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What is a network meta-analysis?
Many PEDro users will be familiar with meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials. These involve the statistical combination of the results of trials that compare two interventions (one of these interventions could be a no treatment control or sham treatment). For example, Hannan et al (2018) identified all trials comparing high-intensity interval training to moderate intensity…
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PEDro update (9 April 2018)
PEDro contains 39,633 records. In the 9 April 2018 update you will find: 31,231 reports of randomised controlled trials (30,401 of these trials have confirmed ratings of methodological quality using the PEDro scale) 7,755 reports of systematic reviews, and 647 reports of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines pedro.org.au
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Browse the latest research with PEDro Evidence in your inbox
Over 8,000 physiotherapists have signed up to receive PEDro Evidence in your inbox feeds. Subscribers can select from 15 areas of physiotherapy practice. To date, the most popular feeds are musculoskeletal, orthopaedics, chronic pain, and sports. Subscribers receive email messages (one for each area of practice) containing the latest research each time PEDro is updated…
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Systematic review found that physical activity improves social functioning in older people
This recent systematic review evaluates the effects of physical activity interventions on social functioning, isolation and support in community-dwelling older people. This appears to be the first review to address this question. The protocol for this review was prospectively registered on PROSPERO. The main outcomes were loneliness, social isolation, social support, social networks, and social…
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Registration of protocols for systematic reviews should be encouraged
This survey of systematic reviews evaluating physiotherapy interventions was conducted to estimate the proportion of reviews that have a registered protocol, compare the methodological quality of registered and unregistered reviews, and calculate the prevalence of outcome reporting bias in registered reviews. A random sample of 150 systematic reviews published in 2015, written in English, Italian,…
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Systematic reviews should only be updated to improve the certainty of evidence, duplication should be avoided
A recent editorial published in the Journal of Physiotherapy explored issues around the updating systematic reviews. The Cochrane Collaboration’s Panel for Updating Guidance for Systematic Reviews Group defines an update as a new edition of an existing review that can include new methods, new analyses or new data. Updates should only be performed in order…
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PEDro indexes 39,000+ reports (and 30,000+ trials with complete ratings)
We are pleased to announce that PEDro has just achieved two new milestones for the amount of evidence. There are now 39,000+ reports of trials, reviews and guidelines indexed on PEDro. The number of trials with complete ratings now exceeds 30,000. pedro.org.au
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PEDro update (5 March 2018)
PEDro contains 39,281 records. In the 5 March 2018 update you will find: 30,983 reports of randomised controlled trials (30,142 of these trials have confirmed ratings of methodological quality using the PEDro scale) 7,652 reports of systematic reviews, and 646 reports of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines pedro.org.au
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PEDro “how to” videos
PEDro’s collection of “how to” videos now have more than 36,000 views. Six videos are available in up to 12 different languages. The videos are available in PEDro’s YouTube Channel. Our most popular video is “how to ask a clinical question in PICO format”, which has had over 15,500 views. This video demonstrates how to…
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Guidelines and reviews read by PEDro users in 2017
To gain insights into what PEDro users were reading in 2017, we tallied up the most frequently accessed (selected or viewed) guidelines and reviews. In the top 20 were 12 guidelines and 8 reviews. The article that was read the most was the American College of Physicians guideline on non-invasive treatments for back pain, which…
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Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro): 18.6 million questions answered … and counting
Since being launched in October 1999, PEDro has been used to answer 18,632,434 clinical questions. In the last 3 months of 1999, PEDro was used to answer 51,642 questions. 2009 was the first year PEDro answered over 1 million questions. In 2017, PEDro answered over 2.2 million questions. This, and other interesting facts about PEDro,…
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Systematic review found that exercise improves physical function in people with cognitive impairment or dementia
In this recent review, the authors included 43 randomised controlled trials (n = 3,988) that evaluated the effects of exercise training on physical function and quality of life in people with cognitive impairment or dementia. Outcomes included strength, flexibility, gait, balance, mobility, walking endurance, dual-task ability, activities of daily living, quality of life, and falls.…
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PEDro update (5 February 2018)
PEDro contains 38,976 records. In the 5 February 2018 update you will find: 30,754 reports of randomised controlled trials (29,967 of these trials have confirmed ratings of methodological quality using the PEDro scale) 7,579 reports of systematic reviews, and 643 reports of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines pedro.org.au
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Online training in Portuguese for PEDro scale
Building on the success of the English version of the PEDro scale training program, we are pleased to announce that the Portuguese version of the program is now available. In this online training we provide a definition and detailed description, relevant references and answer frequently asked questions (in both text and video formats) plus examples…
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PEDro update (8 January 2018)
PEDro contains 38,639 records. In the 8 January 2018 update you will find: 30,476 reports of randomised controlled trials (29,797 of these trials have confirmed ratings of methodological quality using the PEDro scale) 7,526 reports of systematic reviews, and 637 reports of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines pedro.org.au
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PEDro update (4 December 2017)
PEDro contains 38,466 records. In the 4 December 2017 update you will find: 30,346 reports of randomised controlled trials (29,692 of these trials have confirmed ratings of methodological quality using the PEDro scale) 7,485 reports of systematic reviews, and 635 reports of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines pedro.org.au
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Umbrella review found that exercise therapy improves functional capacity and reduces disability in individuals with chronic disease
This umbrella review included 85 meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials evaluating the effectiveness of exercise therapy on functional capacity in people with chronic disease. Exercise therapy was compared with no treatment or usual care in adults with non-communicable chronic diseases defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The methodological quality of the included meta-analysis was…
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PEDro update (27 November 2017)
PEDro contains 38,212 records. In the 27 November 2017 update you will find: 30,155 reports of randomised controlled trials (29,490 of these trials have confirmed ratings of methodological quality using the PEDro scale) 7,422 reports of systematic reviews, and 635 reports of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines pedro.org.au
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Quality of trials in musculoskeletal physiotherapy is suboptimal
An exploration of the methodological quality and completeness of statistical reporting of trials evaluating physiotherapy intervention for musculskeletal conditions has recently been published. A random sample of ~20% of musculoskeletal trials indexed on PEDro were evaluated (n=1,404). We downloaded PEDro scale data, therapy codes plus year and language of publication from PEDro; evaluated each article…
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Kim Bennell wins PEDro prize for best clinical trial at APA Momentum 2017
PEDro supported a new prize at the Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) Momentum Conference in Sydney in October 2017. The prize was for the best clinical trial presented at the congress. 75 abstracts presenting the primary results of high-quality and groundbreaking clinical trials were considered for the prize. Five judges, all experienced clinical trialists, attended shortlisted…
