There were also several major differences in study populations across these trials, the major one being the inclusion in PRINCE and TNT, but not CAP, of individuals with documented CHD or CVD events.
Major heterogeneity in study populations, disease severity, type of device used and time at which studies were performed creates insuperable hurdles to design relevant meta-analyses.
A very heterogeneous group of subjects may mask an existing effect and in most instances major differences between study populations may be a reason for the inconsistencies in the cognitive outcomes reported.
However, there is one major difference in study populations between above referred studies and the present study; the median age of the patients sustaining a tibial fracture in our study was only 14 years, and 82% of all patients were under 16 years of age.
The major study strength is the population-based sample of patients with T2DM treated in general practice and examined at two well-defined points of time in the natural history of diabetes.
Major differences between the two study populations included the patient age, nodal status, adjuvant therapy and methodology (quantitative RT-PCR versus Agilent microarray).
In the first major study investigating the association between population mixing and TYA cancer, we have shown that higher levels of mixing are significantly associated with decreased incidence of CNS tumours amongst TYAs in England.
Major study strengths include a large population-based sample, use of a standardised and well-validated HPV test allowing comparisons with similar studies around the world (Clifford et al, 2005) and with a concurrent series of ICC from the same area.
The majority of our study population presented no major risk factors for breast cancer (lower-risk group, n=103, 73.5% of total patients).
More specifically, two analyses on the following study populations were performed to study predictors of a major CADE: First analysis: the study population included all patients who underwent either two alcohol assessments or one alcohol assessment just preceding the event over the entire follow-up (n=1154).
