Methods: A single blind randomized controlled trial on 34 patients with COPD was conducted. The participants were divided into two groups, including honey (n = 22) and standard care (n = 12). St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) was used to assess the QoL. The QoL total score was analysed using repeated measure ANOVA.

Result: There were no significant differences between the honey and standard care groups for socio-demographic and QoL variables. The within-time analysis showed statistically significant differences between baseline and post 2, 4 and 6-months in the total QoL score in the honey group. Otherwise, only marginally significant difference was detected between baseline and post 2-months in the standard care group. A comparison of total QoL score between the two groups, based on time (between and within), favoured the honey group. The honey group demonstrated a significantly lower mean total QoL score compared with the standard group at 4-months (28.89; 95% CI: 21.19, 36.59 vs 42.38; 95% CI: 31.95, 52.81) and 6 months (22.91; 95% CI: 14.94, 30.87 vs 41.95; 95% CI: 31.17, 52.73).

Patients and methods: This single-blind, prospective, randomized-controlled study included a total of 20 patients (8 males, 12 females; mean age: 53.5±13.8; range, 31 to 82 years) with chronic neuropathic pain between January 2014 and June 2014. The patients were randomized to BEST (n=10) or placebo (n=10) group. Pain was measured using the Visual Analog Scale, and serum cortisol levels were measured before and after treatment.

Results: There was no significant difference in the baseline demographics, diagnosis, and treatment modalities between the groups. Approximately 50% patients in the treatment group reported that the treatment was effective, compared to 30% in the placebo group. Pain score reduction after treatment in the BEST group was significant (p<0.05), while it was not significant in the placebo group (p=0.4). Cortisol levels significantly reduced only in the BEST group after treatment (p=0.013).

METHODS: Dental models of 84 subjects were taken before orthodontic treatment and alveolar bone grafting. The mean age was 7.69 (SD 2.46) years. The DAR and PM were assessed blindly by five raters using the EUROCRAN index (EI). Kappa statistics was used to evaluate the intra- and inter-examiner agreement, chi square was used to assess the associations, and logistic regression analysis was used to explore the responsible factors that affect DAR and PM.

RESULTS: The mean EUROCRAN scores were 2.44 and 1.93 for DAR and PM, respectively. Intra- and inter-examiner agreement was moderate to very good. Using crude and stepwise backward regression analyses, significant associations were found between the modified Millard technique (P = 0.047, P = 0.034 respectively) of cheiloplasty and unfavorable DAR. Complete UCLP (P = 0.017) was also significantly correlated with unfavorable DAR. The PM showed a significant association with the type of cleft, type of cheiloplasty and type of palatoplasty.

METHODS: Adults with HIV, who have been taking ART for more than 3 months were randomly assigned to receive either a pharmacist-led intervention or their usual care. Measures of adherence were collected at 1) baseline 2) just prior to delivery of intervention and 3) 8 weeks later. The primary outcomes were CD4 cell count and self-reported adherence measured with the AIDS Clinical Trial Group (ACTG) questionnaire.

METHODS: This single-blind, prospective, randomized, controlled trial involved intraoperative measurements for 271 femoral component implantations from 3 contemporary TKA systems, with 2 systems offering narrow sizing options. The difference between femoral component dimensions and the resected surface of distal femur was measured in millimeters at 5 distinct zones.

RESULTS: Overhang of standard femoral component was common in the anterior-medial condyle and anterior-lateral condyle ranging from 50.8% to 99.0% and 21.5% to 88.0%, respectively. With narrow femoral components, the rate of overhang reduced to 21.5%-30.2% and 9.2%-32.1%. Conversely, underhang rates were higher over the anterior flange width, middle medial-lateral and posterior medial-lateral zones. Standard components displayed higher underhang rates at these zones compared to narrow components. The good fit rate for femoral component was low among the 3 systems ranging from 1.0% to 56.0%. System with narrow option sizing increases the underhang rates in males, while improving the component fit among females at similar zones with rate ranging from 5.2% to 52.9%.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to develop, implement, and evaluate the effectiveness of Stop and Play, a digital parental health education intervention to reduce excessive screen time among preschoolers from low socioeconomic families in Malaysia.

METHODS: A single-blind, 2-arm cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted among 360 mother-child dyads attending government preschools in the Petaling district, who were randomly allocated into the intervention and waitlist control groups between March 2021 and December 2021. This 4-week intervention, developed using whiteboard animation videos, infographics, and a problem-solving session, was delivered via WhatsApp (WhatsApp Inc). Primary outcome was the child's screen time, whereas secondary outcomes included mother's screen time knowledge, perception about the influence of screen time on the child's well-being, self-efficacy to reduce the child's screen time and increase physical activity, mother's screen time, and presence of screen device in the child's bedroom. Validated self-administered questionnaires were administered at baseline, immediately after the intervention, and 3 months after the intervention. The intervention's effectiveness was evaluated using generalized linear mixed models.

METHODS: We conducted a pragmatic, multicenter, single-blind, controlled trial at 36 centers in 13 countries. Patients scheduled to undergo elective CABG were randomly assigned to an intraoperative anesthetic regimen that included a volatile anesthetic (desflurane, isoflurane, or sevoflurane) or to total intravenous anesthesia. The primary outcome was death from any cause at 1 year.

RESULTS: A total of 5400 patients were randomly assigned: 2709 to the volatile anesthetics group and 2691 to the total intravenous anesthesia group. On-pump CABG was performed in 64% of patients, with a mean duration of cardiopulmonary bypass of 79 minutes. The two groups were similar with respect to demographic and clinical characteristics at baseline, the duration of cardiopulmonary bypass, and the number of grafts. At the time of the second interim analysis, the data and safety monitoring board advised that the trial should be stopped for futility. No significant difference between the groups with respect to deaths from any cause was seen at 1 year (2.8% in the volatile anesthetics group and 3.0% in the total intravenous anesthesia group; relative risk, 0.94; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.69 to 1.29; P = 0.71), with data available for 5353 patients (99.1%), or at 30 days (1.4% and 1.3%, respectively; relative risk, 1.11; 95% CI, 0.70 to 1.76), with data available for 5398 patients (99.9%). There were no significant differences between the groups in any of the secondary outcomes or in the incidence of prespecified adverse events, including myocardial infarction.