Olivia Maynard reports on a recent Cochrane review that investigates talking therapies for reducing alcohol consumption in illicit drug users. The reviewers found no differences in the effectiveness of different psychotherapies (motivational interviewing, brief interventions, CBT) and insufficient evidence to draw any meaningful conclusions.
[read the full story...]
This systematic review of a 54 observations studies involving >10,000 patients suggested that overjet over 3-4mm double the risk of traumatic dental injuries (TDIs). With 22% of TDIs being attributable to increased overjet.
[read the full story...]
Helge Hasselmann reports on a new Cochrane systematic review of interventions for enhancing medication adherence, which finds insufficient evidence to draw any conclusions. The full health benefits of medicines will not be realised until better interventions and better studies are conducted in this area.
[read the full story...]
This new review of root canal retreatment indirectly compares the outcomes of two approaches, non-surgical retreatment and microsurgery. Only 4 of the studies were RCTs but these did not involve direct comparison of the two approaches. Pooled success rates suggest better outcomes for the microsurgical approach.
[read the full story...]
Lesley Dawson appraises and summarises a recent systematic review of the measurement properties of PROMs (patient reported outcome measures) used for patellofemoral pain syndrome.
[read the full story...]
Ioana Cristea reviews a recent Cochrane systematic review on non-pharmacological interventions for medically unexplained physical symptoms (MUPS). The review finds that psychotherapies for MUPS led to reduced symptom severity, but were associated with a higher drop-out rate than usual care.
[read the full story...]
While 53 studies were included in this review of implant overdentures only a narrative summary of the outcomes of chewing ability, bite force and patient satisfaction could be presented. While all the studies were prospective, information about the quality and risk of bias in the included studies is not reported.
[read the full story...]
Nikki Newhouse reports on a recent systematic review of online social networking and psychosis. Her blog explores the potential benefits and harms of online social networking for people with psychosis, and reflects on some of the challenges facing researchers working in the field.
[read the full story...]
31 RCTs were identified for this review of desensitising toothpastes for dentine hypersensitivity. A wide range of agents were tested and most were found to be effective although the number of trials available for each agent was relatively small range from 3-8 studies.
[read the full story...]
Are there any benefits from walking exercise in people with chronic musculoskeletal pain? We report on a recent systematic review that looks into the benefits and harms.
[read the full story...]
