For instance, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, highlighted recently that the severity of depression at which antidepressants show consistent benefits over placebo is poorly defined, emphasising that, in general, the more severe the symptoms, the greater the benefit.
Studies carried out in routine clinical practice show promising results regarding the feasibility of the use of health status instruments and their influence on the consultation, however until now these studies have not been able to show consistent benefits on outcomes for patients with COPD [ 18- 20].
However, organised recruitment strategies (the approach typically taken in the United Kingdom, which involves systematic recruitment and follow-up, the provision of scheduled appointments for screening), and personalised invitation approaches (for example, from a general practitioner) seem to show consistent benefits over opportunistic approaches to screening.
Despite multiple therapeutic approaches for nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF), no single treatment has convincingly shown consistent benefit.
Although intensification of antithrombotic therapy after revascularization has demonstrated benefit in coronary disease populations, this approach has not been well studied or shown consistent benefit in PAD.
Current options for preventing the onset of CAS or valve failure are limited; pharmaceutical approaches such as statins or other drugs may ultimately be useful but have not shown consistent benefit in prior studies [17].
However, the Clopidogrel in Unstable angina to prevent Recurrent ischemic Events (CURE) trial showed consistent benefit whether or not revascularisation was actually done.
The addition of other agents, such as mitomycin C, doxorubicin or cisplatin, has not shown consistent benefit in terms of either tumour response or survival (Harvey et al, 1984; Taal et al, 1993; Okada et al, 1994).
Mucolytics, alpha trypsin augmentation, leukotriene receptor antagonists, maintenance antibiotic administration, immunoregulators, respiratory stimulants, and vasodilators have either not shown consistent benefit or have an unattractive benefit to risk ratio in patients with COPD (GOLD/WHO/NHLBI 2004; NICE 2004; ATS/ERS 2005).
