The Lancet Handbook of Essential Concepts in Clinical Research


Book Description

The needs of clinicians predominate throughout the text, but these needs overlap with those of researchers especially in chapters covering randomized controlled trials. For readers to assess trials accurately they need to understand relevant guidelines on the conduct of trials that are emerging from methodological research. In presenting these discussions to clinicians these chapters will help researchers who also do randomized trials and provide a methodological background that enhances the quality and quantity of their research productivity.




Essential Concepts in Clinical Research


Book Description

This practical guide speaks to two audiences: those who read and those who conduct research. Clinicians are medical detectives by training. For each patient, they assemble clinical clues to establish causes of signs and symptoms. The task involves both clinical acumen and knowledge of medical research. This book helps guide clinicians through this detective work, by enabling them to make sense of research and to review medical literature critically. It will also be invaluable to researchers who conduct clinical research, particularly randomized controlled trials. Building on previously published, peer-reviewed articles from The Lancet, this handbook is essential for busy clinicians and active researchers interested in research methods. - Written by leaders in the field of clinical research who have published extensively with authorship of hundreds of articles in medical journals. - The authorship includes one of the three authors of the CONSORT guidelines for the reporting of randomized controlled trials. - The book presents the essential concepts to a wide array of topics including randomized control trials, descriptive studies, cohort studies, case-control studies, bias, and screening tests. - The book utilises a readable and humorous prose style, lightening what can be a difficult area for clinical readers. - Derived from decades of teaching clinical research in seminar settings the book will empower clinicians to make sense of, and critically appraise, current medical research and will enable researchers to enrich the quality of their work. For this Second Edition, the authors have revised and updated the original 16 chapters and added six new chapters. For busy clinicians and active researchers interested in research methods, this book provides helpful tools to derive satisfaction - indeed, fun - from clinical science.




Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions


Book Description

Healthcare providers, consumers, researchers and policy makers are inundated with unmanageable amounts of information, including evidence from healthcare research. It has become impossible for all to have the time and resources to find, appraise and interpret this evidence and incorporate it into healthcare decisions. Cochrane Reviews respond to this challenge by identifying, appraising and synthesizing research-based evidence and presenting it in a standardized format, published in The Cochrane Library (www.thecochranelibrary.com). The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions contains methodological guidance for the preparation and maintenance of Cochrane intervention reviews. Written in a clear and accessible format, it is the essential manual for all those preparing, maintaining and reading Cochrane reviews. Many of the principles and methods described here are appropriate for systematic reviews applied to other types of research and to systematic reviews of interventions undertaken by others. It is hoped therefore that this book will be invaluable to all those who want to understand the role of systematic reviews, critically appraise published reviews or perform reviews themselves. This title is also available as a mobile App from MedHand Mobile Libraries. Buy it now from Google Play or the MedHand Store.




Successful Randomized Trials


Book Description

This handbook is a ready reference on the theory and operation of modern large, multicenter randomized clinical trials, which have come to be the basis of evidence-based medicine. Written in a concise, engaging style geared to physicians, the book explains the rationale and theoretical foundations for clinical trials, the components of modern clinical trials including their functions and interactions, and practical considerations in the design and implementation of these studies including an introduction to the economics and business aspects.




Research Methods for Postgraduates


Book Description

An indispensable reference for postgraduates, providing up to date guidance in all subject areas Methods for Postgraduates brings together guidance for postgraduate students on how to organise, plan and do research from an interdisciplinary perspective. In this new edition, the already wide-ranging coverage is enhanced by the addition of new chapters on social media, evaluating the research process, Kansei engineering and medical research reporting. The extensive updates also provide the latest guidance on issues relevant to postgraduates in all subject areas, from writing a proposal and securing research funds, to data analysis and the presentation of research, through to intellectual property protection and career opportunities. This thoroughly revised new edition provides: Clear and concise advice from distinguished international researchers on how to plan, organise and conduct research. New chapters explore social media in research, evaluate the research process, Kansei engineering and discuss the reporting of medical research. Check lists and diagrams throughout. Praise for the second edition: “... the most useful book any new postgraduate could ever buy.” (New Scientist) “The book certainly merits its acceptance as essential reading for postgraduates and will be valuable to anyone associated in any way with research or with presentation of technical or scientific information of any kind.”(Robotica) Like its predecessors, the third edition of Research Methods for Postgraduates is accessible and comprehensive, and is a must-read for any postgraduate student.







Medical Education in Sexual and Reproductive Health


Book Description

A unique and inspirational guide to the creation of an integrated medical education framework for family planning and reproductive health.




Uncertainty in Pharmacology


Book Description

This volume covers a wide range of topics concerning methodological, epistemological, and regulatory-ethical issues around pharmacology. The book focuses in particular on the diverse sources of uncertainty, the different kinds of uncertainty that there are, and the diverse ways in which these uncertainties are (or could be) addressed. Compared with the more basic sciences, such as chemistry or biology, pharmacology works across diverse observable levels of reality: although the first step in the causal chain leading to the therapeutic outcome takes place at the biochemical level, the end-effect is a clinically observable result—which is influenced not only by biological actions, but also psychological and social phenomena. Issues of causality and evidence must be treated with these specific aspects in mind. In covering these issues, the book opens up a common domain of investigation which intersects the deeply intertwined dimensions of pharmacological research, pharmaceutical regulation and the related economic environment. The book is a collective endeavour with in-depth contributions from experts in pharmacology, philosophy of medicine, statistics, scientific methodology, formal and social epistemology, working in constant dialogue across disciplinary boundaries.




Prenatal Screening and Diagnosis, An Issue of Clinics in Laboratory Medicine


Book Description

This issue of Clinics in Laboratory Medicine, Guest Edited by Anthony Odibo and David Krantz, will feature article topics such as: Screening for Chromosomal abnormalities; Cystic fibrosis screening; The role of second-trimester screening, in the post-first trimester screening era; Modifying risk for Aneuploidy with second-trimester ultrasound after a positive serum screen; Cost-effectiveness of Down syndrome screening paradigms; Biochemical and biophysical screening for the risk of Preterm delivery; Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis; Prenatal testing for infectious disease, Thrombophilias, Preeclampsia, Neural Tube Defects; Management of Multiple Pregnancy; Genetic Counseling Issues in Down syndrome Screening; First Trimester Ultrasound Markers; Quality Control of Nuchal Translucency; Clinical Implications of First Trimester Screening; Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes after Positive Screening; First Trimester Combined Screening: Instant Risks Approach.




Textbook of Clinical Trials


Book Description

Now published in its Second Edition, the Textbook of Clinical Trials offers detailed coverage of trial methodology in diverse areas of medicine in a single comprehensive volume. Praise for the First Edition: "... very useful as an introduction to clinical research, or for those planning specific studies within therapeutic or disease areas." BRITISH JOURNAL OF SURGERY, Vol. 92, No. 2, February 2005 The book’s main concept is to describe the impact of clinical trials on the practice of medicine. It separates the information by therapeutic area because the impact of clinical trials, the problems encountered, and the numbers of trials in existence vary tremendously from specialty to specialty. The sections provide a background to the disease area and general clinical trial methodology before concentrating on particular problems experienced in that area. Specific examples are used throughout to address these issues. The Textbook of Clinical Trials, Second Edition: Highlights the various ways clinical trials have influenced the practice of medicine in many therapeutic areas Describes the challenges posed by those conducting clinical trials over a range of medical specialities and allied fields Additional therapeutic areas are included in this Second Edition to fill gaps in the First Edition as the number and complexity of trials increases in this rapidly developing area Newly covered or updated in the Second Edition: general surgery, plastic surgery, aesthetic surgery, palliative care, primary care, anaesthesia and pain, transfusion, wound healing, maternal and perinatal health, early termination, organ transplants, ophthalmology, epilepsy, infectious disease, neuro-oncology, adrenal, thyroid and urological cancers, as well as a chapter on the Cochrane network An invaluable resource for pharmaceutical companies, the Textbook of Clinical Trials, Second Edition appeals to those working in contract research organizations, medical departments and in the area of public health and health science alike.