Pilot studies play an important role in health research, but they can be misused, mistreated
and misrepresented. In this paper we focus on pilot studies that are used specifically to plan a …

Background The increased use of meta-analysis in systematic reviews of healthcare
interventions has highlighted several types of bias that can arise during the completion of a …

The selection of appropriate outcomes or domains is crucial when designing clinical trials in
order to compare directly the effects of different interventions in ways that minimize bias. If …

The selection of appropriate outcomes is crucial when designing clinical trials in order to
compare the effects of different interventions directly. For the findings to influence policy and …

Background Valproate is widely accepted as a drug of first choice for patients with generalised
onset seizures, and its broad spectrum of efficacy means it is recommended for patients …

Background Carbamazepine is widely accepted as a drug of first choice for patients with
partial onset seizures. Several newer drugs possess efficacy against these seizure types but …

Objective To examine the prevalence of outcome reporting bias—the selection for publication
of a subset of the original recorded outcome variables on the basis of the results—and its …

Background The increased use of meta-analysis in systematic reviews of healthcare
interventions has highlighted several types of bias that can arise during the completion of a …

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are a major cause of hospital admissions, but recent data on
the incidence and clinical characteristics of ADRs which occur following hospital admission, …

Background The level of anticoagulation in response to a fixed-dose regimen of warfarin is
difficult to predict during the initiation of therapy. We prospectively compared the effect of …