392,350 papers found

OBJECTIVES: Searching multiple sources when conducting systematic reviews is considered good practice. We aimed to investigate the impact of using sources beyond PubMed in systematic reviews of therapeutic interventions. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: We randomly selected 50 Cochrane reviews that searched the PubMed (or ME…

Researchers may have multiple motivations for combining disparate pieces of evidence in a meta-analysis, such as generalizing experimental results or increasing the power to detect an effect that a single study is not able to detect. However, while in meta-analysis, the main question may be simple, the structure of evi…

BACKGROUND: Animal experiments should be appropriately designed, correctly analysed and transparently reported to increase their scientific validity and maximise the knowledge gained from each experiment. This systematic review of animal experiments investigating statins evaluates their quality of reporting and methodo…

There have been over 100 randomized clinical trials (RCTs) of diverse regimens of antiretroviral therapy for treatment-naïve human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients. A further 400 systematic reviews and meta-analyses are informed by these trials. There are, however, difficulties in using systematic reviews…

INTRODUCTION: Non-pharmacological interventions (NPIs) are increasingly recognized as essential adjuncts to alleviate symptoms and enhance compliance in opioid use disorder (OUD). Although clinical guidelines recommend specific NPI modalities, high-quality evidence regarding their comparative hierarchies and time-cours…

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) in the general population is notably high, ranging from 4% to 20%, and varies according to sex and age. SCH has been reported to be associated with multiple adverse pregnancy outcomes in pregnant women. While the therapeutic decision for overt hypothyroidis…

INTRODUCTION: Leptospirosis is a significant public health concern worldwide, as it imposes a substantial economic burden on the global economy. Despite a comprehensive search of the relevant literature, few studies evaluating the economic burden experienced by leptospirosis patients were identified. In particular, ver…

BACKGROUND: Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is the most common and burdensome form of osteoarthritis worldwide. Although numerous non-pharmacological interventions are recommended in clinical practice, existing evidence remains fragmented and lacks comprehensive comparative evaluation. This study aims to systematically compa…

BACKGROUND: Standard random-effects meta-analysis models for rare events exhibit significant limitations, particularly when synthesizing studies with double-zero events. While methodological advances in both frequentist and Bayesian frameworks now offer robust alternatives that bypass continuity corrections, the compar…

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: The production of systematic reviews with meta-analysis in the field of analgesia and pain medicine has increased dramatically over the years and is increasingly used to guide clinical practice as well as decisions by others (policymakers, etc). A common metric for pooling data from studies that use…

BACKGROUND: Disability is widely acknowledged as a major contributor to depression, which is a prevalent mental health condition that profoundly affects individuals, especially those with visual impairments. OBJECTIVES: This develops a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis aim to examine the prevalence an…

INTRODUCTION: Many people experience lifelong impacts after losing a loved one. Bereavement adaptation, which refers to how people adapt to changes after a death, is crucial for their subsequent life stages. Bereavement experienced during one's childhood or teenage years can be even more challenging, considering the du…

Quantifying the heterogeneity is an important issue in meta-analysis, and among the existing measures, thestatistic is most commonly used. In this article, we first illustrate with a simple example that thestatistic is heavily dependent on the study sample sizes, mainly because it is used to quantify the heterogeneity…

BACKGROUND: Large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT showed great potential in aiding medical research. A heavy workload in filtering records is needed during the research process of evidence-based medicine, especially meta-analysis. However, few studies tried to use LLMs to help screen records in meta-analysis. OBJE…

INTRODUCTION: Dengue fever is a major global public health challenge caused by the Arbovirus and transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. The increasing incidence of dengue, particularly in the Southeast Asia (SEA) region, including Malaysia, highlights the urgent need for a comprehensive understanding of dengue molecular epid…

BACKGROUND: Systematic reviews are critical for evidence-based healthcare decisions, but their validity depends on the quality of conduct and reporting. AMSTAR-2, a widely used tool for assessing the quality of systematic reviews, identifies seven critical domains influencing review validity, although its developers re…

INTRODUCTION: Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) experience various metabolic, endocrine, reproductive and psychosocial manifestations. Lifestyle modification is crucial for the management of PCOS to reduce long-term complications. Nonetheless, the efficacy and acceptability of lifestyle interventions differs,…

INTRODUCTION: Breast cancer has become the most common cancer worldwide. Various types of mindfulness-based interventions (e.g., mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, mindfulness-based stress reduction) have been conducted in different delivery methods (including face to face and internet delivered) to help patients wit…

BACKGROUND: Health inequities persist among First Nations people living in developed countries. Surgical care is pivotal in addressing a significant portion of the global disease burden. Evidence regarding surgical outcomes among First Nations people in Australia is limited. The perioperative mortality rate (POMR) indi…

INTRODUCTION: HIV infection is one of the complex aetiologies of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). However, the contribution of HIV to burden of NHL across time and region has not yet been comprehensively reported and quantified. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the relative risk of NHL in individuals with HIV infection c…