Effectiveness of Peri-Discharge Complex Interventions for Reducing 30-Day Readmissions among COPD Patients: Overview of Systematic Reviews and Network Meta-Analysis.

Background: An overview of systematic reviews(SRs) and network meta-analysis(NMA) were conducted to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of peri-discharge complex interventions for reducing 30-day readmissions among chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) patients.

Methods: Five databases were searched for SRs of randomized controlled trials(RCTs). An additional search was conducted for updated RCTs from database inception until Jun 2020.

Impact of evidence-based healthcare education for Chinese medicine practitioners: A pre-post evaluation.

WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy 2014-23 recommended evidence-based healthcare (EBHC) education for traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) professionals, including Chinese medicine practitioners (CMPs). We evaluated the impact of a customized educational workshop on Hong Kong CMPs' knowledge, attitude and practice of EBHC. Two validated instruments, Evidence-based Practice Questionnaire (EPQ) and Evidence-based Practice Inventory (EPI), were used to assess the impact of EBHC education.

Acupuncture and related therapies for treating irritable bowel syndrome: overview of systematic reviews and network meta-analysis.

Background: An overview of systematic reviews (SRs) and a network meta-analysis (NMA) were conducted to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of acupuncture and related therapies used either alone, or as an add-on to other irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) treatments.

Methods: A total of eight international and Chinese databases were searched for SRs of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The methodological quality of SRs was appraised using the AMSTAR instrument.

Stochastic modelling of infectious diseases for heterogeneous populations.

Background: Infectious diseases such as SARS and H1N1 can significantly impact people's lives and cause severe social and economic damages. Recent outbreaks have stressed the urgency of effective research on the dynamics of infectious disease spread. However, it is difficult to predict when and where outbreaks may emerge and how infectious diseases spread because many factors affect their transmission, and some of them may be unknown.