Hospital-Based Quality Improvement Interventions for Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome: A Systematic Review.

Background: Quality improvement initiatives have been developed to improve acute coronary syndrome care largely in high-income country settings. We sought to synthesize the effect size and quality of evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and nonrandomized studies for hospital-based acute coronary syndrome quality improvement interventions on clinical outcomes and process of care measures for their potential implementation in low- and middle-income country settings.

Methods And Results: We conducted a bibliometric search of databases and trial registers and a hand search in 2016 and performed an updated search in May 2018 and May 2019.

Hospital-based quality improvement interventions for patients with heart failure: a systematic review.

Objective: To estimate the direction and magnitude of effect and quality of evidence for hospital-based heart failure (HF) quality improvement interventions on process of care measures and clinical outcomes among patients with acute HF.

Review Methods: We performed a structured search to identify relevant randomised trials evaluating the effect of in-hospital quality improvement interventions for patients hospitalised with HF through February 2017. Studies were independently reviewed in duplicate for key characteristics, outcomes were summarised and a qualitative synthesis was performed due to substantial heterogeneity.

Presentation, Evaluation, Management, and Outcomes of Acute Stroke in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Aims: We performed a systematic review to evaluate stroke presentation, evaluation, management, and outcomes among studies conducted in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC).

Methods: We searched MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase (Elsevier), and the Global Health (EBSCOhost) databases between January 2005 and June 2017 for studies conducted in LMICs defined by the World Bank. We pooled prevalence estimates using an inverse-variance weighting method and stratified by the country income group.

Feeling validated yet? A scoping review of the use of consumer-targeted wearable and mobile technology to measure and improve sleep.

The objectives of this review were to evaluate the use of consumer-targeted wearable and mobile sleep monitoring technology, identify gaps in the literature and determine the potential for use in behavioral interventions. We undertook a scoping review of studies conducted in adult populations using consumer-targeted wearable technology or mobile devices designed to measure and/or improve sleep. After screening for inclusion/exclusion criteria, data were extracted from the articles by two co-authors.

Natural Language Processing for EHR-Based Pharmacovigilance: A Structured Review.

The goal of pharmacovigilance is to detect, monitor, characterize and prevent adverse drug events (ADEs) with pharmaceutical products. This article is a comprehensive structured review of recent advances in applying natural language processing (NLP) to electronic health record (EHR) narratives for pharmacovigilance. We review methods of varying complexity and problem focus, summarize the current state-of-the-art in methodology advancement, discuss limitations and point out several promising future directions.

Radiotherapy for cranial and brain metastases from prostate cancer: a systematic review.

Intracranial metastasis from prostate cancer is rare. As treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer improves, the incidence of men with intracranial metastasis from prostate cancer is increasing. Radiation therapy for treatment of intracranial metastasis from prostate cancer is systematically reviewed.

Risk scoring for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease.

Background: The current paradigm for cardiovascular disease (CVD) emphasises absolute risk assessment to guide treatment decisions in primary prevention. Although the derivation and validation of multivariable risk assessment tools, or CVD risk scores, have attracted considerable attention, their effect on clinical outcomes is uncertain.

Objectives: To assess the effects of evaluating and providing CVD risk scores in adults without prevalent CVD on cardiovascular outcomes, risk factor levels, preventive medication prescribing, and health behaviours.

Concomitant atrial fibrillation surgery for people undergoing cardiac surgery.

Background: People with atrial fibrillation (AF) often undergo cardiac surgery for other underlying reasons and are frequently offered concomitant AF surgery to reduce the frequency of short- and long-term AF and improve short- and long-term outcomes.

Objectives: To assess the effects of concomitant AF surgery among people with AF who are undergoing cardiac surgery on short-term and long-term (12 months or greater) health-related outcomes, health-related quality of life, and costs.

Search Methods: Starting from the year when the first "maze" AF surgery was reported (1987), we searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) in the Cochrane Library (March 2016), MEDLINE Ovid (March 2016), Embase Ovid (March 2016), Web of Science (March 2016), the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE, April 2015), and Health Technology Assessment Database (HTA, March 2016).

Drugs for Primary Prevention of Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease: An Overview of Systematic Reviews.

Importance: The Million Hearts initiative emphasizes ABCS (aspirin for high-risk patients, blood pressure [BP] control, cholesterol level management, and smoking cessation). Evidence of the effects of drugs used to achieve ABCS has not been synthesized comprehensively in the prevention of primary atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD).

Objective: To compare the efficacy and safety of aspirin, BP-lowering therapy, statins, and tobacco cessation drugs for fatal and nonfatal ASCVD outcomes in primary ASCVD prevention.

Implantable defibrillators versus medical therapy for cardiac channelopathies.

Background: Sudden cardiac death is a significant cause of mortality in both the US and globally. However, 5% to 15% of people with sudden cardiac death have no structural abnormalities, and most of these events are attributed to underlying cardiac ion channelopathies. Rates of cardiac ion channelopathy diagnosis are increasing.

Meta-analysis of psychosocial interventions to reduce pain in patients with cancer.

Purpose: Pain is one of the most common, burdensome, and feared symptoms experienced by patients with cancer. American Pain Society standards for pain management in cancer recommend both pharmacologic and psychosocial approaches. To obtain a current, stable, and comprehensive estimate of the effect of psychosocial interventions on pain-an important clinical topic-we conducted a meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies among adult patients with cancer published between 1966 and 2010.