Maxillary sinusitis in adults: an evaluation of placebo-controlled double-blind trials |
| |
Authors: | Stalman W; van Essen GA; van der Graaf Y; de Melker RA |
| |
Institution: | Department of General Practice, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands. |
| |
Abstract: | BACKGROUND: In general practice, acute sinusitis is frequently diagnosed
and treated with antibiotics. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the
evidence for the effectiveness of antibiotic treatment in acute maxillary
sinusitis in adults by assessing the methodological quality of
placebo-controlled double-blind randomized trials. METHOD: An evaluation by
four raters through a 35-item scoring-scale for internal and external
validity of all placebo-controlled double-blind randomized trials on acute
sinusitis found between January 1966 and July 1996. RESULTS: Eighty-five
trials were excluded because they were not placebo-controlled,
double-blind, randomized, or were carried out in patients with chronic
sinusitis or in children. The three remaining trials were performed in
different populations (one in general practice) between 1973 and 1978. Only
one study claimed superiority of antibiotic treatment. Different inclusion
criteria and major outcome measures were used by the authors. The
reliability of major outcome events was reported poorly or not at all and
in two studies outcome measures were clinically inappropriate. The studies
scored 30-62% of the maximum attainable score for internal validity and
10-20% for external validity. CONCLUSION: The effectiveness of antibiotic
treatment in acute maxillary sinusitis in a general practice population is
not based sufficiently on evidence.
|
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 Oxford 等数据库收录! |
|