ObjectiveTo re-evaluate the systematic review and meta-analysis (SR/MAs) of the efficacy of robot-assisted pedicle screw placement. MethodsThe CNKI, VIP, WanFang Data, SinoMed, PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases were electronically searched to collect SR/MAs of robot-assisted pedicle screw placement from inception to April 28, 2023. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and then assessed the quality of reports, methodological quality, risk of bias, and the strength of evidence quality by using PRISMA, AMSTAR-Ⅱ, ROBIS, and GRADE tool. ResultsA total of 20 SR/MAs were included. The results of the included studies showed that robot-assisted pedicle screw placement was more accurate and had a lower number of complications compared with freehand pedicle screw placement. The quality of reports, methodology, and evidence for pedicle screw placement efficiency in all SR/MAs were low or extremely low, with a high risk of bias. The main reasons included high heterogeneity of included studies, unclear research methods and selection criteria, and missing key reporting processes. ConclusionRobot-assisted pedicle screw placement may have better clinical efficiency than traditional freehand pedicle screw placement. But the quality of relational SR/MAs is low.
ObjectivesTo evaluate the methodological bias and the reliability of the conclusions of systematic reviews (SRs) on the treatment for acute gout.MethodsPubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, Epistemonikos, CBM, WanFang Data and CNKI databases were electronically searched to collect published systematic reviews and meta-analyses evaluating drug interventions therapy in acute gout from inception to April 8th 2017. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data, assessed the methodological quality of included SRs by the AMSTAR tool, and assessed the quality of the body of evidence for each outcome by the GRADE approach.ResultsA total of seven relevant SRs were included, which contains three main outcome measures. Four SRs contained non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), three SRs contained colchicine and two SRs contained glucocorticoids. All SRs assessed risk of bias of included original studies. Two used the Jadad scale or modified Jadad scale in this assessment while others used the " assessing risk of bias” tool recommended by Cochrane Collaboration. The assessment results of AMSTAR tool suggested that: three SRs were considered high quality (scores≥9), and the other four were considered moderate quality. GRADE results showed: the quality of the evidence of 11 outcomes was low or very low, and five outcomes was moderate.ConclusionsThe current evidence confirms the effectiveness and safety of several drug interventions in the treatment of acute gout, however, the priority of these drugs is still unclear. We suggest conducting new SRs and updating relevant SRs, to systematically compare different drug interventions therapy in acute gout with the latest evidence. In addition, we still expect to put more efforts in conducting high-quality original studies, in order to fill the gap of relevant fields and improve the level of evidence quality.
ObjectivesTo evaluate the quality of methodology and evidence of the exiting systematic reviews (SRs) of acupuncture therapy for post-stroke spastic paralysis.MethodsCNKI, CBM, The Cochrane Library, PubMed and EMbase databases were electronically searched to collect SRs of acupuncture therapy for post-stroke spastic paralysis from inception to December 16th, 2018. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data, and evaluated the quality of methodology and evidence by AMSTAR 2 scale and GRADE system.ResultsA total of 7 SRs were included. The results showed that acupuncture therapy had obvious advantages in treating post-stroke spastic paralysis without obvious adverse reactions. The results of AMSTAR 2 scale showed that the failure of key items 2 and 7 resulted in extremely low methodological quality. The results of GRADE system showed that 46.15% of which were low-level evidence quality, 42.31% were medium, 11.54% were extremely low, and no evidence quality were high.ConclusionsCurrent evidence shows that acupuncture and moxibustion therapy is effective in treating spastic paralysis after stroke, however, the quality of the SRs is low. The studies are required to be standardized and combined with the characteristics of TCM to obtain high quality evidence in the future.
ObjectivesTo provide an overview of whether the clinical decision support system (CDSS) was effective in reducing medication error and improving medication safety and to assess the quality of available scientific evidence.MethodsPubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, CBM, WanFang Data, VIP and CNKI databases were electronically searched to collect systematic reviews (SRs) on application of clinical decision support system in the medication error and safety from January, 1996 to November, 2018. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and then evaluated methodological quality of included SRs by using AMSTAR tool.g AMSTAR tool.ResultsA total of 20 SRs including 256 980 healthcare practitioners and 1 683 675 patients were included. Specifically, 16 studies demonstrated moderate quality and 4 demonstrated high quality. 19 SRs evaluated multiple process of care outcome: 9 were sufficient evidence, 6 were limited evidence, and 7 were insufficient evidence which proved that CDSS had a positive effect on process outcome. 13 SRs evaluated reported patient outcomes: 1 with sufficient evidence, 3 with limited evidence, and 9 without sufficient evidence.ConclusionsCDSS reduces medication error by inconsistently improving process of care measures and seldom improving patient outcomes. Larger samples and longer-term studies are required to ensure a larger and more reliable evidence base on the effects of CDSS intervention on patient outcomes.
ObjectiveTo provide an overview of systematic reviews on the efficacy and safety of massage for the treatment of cervical spondylotic radiculopathy.MethodsCNKI, WanFang Data, VIP, CBM, PubMed, The Cochrane Library and EMbase databases were electronically searched to collect the systematic reviews on the efficacy and safety of massage for the treatment of cervical spondylotic radiculopathy from inception to December 30th, 2018. Two reviewers independently screened the literature and extracted the data, applied the AMSTAR2 scale to evaluate its methodological quality, and GRADE to evaluate the quality of the evidence.ResultsA total of 7 systematic reviews/meta-analysis were included. The AMSTAR2 scale evaluation showed that the quality of the included studies was extremely low. The GRADE evidence grading results showed that the quality of the VAS score outcome index of the two literatures was intermediate, and the quality of the OASCSR outcome index of one literature was intermediate. The quality of the remaining outcome indicators reported is low or very low.ConclusionThe available evidence shows that the efficacy and safety of manual treatment of cervical spondylotic radiculopathy is acceptable, but the overall methodological quality of the systematic review is extremely low, and the quality level of evidence is generally low. The future clinical trials and systematic reviews should be strictly followed. The scientific research design of the medical science provides high-quality evidence and provides reference for clinical practice.
ObjectiveTo overview the systematic reviews (SRs) on the efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the treatment of atrial fibrillation.MethodsPubMed, The Cochrane Library, EMbase, CNKI, CBM, WanFang Data and VIP database were electronically searched to collect SRs of TCM in the treatment of atrial fibrillation from inception to July 2019. Two researchers independently screened literature, extracted data and then the methodological quality, reporting quality and evidence quality of the included documents were evaluated by AMSTAR2 tool, PRISMA statement and GRADE method.ResultsA total of 20 SRs were included. In which, 15 SRs evaluated clinical efficacy and 12 SRs analyzed adverse reactions. The methodological quality evaluation by AMSTAR2 was generally low and none of them being high quality, 1 of them being low quality and 19 of them being extremely low quality. The items with poor scores were item 2, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14 and 16. The PRISMA score ranged from 14 to 22.5. The quality question of the report was mainly manifested in the aspects of scheme and registration, data item, other analysis methods and sources of fundings. Evidence quality evaluation of GRADE outcome indicators was generally low.ConclusionTraditional Chinese medicine for atrial fibrillation can improve clinical efficacy and reduce adverse reactions. The overall methodological quality of the included literature is not high, and the quality of evidence is generally low. It suggest that further high-quality clinical studies should be carried out to provide a basis for evaluating the clinical efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine in treatment of atrial fibrillation.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the quality of methodology and evidence of the systematic reviews and meta-analyses (SRs/MAs) of acupuncture therapy for bronchial asthma. MethodsCNKI, CBM, VIP, WanFang Data, PubMed, The Cochrane Library and Web of Science databases were electronically searched to collect SRs/MAs of acupuncture therapy for bronchial asthma from inception to October 31, 2021. Four reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data, and applied the AMSTAR 2 to evaluate the quality of methodology of the included studies and the GRADE system to assess the certainty of evidence for outcomes. ResultsA total of 14 SRs/MAs were included and their main conclusions were that acupuncture therapy was beneficial in improving the clinical efficacy of bronchial asthma treatment. The evaluation of AMSTAR 2 showed that the methodological quality of all studies was all extremely low. The evidence grading of GRADE system showed that, in the total of 59 outcomes, 7 were graded as medium-level, 24 as low-level, 28 as extremely low-level, and none was graded as high-level. ConclusionThe current evidence shows the advantages of acupuncture therapy for bronchial asthma but the reliability of SRs/MAs is low. High-quality clinical studies are still needed to verify the efficacy of acupuncture therapy for bronchial asthma.
ObjectiveTo conduct an overview of systematic reviews on the impact of evidence-based learning (EBL) method on medical education. MethodsThe CNKI, WanFang Data, VIP, CBM, PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases were electronically searched to collect the relevant systematic reviews or meta-analyses of the application of EBL method in medical education from inception to May, 2024. Two researchers conducted the literature screening and data extraction independently. The AMSTAR 2, ROBIS tool, PRISMA 2020, and GRADE system were separately used to evaluate the methodological quality, the risk of bias, the quality of reporting, and the quality of evidence of included studies. ResultsA total of 16 systematic reviews/meta-analyses were included. The methodological quality evaluation by AMSTAR 2 showed that the quality level of 16 studies was very low. The results of ROBIS tool showed that 1 study was low risk of bias and 15 studies were high risk of bias. The GRADE evaluation of the evidence quality for 36 outcome indicators in the included studies revealed that 6 were of moderate quality, 12 were of low quality, and the rest were of very low quality. ConclusionEBL method has demonstrated significant effects in improving theoretical performance, practical skills, and critical thinking abilities among medical students. However, the methodological and evidence quality of the current systematic reviews/meta-analyses are low.
ObjectivesTo overview the systematic reviews of traditional Chinese herb injections for viral pneumonia.MethodsCNKI, CBM, WanFang Data, VIP, PubMed, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library and EMbase databases were electronically searched to collect systematic reviews (SRs) of traditional Chinese herb injections for viral pneumonia from inception to March 2020. Two reviewers independently screened literature and extracted data. Then, AMSTAR 2 was used to assess the methodological quality and GRADE was used to grade the outcome indicators of included SRs.ResultsA total of 10 SRs were included, containing six Chinese herb injections (Xiyanping injection, Yanhuning injection, Tanreqing injection, Reduning injection, Shuanghuanglian injection, and Chuanhuning injection). Five items of AMSTAR 2 were reported well, and two items were not reported in any of the included SRs, and the quality was unsatisfactory. The efficacy of Chinese herb injection was superior than that of western medicine in many outcome indicators, such as antipyretic time, the pulmonary rales disappearing time, and the total clinical efficiency. The quality of evidence ranged from medium to very low.ConclusionsCurrent evidence shows that the quality of SRs of Chinese herb injections for viral pneumonia requires improvement, and most of the results show that Chinese herb injections are more effective than western medicines.
ObjectiveTo overview the systematic reviews on the timing of different surgical interventions for severe multidrug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis patients.MethodsPubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, CBM, WanFang Data and CNKI databases were searched for systematic reviews about the timing of different surgical interventions for severe multidrug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis patients from inception to December, 2018. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data, evaluated the reporting and methodological qualities using the PRISMA checklist and the AMSTAR tool. After re-extraction of individual RCT data from included systematic reviews, meta-analysis was performed by Stata10.0 software.ResultsA total of 11 systematic reviews were included. The average methodological quality score was 8.13 in AMSTAR , the reporting quality score was from 19.5 to 25 in PRISMA. Re-performed meta-analysis showed that, the total success rate of operation was 93.3% (95%CI 92.9 to 93.8), the failure rate was 3.7% (95%CI 3.3 to 4.0), the mortality rate was 2.0% (95%CI 1.8 to 2.2), and the loss rate was 1.0% (95%CI 0.8 to 1.2). The cure rates of different surgical methods were all over 80%, among which single lobectomy (98.47%) and compound lobectomy (98.94%) had the higher cure rates than others. For the time of different surgical interventions, cure rate could be improved obviously in patients receiving surgery treatment after 1 months (OR=1.58, 95%CI 1.29 to 1.94, P=0.000 12), 1-8months (OR=1.66, 95%CI 1.30 to 2.12, P=0.000 05) and 9-24 months (OR=1.48, 95%CI 1.15 to 1.90, P=0.002) of anti-tuberculosis therapy compared with 0 month.There were significant differences between two groups.ConclusionCurrent evidence shows that operation is an effective way for severe multidrug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis. Operative opportunity should be selected after 1-24 months of anti-tuberculosis drug treatment when the operation time depending on whether the tuberculosis has turned negative or not. Operative mode should be decided by the location and the scope of the lesion, which ensures the maximum excision of lesions and retention of lung function.