Generalizability of randomized controlled trials in primary health care: Applying the PRECIS-2 tool on published protocols.

Rationale: Pragmatic design may facilitate the generalizability of effectiveness of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in primary health care (PHC).

Aims And Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate whether published protocols in PHC were designed pragmatically and to explore whether specific trial characteristics may be related to a pragmatic design.

Methods: Using the Pragmatic Explanatory Continuum Indicator Summary-2 (PRECIS-2), we assessed pragmatism for 123 published RCT protocols.

Chronic Pain and Its Association with Depressive Symptoms and Renal Function in Hypertensive Patients.

Chronic pain is a common concern and is considered to be one of the major problems in patients with chronic physical disorders. We studied the effect of pain in patients with hypertension with or without chronic kidney disease (CKD) and the association between pain and symptoms of depression. The study involved 158 hypertensive individuals (59.

A randomized multicenter trial on a lung ultrasound-guided treatment strategy in patients on chronic hemodialysis with high cardiovascular risk.

Lung congestion is a risk factor for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in patients on chronic hemodialysis, and its estimation by ultrasound may be useful to guide ultrafiltration and drug therapy in this population. In an international, multi-center randomized controlled trial (NCT02310061) we investigated whether a lung ultrasound-guided treatment strategy improved a composite end point (all-cause death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, decompensated heart failure) vs usual care in patients receiving chronic hemodialysis with high cardiovascular risk. Patient-Reported Outcomes (Depression and the Standard Form 36 Quality of Life Questionnaire, SF36) were assessed as secondary outcomes.

Treatment-resistant hypertension in the hemodialysis population: a 44-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring-based study.

Background: Uncontrolled hypertension notwithstanding the use of at least three drugs or hypertension controlled with at least four drugs, the widely accepted definition of treatment-resistant hypertension (TRH), is considered as a common problem in the hemodialysis population. However, to date there is no estimate of the prevalence of this condition in hemodialysis patients.

Method: We estimated the prevalence of TRH by 44-h ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM) in 506 hemodialysis patients in 10 renal units in Europe included in the registry of the European Renal and Cardiovascular Medicine (EURECAm,), a working group of the European Association, European Dialysis and Transplantation Association (ERA EDTA).