Long COVID has no commonly accepted case definition, but is characterized generally as the persistence of any COVID-19 symptoms past the typical convalescence period. Initial reports are emerging of significant ongoing symptom burden for some COVID-19 cases, but the prevalence and profile of these long-term cases, and the potential need for or utilization of community-based supports…
This Rapid Review assesses the evidence on the rate of COVID-19 transmission from children to children or adults compared with the rate of transmission from adults to others, and the rate of COVID-19 infection in children compared with the rate in adults, to support return-to-school decision making. Twenty-two articles were included in the review. Based on a rapid assessment of…
Face mask use within schools has been suggested as a COVID-19 risk mitigation strategy, but the effectiveness of mask use as protection against COVID-19 transmission and infection in a school setting is currently unknown. This Rapid Review assesses the evidence on the impact of community mask use on the susceptibility to and transmission of COVID-19, and how mask use compliance…
Primary care services after hours in Alberta are limited, and, as a result, emergency departments have long wait times and overcrowding as they accommodate a greater number of low-acuity conditions. In recent decades, various urgent care models have been established to fill the gap between emergency and primary care, with the aim of providing unscheduled services for urgent but…
The Institute of Health Economics (IHE) was commissioned by the Canadian Cardiovascular Society to provide a rapid update of the literature, to compare the impacts of public reporting and external benchmarking on selected outcomes, and to evaluate and describe the applicability of this body of research to non- competitive health systems, emphasizing perspectives and considerations…
Alberta STE Report written under contract with the Alberta Health Technologies Decision Process (AHTDP). This report is an update of the “Technological efficacy/effectiveness analysis” (T) section of the 2014 Alberta STE report, which was an evidence assessment of the clinical effectiveness and safety of endovenous ablation interventions for symptomatic varicose veins…
Risk assessment tools for predicting recidivism of spousal violence. The objective of this report is to assess the research evidence on the inter-rater reliability and predictive validity of various risk assessment instruments in predicting male-to-female spousal violence recidivism and lethality in those males who had contact with the police system. Information Specialist: Liz…
Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR) Information Paper #26. The aim of this study was to determine whether laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) is a safe and effective procedure compared with open and/or laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB) and laparoscopic vertical banded gastroplasty (LVBG), especially in the longer term (> or = five…