Articles

Prevalence and risk factors of depression in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a protocol of systematic review and meta-analysis

The prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is growing in China. Depression is a significant complication of T2DM, leading to poor management of T2DM. Thus, early detection and treatment of depression in...

Authors: Xiaobo Liu, Chao Dong, Hong Jiang, Dongling Zhong, Yuxi Li, Huiling Zhang, Jun Zhang, Jin Fan, Juan Li, Li Guan and Rongjiang Jin

Communication strategies in the prevention of type 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes in vulnerable groups: a scoping review

The global prevalence of diabetes is nearly 9%, with an upward trend in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and gestational diabetes (GDM). Although evidence shows that vulnerable groups are affected disproportion...

Authors: Jessica Breuing, Christine Joisten, Annika Lena Neuhaus, Simone Heß, Lena Kusche, Fabiola Haas, Mark Spiller and Dawid Pieper

Adult stroke survivor’s reintegration to normal living: a scoping review protocol

To the best of our knowledge, a scoping review of the published literature investigating the determinants of adult stroke survivors’ reintegration to normal living has not been conducted. This scoping review a...

Authors: Michael Opeoluwa Ogunlana, Pragashnie Govender, Olufemi Oyeleye Oyewole and Ifeoma Blessing Nwosu

Comparison of COVID-19 outcomes in organ transplant recipients (OTr) and non-transplant patients: a study protocol for rapid review

The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated the global community with nearly 4.9 million deaths as of October 2021. While organ transplant (OT) recipients (OTr) may be at increased risk for severe COVID-19 due to the...

Authors: Alexis H. Lerner, Elizabeth J. Klein, Anna Hardesty, Orestis A. Panagiotou, Chelsea Misquith and Dimitrios Farmakiotis

Effectiveness of interventions for prevention of common infections in people who use opioids: a protocol for a systematic review of systematic reviews

The North American opioid crisis is driven by opioid-related mortality and morbidity, including opioid use-associated infections (OUAIs), resulting in a substantial burden for society. Users of legal and illeg...

Authors: Irina Kudrina, Svetlana Puzhko, Kristian B. Filion, Genevieve Gore, Elena Paraskevopoulos, Sarah Windle, Marc O. Martel and Mark J. Eisenberg

Effect of home-based pulmonary rehabilitation on functional capacity in people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis—a systematic review protocol

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is one of the common types of interstitial lung disease having high prevalence and mortality worldwide. As a result of patient-centred hindering factors of adherence to cent...

Authors: Revati Amin, K. Vaishali, G. Arun Maiya, Aswini Kumar Mohapatra, Uday Narayan Yadav and Shradha S. Parsekar

Peer support for smoking cessation: a protocol of systematic review and meta-analysis

Peer-support programs are a useful social support strategy for populations trying to quit smoking who are willing to maintain smoking abstinence. This study is a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analy...

Authors: Hyun-Ju Seo, Soo Young Kim, Dongah Park, Seung-Soo Sheen, Miyoung Choi, Bo-Hyoung Jang, Su Jung Lee and Youngju Cha

Early intervention for young children with autism spectrum disorder: protocol for a scoping review of economic evaluations

In many countries, children who are diagnosed with autism during the first 5 years of life are offered a range of early intervention options. These options vary considerably in the theoretical approaches and t...

Authors: Katherine Pye, Hannah Jackson, Teresa Iacono and Alan Shiell

Systematic review and meta-analysis of the safety of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine from randomized controlled trials on malarial and non-malarial conditions

Despite the expectations regarding the effectiveness of chloroquine (CQ) and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) management, concerns about their adverse events have remained.

Authors: Mayra Souza Botelho, Fernanda Bolfi, Renata Giacomini Occhiuto Ferreira Leite, Mauro Salles Ferreira Leite, Luisa Rocco Banzato, Luiza Teixeira Soares, Thaina Oliveira Felicio Olivatti, Amanda Sampaio Mangolim, Flávia Ramos Kazan Oliveira, Luciana Patrícia Fernandes Abbade, Joelcio Francisco Abbade, Ricardo Augusto Monteiro de Barros Almeida, Julia Simões Corrêa Galendi, Lehana Thabane and Vania dos Santos Nunes-Nogueira

Barriers and enablers to physical activity in patients during hospital stay: a scoping review

Low levels of physical activity are common during the hospital stay and have been associated with negative health outcomes. Understanding barriers and enablers to physical activity during a hospital stay can i...

Authors: Sven Jacobus Gertruda Geelen, Hanneke Corine van Dijk - Huisman, Robert Adriaan de Bie, Cindy Veenhof, Raoul Engelbert, Marike van der Schaaf and Antoine François Lenssen

Using median survival in meta-analysis of experimental time-to-event data

Time-to-event data is frequently reported in both clinical and preclinical research spheres. Systematic review and meta-analysis is a tool that can help to identify pitfalls in preclinical research conduct and...

Authors: Theodore C. Hirst, Emily S. Sena and Malcolm R. Macleod

Global stakeholder perspectives of home birth: a systematic scoping review

Home birth is experienced by people very differently worldwide. These experiences likely differ by the type of stakeholder involved (women, their support persons, birth attendants, policy-makers), the experien...

Authors: Ginny Brunton, Samira Wahab, Hassan Sheikh and Beth Murray Davis

Management strategies for patients with subclinical hypothyroidism: a protocol for an umbrella review

Subclinical hypothyroidism is a thyroid disorder diagnosed from the laboratory blood test results of otherwise asymptomatic patients. It has been associated with poor cardiovascular outcomes, mortality and pro...

Authors: Brenda S. Bauer, Amaya Azcoaga-Lorenzo, Utkarsh Agrawal and Colin McCowan

Patient-important outcomes reported in randomized controlled trials of pharmacologic treatments for COVID-19: a protocol of a META-epidemiological study

The coronavirus disease 19 (covid-19) pandemic has underscored the need to expedite clinical research, which may lead investigators to shift away from measuring patient-important outcomes (PIO), limiting resea...

Authors: Mario A. Jimenez-Mora, Andrea Ramírez Varela, Jose F. Meneses-Echavez, Julia Bidonde, Adriana Angarita-Fonseca, Reed A. C. Siemieniuk, Dena Zeraatkar, Jessica J. Bartoszko, Romina Brignardello-Petersen, Kimia Honarmand, Bram Rochwerg, Gordon Guyatt and Juan José Yepes-Nuñez

Prognostic models of diabetic microvascular complications: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Many prognostic models of diabetic microvascular complications have been developed, but their performances still varies. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to summarise the performan...

Authors: Sigit Ari Saputro, Oraluck Pattanaprateep, Anuchate Pattanateepapon, Swekshya Karmacharya and Ammarin Thakkinstian

Precancerous cervical lesion in Ethiopia: systematic review and meta-analysis

Though cervical cancer is largely preventable, it is still the second most common female cancer globally and the leading cause of cancer deaths among females in African. Though many efforts have been done to s...

Authors: Ayele Semachew Kasa, Tadesse Dagget, Yeshiwork Beyene, Getnet Dessie, Aklilu Endalamaw, Yinager Workineh, Emiru Ayalew, Balew Zeleke, Sitotaw Kerie, Getasew Mulat and Worku Animaw

Paper 3: Selecting rapid review methods for complex questions related to health policy and system issues

Approaches for rapid reviews that focus on streamlining systematic review methods are not always suitable for exploring complex policy questions, as developing and testing theories to explain these complexitie...

Authors: Michael G. Wilson, Sandy Oliver, G. J. Melendez-Torres, John N. Lavis, Kerry Waddell and Kelly Dickson

srBERT: automatic article classification model for systematic review using BERT

Systematic reviews (SRs) are recognized as reliable evidence, which enables evidence-based medicine to be applied to clinical practice. However, owing to the significant efforts required for an SR, its creatio...

Authors: Sungmin Aum and Seon Choe

The prognostic significance of the alterations of pulmonary hemodynamics in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension: a meta-regression analysis of randomized controlled trials

Hemodynamic assessment in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is essential for risk stratification and pharmacological management. However, the prognostic value of the hemodynamic changes after...

Authors: Shih-Hsien Sung, Wan-Yu Yeh, Chern-En Chiang, Chi-Jung Huang, Wei-Ming Huang, Chen-Huan Chen and Hao-Min Cheng

The worldwide prevalence of burnout syndrome among bank employees: a systematic review and meta-analysis protocol

Burnout is a syndrome caused by chronic stress in the workplace that has not been successfully managed. Although prevalence of burnout is well documented in different fields, little is known about this syndrom...

Authors: Sharareh Azedi Tehrani, Abbasali Keshtkar, Akilesh Ramasamy and Majid Fadaei

Aetiology and outcome of non-traumatic coma in African children: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

Non-traumatic coma is a common acute childhood presentation to healthcare facilities in Africa and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Historically, the majority of cases were attributed to cerebr...

Authors: Stephen T. J. Ray, Charlotte Fuller, Alexandra Boubour, Laura J. Bonnett, David G. Lalloo, Karl B. Seydel and Michael J. Griffiths

Protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies examining the impact of COVID-19 safety measures on physical activity patterns in adults

The primary objective of this study is twofold: (1) to examine the effect of COVID-19 safety measures, enacted to prevent transmission of SARS-nCOV-2, on total physical activity in the adult general population...

Authors: Fabian Schwendinger, Denis Infanger, Elena Pocecco, Joséphine Gander, Timo Hinrichs and Arno Schmidt-Trucksäss

Ocular adverse events from pharmacological treatment in patients with multiple sclerosis—A systematic review of the literature

The aim of this study was to review the scientific evidence and describe the ocular treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) related to pharmacological treatment in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Authors: Juliana Muñoz-Ortiz, Juliana Reyes-Guanes, Estefanía Zapata-Bravo, Laura Mora-Muñoz, Juan Antonio Reyes-Hurtado, Luis Octavio Tierradentro-García, William Rojas-Carabali, Marcela Gómez-Suarez and Alejandra de-la-Torre

Community-based rehabilitation implementation for people with disabilities in South Africa: a protocol for a scoping review

People with disabilities (PWDs) remain among the poorest and least empowered population. They experience limited access to basic services, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). The infringemen...

Authors: Sithembiso Blose, Saul Cobbing and Verusia Chetty

Paediatric tuberculosis diagnosis using Mycobacterium tuberculosis real-time polymerase chain reaction assay: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Rapid and accurate diagnosis of paediatric tuberculosis (TB) is key to manage the disease and to control and prevent its transmission. Collection of quality sputum samples without invasion methods from paediat...

Authors: Emmanuel Oladipo Babafemi, Benny P. Cherian, Beatrice Ouma and Gilbert Mangua Mogoko

HIV incidence among men who have sex with men in mainland China: a systematic review protocol

Men who have sex with men (MSM) are disproportionately affected by HIV in China. Globally, younger MSM are at higher risk for incident HIV infections, but there has been substantial variation in the estimates ...

Authors: Wenting Huang, Liming Wang, Mi Guodong, Ryan J. Zahn, Jennifer Taussig, Shenita R. Peterson, Stefan Baral, Renee H. Moore, Xiaojie Huang, Jianhua Hou, Patrick S. Sullivan and Aaron J. Siegler

Mapping multicenter randomized controlled trials in anesthesiology: a scoping review

Evidence suggests that there are substantial inconsistencies in the practice of anesthesia. There has not yet been a comprehensive summary of the anesthesia literature that can guide future knowledge translati...

Authors: Sylvain Boet, Joseph K. Burns, Olivia Cheng-Boivin, Hira Khan, Kendra Derry, Deric Diep, Abdul Hadi Djokhdem, Sung Wook Um, Johnny W. Huang, Danica Paré, Mimi Deng, Liza Begunova, Linda Yi Ning Fei, Maryam Bezzahou, Pium Sonali Andrahennadi, Elysia Grose…

Treatment of eating disorders in older people: a systematic review

Historically, eating disorders were not identified in older populations and it is only in more recent times that there is greater recognition of the existence of eating disorders among the elderly. This is des...

Authors: Megha Mulchandani, Namrata Shetty, Agatha Conrad, Petra Muir and Beth Mah

Early pregnancy loss incidence in high-income settings: a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

Early pregnancy loss (unintended pregnancy loss before 20 completed weeks of gestation) is a common adverse pregnancy outcome, with previous evidence reporting incidence ranging from 10 to 30% of detected preg...

Authors: L. Schummers, N. Oveisi, M. S. Ohtsuka, J. A. Hutcheon, K. A. Ahrens, J. Liauw and W. V. Norman

A comparison of two assessment tools used in overviews of systematic reviews: ROBIS versus AMSTAR-2

AMSTAR-2 is a 16-item assessment tool to check the quality of a systematic review and establish whether the most important elements are reported. ROBIS is another assessment tool which was designed to evaluate...

Authors: R. Perry, A. Whitmarsh, V. Leach and P. Davies

Correction to: Anesthesia interventions that alter perioperative mortality: a scoping review

Authors: Sylvain Boet, Cole Etherington, David Nicola, Andrew Beck, Susan Bragg, Ian D. Carrigan, Sarah Larrigan, Cassandra T. Mendonca, Isaac Miao, Tatyana Postonogova, Benjamin Walker, José De Wit, Karim Mohamed, Nadia Balaa, Manoj Mathew Lalu, Daniel I. McIsaac…

Interventions for improving outcomes in patients with multimorbidity in primary care and community setting: a systematic review

Multimorbidity, defined as the co-existence of two or more chronic conditions, presents significant challenges to patients, healthcare providers and health systems. Despite this, there is ongoing uncertainty a...

Authors: Susan M. Smith, Emma Wallace, Barbara Clyne, Fiona Boland and Martin Fortin

Neuromuscular adaptations to experimentally induced pain in the lumbar region: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

Numerous studies report changes in neuromuscular control in people with low back pain (LBP). However, the relationship between pain and altered neuromuscular control is challenging to unravel given the heterog...

Authors: Valter Devecchi, Deborah Falla, Hélio V. Cabral and Alessio Gallina

Evidence on respectful maternity care for adolescents: a systematic review protocol

Intrapartum mistreatment of women is an ubiquitous public health and human rights challenge. The issue reportedly has severe maternal and neonatal outcomes including mortality, and generally leads to a decreas...

Authors: Helen H. Habib, Jefferson Mwaisaka, Kwasi Torpey, Ernest Tei Maya and Augustine Ankomah

Theoretical approaches to process evaluations of complex interventions in health care: a systematic scoping review protocol

Complex interventions in health care are characterized by multiple interacting components as well as by numerous nonlinear interactions with the social systems within which they are being implemented. The proc...

Authors: Tina Quasdorf, Lauren Clack, Franziska Laporte Uribe, Daniela Holle, Martin Berwig, Daniel Purwins, Marie-Therese Schultes and Martina Roes

Increasing retractions of meta-analyses publications for methodological flaw

Purpose of this letter was to explore the trends regarding methodological flaws of systematic review and meta-analyses (SRMAs) based on retraction notes in the past decades, and the categories of reasons for t...

Authors: Chia-Yun Chen, Yi-No Kang, Ken N. Kuo, Paul Glasziou and Kee-Hsin Chen

A characterization of cortisol level and adrenal reservation in human cardiopulmonary arrest: systematic review and meta-analysis

Cardiopulmonary arrest (CPA) is an urgency, which is associated with high mortality. This systematic review evaluated the relationship between baseline cortisol level and the outcome of resuscitated CPA patients.

Authors: Adeleh Sahebnasagh, Paria Soltani Nejad, Amin Salehi-Abargouei, Mohammad Hossein Dehghani and Fatemeh Saghafi

Do continuous forms of intra-operative ultrafiltration enhance recovery after adult cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass? A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is associated with a systemic inflammatory syndrome that adversely impacts cardiopulmonary function and can contribute to prolonged postoperative recovery. Int...

Authors: Joel Bierer, David Horne, Roger Stanzel, Mark Henderson, Leah Boulos and Jill Hayden

Systematic reviews of observational studies of Risk of Thrombosis and Bleeding in General and Gynecologic Surgery (ROTBIGGS): introduction and methodology

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) and bleeding are serious and potentially fatal complications of surgical procedures. Pharmacological thromboprophylaxis decreases the risk of VTE but increases the risk of major po...

Authors: Lauri I. Lavikainen, Gordon H. Guyatt, Yung Lee, Rachel J. Couban, Anna L. Luomaranta, Ville J. Sallinen, Ilkka E. J. Kalliala, Paul J. Karanicolas, Rufus Cartwright, Riikka L. Aaltonen, Kaisa Ahopelto, Karoliina M. Aro, Ines Beilmann-Lehtonen, Marco H. Blanker, Jovita L. Cárdenas, Samantha Craigie…

Scoping reviews: reinforcing and advancing the methodology and application

Scoping reviews are an increasingly common approach to evidence synthesis with a growing suite of methodological guidance and resources to assist review authors with their planning, conduct and reporting. The ...

Authors: Micah D. J. Peters, Casey Marnie, Heather Colquhoun, Chantelle M. Garritty, Susanne Hempel, Tanya Horsley, Etienne V. Langlois, Erin Lillie, Kelly K. O’Brien, Ӧzge Tunçalp, Michael G. Wilson, Wasifa Zarin and Andrea C. Tricco

Reporting quality evaluation of the stroke clinical practice guidelines: a systematic review

To analyze the effectiveness and quality of stroke clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) published in recent years in order to guide future guideline developers to develop better guidelines.

Authors: Shuya Lu, Xufei Luo, Xiaojia Ni, Haoxuan Li, Miaomiao Meng, Yefeng Cai, Yunlan Liu, Mengjuan Ren, Yanrui Sun and Yaolong Chen

Evidence on scaling in health and social care: protocol for a living umbrella review

There is a growing interest in scaling effective health innovations to promote equitable access to high-quality health services worldwide. However, multiple challenges persist in scaling innovations. In this s...

Authors: France Légaré, Karine V. Plourde, Ali Ben Charif, Amédé Gogovor, Francesca Katherine Brundisini, Robert K. D. McLean, Andrew Milat, Nathalie Rheault, Luke Wolfenden and Hervé Tchala Vignon Zomahoun

Incorporating and evaluating citizen engagement in health research: a scoping review protocol

Citizen engagement in research is an emerging practice that involves members of the general public in research processes such as priority setting, planning, decision-making, research conduct, implementation, e...

Authors: Anmol Shahid, Brianna K. Rosgen, Karla D. Krewulak, Diane L. Lorenzetti, Nadine Foster, Bonnie G. Sept, Jeanna Parsons Leigh, Henry T. Stelfox and Kirsten M. Fiest

Evaluating measures of quality of life in adult scoliosis: a protocol for a systematic review and narrative synthesis

Adult scoliosis represents a distinct subgroup of scoliosis patients for whom the diagnosis can have a large impact on their health-related quality of life (HR-QOL). Therefore, HR-QOL patient-reported outcome ...

Authors: James E. Archer, Charles Baird, Adrian Gardner, Alison B. Rushton and Nicola R. Heneghan

Experiences of families of public safety personnel: a systematic review protocol of qualitative evidence

Public safety occupations are well-recognized to be dangerous and stressful. Despite recent attention on post-traumatic stress injuries among public safety personnel, there has been considerably less attention...

Authors: Janette Leroux, Rachel Richmond, Sara Fitzpatrick, Hannah Kirkland, Deborah Norris, Alyson Mahar, Joy MacDermid, Rachel Dekel and Heidi Cramm

Factors that impact burnout and psychological wellbeing in Australian postgraduate medical trainees: a systematic review protocol

The stressful nature of medical training and other work-related factors put postgraduate medical trainees at high risk of burnout and poor psychological wellbeing. This has negative implications for patient ca...

Authors: Belinda Balhatchet, Heike Schütze, Nicole Williams and Bruce Ashford

Key elements and effects of cardiovascular disease management programs based on community-based participatory research: protocol for a scoping review

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are health problems that demonstrate high death and prevalence rates, and exhibit large health inequalities across different socio-economic status. Although interest in community...

Authors: Juhyeon Yang, Eunsim Kim and Bohyun Park

Organizational knowledge translation strategies for allied health professionals in traumatology settings: realist review protocol

Knowledge translation (KT) is an important means of improving the health service quality. Most research on the effectiveness of KT strategies has focused on individual strategies, i.e., those directly targetin...

Authors: Karine Latulippe, Annie LeBlanc, Marie-Pierre Gagnon, Katia Boivin, Pascale Lavoie, Joëlle Dufour, Emmanuelle Paquette Raynard, Eve Richard and Marie-Ève Lamontagne

Prognostic factors for persistent symptoms in adults with mild traumatic brain injury: protocol for an overview of systematic reviews

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is an increasing public health problem that can lead to persistent symptoms that have several functional consequences. Understanding the prognosis of a condition is an import...

Authors: Julien Déry, Élaine De Guise, Ève-Line Bussières and Marie-Eve Lamontagne

Comparison of microbiota in the upper versus lower respiratory tract in children during health and respiratory disease: protocol for a systematic review

The upper respiratory tract of children is colonized by various microbial species during the healthy state, whereas the lungs are believed to be sterile. In children with respiratory infections, micro-organism...

Authors: Richa Rao, Jeanne M. Dsouza and Joseph L. Mathew