Long Ge

BackgroundAn increasing number of systematic reviews (SRs) have evaluated the diagnostic values of next-generation sequencing (NGS) in infectious diseases (IDs).AimThis umbrella analysis aimed to assess the potential risk of bias in existing SRs and to summarize the published diagnostic values of NGS in different IDs.MethodWe searched PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library until September 2023 for SRs assessing the diagnostic validity of NGS for IDs. Two investigators independently determined review eligibility, extracted data, and evaluated reporting quality, risk of bias, methodological quality, and evidence certainty in the included SRs.ResultsEleven SRs were analyzed. Most SRs exhibited a moderate level of reporting quality, while a serious risk of bias was observed in all SRs. The diagnostic performance of NGS in detecting pneumocystis pneumonia and periprosthetic/prosthetic joint infection …

ObjectiveTo summarize the evidence of various exercise modalities on population with insomnia disorders.MethodPubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of science were searched for eligible studies published from inception to October 2022 and updated on September 2023. Systematic reviews with meta-analyses and randomized controlled trials designed to investigate the effect of various exercise modalities on population with insomnia were eligible.ResultsA total of 4 SRs with (very) low methodological quality and 1034 participants in 10 network meta-analyses explored the association between different types and intensity exercise modalities with insomnia disorders. Various exercise modalities could significantly improve total sleep time and sleep quality and alleviate insomnia severity. Compared to passive control, moderate aerobic exercise, moderate aerobic exercise combined with light intensity …

ObjectivesAcupuncture overviews are increasing rapidly; however, their reporting quality is yet unclear. We aimed to investigate the reporting quality of relevant overviews according to the preferred reporting items for overviews of reviews (PRIOR) statement.MethodsWe systematically searched PubMed from inception to August 16, 2022 for overviews on acupuncture therapies. Reporting quality of included overviews was evaluated using the PRIOR statement, and the results were cross-checked. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to assess the predictors of the reporting completeness. GraphPad 9.4 was utilized to generate an evidence map, Excel 2019 was used to extract and manage data, and R 4.2.3 was used for data analysis.ResultsA total of 49 overviews published from 2006 to 2022 were included, of which China ranked first with 38 overviews. The most frequently searched database was PubMed …

AimTo refine the methods of developing clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for integrative Chinese-Western medicine (ICWM), promoting the formation of trustworthy, implementable recommendations that integrate the strengths of Chinese and Western medicine.MethodsUsing a nominal group technique (NGT) approach, a multidisciplinary expert panel was established. The panel identified key methodological issues in ICWM-CPG development through literature review and iterative discussions, and formulated methodological proposals to address these issues. The final set of proposals was achieved through consensus among the panel members.ResultsThe collaborative effort resulted in the identification of five pivotal methodological issues and the subsequent establishment of 22 specific recommendations. These encompass strict adherence to renowned standards, such as those proposed by the Institute of …

ObjectivesTo evaluate the quality of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) on dental services provision during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic.Materials and methodsWe systematically searched in MEDLINE, EMBASE, LILACS, Epistemonikos, Trip databases, websites of CPG developers, compilers of CPGs, scientific societies and ministries of health to identify documents with recommendations intended to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission during dental care. Reviewers independently and in duplicate assessed the included CPGs using the AGREE II instrument. We calculated the standardized scores for the six domains and made a final recommendation about each CPG. The inter-appraiser agreement was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC).ResultsTwenty-three CPGs published were included. Most of the CPGs were from America (n=15) and Europe (n=6). The overall …

ObjectiveWe conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the relationship between stillbirths and various perinatal outcomes in subsequent pregnancies.Data sourcesPubMed, the Cochrane Library, Embase, Web of Science, and CNKI databases were searchedup to July 2023.Study eligibility criteriaCohort studies reported the association between stillbirths and perinatal outcomes in subsequent pregnancies.Study appraisal and synthesis methodsWe conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. Statistical analysis was performed using R and STATA software. We used random effects models to pool each outcome of interest. We performed a meta-regression analysis to explore the potential heterogeneity. The certainty (quality) of evidence assessment was performed the GRADE approach.ResultsNineteen cohort studies were included which …

Their stated aim is to summarise the “benefits and harms of weight-lowering drugs”, but the main findings and discussion focus on weight loss, without due consideration to the scarcity of evidence for benefits to health and wellbeing. For instance, quality of life and depression data are reported as low quality or insufficient, and there is no mention of the absence of long-term cardiovascular outcomes. A review on long-term effects of weight-reducing pharmacotherapy included only one trial with cardiovascular outcomes; it found no benefit.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are common in long COVID, yet the associated risk remains uncertain. We aimed to quantify the risk of new‐onset cardiovascular diseases after COVID‐19. We searched PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science from inception up to October 2022. Cohort studies that provided information on the number, proportion, or relative risks (RR) of cardiovascular diseases after COVID‐19 were included. Paired reviewers independently screened studies, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias. We performed random‐effects models meta‐analyses to calculate RR and corresponding 95% confidence interval (95%CI), and conducted subgroup analyses and meta‐regression to explore the potential risk factors. Absolute effects were calculated to facilitate interpretation. The Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach was used to assess the certainty of …

Background Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are the most commonly prescribed drugs for preventing upper gastrointestinal bleeding in critically ill patients. However, concerns have arisen about the possible harms of using PPIs, including potentially increased risk of pneumonia, Clostridioides difficile infection, and more seriously, an increased risk of death in the most severely ill patients. Triggered by the REVISE trial, which is a forthcoming large randomized trial comparing pantoprazole to placebo in invasively mechanically ventilated patients, we will conduct this systematic review to evaluate the efficacy and safety of PPIs versus no prophylaxis for critically ill patients. Methods We will systematically search randomized trials that compared gastrointestinal bleeding prophylaxis with PPIs versus placebo or no prophylaxis in adults in the intensive care unit (ICU). Pairs of reviewers will independently screen the …

COVID‐19 is not only associated with substantial acute liver and kidney injuries, but also with an elevated risk of post‐acute sequelae involving the kidney and liver system. We aimed to investigate whether COVID‐19 exposure increases the long‐term risk of kidney and liver disease, and what are the magnitudes of these associations. We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, ClinicalTrials.gov, and the Living Overview of the Evidence COVID‐19 Repository for cohort studies estimating the association between COVID‐19 and kidney and liver outcomes. Random‐effects meta‐analyses were performed to combine the results of the included studies. We assessed the certainty of the evidence using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach. Fifteen cohort studies with more than 32 million participants were included in the systematic review COVID‐19 was …

Objectives(i) To analyze trends and gaps in evidence of health effects on pollutants and extreme temperatures by evidence mapping; (ii) to conduct a cross-sectional survey on the use of the Grades of Recommendations Assessment Development and Evaluation (GRADE) in systematic reviews or meta-analyses (SR/MAs) of health effects on pollutants and extreme temperatures.Study Design and SettingPubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) were searched until July 7, 2022. SR/MAs investigated health effects of pollutants and extreme temperatures were included.ResultsOut of 22,658 studies, 312 SR/MAs were included in evidence mapping, and the effects of pollutants on cancer and congenital malformations were new research hotspots. Among 16 SR/MAs involving 108 outcomes that were rated using GRADE, the …

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic posed a detrimental impact on the conduct of non-COVID-19 related clinical trials, raising concerns about the completeness of these studies and waste of resources. While several measures and strategies have been suggested to address these issues, a thorough and timely summarisation is still lacking. Therefore, our aim is to conduct a scoping review to summarise the negative effects of COVID-19 on non-COVID-19 clinical trials, outline the effective measures for mitigating these impacts, and provide insights for future pandemics.Methods and analysisThis scoping review will be conducted in line with the Joanna Briggs Institute’s scoping review methodological framework, and the results will be reported following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews. Relevant articles will be searched in PubMed, Embase …

We thank Drs Kow, Ramachandram and Hasan for their interest in our review and their knowledgeable comments. 1 We agree with your thoughtful view that the most important outcome, mortality, should be considered in the drug development and clinical decision-making process, and comprehensive consideration of multiple patient-important outcomes is the key to appropriately judging the balance of benefits and harms. 2 Our review combined a total of 34 570 patients from various countries around the world. The results showed that molnupiravir was associated with a reduction in the risk of hospitalization [relative risk (RR)= 0.63; 95% CI: 0.47–0.85), risk of mechanical ventilation (RR= 0.37; 95% CI: 0.19–0.72) and time to symptom resolution (mean difference=− 2.91 days; 95% CI:− 3.66 to− 2.16). 3 We also conducted subgroups and metaregression in our review to try to explore the effect of molnupiravir on …

COVID‐19 is not only associated with substantial acute liver and kidney injuries, but also with an elevated risk of post‐acute sequelae involving the kidney and liver system. We aimed to investigate whether COVID‐19 exposure increases the long‐term risk of kidney and liver disease, and what are the magnitudes of these associations. We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, ClinicalTrials.gov, and the Living Overview of the Evidence COVID‐19 Repository for cohort studies estimating the association between COVID‐19 and kidney and liver outcomes. Random‐effects meta‐analyses were performed to combine the results of the included studies. We assessed the certainty of the evidence using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach. Fifteen cohort studies with more than 32 million participants were included in the systematic review COVID‐19 was …

As an important guidance of medical practice, clinical practice guideline of integrative Chinese medicine (ICM-CPG) plays an extremely important role in showing the respective advantages of Chinese and Western medicine and in promoting the integrated Chinese and Western medicine. However, the research status on ICM-CPG is faced with the problem of emphasizing development but neglecting implementation. The establishment of ICM-CPG implementation model based on the theoretical framework of implementation science is conducive to promoting the implementation of ICM-CPG and advancing the integration and development of Chinese and Western medicine. In this paper, by sorting out and analyzing the knowledge to action (KTA) framework, we discuss the implementation framework development of ICM-CPG in order to provide reference for future research.

This is the protocol for a Campbell systematic review. The objectives are as follows. This study has three main objectives: (1) To examine the time duration from title registration to publication of the protocol for a Campbell systematic review and publication of the completed Campbell systematic review; (2) To describe publication times in accordance with the characteristics of the reviews, which include year of publication, type of review, number of authors, number of collaborative institutions, the time gap between the date the search was conducted and review publication, and the length and complexity of the included review (including the number of pages, the number of tables and figures, the number of studies included in the review, the number and type of analyses undertaken, and the number of references); (3) To describe the differences in publication times between Campbell Review Groups.

PurposeThis study aimed at quantifying and ranking the effects of different foods or food groups on weight loss.MethodsWe searched PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Embase to April 2021. We included randomized trials evaluating the comparative effects of two or more food groups, or compared a food group against a control group (usual diet, no intervention) for weight loss in adults. We conducted random-effects network meta-analysis with Bayesian framework to estimate mean difference [MD] and 95% credible interval [CrI] of the effect of food groups on weight loss.Results152 RCTs with 9669 participants were eligible. Increased consumption of fish (MD − 0.85 kg, 95% CrI − 1.66, − 0.02; GRADE = low), whole grains (MD − 0.44 kg, 95% CrI − 0.88, 0.0; GRADE = very low), and nuts (MD − 0.37 kg, 95% CI − 0.72, − 0.01; GRADE = low) demonstrated trivial weight loss …

ObjectiveTo assess the impact of reducing saturated fat or fatty foods, or replacing saturated fat with unsaturated fat, carbohydrate or protein, on the risk of mortality and major cancer and cardiometabolic outcomes in adults.MethodsWe searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and references of included studies for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (SRMAs) of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies in adults published in the past 10 years. Eligible reviews investigated reducing saturated fat or fatty foods or replacing saturated fat with unsaturated fat, carbohydrate or protein, on the risk of cancer and cardiometabolic outcomes and assessed the certainty of evidence for each outcome using, for example, the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations) approach. We assessed the quality of SRMAs using a modified version of AMSTAR-2. Results were …

AimTo systematically review the current status of strategies and barriers to implementing guidelines in China to promote the better application of guidelines in clinical practice.MethodsWe searched CNKI, CBM, WanFang, PubMed, Embase, and WOS up to October 2022. Our reviewers performed literature screening, data extraction, and quality assessment in duplicate. Potential barriers and strategies were mapped based on evidence, target population, organizations, and resource and environment.ResultsWe included 16 surveys involving a total of 7147 health care providers. Two third of included surveys were moderate to high quality. Thirty-one barriers were grouped into four categories, including evidence, target population, organization, and resources and environment. Lack of applicability, ambiguous recommendations, and less convenient were the main evidence-related barrier factors. The top three barriers …

Currently, it is estimated that approximately 10 million procedures involving plastic surgery are performed in the world per year, of which 1.6 million correspond to mammoplasty techniques with implantation of prostheses [International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery]. Various techniques and prosthetic materials have been developed and are available for use. Comparative studies to identify the most effective options and safety, with different indications, have also been published. A search of MEDLINE (via PubMed) using a specific strategy for clinical trials on mammoplasty showed that 421 references had been indexed in this database by 2011. This number more than doubled in the following ten years (881 references by 2021). To deal with the increasing number of primary studies, including clinical trials, systematic reviews have been carried out with the aim of mapping, critically evaluating and synthesizing the results of these studies, thus summarizing the best available evidence on a specific question to support decision making in health [Khan 2001]. However, to fulfill their role of reliably informing health decision-making and identifying gaps in questions that still need answers, systematic reviews need to be planned, conducted and reported with methodological rigor, in a systematic and transparent way. Even with the existence of specific methodological guidance, critical evaluation and reporting tools, the low quality and redundancy of systematic reviews have remained [Martimbianco 2021]. The literature has shown that, for example, in the areas of interventions for carotid stenosis [Mendoza 2021], bariatric surgery [Storman 2020] and …