Background: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a frequent and potentially life-threatening condition. Even though the disease is common, evidence on CAP management is often of variable quality. This may be reinforced by the lack of a systematic and homogeneous way of defining the disease in randomised controlled trials (RCTs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a prevalent and grave hospital-acquired infection that affects mechanically ventilated patients. Diverse diagnostic criteria can significantly affect VAP research by complicating the identification and management of the condition, which may also impact clinical management.
Objectives: We conducted this review to assess the diagnostic criteria and the definitions of the term "ventilator-associated" used in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of VAP management.
Objectives: To inform clinical practice guidelines, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of the management of pneumonia need to address the outcomes that are most important to patients and health professionals using consistent instruments, to enable results to be compared, contrasted, and combined as appropriate. This systematic review describes the outcomes reported in clinical trials of pneumonia management and the instruments used to measure these outcomes.
Study Design And Setting: Based on a prospective protocol, we searched MEDLINE/PubMed, Cochrane CENTRAL and clinical trial registries for ongoing or completed clinical trials evaluating pneumonia management in adults in any clinical setting.