Communicating Uncertainty in Written Consumer Health Information to the Public: Parallel-Group, Web-Based Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Uncertainty is integral to evidence-informed decision making and is of particular importance for preference-sensitive decisions. Communicating uncertainty to patients and the public has long been identified as a goal in the informed and shared decision-making movement. Despite this, there is little quantitative research on how uncertainty in health information is perceived by readers.

Communicating Uncertainty From Limitations in Quality of Evidence to the Public in Written Health Information: Protocol for a Web-Based Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Uncertainty is integral to evidence-informed decision making and is of particular importance for preference-sensitive decisions. Communicating uncertainty to patients and the public has long been identified as a goal in the informed and shared decision-making movement. Despite this, there is little quantitative research on how uncertainty in health information is perceived by readers.

Quality ratings of reviews in overviews: a comparison of reviews with and without dual (co-)authorship.

Background: Previous research shows that many authors of Cochrane overviews were also involved in some of the included systematic reviews (SRs). This type of dual (co-)authorship (DCA) may be a conflict of interest and a potential source of bias. Our objectives were to (1) additionally investigate DCA in non-Cochrane overviews; (2) investigate whether there is an association between DCA and quality assessments of SRs in Cochrane and non-Cochrane overviews.

Words or numbers? Communicating risk of adverse effects in written consumer health information: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Various types of framing can influence risk perceptions, which may have an impact on treatment decisions and adherence. One way of framing is the use of verbal terms in communicating the probabilities of treatment effects. We systematically reviewed the comparative effects of words versus numbers in communicating the probability of adverse effects to consumers in written health information.

Choosing health technology assessment and systematic review topics: the development of priority-setting criteria for patients' and consumers' interests.

Background: The Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) was established in 2003 by the German parliament. Its legislative responsibilities are health technology assessment, mostly to support policy making and reimbursement decisions. It also has a mandate to serve patients' interests directly, by assessing and communicating evidence for the general public.

Long-term effects of weight-reducing diets in hypertensive patients.

Background: All major guidelines for antihypertensive therapy recommend weight loss. Thus dietary interventions that aim to reduce body weight might be a useful intervention to reduce blood pressure and adverse cardiovascular events associated with hypertension.

Objectives: Primary objectivesTo assess the long-term effects of weight-reducing diets in hypertensive patients on-   all cause mortality -   cardiovascular morbidity -   adverse events (including total serious adverse events, withdrawal due to adverse events and total non-serious adverse events)Secondary objectivesTo assess the long-term effects of weight-reducing diets in hypertensive patients on-   change from baseline in systolic blood pressure -   change from baseline in diastolic blood pressure -   body weight reduction

Search Strategy: Studies were obtained from computerised searches of Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL and from searches in reference lists and systematic reviews.

[Evaluation of an internal guideline for the diagnostics of deep vein thrombosis].

Background And Purpose: In line with the application of evidence-based medicine as part of the day-to-day clinical practice of a community hospital internal guidelines concerning relevant diagnostic or therapeutic problems were developed. The authors retrospectively compared all data of patients with the tentative diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), who underwent further diagnostics before and after implementation of an internally developed guideline for the diagnostics of DVT. The aim was to evaluate if the internal guideline was applied by the doctors in the daily routine and if the implementation led to a change and rationalization of the diagnostic process, in particular with regard to reducing invasive examinations.