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Objective: To test for publication bias with alprazolam, the most widely prescribed benzodiazepine, by comparing its efficacy for panic disorder using trial results from (1) the published literature and (2) the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Methods: From FDA reviews, we included data from all phase 2/3 efficacy trials of alprazolam extended-release (Xanax XR) for the treatment of panic disorder. A search for matching publications was performed using PubMed and Google Scholar. Publication bias was examined by comparing: (1) overall trial results (positive or not) according to the FDA v. corresponding publications; (2) effect size (Hedges's g) based on FDA data v. published data. Results: The FDA review showed that five trials were conducted, only one of which (20%) was positive. Of the four not-positive trials, two were published conveying a positive outcome; the other two were not published. Thus, according to the published literature, three trials were conducted and all (100%) were positive. Alprazolam's effect size calculated using FDA data was 0.33 (CI95% 0.07–0.60) v. 0.47 (CI95% 0.30–0.65) using published data, an increase of 0.14, or 42%. Conclusions: Publication bias substantially inflates the apparent efficacy of alprazolam XR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mindfulness meditation has become a common method for reducing stress, stress-related psychopathology and some physical symptoms. As mindfulness programs become ubiquitous, concerns have been raised about their unknown potential for harm. We estimate multiple indices of harm following Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) on two primary outcomes: global psychological and physical symptoms. In secondary analyses, we estimate multiple indices of harm on anxiety and depressive symptoms, discomfort in interpersonal relations, paranoid ideation and psychoticism. Methods: Intent-to-treat analyses with multiple imputations for missing data were used on pre- and post-test data from a large, observational dataset (n = 2155) of community health clinic MBSR classes and from MBSR (n = 156) and waitlist control (n = 118) participants from three randomized controlled trials conducted contemporaneous to community classes in the same city by the same health clinic MBSR teachers. We estimate the change in symptoms, proportion of participants with increased symptoms, proportion of participants reporting greater than a 35% increase in symptoms, and for global psychological symptoms, clinically significant harm. Results: We find no evidence that MBSR leads to higher rates of harm relative to waitlist control on any primary or secondary outcome. On many indices of harm across multiple outcomes, community MBSR was significantly preventative of harm. Conclusions: Engagement in MBSR is not predictive of increased rates of harm relative to no treatment. Rather, MBSR may be protective against multiple indices of harm. Research characterizing the relatively small proportion of MBSR participants that experience harm remains important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The main objective of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis to identify the effects of reminiscence therapy in people with dementia (PWD).Methods: A systematic search of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted using bibliographic databases. A total of 157 original published studies were identified in the search, and 24 complete articles were included in the final review to check for the level of evidence. Two of the study authors independently assessed the quality of the included studies using the "Risk of Bias" (ROB) tool developed by the Cochrane Collaboration. Depression, quality of life, and behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) were selected to measure the effect of reminiscence therapy. To determine the effects of reminiscence therapy on these variables, each individual study was analyzed using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis Software® (Biostat, Englewood, NJ, USA).Results: The overall effect size was presented using standardized mean differences (SMDs) and 95% confidence intervals. Cohen's d effect size for depression was -0.541 (95% CI: -0.847 to -0.234, Z = -3.730, p<0.001), indicating that depression was significantly reduced in the reminiscence group compared to the control group. Increased quality of life and decreased BPSD were also found in the reminiscence group compared to the control group.Conclusion: Reminiscence therapy has a moderate effect on depression and can be broadly used to decrease depression as an alternative to antipsychotics, which can have harmful side effects and high cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The trustworthiness of research findings has been questioned in many domains of science. This article calls for a review of the trustworthiness of the scientific literature in industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology and a reconsideration of common practices that may harm the credibility of our literature. We note that most hypotheses in I-O psychology journals are confirmed. Thus, we are either approaching omniscience or our journals are publishing an unrepresentative sample of completed research. We view the latter explanation as more likely. We review structural problems in the publication process and in the conduct of research that is likely to promote a distortion of scientific knowledge. We then offer recommendations to make the I-O literature more accurate and trustworthy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence-Based Medicine is a relatively new movement that seeks to put clinical medicine on a firmer scientific footing. I take it as uncontroversial that medical practice should be based on best evidence—the interesting questions concern the details. This paper tries to move towards a coherent and unified account of best evidence in medicine, by exploring in particular the EBM position on RCTs (randomized controlled trials). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the role of vitamin C in common cold incidence had been studied extensively, the level of vitamin C intake has not been unequivocally shown to affect the incidence of colds. In the present study the six largest vitamin C supplementation (≥ 1 g/d) studies, including over 5000 episodes in all, have been analysed, and it is shown that common cold incidence is not reduced in the vitamin C-supplemented groups compared with the placebo groups (pooled rate ratio (RR) 0·99; 95% CI 0·93, 1·04). Consequently these six major studies give no evidence that high-dose vitamin C supplementation decreases common cold incidence in ordinary people. Nevertheless, the analysis was continued with the hypothesis that vitamin C intake may affect common cold susceptibility in specific groups of people. It was assumed that the potential effect of supplementation might be most conspicuous in subjects with low dietary vitamin C intake. The average vitamin C intake has been rather low in the UK and plasma vitamin C concentrations are in general lower in males than in females. In four studies with British females vitamin C supplementation had no marked effect on common cold incidence (pooled RR 0·95; 95% CI 0·86, 1·04). However, in four studies with British male schoolchildren and students a statistically highly significant reduction in common cold incidence was found in groups supplemented with vitamin C (pooled RR 0·70; 95% CI 0·60, 0·81). Thus, these studies with British males indicate that vitamin C intake has physiological effects on susceptibility to common cold infections, although the effect seems quantitatively meaningful only in limited groups of people and is not very large. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]