A validation study revealed differences in design and performance of search filters for qualitative research in PsycINFO and CINAHL.

Objectives: Search filters can support qualitative evidence of information retrieval. Various search filters are available for the bibliographic databases PsycINFO and CINAHL. To date, no comparative overview of validation results of search filters verified with an independent gold standard exists.

A validation study revealed differences in design and performance of MEDLINE search filters for qualitative research.

Objectives: Several search filters exist to identify qualitative research, but so far none of them has been validated with an independent set of relevant references irrespective of a medical topic. The objective of this study was to provide a comparative overview of validation results for various MEDLINE search filters.

Study Design And Setting: Search filters were tested for plausibility.

Aircraft Noise and the Risk of Stroke.

Background: There have been many individual studies on the question whether air- craft noise is a risk factor for stroke, but until now there has not been any summary of the current state of the evidence of adequately high methodological quality.

Methods: In a systematic review and meta-analysis (PROSPERO registry number CRD42013006004), we evaluated the relation between address-based aircraft noise exposure and the incidence of stroke. A systematic literature search was performed in the MEDLINE, EMBASE, and BIOSIS databases including publications up to August 2017.

Interventions to support return to work for people with coronary heart disease.

Background: People with coronary heart disease (CHD) often require prolonged absences from work to convalesce after acute disease events like myocardial infarctions (MI) or revascularisation procedures such as coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Reduced functional capacity and anxiety due to CHD may further delay or prevent return to work.

Objectives: To assess the effects of person- and work-directed interventions aimed at enhancing return to work in patients with coronary heart disease compared to usual care or no intervention.

Influence of the Kinaesthetics care conception during patient handling on the development of musculoskeletal complaints and diseases - A scoping review.

Abstract: The Kinaesthetics care conception is a nursing approach for patient handling which aims to prevent work-related complaints and diseases. The evidence about the influence of Kinaesthetics on musculoskeletal disorders among persons who handle patients is unclear to date. The purposes of the scoping review are to gain insight into the current state of research regarding the clinical effectiveness of Kinaesthetics (in terms of perceived exertion and musculoskeletal complaints) among persons who handle patients and to identify potential research gaps.

Does the use of small aids during patient handling activities lead to a decreased occurrence of musculoskeletal complaints and diseases? A systematic review.

Purpose: Patient handling increases the risk of musculoskeletal complaints and diseases among healthcare workers. Thus, the use of small aids for patient handling is recommended. Small aids are non-electrical and handy assistive devices that support caregivers during patient handling.

Association between work-related biomechanical risk factors and the occurrence of carpal tunnel syndrome: an overview of systematic reviews and a meta-analysis of current research.

Background: Occupational risks for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) have been examined in various occupations, and several systematic reviews (SRs) have been published on this topic. There has been no critical appraisal or synthesis of the evidence in the SRs. The aims of this study are (1) to synthesise the observational evidence and evaluate the methodological quality of SRs that assess the effect of biomechanical risk factors on the development of CTS in workers, (2) to provide an update of current primary research on this association, (3) to assess a potential dose-response relationship.

Systematic review: Progression of beryllium sensitization to chronic beryllium disease.

Background: The relevance of beryllium sensitization testing for occupational health practice and prevention is unclear.

Aims: To analyse the natural course of beryllium sensitization and clarify the prognosis following cessation of exposure among sensitized workers.

Methods: An electronic literature search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, Toxline and Cochrane databases supplemented by a manual search.

Physical workload and accelerated occurrence of lumbar spine diseases: risk and rate advancement periods in a German multicenter case-control study.

Objective: In a German multicenter case-control study of lumbar disc diseases, we calculated risk and rate advancement periods (RAP) for physical workload.

Methods: Patients aged 25-70 years with clinically and radiologically verified lumbar disc herniation (286 males, 278 females) or symptomatic lumbar disc narrowing (145 males, 206 females) were compared with population control subjects (453 males and 448 females). For this analysis, all manual handling of objects of about ≥5 kg and postures with trunk inclination of ≥20 °, as assessed by technical experts, were included in the calculation of cumulative lumbar load, determined by biomechanical model calculations.

uPA and PAI-1 in breast cancer: review of their clinical utility and current validation in the prospective NNBC-3 trial.

The plasminogen activator system is a complex system with multiple interactions and members participating in fibrinolysis, cell migration, angiogenesis, wound healing, embryogenesis, tumor cell dissemination, and metastasis in a variety of solid tumors. Increased levels of uPA and/or PAI-1 in primary tumor tissues of breast cancer patients correlate with tumor aggressiveness and poor clinical outcome. Patients with high tumor tissue antigen content of uPA and/or PAI-1 have a worse probability of disease-free and overall survival than patients with low levels of both of the biomarkers, serving as prognostic markers.

Critical appraisal of primary systemic endocrine therapy in receptor-positive postmenopausal breast cancer: an update.

Even in elderly patients, greater consideration is now being given to tumor volume reduction in locally advanced breast cancer, with increased subsequent breast-conserving surgery. Neoadjuvant endocrine therapy offers the possibility of testing therapeutic efficacy in vivo, which is of great importance for optimal adjuvant treatment. Resulting therapy modifications can be expected to increase disease-free as well as overall survival.

G-CSF in the prevention of febrile neutropenia in chemotherapy in breast cancer patients.

The most common chemotherapeutic agents in the treatment of breast cancer are anthracyclines and taxanes. The major dose-limiting toxicities associated with these agents are myelosuppression and associated febrile neutropenia (FN). FN can significantly impact the ability to deliver full-dose chemotherapy on schedule and as a result may increase the risk of disease recurrence and eventual disease-related mortality.

Physician-based active cost management of oncological therapies reducing pharmaceutical costs by 83.4% in two years without leaving standard of care.

We report about the 2-year results of a physician-based active cost management model for oncological therapies in a German OB/GYN university clinic. Over 2 years more than 4,000 oncological cycles were prospectively and individually analyzed regarding costs and reimbursement mode. Main aim was reducing costs without lowering cycle number and standard of care.

Expression of endothelin-A-receptor predicts unfavourable response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in locally advanced breast cancer.

Endothelin-1 (ET-1) and its receptors (ETAR and ETBR), referred to as the endothelin (ET) axis, are overexpressed in breast carcinomas and appear to influence tumour growth and progression. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of expression of the ET axis in breast carcinomas on response to cytotoxic chemotherapy. The study included 44 patients with locally advanced breast cancer participating in a prospective phase III study evaluating high-dose neoadjuvant chemotherapy of epirubicin and cyclophosphamide.

[Implementation of evidence-based medicine in clinical practice--external offers to search for and critically assess medical literature].

Unlabelled: Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is considered complicated and its realization in everyday medical practice causes difficulties. Therefore, in the course of the present study we made each physician of a university hospital the offer that we would undertake for them a systematic search for and critical assessment of the medical literature on a particular patient-related question they might have. One to two weeks after we had supplied our answers, the influence our answers had had on the medical decisions taken and the overall satisfaction with our offer were evaluated using standardized questionnaires.

[The death of moulages - wax figures in dermatology].

Wax has been used for illustration purposes back to antiquity. Since the renaissance period human anatomy and different diseases have often been depicted in wax. During the last century the art of moulage preparation evolved to three-dimensional, realistic representations of diseased parts of the human body.