This study sought to estimate rates of screen-detected and interval breast cancers, stratified by risk factor, to inform discussions of risk-stratified population screening. It was a retrospective population-based cohort study using analysis of routinely collected BreastScreen WA program clinical and administrative data. Read More
Current guidelines recommend that patients attending general practice should be screened for excess weight, and provided with weight management advice. This study sought to elicit the views of people with overweight and obesity about the role of GPs in initiating conversations about weight management. Read [...]
The public should be informed about overtesting and overdiagnosis. Diverse qualitative studies have examined public understandings of this information. A synthesis was needed to systematise the body of evidence and yield new, generalisable insights using qualitative studies exploring patient and public understanding of overtesting and overdiagnosis. [...]
Worldwide, telehealth was rapidly adopted as a widespread model of healthcare delivery during the early coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic response. Indeed, by April 2020, telehealth services constituted 36% of all healthcare services in Australia. More recently (April 2021), this number has fallen to approximately [...]
Physiotherapist-prescribed exercise programmes and subacromial corticosteroid injections are mainstays of management of rotator cuff disorders. Systematic reviews have consistently found short-term benefits of corticosteroid injection in relieving pain. But there has been much less clarity around the value of exercise therapy, including its optimum type, [...]
The study aimed to determine how much change in neurogenic claudication spinal surgeons expect in patients following lumbar decompression for lumbar spine stenosis (LSS), and radicular leg pain following microdiscectomy. Secondary aims were to identify surgeons’ preferences regarding surgical techniques for lumbar decompression, and their [...]
The number of placebo surgical trials on musculoskeletal conditions is increasing, but little is known about the quality of their design and methods. This review aimed to (1) assess the level of placebo fidelity (ie, degree to which the placebo control mimicked the index procedure) [...]
This study investigated whether different labels for rotator cuff disease influence people's perceived need for surgery. Participants with and without shoulder pain read a vignette describing a patient with rotator cuff disease and were randomized to 1 of 6 terms describing rotator cuff disease: subacromial impingement [...]
Low value care is care that is ineffective, harmful of confers marginal benefit at disproportionately high cost. Professionally-led campaigns such as Choosing Wisely Australia and the Royal Australasian College of Physicians' EVOLVE program aim to reduce the prevalence of such care. Read More
The use of genomic testing in pregnancy is increasing, giving rise to questions over how the information that is generated should be offered and returned in clinical practice. While these tests provide important information for prenatal decision-making, they can also generate information of uncertain significance. [...]