scholarly journals The choice and definition of summary measure for meta-analysis of clinical studies with binary outcomes: effect on clinical interpretation

2020 ◽  
Vol 93 (1108) ◽  
pp. 20190976
Author(s):  
Andrew A Plumb ◽  
Steve Halligan ◽  
Susan Mallett

Many systematic reviews and meta-analyses concern the effect of a healthcare intervention on a binary outcome i.e. occurrence (or not) of a particular event. Usually, the overall effect, pooled across all studies included in the meta-analysis, is summarised using the odds ratio (OR) or the relative risk (RR). Under most circumstances, it is obvious how to identify what should be considered as the event of interest—for example, death or a clinically important side-effect. However, on occasion it may not be clear in which “direction” the event should be specified—such as attendance (vs non-attendance) at cancer screening. Usually, this choice is not critical to the overall conclusion of the meta-analysis, but occasionally it can lead to differences in how the included studies are pooled, ultimately affecting the overall meta-analytic result, particularly when using RRs rather than ORs. In this commentary, we will explain this phenomenon in more detail using examples from the literature, and explore how analysts and readers can avoid some potential pitfalls.

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s438-s438
Author(s):  
Mark Stibich ◽  
Sarah Simmons ◽  
Deborah Passey

Background: Ultraviolet light (UV) disinfection using low-pressure mercury lamps has been around since the 1940s. The advent of pulsed-xenon UV for hospital use in 2010 has provided a nontoxic and novel technology for hospital disinfection with the first data presented at the 2010 SHEA Decennial. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to examine the current body of evidence for pulsed xenon UV disinfection. Methods: The literature search criteria included the following: research conducted in domestic and international settings using pulsed-xenon for surface disinfection, published between 2000 and 2019, and reporting on environmental effectiveness or hospital-acquired reductions (HAIs). We searched PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science. The meta-analysis included 24 studies: 12 HAI outcome studies and 12 environmental effectiveness studies. Meta-analyses were conducted by calculating the percentage reductions for environmental effectiveness, and for the HAI outcome studies, we used a random-effects model to pool the relative risk of HAI. The outcome studies used 272 and 299 months of data for the experimental and control groups, respectively. Results: There was an overall benefit of using pulsed-xenon UV. The overall relative risk of infection decreased compared to the control arm (RR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.54–0.76). The percentage reductions in environmental studies were as follows: Clostridioides difficile (94.8%), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (91.5%), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (99.2%), and aerobic bacteria (94.2%). Conclusions: Overall, pulsed-xenon UV was effective for reducing environmental contamination and had the ability to significantly reduce HAIs.Funding: Xenex, Inc., funded this study.Disclosures: Mark Stibich receives a salary from Xenex and is a shareholder of Xenex. Deborah Passey receives a salary from Xenex Disinfection Services.


2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 030006052199295
Author(s):  
Yijuan Xin ◽  
Liu Yang ◽  
Mingquan Su ◽  
Xiaoli Cheng ◽  
Lin Zhu ◽  
...  

Objectives To investigate the association between poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 ( PARP1) rs1136410 Val762Ala and cancer risk in Asian populations, as published findings remain controversial. Methods The PubMed and EMBASE databases were searched, and references of identified studies and reviews were screened, to find relevant studies. Meta-analyses were performed to evaluate the association between PARP1 rs1136410 Val762Ala and cancer risk, reported as odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Results A total of 24 studies with 8 926 cases and 15 295 controls were included. Overall, a significant association was found between PARP1 rs1136410 Val762Ala and cancer risk in East Asians (homozygous: OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.06, 1.35; heterozygous: OR 1.10, 95% CI 1.04, 1.17; recessive: OR 1.13, 95% CI 1.02, 1.25; dominant: OR 1.13, 95% CI 1.06, 1.19; and allele comparison: OR 1.09, 95% CI 1.03, 1.15). Stratification analyses by race and cancer type revealed similar results for gastric cancer among the Chinese population. Conclusion The findings suggest that PARP1 rs1136410 Val762Ala may be significantly associated with an increased cancer risk in Asians, particularly the Chinese population.


2021 ◽  
pp. 263208432199622
Author(s):  
Tim Mathes ◽  
Oliver Kuss

Background Meta-analysis of systematically reviewed studies on interventions is the cornerstone of evidence based medicine. In the following, we will introduce the common-beta beta-binomial (BB) model for meta-analysis with binary outcomes and elucidate its equivalence to panel count data models. Methods We present a variation of the standard “common-rho” BB (BBST model) for meta-analysis, namely a “common-beta” BB model. This model has an interesting connection to fixed-effect negative binomial regression models (FE-NegBin) for panel count data. Using this equivalence, it is possible to estimate an extension of the FE-NegBin with an additional multiplicative overdispersion term (RE-NegBin), while preserving a closed form likelihood. An advantage due to the connection to econometric models is, that the models can be easily implemented because “standard” statistical software for panel count data can be used. We illustrate the methods with two real-world example datasets. Furthermore, we show the results of a small-scale simulation study that compares the new models to the BBST. The input parameters of the simulation were informed by actually performed meta-analysis. Results In both example data sets, the NegBin, in particular the RE-NegBin showed a smaller effect and had narrower 95%-confidence intervals. In our simulation study, median bias was negligible for all methods, but the upper quartile for median bias suggested that BBST is most affected by positive bias. Regarding coverage probability, BBST and the RE-NegBin model outperformed the FE-NegBin model. Conclusion For meta-analyses with binary outcomes, the considered common-beta BB models may be valuable extensions to the family of BB models.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 1759720X2098121
Author(s):  
Gustavo Constantino de Campos ◽  
Raman Mundi ◽  
Craig Whittington ◽  
Marie-Josée Toutounji ◽  
Wilson Ngai ◽  
...  

Aims: The objective of this review was to examine the relationship between osteoarthritis (OA) and mobility-related comorbidities, specifically diabetes mellitus (DM) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). It also investigated the relationship between OA and mortality. Methods: An overview of meta-analyses was conducted by performing two targeted searches from inception to June 2020. The association between OA and (i) DM or CVD ( via PubMed and Embase); and (ii) mortality ( via PubMed) was investigated. Meta-analyses were selected if they included studies that examined adults with OA at any site and reported associations between OA and DM, CVD, or mortality. Evidence was synthesized qualitatively. Results: Six meta-analyses met inclusion criteria. One meta-analysis of 20 studies demonstrated a statistically significant association between OA and DM, with pooled odds ratio of 1.41 (95% confidence interval: 1.21, 1.65; n = 1,040,175 patients). One meta-analysis of 15 studies demonstrated significantly increased risk of CVD among OA patients, with a pooled risk ratio of 1.24 (1.12, 1.37, n = 358,944 patients). Stratified by type of CVD, OA was shown to be associated with increased heart failure (HF) and ischemic heart disease (IHD) and reduced transient ischemic attack (TIA). There was no association reported for stroke or myocardial infarction (MI). Three meta-analyses did not find a significant association between OA (any site) and all-cause mortality. However, OA was found to be significantly associated with cardiovascular-related death across two meta-analyses. Conclusion: The identified meta-analyses reported significantly increased risk of both DM and CVD (particularly, HF and IHD) among OA patients. It was not possible to confirm consistent directional or causal relationships. OA was found to be associated with increased mortality, but mostly in relation to CVD-related mortality, suggesting that further study is warranted in this area.


2000 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 1220-1229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy J. Whelan ◽  
Jim Julian ◽  
Jim Wright ◽  
Alejandro R. Jadad ◽  
Mark L. Levine

PURPOSE: Recent randomized trials in women with node-positive breast cancer who received systemic treatment report that locoregional radiation therapy improves survival. Previous trials failed to detect a difference in survival that results from its use. A systematic review of randomized trials that examine the effectiveness of locoregional radiation therapy in patients treated by definitive surgery and adjuvant systemic therapy was conducted. METHODS: Randomized trials published between 1967 and 1999 were identified through MEDLINE database, CancerLit database, and reference lists of relevant articles. Relevant data was abstracted. The results of randomized trials were pooled using meta-analyses to estimate the effect of treatment on any recurrence, locoregional recurrence, and mortality. RESULTS: Eighteen trials that involved a total of 6,367 patients were identified. Most trials included both pre- and postmenopausal women with node-positive breast cancer treated with modified radical mastectomy. The type of systemic therapy received, sites irradiated, techniques used, and doses of radiation delivered varied between trials. Data on toxicity were infrequently reported. Radiation was shown to reduce the risk of any recurrence (odds ratio, 0.69; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.58 to 0.83), local recurrence (odds ratio, 0.25; 95% CI, 0.19 to 0.34), and mortality (odds ratio, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.74 to 0.94). CONCLUSION: Locoregional radiation after surgery in patients treated with systemic therapy reduced mortality. Several questions remain on how these results should be translated into current-day clinical practice.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 274
Author(s):  
William G Wuenstel ◽  
James A. Johnson ◽  
James Humphries ◽  
Cheryl Samuel

<table width="593" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td rowspan="2" valign="top" width="387">The purpose of this meta-analysis was to examine the impact of ethnicity and obesity as it relates to Type-2 Diabetes (T2D) in specific Central American countries. A meta-analysis was conducted to determine the association of ethnicity, obesity, and T2D.  Four studies that qualified for inclusion were identified by searching MEDLINE and PubMed databases. The studies on the association of ethnicity and T2D had a combined population resulted in 265,858 study participants. Two studies on the association of obesity and T2D had 197,899 participants. An analysis of the data was conducted utilizing the relative risk ration, odds ratio, and forest plots. The comparison of the relative risk of T2D across ethnic categories by studies range for Blacks was 1.59 to 2.74, Asians was 1.43 to 2.08, and Hispanics .92 to 2.91.  The ethnic difference in the prevalence of diabetes was almost two-fold higher in all ethnic groups than among the Caucasians with a significance level of 95%. A comparison of relative risk of T2D across weight categories was significantly higher among those with a diagnosed of diabetes in all reported areas. The odds ratio was very close to the risk ratio in both ethnicity and obesity to the development of T2D. The meta-analysis findings documented that an association does exist between ethnicity and obesity to the development of type 2 diabetes.</td><td width="0" height="85"> </td></tr><tr><td width="0" height="82"> </td></tr></tbody></table>


2021 ◽  
Vol In Press (In Press) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fateme Shamekhi Amiri

Context: Subcellular organelles communicate with each other via their metabolites and maintain different cellular functions. They contain nucleus, mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, peroxisomes, and lysosomes. Objectives: This study aimed to identify interorganellar communication (crosstalk) in physiopathological states of cells in health and disease. Data Sources: The databases including PubMed Central, Embase, Scopus, and Google Scholar were searched to extract data. For statistical analyses, percentage, relative risk, and odds ratio were used. Moreover, the risk of bias was assessed by Cochrane collaboration’s tool. Results: Out of 20 studies included in this research, 12 (60%) studies included mitochondria-ER communication, 4 (20%) studies mitochondria-lysosome communication, 2 (10%) studies mitochondria-peroxisome, and 2 (10%) studies mitochondria-nucleus. Interorganellar crosstalk between mitochondria and peroxisome or lysosome had risk and odds of 1.5 (effect) on aging and age-related disorders. There were no effects of mitochondrial communication with other organelles on certain pathologies. The relative risk of mitochondria to nucleus crosstalk on apoptosis was assessed 1.13, and relative risk of mitochondria to lysosome crosstalk was assessed 2. In addition, the odds ratio of mitochondria to lysosome crosstalk on apoptosis was assessed 5, indicating a large effect on this crosstalk. Conclusions: Recent expansion of pharmacological, molecular, and genetic tools indicated these organelles have active intracellular and extracellular communications, which is important for cells and organ homeostasis. Disruption of such communication has been associated with aging and age-related disorders in this research.


2021 ◽  
pp. 000486742110547
Author(s):  
Sukanta Saha ◽  
Carmen CW Lim ◽  
Louisa Degenhardt ◽  
Danielle L Cannon ◽  
Monique Bremner ◽  
...  

Background and Objectives: Evidence indicates that mood disorders often co-occur with substance-related disorders. However, pooling comorbidity estimates can be challenging due to heterogeneity in diagnostic criteria and in the overall study design. The aim of this study was to systematically review and, where appropriate, meta-analyse estimates related to the pairwise comorbidity between mood disorders and substance-related disorders, after sorting these estimates by various study designs. Methods: We searched PubMed (MEDLINE), Embase, CINAHL and Web of Science for publications between 1980 and 2017 regardless of geographical location and language. We meta-analysed estimates from original articles in 4 broadly defined mood and 35 substance-related disorders. Results: After multiple eligibility steps, we included 120 studies for quantitative analysis. In general, regardless of variations in diagnosis type, temporal order or use of adjustments, there was substantial comorbidity between mood and substance-related disorders. We found a sixfold elevated risk between broadly defined mood disorder and drug dependence (odds ratio = 5.7) and fivefold risk between depression and cannabis dependence (odds ratio = 4.9) while the highest pooled estimate, based on period prevalence risk, was found between broadly defined dysthymic disorder and drug dependence (odds ratio = 11.3). Based on 56 separate meta-analyses, all pooled odds ratios were above 1, and 46 were significantly greater than 1 (i.e. the 95% confidence intervals did not include 1). Conclusion: This review found robust and consistent evidence of an increased risk of comorbidity between many combinations of mood and substance-related disorders. We also identified a number of under-researched mood and substance-related disorders, suitable for future scrutiny. This review reinforces the need for clinicians to remain vigilant in order to promptly identify and treat these common types of comorbidity.


Author(s):  
Yazed Saleh Alsowaida ◽  
Abdulaziz Saleh Almulhim ◽  
Mok Oh ◽  
Brian Erstad ◽  
Ivo Abraham

Abstract Objective Macrolide antibiotics are among the most commonly used antibiotics; the association of macrolide antibiotics exposure with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) has been hypothesized. A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane Library from inception to 15 July 2019 to identify studies used macrolide antibiotics for any indication. The results were reported as odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) using random-effects model to derive the association of macrolide antibiotics exposure with SNHL. The objective of this meta-analysis was to estimate the association of macrolide antibiotics exposure and SNHL from up-to-date evidence. Key findings Nine studies met the inclusion criteria. There was no statistically significant association between macrolide antibiotics exposure and SNHL; the OR was 1.20 (95% CI: 0.96 to 1.49). No significant association was found with any of the subgroup meta-analyses. Summary Whilst the frequency of SNHL was higher with macrolide antibiotics exposure compared with controls, overall, no association was found between macrolide antibiotics and SNHL.


Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 957 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dannielle Glencorse ◽  
Kate Plush ◽  
Susan Hazel ◽  
Darryl D’Souza ◽  
Michelle Hebart

There are conflicting reports regarding the effect of farrowing house accommodation on piglet performance. The aim of this investigation was to use a systematic review and meta-analyses to summarise the results of publications that focused on direct comparisons between full confinement conventional crates and various designs of loose-housed farrowing pens from loading until weaning. Literature searches in Scopus, BIOSIS Previews, Cab Abstracts, and Web of Science identified 6695 articles. Twenty-two publications were retained for the systematic review and individual meta-analyses after screening for inclusion criteria. The random effects meta-analyses were performed on crate versus pen for number of piglets born alive, number of stillborn piglets, pre-weaning mortality, and number of piglets weaned. Additionally, the modifiers of confinement length (no confinement from loading until weaning or partial confinement for shorter periods of time in the early stages post parturition), enrichment (no enrichment or enrichment provided), and pen size (small, medium, or large) were examined. There was a 14% increase in the relative risk of piglet mortality in farrowing pens when they were compared with crates (p = 0.0015). The number of stillborns per litter was not different between the pen and crate. However, when providing enrichment in the pens, there was an increase in stillborns within farrowing crates versus pens (p = 0.009). There was no overall effect on piglets that were born alive or number weaned. As there is no difference between piglets born alive and mortality is significantly higher in farrowing pens, a reduction in the number of piglets weaned was expected but not observed, which was possibly due to the lack of weaning details provided in the publications. This was the first systematic review and meta-analysis conducted on the performance of farrowing accommodation and identified that farrowing pens do compromise post-natal piglet survival. Future efforts should focus on improving sow comfort in the farrowing crate to maximize both piglet and sow welfare.


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