should you wish to go on and do a Cochrane systematic review.

1-2 December 2011, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead

This two-day workshop is designed for new authors starting a Cochrane systematic review. A mixture of presentations and hands-on sessions will give you an overview of all the methods required to write your protocol and get started on the review.

2 December 2011, Penang Medical College, Penang

Gradepro or Gradeprofiler is software used for grading evidence. It was designed for use in Clinical Practice Guidelines but is now used in Cochrane Reviews to grade evidence and produce Summary of Findings tables. This is a relatively new feature of Cochrane Reviews. You will be guided hands on through the process of creating a summary of findings table. This workshop is free for Cochrane authors with a protocol or review published on the Cochrane library. You can choose to attend only this workshop if you have had previous training.

6 December 2011,  University of York, York, UK

Literature searches are the foundation for high quality health technology assessment (HTA), systematic reviews, guideline development and other evidence syntheses. Developing search strategies to retrieve research evidence from databases requires knowledge of database features and skills in turning the concepts embodied in a research question into a search strategy. Search strategies have to take account of often competing requirements and the trade-offs which have informed their development may not always be easy to appreciate. Commissioning and reviewing searches (often as the foundation for later projects) can be enhanced by an appreciation of how to structure searches and an understanding of the basics of search strategy development. This new training course provides an introduction to search strategy development for project managers, research commissioners and searchers new to evidence synthesis, who are seeking a better understanding of how searches are constructed and adapted to meet project needs.

7 December 2011, Online, 11am EST

The Canadian Cochrane Centre will be hosting this FREE webinar session at 1100 EST. Learn from Dr. Mariska Leeflang, Co-Convenor, Cochrane Screening and Diagnostic Tests Methods Group and Member, Cochrane Diagnostic Test Accuracy Working Group about what diagnostic test accuracy reviews are and what they can be used for.

14 December 2011, University of York, York, UK

Extensive literature searches are the foundation of high quality systematic reviews, health technology assessment (HTA) and guideline development. Developing search strategies to retrieve research evidence from databases and other resources requires a range of knowledge and skills. There are constant challenges to keeping up-to-date with new database features and approaches to achieving efficient searches. Search approaches may need to be adapted depending on the end-product which the search is informing and the resources available. Search approaches increasingly need to be explained to sponsors in terms of the extent to which they are fit-for-purpose. This new workshop will provide opportunities to learn new techniques, to discuss best approaches, to share insights and to assess variations in current best practice. The workshop will be facilitated by information specialists experienced in literature searching to inform systematic reviews and HTAs and in conducting research into the evidence base for information retrieval. Participants are encouraged to suggest topics / issues in advance for discussion during the workshop.

 

Online Training

We’re also taking this opportunity to remind authors and contributors that there are now a number of online training courses. Visit Cochrane Training for information!

New systematic review titles registered with the Cochrane Oral Health Group

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The Cochrane Oral Health Group‘s Editorial Meeting was held last week at the Editorial Base, and 3 new titles were registered with the Group.

Interventions for replacing missing teeth: alveolar bone preservation techniques for oral implant site development

Registered by Momen Atieh, Nabeel, Alsabeeha and Alan Payne, this new title is a collaboration between experts based in New Zealand. It will complement the Group’s existing reviews on implants and is one of a series on interventions for replacing missing teeth.

Infant formula use and dental fluorosis in fluoridated and non-fluoridated populations

Jacqueline Tavener is the lead author on this review, her co-authors are Helen Worthington, Helen Whelton. Edward Lo, Anne Maguire and May Wong. The Review will consider the risk of dental fluorosis associated with infants ingesting infant formula reconstituted with water containing optical levels of fluoride.

Topical interventions for recurrent aphthous stomatitis (mouth ulcers)

Paul Brocklehurst has registered this title, and will co-author the review with Martin Tickle, Anne-Marie Glenny, Michael Lewis, Michael Pemberton and Jennifer Taylor. This Review will complement the existing title “Systemic interventions for recurrent aphthous stomatitis”.

The Group looks forward to publishing the protocols for these titles soon!

Cochrane Library Issue 11, 2011 has been published!

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The 11th issue of the Cochrane Library for 2011 has been published and features one new review and one new protocol from the Cochrane Oral Health Group:

New Review:

Psychosocial interventions for the management of chronic orofacial pain

by Vishal Aggarwal, Karina Lovell, Sarah Peters, Hanieh Javidi, Amy Joughin, Joanna Goldthorpe

This review examines the role of psychosocial factors in the onset of chronic orofacial pain, and considers the evidence for psychosocial treatments as opposed to the invasive treatments often used. 17 randomized controlled trials were included. Interventions examined include cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), biofeedback and posture regulation. The review found that the quality of the evidence in these trials was poor and that there was a need for more high quality research into this topic.

Follow the link to read more!

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD008456.pub2/abstract

New Protocol:

Laser therapy for dentinal hypersensitivity

by Yanhan Deng, Mina Mahdian, Aneesh Thomas George, Bowman Blake, Dingming Huang, Zongdao Shi

A review team from China, Iran, India and the US have collaborated on this protocol for a review which will examine the effectiveness of laser therapy for patients with hypersensitive teeth.

Read more at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD009434/abstract

Other highlights of the Cochrane Library, Issue 11, 2011:

 

Oral Health Group wins award from National Institute for Health Research

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We are delighted to announce that the Cochrane Oral Health Group has been awarded a £5,000 grant to produce the review “Interventions for recurrent aphthous stomatitis (mouth ulcers)”.  The review team is Paul Brocklehurst, Martin Tickle, Anne-Marie Glenny, Michael Lewis, Michael Pemberton and Jennifer Taylor. The grant comes from the National Institute for Health Research Cochrane Incentive Scheme. The review will be published by 31 October 2012.

Issue 10 of the Cochrane Library is out!

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Issue 10 of the Cochrane Library has been published and features two new protocols from the Cochrane Oral Health Group.

Interventions for the maintenance of the dentition in patients treated for periodontal disease

This is a protocol for a review which intends to look at the effect of supportive periodontal treatment (SPT) in the maintenance of the dentition. It will compare the effect of conventional dental care (provided by a general dental practitioner or specialist) or no SPT versus SPT (provided by the periodontist).

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD009376/abstract

Primary school-based behavioural interventions for preventing caries

This is a protocol for a review which will assess the clinical effectiveness of school-based interventions aimed at changing behaviour relating to tooth brushing habits and the frequency of consumption of cariogenic food and drink in children (4 to 12 year olds).

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD009378/abstract

Other highlights of the Cochrane Library for October:

Transtheoretical model for dietary and physical exercise modification in weight loss management for overweight and obese adults
Natalizumab for relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis
Exercise training for adults with chronic kidney disease
Calcium supplementation (other than for preventing or treating hypertension) for improving pregnancy and infant outcomes
Evening versus morning dosing regimen drug therapy for hypertension
Single dose oral analgesics for acute postoperative pain in adults (podcast available)
Music interventions for improving psychological and physical outcomes in cancer patients (podcast available) (Cochrane Journal Club material available)

Training available for October

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The following training opportunities are available in October:

17-18 October – Nursing Care Field Symposium: Madrid, Spain

This is a pre-Cochrane Colloquium event giving an opportunity to hear international speakers talk about the role of Cochrane reviews in nursing care. Registration includes lunch. Students get a 20% discount on the price of the symposium.

http://cncf.cochrane.org/home

18 October – Summary of Findings Table and Assessment of Quality of Evidence (GRADE) workshop for editorial teams: Madrid, Spain

A pre-Cochrane Colloquium event, free for those attending the colloquium. It is a full-day, hands-on, interactive workshop which will provide training and address issues specific to Editors, Managing Editors, Centre staff and other entity staff of the Cochrane Collaboration. 

http://www.cochrane.org/news/tags/authors/pre-colloquium-event-summary-findings-table-and-assessment-quality-evidence-grade-

21-22 October – 3rd Evidence Based Practice Institute for Physical Therapy Faculty: Los Angeles, CA, USA

A workshop for physical therapy academic and clinical faculty who already possess a basic working knowledge and application of evidence based physical therapy practic and those who want to explore issues related to teaching and implementing evidence-based practice into their academic and clinical curricula.

http://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?EventID=939112

Don’t forget that the 19th Cochrane Colloquium will take place from 19th-22nd October, 2011, in Madrid, Spain. Follow the event on Twitter using the hashtag #CochraneMadrid