375,956 papers found

UNLABELLED: BACKGROUND--The role of insulin in the genesis of essential hypertension remains an area of intense controversy. Most clinical evidence suggests a definite association. Several pathophysiologic mechanisms have been proposed. However, current data remain disparate and contradictory. METHODS--Meta-analysis al…

Establishing the overall efficacy or safety of a drug requires a unified methodological approach and analysis of all clinical trials that are intended to be summarized. As an example, this article presents the aggregated dose-response relationship and a subgroup analysis (by age) over all studies of the antihypertensiv…

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effects of various cleaning methods on the bond strength between lithium disilicate (LS) ceramics and resin cement under short- and long-term aging conditions using network meta-analysis (NMA) and pairwise meta-analysis (PMA). STUDY SELECTION: An electronic search of seven databases (PubMed, S…

BACKGROUND: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic functional disorder that significantly impacts patient health, causing physical discomfort and diminished quality of life. We aimed to compare various acupoint stimulation modalities for treating IBS using network meta-analysis (NMA). METHODS: We conducted a syst…

A linear regression model derived from a meta-analysis of 13 epidemiological studies of senile dementia conducted since 1980, and employing internationally-known case-finding procedures, suggests a much lower general rate of dementia prevalence than has been previously estimated. An exponential increase with age is obs…

Methods of meta-analysis, computer modeling, and issue analysis are used to answer four key questions related to efficacy, cost, and political feasibility of legislating insurance coverage for mammography. The findings are presented, and the strengths and weaknesses of the combined use of these methods to inform policy…

Meta-analysis is a powerful statistical approach for integrating multiple datasets, being increasingly applied in genome research. Transcriptome meta-analysis provides valuable insights into the functions of stress-responsive genes. In an earlier study, we developed the Stress Response score (SRscore), a novel metric d…

BACKGROUND: Since the results obtained in controlled studies of antiviral treatment of chronic hepatitis by the hepatitis B virus are frequently insignificant the authors have undertaken a combined study of the different controlled trials with the meta-analysis technique. METHODS: The results of 7 controlled trials of…

PURPOSE: To assess the comparative effectiveness of various delivery methods of brief behavioral therapy for insomnia (BBTI) and their efficacy relative to cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBTI) and other nonpharmacological treatments in improving psychological outcomes-specifically depression, anxiety, and f…

In this meta-analysis it was demonstrated that, when compared with nonsmokers of similar age, smokers in the 8- to 19-year-old age group have significantly higher serum levels of triglyceride (+11.8%), very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL)-cholesterol (+12.4%) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol (+4.1%) and sig…

AIM: This study employed a network meta-analysis to compare the effects of multiple mindfulness-based interventions on stress and mindfulness levels among nursing students. METHODS: Systematic searches were conducted in PubMed, the Cochrane Library, EMBASE and Web of Science for clinical randomized controlled trials e…

BACKGROUND: Melasma is a prevalent pigmentary disorder among reproductive-age Asian women. Although various treatment modalities exist, most demonstrate limited efficacy and carry the risk of adverse effects. In recent years, external Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) therapies (including acupuncture, fire needle, and…

Meta-analysis was used to review the results of 25 studies that compared the classroom behavior of children and adolescents with learning disabilities (LD) to children without learning disabilities. The data were analyzed from several different methodological perspectives. Results showed that both methodologically stro…

A hereditary disease with excess mortality such as haemophilia is maintained in the population by the occurrence of new cases, i.e. mutations. In haemophilia, mutations may arise in female or male ancestors of a 'new' patient. The ratio of the mutation frequencies in males over females determines the prior risk of carr…

To perform a meta-analysis of published reports in an attempt to determine the mean and range of normal ambulatory blood pressure (BP), 23 studies including a total of 3,476 normal subjects were reviewed. Most studies were compatible with a mean 24-hour BP in the range of 115 to 120/70 to 75 mm Hg, a mean daytime BP of…

The technique of meta-analysis was used to derive typical estimates of the risk of congenital malformations from oral contraceptive (OC) exposure in early pregnancy. Several definitions were used for non-exposure to reduce bias from this source. Congenital heart defects and limb reduction defects were analyzed separate…

Whether ceftazidime monotherapy is equal in efficacy to combination regimens (Comb) for empiric treatment of febrile neutropenic patients was tested using meta-analysis. Published studies and abstracts of ceftazidime trials were identified, their quality assessed, the efficacy data abstracted and pooled, and effects of…

We have reviewed 185 articles published since 1966 to assess the scientific evidence for methods of treatment for lateral epicondylitis of the elbow. Of the 185 articles, 78 discussed treatment, but since the natural history of the syndrome is uncertain we considered only those series with concurrent control groups. On…