375,970 papers found

The role of meta-analysis of published reports in elucidating the link between sodium and blood pressure was examined. The risk of systematic bias produced by selective publication and inclusion of inadequately controlled trials may lead to spurious conclusions. In addition, the assumption of linearity in order to prod…

Meta-analysis was used to cumulate the results from 633 studies of smoking cessation, involving 71,806 subjects, that reported the proportion of successful quits. Self-care methods do not appear to be as effective as formal intervention methods. Instructional programs involving physicians were not more effective than o…

The effectiveness of memory training for the elderly was examined through a meta-analysis of pre-to-posttest gains on episodic memory tasks in healthy subjects aged 60 or above. Pre-to-posttest gains were found to be significantly larger in training groups (0.73 SD, k = 49) than in both control (0.38 SD, k = 10) and pl…

To evaluate variability in the reported accuracy of fluoroscopically detected coronary calcific deposits for predicting angiographic coronary disease, we applied meta analysis to 13 consecutively published reports comparing the results of cardiac fluoroscopy with coronary angiography. Population characteristics and tec…

Coffee consumption has been linked to risk of colorectal cancer theoretically, but the findings were conflicting from observational studies. Results from the recent meta-analysis suggested a moderate favorable effect of coffee consumption on colorectal cancer risk, especially for colon cancer. However, the relationship…

This article is a review and analysis of published and unpublished research on the efficacy of both dilute heparin solutions and normal saline solutions in flushing and maintaining the patency of vascular catheters. Twenty studies involving both intravenous and intraarterial catheters in pediatric and adult patients ar…

In this correspondence, we raised our concerns about the methodological issues in the recent network meta-analysis by Yang et al. These issues require close attention because such meta-analysis forms the basis of major guidelines and helps clinicians make informed decisions.

This review used quantitative and qualitative techniques to integrate the alcohol and aggression literature. The primary purpose of the review was to determine if a causal relation exists between alcohol and aggression. The main meta-analysis included 30 experimental studies that used between-subjects designs, male con…

Graphics displaying all confidence intervals around a point estimate have been referred to as P-value functions and consonance intervals. We recommend use of the term confidence interval function (CI function) rather than P-value function. The CI function is useful because it simultaneously depicts point estimation, va…