Background: Chronic renal failure is among the major health challenges in the world. Many clinical trials have been conducted to assess the effects of complementary and alternative therapies on hemodialysis-related outcomes. However, a number of biases may affect the results of these studies.
Aims: This study aimed to assess biases in randomized clinical trials into the effects of complementary and alternative therapies on hemodialysis patients.
Settings And Design: A critical review on clinical trials into the effects of complementary and alternative therapies therapies on hemodialysis patients.
Materials And Methods: This study was conducted on 114 randomized clinical trials which had been published in 2012-2017 into the effects of complementary and alternative therapies on hemodialysis patients. The Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool was employed to assess biases in the included trials. The collected data were presented using the measures of descriptive statistics, namely absolute and relative frequencies.
Results: Among 114 included trials, 71.05% (81 trials) had used low bias methods for random sequence generation, while 60.52% (69 trials) had provided no clear information about allocation concealment. Moreover, respecting blinding, 57.89% of trials (66 trials) were low bias. Around 60.52% of trials (69 trials) had no attrition between randomization and final follow-up assessment and 84.21% (96 trials) had apparently reported all intended outcomes.
Conclusions: This study shows that 50% of randomized clinical trials into the effects of complementary and alternative therapies on hemodialysis patients have low bias. Yet, quality improvement is still needed to produce more conclusive evidence.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6691419 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_186_19 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Development of precision medicine approaches to advance clinical trials for autism and social behavior: A research imperative.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
January 2025
Clinic for Autism and Neurodevelopmental research, Brain and Mind Centre, Children's Hospital Westmead Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney 2050, Australia.
Hydroxychloroquine prevents resistance and potentiates the antitumor effect of SHP2 inhibition in NF1-associated malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
January 2025
Cancer Biology & Genetics Program, Sloan Kettering Institute, New York, NY 10065.
Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNSTs) are aggressive sarcomas and the primary cause of mortality in patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). These malignancies develop within preexisting benign lesions called plexiform neurofibromas (PNs). PNs are solely driven by biallelic loss eliciting RAS pathway activation, and they respond favorably to MEK inhibitor therapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFComparing Virtual Reality-Based and Traditional Physical Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) Stations for Clinical Competency Assessments: Randomized Controlled Trial.
J Med Internet Res
January 2025
Institute of Medical Teaching and Medical Education Research, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
Background: Objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) are a widely recognized and accepted method to assess clinical competencies but are often resource-intensive.
Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of a virtual reality (VR)-based station (VRS) compared with a traditional physical station (PHS) in an already established curricular OSCE.
Methods: Fifth-year medical students participated in an OSCE consisting of 10 stations.
Background: Young adults (15-24 years old) living with HIV may experience pressure both from HIV infection and social role change problems, resulting in a series of psychological problems such as depression and anxiety. Effective psychological intervention can improve their mental health and quality of life.
Objective: The study aims to explore the effectiveness of VR-based mental intervention on young adults living with HIV.
Development and validation of a high-throughput qPCR platform for the detection of soil-transmitted helminth infections.
PLoS Negl Trop Dis
January 2025
DeWorm3 Project, Seattle, Washington, United States of America.
Background: Historically, soil-transmitted helminth (STH) control and prevention strategies have relied on mass drug administration efforts targeting preschool and school-aged children. While these efforts have succeeded in reducing morbidity associated with STH infection, recent modeling efforts have suggested that expanding intervention to treatment of the entire community could achieve transmission interruption in some settings. Testing the feasibility of such an approach requires large-scale clinical trials, such as the DeWorm3 cluster randomized trial.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!