Articles

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Letter to the editor: Treatment of acute otitis media in children (with Paul Glasziou and Maroeska Rovers), New England journal of medicine (2011)
 

Letter to the editor: Antibiotics and acute otitis media in children (with Paul Glasziou and Maroeska Rovers), The journal of the American medical association (2011)

Extract:
In Reply: Because of space constraints, some analyses we conducted had to be left out...

 

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Increasing access to consumer health organisations among patients with chronic disease – a randomised trial of a print-based intervention (with Frances M. Boyle, Allyson J. Mutch, Julie H. Dean, and Marie-Louise Dick), Primary health care research & development (2011)

Aim: To assess whether a print-based intervention led to increased contact with consumer health organisations...

 

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Body site distribution of skin cancer, pre-malignant and common benign pigmented lesions excised in general practice (with Philippa H. Youl, Monika Janda, Joanne F. Aitken, David C. Whiteman, and Peter D. Baade), British journal of dermatology (2011)

Background: Concern about skin cancer is a common reason for people from predominantly fair-skinned populations...

 

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New investments in primary care in Australia, BMC health services research (2011)

There is a crisis in primary care health workforce shortages in Australia. Its government has...

 

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But what should journals actually do to keep industry sponsored research unbiased?, BMJ (2010)
 

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Using N-of-1 trials to improve patient management and save costs (with Paul A. Scuffham, Jane Nikles, Geoffrey K. Mitchell, Michael J. Yelland, Norma Vine, Christopher J. Poulos, Peter I. Pillans, Guy Bashford, Philip J. Schluter, and Paul Glasziou), Journal of general internal medicine (2010)

BACKGROUND: N-of-1 trials test treatment effectiveness within an individual patient.

OBJECTIVE: To assess (i) the...

 

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Has the investment in general practice research been worthwhile? (with Mieke van Driel), The medical journal of Australia (2010)

Extract:
It may be time to invest more in primary care research, including research on...

 

Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses (Review) (with Tom Jefferson, Liz Dooley, Eliana Ferroni, Lubna A. Al-Ansary, Ghada A. Bawazeer, Mieke L. van Driel, Sreekumaran Nair, Ruth Foxlee, and Alessandro Rivetti), Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2010)

Background: Viral epidemics or pandemics of acute respiratory infections like influenza or severe acute respiratory...

 

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Stakeholders' views on the routine use of n-of-1 trials to improve clinical care and to make resource allocation decisions for drug use (with Jane Nikles, Geoffrey K. Mitchell, Alexandra Clavarino, and Michael J. Yelland), Australian health review (2010)

N-of-1 trials are empirical formal tests using a within-patient randomised, double-blind, cross-over comparison of drug...

 

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Urinary tract infections in healthy women: A revolution in management?, BMC family practice (2010)

Background. Urinary infection in otherwise healthy women has largely been a straightforward matter of diagnosis...

 

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Neuraminidase inhibitors for preventing and treating influenza in healthy adults: Systematic review and meta-analysis (with Tom Jefferson, Mark Jones, and Peter Doshi), BMJ (2009)

Objectives: To update a 2005 Cochrane review that assessed the effects of neuraminidase inhibitors in...

 

Is Wikipedia unsuitable as a clinical information resource for medical students? (with Michael P. Pender, Kaye E. Lasserre, Lisa M. Kruesi, and Satyamurthy Anuradha), Medical teacher (2009)
 

Consumer health organisations for people with diabetes and arthritis: Who contacts them and why? (with Frances M. Boyle, Allyson J. Mutch, Julie H. Dean, and Marie-Louise Dick), Health and social care in the community (2009)

As health systems worldwide confront a growing prevalence of chronic disease, attention has focused on...

 

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Is primary care research a lost cause?, BMJ (2009)

Extract:

Six years ago Richard Horton asked the provocative question, "is primary care research...

 

Primary care management of otitis media among Australian children (with Hasantha Gunasekera, Tony E. O’Connor, and Shyan Vijayasekaran), Medical journal of Australia (2009)

Acute otitis media (AOM) is diagnosed on the basis of acute onset of pain and...

 

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Possible harms of oseltamivir—A call for urgent action (with Tom Jefferson, Mark Jones, and Peter Doshi), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2009)

Extract:

Oseltamivir is a successful drug: between July, 2004, and June, 2009, more than...

 

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Corticosteroids for pain relief in sore throat: Systematic review and meta-analysis (with Gail Hayward, Matthew J. Thompson, Carl J. Heneghan, Rafael Perera, and Paul P. Glasziou), BMJ (2009)

Objective: To evaluate whether systemic corticosteroids improve symptoms of sore throat in adults and children....

 

N-of-1 randomized trials to assess the efficacy of gabapentin for chronic neuropathic pain (with Michael J. Yelland, Christopher J. Poulos, Peter I. Pillans, Guy M. Bashford, Catherine Jane Nikles, Joanna M. Sturtevant, Norma Vine, Philip J. Schluter, Meng Tan, Jonathan Chan, Fraser Mackenzie, and Robyn Brown), Pain medicine (2009)

Objective. The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of gabapentin with placebo...

 

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Excluding serious illness in feverish children in primary care: Restricted rule-out method for diagnosis (with Matthew J. Thompson and Anthony Harnden), BMJ (2009)

Extract:
The list of possible diagnoses for febrile children seen in primary care is long....

 

Cost of treating otitis media in Australia (with Penelope S. Taylor, Isabel Faeth, Michael K. Marks, Susan A. Skull, M Lynne Pezzullo, Susan M. Havyatt, and Harvey L. Coates), Expert review of pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research (2009)

Objective: Otitis media (OM) is an inflammation of the middle ear. It is very common...

 

Prospective study of skin surgery in smokers vs. nonsmokers (with A. J. Dixon, M. P. Dixon, and J. B. Dixon), British journal of dermatology (2009)

Background: Smoking may increase complications following minor surgery leading many clinicians to urge patients to...

 

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Antibiotics for acute otitis media in children (Review) (with Sharon Sanders, Paul P. Glasziou, and Maroeska Rovers), Cochrane database of systematic reviews (2009)

Background: Acute otitis media (AOM) is one of the most common diseases in early infancy...

 

Smoking and skin surgery: do smokers get more complications following skin surgery? (with A. J. Dixon, M. P. Dixon, and J. B. Dixon), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2009)

Extract:

Smoking has been regarded as a risk factor for poor outcomes following skin surgery....

 

Telephone counseling for physical activity and diet in primary care patients (with Elizabeth Eakin, Marina Reeves, Sheleigh Lawler, Nick Graves, Brian Oldenburg, Ken Wilke, Elizabeth Winkler, and Adrian Barnett), American journal of preventive medicine (2009)

Background: The delivery of effective interventions to assist patients to improve their physical activity and...

 

A nurse led model of chronic disease care: An interim report (with Diann S. Eley, Elizabeth Patterson, Robyn L. Synnott, Peter G. Baker, and Desley Hegney), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2008)

BACKGROUND Chronic condition management in general practice is projected to account for 50% of all...

 

Do case conferences between general practitioners and specialist palliative care services improve quality of life? A randomised controlled trial (ISRCTN 52269003) (with Geoffrey K. Mitchell, Peter K. O'Rourke, and Alexandra M. Clavarino), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2008)

Australian palliative care is delivered by general practitioners (GPs) and specialist palliative care teams. Patient...

 

Factors associated with the number of lesions excised for each skin cancer: A study of primary care physicians in Queensland, Australia (with Peter D. Baade, Philippa H. Youl, Monika Janda, David C. Whiteman, and Joanne F. Aitken), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2008)

Objective
To assess physician, patient, and skin lesion characteristics that affect the number of...

 

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Journal impact factor and its importance for AFP (with Mieke L. van Driel, Parker J. Magin, John Furler, and Jan De Maeseneer), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2008)

BACKGROUND In 2008, Australian Family Physician (AFP) was accepted on the list of journals listed...

 

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Leaders, leadership and future primary care clinical research (with John Furler, Jennifer Cleland, Barbara Hanratty, Umesh Kadam, Daniel Lasserson, Colin McCowan, Parker Magin, Caroline Mitchell, Nadeem Qureshi, Greta Rait, Nick Steel, Mieke van Driel, and Alison Ward), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2008)

Background: A strong and self confident primary care workforce can deliver the highest quality care...

 

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Changing GPs’ attitudes to research: Do N of 1 trials hold the key? (with Deborah Askew, Philip J. Schluter, and Alexandra M. Clavarino), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2008)

Australia is investing in the Primary Health Care Research, Evaluation and Development (PHCRED) strategy to...

 

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Matters of life and death: key writings., Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2008)

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These essays from the pricker of British medical establishment conscience are thought-provoking and controversial.

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The Logan healthy living program: A cluster randomized trial of a telephone-delivered physical activity and dietary behavior intervention for primary care patients with type 2 diabetes or hypertension from a socially disadvantaged community—Rationale, design and recruitment (with Elizabeth G. Eakin, Marina M. Reeves, Sheleigh P. Lawler, Brian Oldenburg, Ken Wilkie, Adele Spencer, Diana Battistutta, and Nicholas Graves), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2008)

Background
Physical activity and dietary behavior changes are important to both the primary prevention...

 

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Check Unit: evidence based medicine (with Jenny Doust), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2008)

Extract:

This is an updated version of an original check unit on evidence based medicine...

 

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Acute respiratory infections (with Sharon Sanders and Jenny Doust), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2008)

Extract:

Acute respiratory infections may be classified in several different ways: by their symptoms...

 

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Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses: Systematic review (with Tom Jefferson, Ruth Foxlee, Liz Dooley, Eliana Ferroni, Bill Hewak, Adi Prabhala, Sree Nair, and Alex Rivetti), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2008)

Objective
To systematically review evidence for the effectiveness of physical interventions to interrupt or reduce...

 

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EBM journal clubs in general practice (with Jenny Doust, Brett David Montgomery, Clare Heal, Rachel Bidgood, David Jeacoke, Gary Bourke, and Geoffrey Spurling), Australian family physician (2008)

Evidence based medicine (EBM) changes the way medicine is practised by integrating individual clinical expertise...

 

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Prescribing antibiotics in primary care, Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2007)

Extract:
Antibiotic resistance will probably eventually appear by natural selection for every new antibiotic developed...

 

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Transparent development of the WHO rapid advice guidelines (with Holger J. Schunemann, Suzanne R. Hill, Meetali Kakad, Gunn E. Vist, Richard Bellamy, Lauren Stockman, Torbjorn Fosen Wisloff, Frederick Hayden, Timothy M. Uyeki, Jeremy Farrar, Yazdan Yazdanpanah, Howard Zucker, John Beigel, Tawee Chotpitayasunondh, Tran Tinh Hien, Bulent Ozbay, Norio Sugaya, and Andrew D. Oxman), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2007)

Emerging health problems require rapid advice. We describe the development and pilot testing of a...

 

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Antibiotics for bronchiolitis in children (with Geoffrey KP Spurling, Kithsiri Fonseka, and Jenny Doust), Cochrane database of systematic reviews (2007)

Background
Bronchiolitis is a serious, potentially life-threatening respiratory illness commonly affecting young babies. It is most...

 

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Antibiotics for sore throat (Review) (with Paul P. Glasziou and Annelise B. Spinks), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2006)

Background: Sore throat is a very common reason for people to present for medical care....

 

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Exercise for overweight or obesity (Review) (with K. Shaw, H. Gennat, and Peter O'Rourke), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2006)

Background Clinical trials have shown that exercise in adults with overweight or obesity can reduce...

 

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Safety of neuroaminidase inhibitors for influenza. (with Mark Jones), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2006)

Neuraminidase inhibitors, oseltamivir and zanamivir, are used for the treatment of, and protection from, influenza....

 

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The fate of papers rejected by Australian Family Physician (with Rachel Green), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2006)

BACKGROUND Research papers submitted to Australian Family Physician (AFP) are accepted or rejected on the...

 

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Topical analgesia for acute otitis media (with Ruth Foxlee, A. Johansson, J. Wejfalk, J. Dawkins, and Liz Dooley), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2006)

Background Acute otitis media (AOM) is a spontaneously remitting disease for which pain is the...

 

A radical new treatment for the sick health workforce (with Naomi Dwyer), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2006)

The health workforce crisis needs radical treatment; simply educating more health workers will be insufficient,...

 

Celecoxib compared with sustained-release paracetamol for osteoarthritis: a series of n-of-1 trials. (with Michael J. Yelland, C. Jane Nickles, Norma McNairn, Philip J. Schluter, and R. M. Brown), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2006)

Objective. To assess the use of n-of-1 trials for short-term choice of drugs for osteoarthritis,...

 

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Improving Prescribing Practices in Primary Care, Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2006)

Commentary and perspectives on two papers presented in PLoS Medicine.
A randomised trial and economic...

 

An n-of-1 Trial Service in Clinical Practice: Testing the Effectiveness of Stimulants for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (with C. Jane Nikles, Geoffrey Mitchell, Alexandra Clavarino, and Norma McNairn), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2006)

OBJECTIVE. We sought to describe the clinical use of n-of-1 trials for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in...

 

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Research papers submitted to Australian Family Physician - types and timelines (with Rachel Green), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2006)

BACKGROUND Articles published in the research section of Australian Family Physician (AFP) are subject to...

 

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Do n-of-1 trials of celecoxib compared to sustained-release paracetamol change patient use of drugs for osteoarthritis? (with Michael J. Yelland, C. Jane Nikles, Norma McNairn, Philip J. Schluter, and R. M. Brown), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2006)

Objective: To assess the use of n-of-1 trials for short-term choice of drugs for osteoarthritis.

...
 

Reducing occupational psychological distress: a randomized controlled trial of a mailed intervention (with Jackie Holt), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2006)

There are increasing levels of psychological distress among general practitioners (GPs). The purpose of this...

 

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Early management of meningococcal disease: Do attitudes of GPs influence practice? (with Kari Jarvinen, Linda Selvey, Michael Tilse, and Robyn Pugh), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2005)

BACKGROUND Survival from early meningococcal disease might be improved if general practitioners followed guidelines by...

 

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Influenza vaccine for preventing acute otitis media in infants and children [Protocol] (with Elspeth Kay, K. Ng, and A. Salmon), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2005)

This is the protocol for a review. The objectives are as follows:

To assess the...

 

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Psychological distress among GPs: Who is at risk and how best to reach them? (with Jackie Holt), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2005)

OBJECTIVE To identify key characteristics of psychologically distressed general practitioners and whether these GPs volunteered...

 

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What is the prognosis of optic neuritis? How often does it lead to multiple sclerosis? (with Sharon Sanders, Sarah Purdy, Annelise Spinks, Lisa Tait, and Brian McAvoy), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2005)

This rapid review of the literature tried to answer the question of the prognosis of...

 

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Clever searching for evidence (with Sharon Sanders), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2005)

Do people who write about and propagate evidence based medicine use its principles properly? How...

 

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General practitioner, specialist providers case conferences in palliative care: Lessons learned from 56 case conferences (with Geoffrey Mitchell, Margaret Cherry, Rosemary Kennedy, Karen Weeden, Letty Burridge, Alexandra Clavarino, and Peter O'Rourke), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2005)

OBJECTIVE: To describe the utility and acceptability to general practitioners and palliative care staff of...

 

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Using n-of-1 trials as a clinical tool to improve prescribing (with C. Jane Nikles and Alexandra M. Clavarino), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2005)

Background: N-of-1 trials are within-patient, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over comparisons of two drugs for chronic...

 

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Advising patients to increase fluid intake for treating acute respiratory infections (with Michelle P.B. Guppy, Sharon M. Mickan, and Sarah Thorning), Cochrane database of systematic reviews (2005)

Background
Acute respiratory infection is a common reason for people to present for medical...

 

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Clinical diagnosis and management of suspicious pigmented skin lesions: A survey of GPs (with Peter D. Baade, John B. Lowe, Warren R. Stanton, and Kevin P. Balanda), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2005)

BACKGROUND The ability of general practitioners to make important clinical decisions about the diagnosis and...

 

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Does legislation reduce harm to doctors who prescribe for themselves? (with Margaret Kay and Geoffrey Mitchell), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2005)

OBJECTIVE To consider the issue of legislation restricting self prescribing by doctors.

METHOD Searches of...

 

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Should we stop telling well pregnant women to monitor fetal movements? How to use and interpret guidelines. (with Vivienne O'Connor), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2004)

This editorial comments on the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines for monitoring fetal...

 

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Teaching evidence based medicine should be integrated into current clinical scenarios (with Paul Glasziou and Dan Mayer), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2004)

The editorial discusses some elements of teaching and learning evidence based medicine. It comments on...

 

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Delayed antibiotics for symptoms and complications of respiratory infections [Review] (with Geoffrey K.P. Spurling, Liz Dooley, and Ruth Foxlee), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2004)

Background: Providing patients with a prescription for antibiotics but suggesting delaying their use is a...

 

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The State Of Primary-Care Research (with David Mant, Paul Glasziou, Andre Knottnerus, Paul Wallace, and Chris Van Weel), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2004)

In March, 2003, the editor of The Lancet attended an international conference in Kingston, Ontario,...

 

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The view from two sides: a qualitative study of community and medical perspectives on screening for colorectal cancer using FOBT (with Alexandra M. Clavarino, Monika Janda, Karen L. Hughes, Shilu Tong, Warren R. Stanton, Joanne F. Aitken, Barbara A. Leggett, and Beth Newman), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2004)

Background. Population-wide screening for people at average risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) by faecal occult...

 

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Sore throat (with Paul Glasziou), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2004)

Abstract:

This article considers the effects of interventions to reduce symptoms and complications of acute...

 

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Prolotherapy injections for chronic low-back pain [Review] (with Michael J. Yelland, S. Pirozzo, M. L. Schoene, and P. Vercoe), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2004)

Background: Prolotherapy is an injection-based treatment for chronic low-back pain. Proponents of prolotherapy suggest that...

 

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Letter: "Drink Plenty of Fluids" Authors' Reply (with Michelle P. B. Guppy and Sharon M. Mickan), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2004)

"Drink plenty of fluids" - Recommendations are not supported by data - [Authors' reply].

Let...

 

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Why do doctors use treatments that do not work? For many reasons - including their inability to stand idle and do nothing. (with Jenny Doust), BMJ (2004)

Why do we still use ineffective treatments? One reason is that our expectations for the...

 

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"Drink plenty of fluids": a systematic review of evidence for this recommendation in acute respiratory infections (with Michelle P. B. Guppy and Sharon M. Mickan), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2004)

Doctors often recommend drinking extra fluids to patients with respiratory infections. Theoretical benefits for this...

 

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Antibiotics for acute otitis media in children [Review] (with Paul P. Glasziou, S. L. Sanders, and M. Hayem), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2004)

Background: Acute otitis media is one of the most common diseases in early infancy and...

 

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Non-antibiotic treatments for sore throat [Protocol] (with D. Francis, M. Thomas, and Paul Glasziou), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2004)

This is the protocol for a review. The objective is as follows: 1. To determine...

 

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Diagnosing coughs and colds (with Jenny Doust), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2004)

It is easy to dismiss coughs and colds as 'trivial' however they cause a significant...

 

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Randomised control trial of a smoking cessation intervention directed at men whose partners are pregnant (with Warren R. Stanton, John B. Lowe, and Jenny Morratt), Preventive Medicine (2004)

Background. Although smoking cessation programs significantly reduce smoking rates in the general population, some sectors...

 

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What is Cochrane all about? (with Jenny A. Doust), Australian family physician (2002)

Recently the Australian Minister for Health, the Hon Kay Patterson, announced that Australia is purchasing...

 

Books

Evidence-based practice across the health professions (with Tammy Hoffman and Sally Bennett), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2009)

Evidence-based practice continues to be a growing influence in health education. It’s a powerful tool...

 

Clinical thinking: Evidence, communication and decision-making (with Jenny Doust and Paul Glasziou), Health Sciences & Medicine papers (2006)

Clinicians are taught masses of facts, but not how to use them in the messy...

 

Evidence-based medicine workbook: Finding and applying the best research evidence to improve patient care (with Paul Glasziou and Janet Salisbury), Professor Paul Glasziou (2003)

This attractive, full colour workbook provides a clear explanation of evidence-based medicine skills and concepts....

 

Book Chapters

Information needs, asking questions and some basics of research studies (with Tammy Hoffmann), Evidence-based practice across the health professions (2010)

Extract:

This chapter will provide background information that you need to know in order to understand...

 

Introduction to evidence-based practice (with Tammy Hoffmann and Sally Bennett), Evidence-based practice across the health professions (2010)

Extract:

What is evidence-based practice?

There is a famous definition by Professor David Sackett and some of...

 

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Models of disease (with Jenny Doust and Paul Glasziou), Clinical thinking: evidence, communication, and decision-making (2006)

[Excerpt] What we will do here is set out some models of disease, and then...

 

Otitis media (with Alan Cripps), Respiratory Infections (2006)
 

Skin problems (with Geoffrey Mitchell), Practical General Practise, Guidelines for Effective Management, Fifth Edition (2006)

Practical General Practice is an interactive manual that is specifically designed for use during the...

 

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General Practice Research (with Deborah Askew, Brian R. McAvoy, and David Lyle), General practice in Australia: 2004 (2004)

This chapter sketches the current status of general practice research in Australia and includes suggestions...

 

Other

Review of the quality of complementary medicines information resources: Summary report (with Treasure McGuire, Julie Walters, Angela Dean, Mieke van Driel, Vicki Kotsirilos, Geraldine Moses, Steven Chong, Gary Deed, Barbara Eldred, Janet Hardy, Honey Heussler, Samantha Hollingsworth, Loretta Marron, Joy Mendel, David Pache, Kathryn Steadman, Helen Trenerry, Jared Brown, and Margaret Williamson), National prescribing service limited (2009)

Recent research conducted by the National Prescribing Service (NPS) has shown the need for improving...

 

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The management of skin cancer in Australian general practice, Christopher Del Mar (2000)

This thesis looks at the management of skin cancer in general practice from a number...