Increased risks for random errors are common in outcomes graded as high certainty of evidence.

Objectives: The aim of article was to assess the risk for random errors in outcomes graded as high certainty of evidence (CoE).

Study Design And Setting: We randomly selected 100 Cochrane reviews with dichotomous outcomes rated as high CoE using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation. To detect increased risks for random errors, two investigators independently conducted trial sequential analysis using conventional thresholds for type I (α = 0.

Tuberculosis Knowledge, Awareness, and Stigma Among African-Americans in Three Southeastern Counties in the USA: a Qualitative Study of Community Perspectives.

To inform strategies to address the tuberculosis (TB) excess among US-born African-Americans, we sought to understand the TB experience in the most highly affected southeastern communities. We conducted semi-structured interviews and focus groups in three communities with a TB excess-urban (Georgia and Tennessee) and rural (North Carolina). Participants from five groups provided diverse perspectives-African-Americans: patients with TB disease or latent TB infection (LTBI), or at high risk of contracting TB; and local community leaders and TB program staff.

The predictive validity of quality of evidence grades for the stability of effect estimates was low: a meta-epidemiological study.

Objective: To determine the predictive validity of the U.S. Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC) approach to GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation).

Average effect estimates remain similar as evidence evolves from single trials to high-quality bodies of evidence: a meta-epidemiologic study.

Objectives: The objective of our study was to use a diverse sample of medical interventions to assess empirically whether first trials rendered substantially different treatment effect estimates than reliable, high-quality bodies of evidence.

Study Design And Setting: We used a meta-epidemiologic study design using 100 randomly selected bodies of evidence from Cochrane reports that had been graded as high quality of evidence. To determine the concordance of effect estimates between first and subsequent trials, we applied both quantitative and qualitative approaches.

Grades for quality of evidence were associated with distinct likelihoods that treatment effects will remain stable.

Objectives: We sought to determine whether producers or users of systematic reviews using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach or a close variation give the same meanings to terms intended to convey uncertainty about treatment effects when interpreting grades for the quality or strength of evidence.

Study Design And Setting: Following exploratory interviews with stakeholders and user testing, we conducted an international Web-based survey among producers and users of systematic reviews. For each quality grade (high, moderate, low, very low/insufficient), we asked participants to assign a minimum likelihood that treatment effects will not change substantially as new studies emerge.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for treatment-resistant depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and 2 or more prior antidepressant treatment failures (often referred to as treatment-resistant depression [TRD]). These patients are less likely to recover with medications alone and often consider nonpharmacologic treatments such as rTMS.

Data Sources: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, and the International Pharmaceutical Abstracts for studies comparing rTMS with a sham-controlled treatment in TRD patients ages 18 years or older.

Behavioral counseling after screening for alcohol misuse in primary care: a systematic review and meta-analysis for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.

Background: Alcohol misuse, which includes the full spectrum from risky drinking to alcohol dependence, is a leading cause of preventable death in the United States.

Purpose: To evaluate the benefits and harms of behavioral counseling interventions for adolescents and adults who misuse alcohol.

Data Sources: MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, CINAHL, PsycINFO, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, and reference lists of published literature (January 1985 through January 2012, limited to English-language articles).

Translating evidence-based interventions into practice: the design and development of the Merck Childhood Asthma Network, Inc. (MCAN).

Pediatric asthma is a multifactorial disease, requiring complex, interrelated interventions addressing children, families, schools, and communities. The Merck Childhood Asthma Network, Inc. (MCAN) is a nonprofit organization that provides support to translate evidence-based interventions from research to practice.