Standardized Methods for Enhanced Quality and Comparability of Tuberculous Meningitis Studies

Autor: A.D. Heemskerk, Ben J. Marais, James A Seddon, Helen McIlleron, Anthony Figaji, Guy E. Thwaites, Nguyen Th Mai, Usha K. Misra, Robert J. Wilkinson, Suzaan Marais, Rob E. Aarnoutse, R Van Toorn, Graeme Meintjes, Maxine Caws, Ursula K. Rohlwink, Johan F. Schoeman, Rovina Ruslami, Regan Solomons, R. van Crevel
Přispěvatelé: Wellcome Trust
Rok vydání: 2017
Předmět:
Zdroj: Clinical Infectious Diseases, 64, 501-509
Clinical Infectious Diseases: An Official Publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America
Clinical Infectious Diseases, 64, 4, pp. 501-509
ISSN: 1058-4838
1537-6591
DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciw757
Popis: Summary This viewpoint defines a tuberculous meningitis core dataset, including demographic and clinical information, key patient management and monitoring data, and standardized reporting of patient outcomes. Wide adoption of standardized methods will provide a robust evidence base to improve patient outcomes.
Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) remains a major cause of death and disability in tuberculosis-endemic areas, especially in young children and immunocompromised adults. Research aimed at improving outcomes is hampered by poor standardization, which limits study comparison and the generalizability of results. We propose standardized methods for the conduct of TBM clinical research that were drafted at an international tuberculous meningitis research meeting organized by the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam. We propose a core dataset including demographic and clinical information to be collected at study enrollment, important aspects related to patient management and monitoring, and standardized reporting of patient outcomes. The criteria proposed for the conduct of observational and intervention TBM studies should improve the quality of future research outputs, can facilitate multicenter studies and meta-analyses of pooled data, and could provide the foundation for a global TBM data repository.
Databáze: OpenAIRE