Evidence-based medicine (EBM) practice requires high-quality evidence. With the rigorous and systematic processes including legislation, literature search, literature screening, literature quality assessment, data collection, data analysis, results interpretation and original evaluation updating, the systematic review/meta-analysis is recognized as the clinical evidence with highest intensive argument for reasons of ensuring the authenticity and reliability of the findings and conclusions. Before it is applied to the specific clinical practice, a clinical doctor has to evaluate whether its results are applicable to patients or not, whether it contains all possible important results or not, whether the diagnosis and treatment benefiting from its interventions are clinically significant to patients or not, and additionally, has to take the treatment expense and patient’s value orientation into consideration. EBM clinical practice occurs for demands, and updates consciously for its authenticity, patient’s individuation and disease complexity. It has a broad development space for no other reason than its defect and imperfection.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the efficacy and safety of ginseng preparations in improving insulin resistance (IR). MethodsWe electronically searched databases including PubMed, MEDLINE, EMbase, CNKI, VIP, WanFang Data, and CBM from inception to October 2015, to collect randomized controlled trials (RCT) about ginseng preparations for IR patients. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Then meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 software. ResultsA total of 17 RCTs involving 1169 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that treatment combined with ginseng preparations group was superior to the control group in levels of HOMA-IR (MD=-0.13, 95%CI -0.24 to -0.01, P=0.03), ISI (MD=0.72, 95%CI 0.25 to 1.19, P=0.003), FPG (MD=-0.90, 95%CI -1.27 to -0.52, P<0.00001), 2hPG (MD=-1.48, 95%CI -2.03 to -0.92, P<0.00001) and HbA1c (MD=-0.73, 95%CI -1.16 to -0.31, P=0.0008). No statistically differences between two groups were found in levels of FPI and F-CP. As for the safety, a total of 9 cases in the ginseng group occurred adverse reactions. Symptoms of adverse reactions included hypoglycemia, dizziness, nausea, blurred vision. ConclusionCurrent evidence shows that, treatment combined with ginseng preparations could improve insulin sensitivity and reduce blood glucose in IR patients with type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Due to limited quality and quantity of the included studies, the above conclusion need to be verified by more high quality studies.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the effetcs of clinical nursing pathway (CNP) in patients with femoral neck fracture. MethodsDatabases including PubMed, The Cochrane Library (Issue 9, 2014), CNKI, VIP and WanFang Data were electronically searched to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about CNP in management of patients with femoral neck fracture from inception to September 2014. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Then, meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.1 software. ResultsA total of 24 RCTs involving 1 852 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that: compared with the control group, the time of hospitalization was decreased (MD=-4.47, 95%CI -5.32 to -3.62, P<0.000 01), the patients' nursing satisfaction was increased (OR=5.52, 95%CI 3.75 to 8.14, P<0.000 01), the achievement rate of knowledge was increased (OR=5.97, 95%CI 3.57 to 9.96, P<0.000 01) and the incidence of postoperative complications was decreased (OR=0.34, 95%CI 0.24 to 0.48, P<0.000 01) in the CNP group. ConclusionCNP can reduce the time of hospitalization, improve patients' nursing satisfaction, improve the achievement rate of knowledge, as well as reduce the incidence of postoperative complications. Due to limited quality and quantity of the included studies, the above conclusion need more high quality studies to verify.
目的 系統評價標準桃金娘油治療分泌性中耳炎的療效及安全性。 方法 電子檢索Cochrane圖書館、PubMed、EMBASE、中國期刊全文數據庫（CNKI）、維普（VIP）、中國生物醫學文獻數據庫（CBM）六大數據庫，檢索時間自建庫截止至2012年2月。根據Cochrane協作網手冊評估納入隨機對照試驗（RCT）的方法學質量，采用RevMan 5.0軟件對數據進行Meta分析。 結果 共納入8個RCT，研究結果顯示，標準桃金娘油聯合常規治療分泌性中耳炎的總有效率優于單用常規治療，但差異無統計學意義[RR=1.21，95% CI（0.98，1.50），P=0.08]。 結論 標準桃金娘油治療分泌性中耳炎有一定療效，但并不顯著。因納入研究質量較低，上述結論還需高質量、大樣本的研究進一步驗證。
Objective To evaluate the efficacy of statins pretreatment in patients before percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods Published literature on relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were retrieved via electronic and handsearch in databases CNKI, CBM, MEDLINE and The Cochrane Library from January 1990 to May 2011. The references of these articles were also retrieved. Two reviewers independently identified articles according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted the data, assess the quality of the included studies, and then conducted meta-analysis using RevMan 5.0 software. Results A total of 10 trials involving 3 012 patients were included. The results of meta-analyses showed that: during the periprocedural period, the trial group had a lower incidence than the control group (98 of 1 514 cases, incidence 6.5%) in periprocedural myocardial infarction with a significant difference (OR=0.43, 95% CI 0.34 to 0.56, Plt;0.000 01). The composite of death, myocardial infarction, or target vessel revascularization in one month, essentially driven by periprocedural myocardial infarction, was reported 6.8% in the trial group and 15.1% in the control group (OR=0.41, 95% CI 0.32 to 0.53, Plt;0.000 01). Conclusion Current evidence supports the effectiveness of statin pretreatment used to reducing the rate of periprocedural myocardial infarction in patients before receiving PCI.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the diagnostic value of artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted diagnostic system for pulmonary cancer based on CT images.MethodsDatabases including PubMed, The Cochrane Library, EMbase, CNKI, WanFang Data and Chinese BioMedical Literature Database (CBM) were electronically searched to collect relevant studies on AI-assisted diagnostic system in the diagnosis of pulmonary cancer from 2010 to 2019. The eligible studies were selected according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, and the quality of included studies was assessed and the special information was identified. Then, meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3, Stata 12.0 and SAS 9.4 softwares. The sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio and diagnostic odds ratio were pooled and the summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve was drawn. Meta-regression analysis was used to explore the sources of heterogeneity.ResultsTotally 18 studies were included with 4 771 patients. Random effect model was used for the analysis due to the heterogeneity among studies. The results of meta-analysis showed that the pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, diagnosis odds ratio and area under the SROC curve were 0.87 [95%CI (0.84, 0.90)], 0.89 [95%CI (0.84, 0.92)], 7.70 [95%CI (5.32, 11.15)], 0.14 [95%CI (0.11, 0.19)], 53.54 [95%CI (30.68, 93.42)] and 0.94 [95%CI (0.91, 0.95)], respectively.ConclusionAI-assisted diagnostic system based on CT images has high diagnostic value for pulmonary cancer, and thus it is worthy of clinical application. However, due to the limited quality and quantity of included studies, above results should be validated by more studies.
Objective To review the association between chlamydia pneumoniae (CP) infection and cerebral infarction. Methods We electronically searched MEDLINE, BIOSIS, VIP database, and China Full Text Journal Database from Jan. 1990 through Dec. 2007 to identify case-control studies about the association of CP and cerebral infarction. The quality of the included studies was assessed and the RevMan 4.2 software was used for meta-analyses. Results A total of 22 studies were included. The results of meta-analyses showed: ① When the microimmunofluorescence (MIF) method was used to examine CP antibody in serum, the positive rate of the cerebral infarction group was higher than that of the control group when the positive infection was defined by IgA≥1?16 [n=8, OR=2.18, 95%CI (1.49 to 3.49), Plt;0.0001]; but when positive infection was defined by IgA≥1?32 (n=3), IgG≥1?32 (n=6), or IgG≥1?64 (n=5), there were no significant differences in the positive rate between the two groups [OR (95%CI) were 1.47 (0.97 to 2.24), 1.24 (0.82 to 1.86), and 1.23 (0.98 to 1.55), respectively]; ② When the ELISA method was used to examine CP-IgG antibody in serum, the positive rate of the cerebral infarction group was higher than that of the controlled group [n=8, OR=2.40, 95%CI (1.42 to 4.06), P=0.000 2]. ③ The acute and chronic CP infections were associated with the incidence of cerebral infarction [n=4, OR=7.22, 95%CI (2.68 to 19.49); n=4, OR=4.30, 95%CI (3.40 to 7.40)]. Conclusion ① The association between CP infection and cerebral infarction is determined by the positive criterion. IgA antibody is more sensitive than the IgG antibody. When the positive infection is determined by IgA≥1?16, CP infection is associated with cerebral infarction. ② The results of ELISA for examining CP-IgG support the association between CP infection and cerebral infarction. ③ Both acute and chronic CP infections are associated with cerebral infarction, but these associations needed to be proven by more scientific studies.
Objective To perform a systematic review on the safety (i.g. cardiovascular, mortality and gastrointestinal bleeding) of clopidogrel versus clopidogrel combined with proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) for the patients with coronary heart disease. Methods Such databases as The Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMbase, SSCI, VIP, CNKI, and CBM were searched from the date of their establishment to September 2010. The bibliographies of the retrieved articles were also checked. The data was extracted and evaluated by two reviewers independently. The RevMan 5.0 software was used for meta-analyses. Results A total of 29 studies were included. The results of meta-analyses showed that the use of clopidogrel combined with PPIs was associated with increasing the risk of cardiovascular events (RR=1.27, 95%CI 1.09 to 1.47), as well as myocardial infarction (RR=1.45, 95% CI 1.20 to 1.76), total mortality (RR=1.23, 95%CI 1.06 to 1.43), and rethrombosis (RR=1.37, 95%CI 1.01 to 1.86). However, there was no enough evidence to reach the conclusion that the combination use could benefit the situation of gastrointestinal bleeding (RR=0.84, 95%CI 0.47 to 1.50). Conclusion?Compared with clopidogrel, the combination use of clopidogrel and PPIs increases cardiovascular events, mortality, and the risks of myocardial infarction and rethrombosis. However, more clinical studies are required to assess the effect of reducing gastrointestinal bleeding.
ObjectiveTo systematically evaluate the effectiveness and safety of prophylactic central neck dissection (PCND) for stage cN0 papillary thyroid carcinoma. MethodsDatabases including PubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library (Issue 1, 2015), WanFang Data, CBM and CNKI were searched to collect the studies about total thyroidectomy (TT)+PCND versus TT alone for stage cN0 papillary thyroid carcinoma from inception to March 2015. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Then, meta-analysis was performed by using RevMan 5.1 software. ResultsA total of 10 studies involving 3 661 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that, compared with TT alone, TT+PCND had higher transient hypocalcemia (OR=2.50, 95%CI 2.05 to 3.03, P<0.000 01), higher permanent hypocalcemia (OR=3.11, 95%CI 1.82 to 5.30, P<0.000 1), and lower recurrence (OR=0.66, 95%CI 0.47 to 0.93, P=0.02). But there were no significant differences between two groups in transient laryngeal nerve palsy or permanent laryngeal nerve palsy. ConclusionTT+PCND is safe and feasible for treating stage cN0 papillary thyroid carcinoma when its indications are strictly controlled. However, due to limited quantity and quality of the included studies, more high-quality randomized controlled trials are needed to verify the abovementioned conclusion.
Objective To systematically evaluate the efficiency and safety of Vandetanib plus Docetaxel versus Docetaxel alone for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods The randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of Vandetanib plus Docetaxel versus Docetaxel for NSCLC published before October 26, 2010 were searched in EMbase, The Cochrane Library, PubMed, Wanfang database, VIP Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI), and China biological medical literature database. The methodological quality of the included studies was evaluated according to the Cochrane assessment handbook 5.0.2, and the meta-analysis was conducted by using RevMan 5.0 software. Results A total of 3 RCTs involving 1 626 patients were included. The meta-analysis showed that there were positive effects between the Vandetanib group and the control group in the overall response rate (OR=1.81, 95%CI 1.37 to 2.38, Plt;0.000 1), disease control rate and 1-year survival rate; and all studies showed that Vandetanib could significantly lengthen the progression-free survival. Conclusion The Vandetanib group is superior to the control group for its better effectiveness and fewer adverse effects, and it is worth referring and applying in clinic.