This Spotlight Blog relates to the following article in BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine: “Maternal Caffeine Consumption and Pregnancy Outcomes: A Narrative Review with Implications for Advice to Mothers and Mothers-To-Be” (ID No.: bmjebm-2020-111432.R2) Blog entry written on: ‘Maternal Caffeine Consumption and Pregnancy Outcomes: A Narrative Review with Implications for Advice to Mothers and Mothers-To-Be’ (bmjebm-2020-111406), with […]
Latest articles
Instructions for the day of your surgery: “Please create a playlist of your favourite music”
Blog entry written on: Heterogeneity of Outcomes for Intraoperative Music Interventions: A Scoping Review and Evidence Map (bmjebm-2020-111382) Authors: Melanie Ambler, Stacey Springs, Dioscaris Garcia, Christopher Born We know that 87% of operating room staff report listening to music in the OR, but an emerging body of evidence suggests that listening to music during surgical […]
Can an antibiotic make you pregnant?
Blog entry written on: Analysis of reports of unintended pregnancies associated with the combined use of non-enzyme-inducing antibiotics and hormonal contraceptives (bmjebm-2020-111363) Authors: Jeffrey K Aronson & Robin E Ferner The British National Formulary (BNF) currently advises women to continue with their usual oral contraception when they start an antibiotic (except for enzyme inducers, e.g. […]
Honey for coughs and colds: not too shab-bee
Blog entry written on: Effectiveness of honey for symptomatic relief in upper respiratory tract infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis (bmjebm-2020-111336) Author: Hibatullah Abuelgasim Honey is a folklore favourite when it comes to cough and cold remedies. Everyone who has ever had a cold knows how annoying the symptoms can be. Unfortunately, there’s not much […]
The Dangers of Selective Analysis: Has stroke treatment been misguided for a decade?
Alteplase is widely recommended for treatment of stroke occurring within 3-4.5 hours. Brian Alper discusses their recent publication that reanalysed the Third European Cooperative Acute Stroke Study (ECASS III) trial through adjustment for baseline imbalances. Blog entry written on: Thrombolysis with alteplase 3–4.5 hours after acute ischaemic stroke: trial reanalysis adjusted for baseline imbalances (bmjebm-2020-111386) […]
How are you managing hip fracture patients on DOACs?
In an attempt to end the dilemma surrounding the management of hip fracture patients on direct oral anticoagulants, Sheweidin Aziz, Krishan Almeida, and Grahame Taylor share the highlights of their recent publication. Blog entry written on: How should we manage hip fracture patients on direct oral anticoagulants? (bmjebm-2019-111317) Authors: Sheweidin Aziz, Krishnan Almeida, and Grahame […]
Shining a spotlight on the policies of pain journals
Journals are key stakeholders in the quest for greater transparency and reproducibility of research. Georgia Richards, Aidan Cashin, Matthew Bagg, Elaine Toomey, James McAuley and Hopin Lee discuss their recent publication that evaluates the policies and standards of pain journals. Blog entry written on: Limited engagement with transparent and open science standards in the policies […]
What a Mesh
The release of NICE guidelines allows MESH to be used in the NHS once again; the guidance, however, has proved controversial: MPs and campaigners have warned NICE guidance neglects the serious risks associated with the use of mesh in surgery. They also fear the evidence is untrustworthy, biased and too low quality to inform […]
BMJ EBM Verdict Tracker
The EBM Verdict tracker is updated monthly to select the research evidence that can matter to clinical practice: EBM Verdict articles are published in BMJ EBM. EBM Verdict Evidence that helps you come to a definitive conclusion and can be implemented into clinical practice. Introducing the EBM Verdict: research evidence relevant to clinical practice […]
Assessing bias in studies of harms: a case study of Primodos and congenital malformations
In a recent systematic review, we assessed the use of Primodos, an oral hormone pregnancy test (HPT) marketed between 1958 and 1978, and the associated risk of congenital malformations. This post discusses the assessment of quality in assessing associations of harms. Carl Heneghan We found oral HPTs in pregnancy was associated with an increased […]