Search results for " meta-Analysis"

Effects of Ocean Acidification on physiology, behaviour and ecology of fish

CO2 concentration in the atmosphere is increasing at unprecedented rate since the last 800,000 years due to rising fossil fuel combustion, industrial processes and land use by humans. By absorbing part of this gas from the atmosphere, Oceans contribute to the mitigation of climatic changes, but at the cost of greater modifications of their physical and chemical characteristics. CO2 dissolved in the seawater leads to increased bicarbonate (HCO3 -) and hydrogen ions (H+) concentrations with a consequent pH drop, a phenomenon known as Ocean Acidification (OA). If global policy will not put in force mitigation measures to reduce CO2 emissions, it is projected that partial pressure of dissolved …

The prognostic role of KRAS and BRAF in patients undergoing surgical resection of colorectal cancer liver metastasis: a systematic review and meta-an…

2016

Background: Clinical trials investigated the potential role of both KRAS and BRAF mutations, as prognostic biomarkers, in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients who underwent surgical treatment of liver metastasis (CLM), showing conflicting results. This meta-analysis aims to review all the studies reporting survival outcomes (recurrence free survival (RFS), and/or overall survival (OS)) of patients undergoing resection of CLM, stratified according to KRAS and/or BRAF mutation status. Materials and Methods: Data from all published studies reporting survival outcomes (RFS and/or OS) of CRC patients who received resection of CLM, stratified by KRAS and/or BRAF mutation status were collected by sear…

Assessing the quality of studies in meta-research: Review/guidelines on the most important quality assessment tools

2020

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses pool data from individual studies to generate a higher level of evidence to be evaluated by guidelines. These reviews ultimately guide clinicians and stakeholders in health-related decisions. However, the informativeness and quality of evidence synthesis inherently depend on the quality of what has been pooled into meta-research projects. Moreover, beyond the quality of included individual studies, only a methodologically correct process, in relation to systematic reviews and meta-analyses themselves, can produce a reliable and valid evidence synthesis. Hence, quality of meta-research projects also affects evidence synthesis reliability. In this overview…

Comments on "Identifying inconsistency in network meta-analysis: Is the net heat plot a reliable method?"

2021

One of the biggest challenges for network meta‐analysis is inconsistency, which occurs when the direct and indirect evidence conflict. Inconsistency causes problems for the estimation and interpretation of treatment effects and treatment contrasts. Krahn and colleagues proposed the net heat approach as a graphical tool for identifying and locating inconsistency within a network of randomized controlled trials. For networks with a treatment loop, the net heat plot displays statistics calculated by temporarily removing each design one at a time, in turn, and assessing the contribution of each remaining design to the inconsistency. The net heat plot takes the form of a matrix which is displaye…

The alliance-outcome association in group interventions: A multilevel meta-analysis.

2022

Objective: The therapeutic alliance has been studied in group interventions, but its relationship to patient outcome is still controversial. This study systematically reviewed the association of both the member-leader and member-group alliance with patient outcomes, and assessed the effects of several theoretically informed moderators. Method: A three-level meta-analysis was conducted on 57 studies to disentangle within- and between-study variability in the alliance-outcome association. Results: The overall effect size of the unconditional model was r = -.259 (95% CI: -.302, -.214; p < .001), whereas the correlation between alliance and outcome based on the three-level meta-analytic mode…

Efficacy, safety and tolerability of aripiprazole in bipolar disorder: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

2017

Numerous studies have investigated aripiprazole as a treatment for bipolar disorder (BD). therefore we conducted this comprehensive meta-analysis to investigate the efficacy and safety profile of aripiprazole in treating BD. Two authors conducted systematic searches of PubMed and ScienceDirect from inception until May 14th, 2017. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of people with BD who received aripiprazole were included. A total of 20 RCTs met the eligibility criteria, including two which investigated the efficacy of aripiprazole versus haloperidol (aripiprazole = 340; haloperidol = 337), three which compared aripiprazole versus lithium (aripiprazole = 208; lithium = 212), and 15 with mul…

Weight loss is associated with improvements in cognitive function among overweight and obese people: A systematic review and meta-analysis

2017

Whilst obesity is associated with a higher risk of cognitive impairment, the influence of weight loss on cognitive function in obese/overweight people is equivocal. We conducted a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and longitudinal studies evaluating the influence of voluntary weight loss on cognitive function in obese/overweight individuals. Articles were acquired from a systematic search of major databases from inception till 01/2016. A random effect meta-analysis of weight loss interventions (diet, physical activity, bariatric surgery) on different cognitive domains (memory, attention, executive functions, language and motor speed) was conducted. Twenty studies (13 long…

The relationship between internalized homonegativity and body image concerns in sexual minority men: a meta-analysis

2018

It remains unclear whether internalised homonegativity, a recognised predictor of internalising mental health problems, is related to body dissatisfaction in sexual minority men. We conducted a met...

Systemic risk factors for peri-implant bone loss: a systematic review and meta-analysis

2014

The aim of this study was to determine the influence of patient-related systemic risk factors (systemic disease, genetic traits, chronic drug or alcohol consumption, and smoking status) on peri-implant bone loss at least 1 year after implant installation and prosthetic loading. An electronic search was performed of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials up to January 2012. One thousand seven hundred and sixty-three studies were identified. After applying a three-stage screening process, 17 articles were included in the qualitative analysis, but only 13 in the quantitative analysis, since smoking was a common exposure. The meta-analysis of these 13 studies (4…

STEM CELLS FOR TREATMENT OF CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES: AN UMBRELLA REVIEW OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS

2021

AIMS:\ud \ud Stem cells are a promising therapy for various medical conditions. The literature regarding their adoption for the clinical care of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) is still conflicting. Therefore, our aim is to assess the strength and credibility of the evidence on clinical outcomes and application of stem cells derived from systematic reviews and meta-analyses of intervention studies in CVD.\ud \ud METHODS and RESULTS:\ud \ud Umbrella review of systematic reviews with meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) using placebo/no intervention as control group. For meta-analyses of RCTs, outcomes with a random-effect p-value< 0.05, the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Ass…