Evidence synthesis is the process of systematically gathering, analyzing, and integrating available research evidence. The quality of evidence synthesis depends on the quality of the original studies included. Validity assessment, also known as risk of bias assessment, is an essential method for assessing the quality of these original studies. Currently, there are numerous validity assessment tools available, but some of them lack a rigorous development process and evaluation. The application of inappropriate validity assessment tools to assessing the quality of the original studies during the evidence synthesis process may compromise the accuracy of study conclusions and mislead the clinical practice. To address this dilemma, the LATITUDES Network, a one-stop resource website for validity assessment tools, was established in September 2023, led by academics at the University of Bristol, U.K. This Network is dedicated to collecting, sorting and promoting validity assessment tools to improve the accuracy of original study validity assessments and increase the robustness and reliability of the results of evidence synthesis. This study introduces the background of the establishment of the LATITUDES Network, the included validity assessment tools, and the training resources for the use of validity assessment tools, in order to provide a reference for domestic scholars to learn more about the LATITUDES Network, to better use the appropriate validity assessment tools to conduct study quality assessments, and to provide references for the development of validity assessment tools.
Objective To systematically review the efficacy of six cognitive interventions on cognitive function of patients with mild cognitive impairment after stroke. Methods The PubMed, EMbase, Cochrane Library, SinoMed, WanFang Data and CNKI databases were electronically searched to collect randomized controlled trials on the effects of non-drug interventions on the cognitive function of patients with mild cognitive impairment after stroke from inception to March 2023. Two reviewers independently screened the literature, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias of the included studies. Network meta-analysis was then performed using Openbugs 3.2.3 and Stata 16.0 software. Results A total of 72 studies involving 4 962 patients were included. The results of network meta-analysis showed that the following five cognitive interventions improved the cognitive function of stroke patients with mild cognitive impairment: cognitive control intervention (SMD=?1.28, 95%CI ?1.686 to ?0.90, P<0.05) had the most significant effect on the improvement of cognitive function, followed by computer cognitive training (SMD=?1.02, 95%CI ?1.51 to ?0.53, P<0.05), virtual reality cognitive training (SMD=?1.20, 95%CI ?1.78 to ?0.62, P<0.05), non-invasive neural regulation (SMD=?1.09, 95%CI ?1.58 to ?0.60, P<0.05), and cognitive stimulation (SMD=?0.94, 95%CI ?1.82 to ?0.07, P<0.05). Conclusion Five cognitive interventions are effective in improving cognitive function for stroke patients with mild cognitive impairment, among which cognitive control intervention is the most effective. Due to the limited quantity and quality of the included studies, more high-quality studies are needed to verify the above conclusion.
ObjectivesThe present network meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the potential efficacy and safety of various surgical approaches in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia with enlarged prostate.MethodsPubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, Clinicaltrials.gov and CNKI databases were electronically searched to identify eligible studies. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and evaluated risk of bias and the ADDIS 1.16.8 software was used to conduct meta-analysis.ResultsA total of 23 studies involving 2 849 patients with 5 approaches including open prostatectomy (OP), holmium laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP), plasmakinetic/bipolar plasmakinetic enucleation of the prostate (PK/BPEP), transurethral vaporization of the prostate (TUVP), and laparoscopic prostatectomy (LSP) were included. HoLEP, PK/BPEP and OP were superior to the other methods in improving the objective indicators and subjective feelings of patients during both short and medium-term follow-up. However, compared with OP, HoLEP and PK/BPEP were observed to result in a significantly lower hemoglobin level (MD=1.65, 95%CI 0.35 to 4.41; MD=2.62, 95%CI 0.64 to 2.90), longer postoperative irrigation time (MD=4.67, 95%CI 1.29 to 10.66; MD=2.67, 95%CI 1.32 to 6.63), as well as indwelling catheter after operation (MD=1.64, 95%CI 0.48 to 4.15; MD=2.52, 95%CI 0.60 to 3.78). In terms of short-term complications, PK/BPEP (RR=0.45, 95%CI 0.13 to 1.29) was found to be significantly lower than that of OP.ConclusionsHoLEP and PK/BPEP can be probably used as a superior treatment option for large volume benign prostatic hyperplasia because of its better curative effect, higher safety and quick postoperative recovery.
Objective To systematically review the efficacy of robotic, laparoscopic-assisted, and open total mesorectal excision (TME) for the treatment of rectal cancer. Methods The PubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases were electronically searched to identify cohort studies on robotic, laparoscopic-assisted, and open TME for rectal cancer published from January 2016 to January 2022. Two reviewers independently screened the literature, extracted data, and evaluated the risk of bias of the included studies. Subsequently, network meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.4 software and R software. Results A total of 24 studies involving 12 348 patients were included. The results indicated that among the three types of surgical procedures, robotic TME showed the best outcomes by shortening the length of hospital stay, reducing the incidence of postoperative anastomotic fistula and intestinal obstruction, and lowering the overall postoperative complication rate. However, differences in the number of dissected peritumoural lymph nodes were not statistically significant. Conclusion Robotic TME shows better outcomes in terms of the radicality of excision and postoperative short-term outcomes in the treatment of rectal cancer. However, clinicians should consider the patients’ actual condition for the selection of surgical methods to achieve individualised treatment for patients with rectal cancer.
In 2014, the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) working group published guidance in BMJ to evaluate the certainty of the evidence (confidence in evidence, quality of evidence) from network meta-analysis. GRADE working group suggested rating the certainty of direct evidence, indirect evidence, and network evidence, respectively. Recently, GRADE working group has published a series of papers to improve and supplement this approach. This paper introduces the frontiers and advancement of GRADE approach to rate the certainty of evidence from network meta-analysis.
ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to investigate the value of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) in predicting the occurrence of Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) in patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), and to compare it with traditional Logistic regression models to assess its predictive efficacy, providing theoretical basis for the prediction of VTE risk in OSA patients. MethodsA retrospective analysis was conducted on patients diagnosed with OSA and hospitalized in the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, from January 2018 to August 2023. Patients were divided into OSA combined with VTE group (n=128) and pure OSA control group (n=680). The dataset was randomly divided into a training set (n=646) and an independent validation set (n=162). The Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique (SMOTE) was employed to address the issue of data imbalance. Artificial Neural Networks and Logistic regression models were then built on training sets with and without SMOTE. Finally, the performance of each model was evaluated using accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, Youden's index, and Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve (AUC). Results When oversampling was conducted using SMOTE on the training set, both the Artificial Neural Network and Logistic regression models showed improved AUC. The Artificial Neural Network model with SMOTE performed the best with an AUC value of 0.935 (95%CI: 0.898–0.961), achieving an accuracy of 90.15%, specificity of 87.32%, sensitivity of 93.44%, and Youden’s index of 0.808 at the optimal cutoff point. The Logistic regression model with SMOTE yielded an AUC value of 0.817 (95%CI: 0.765–0.861), with an accuracy of 77.27%, specificity of 83.80%, sensitivity of 69.67%, and Youden's index of 0.535. The difference in AUC between the Artificial Neural Network model and Logistic regression model was statistically significant after employing SMOTE (P<0.05). Conclusions The Artificial Neural Network model demonstrates high effectiveness in predicting VTE formation in OSA patients, particularly with the further improvement in predictive performance when utilizing SMOTE oversampling technique, rendering it more accurate and stable compared to the traditional Logistic regression model.
The reporting checklist of health technology assessment (HTA) was a tool developed by the International Network of Agencies for Health Technology Assessment (INAHTA) to be used to guide the reporting of HTA. Experiential evidence showed that the tool was effective to improve the reporting quality of HTA and also could be used as a reference in performing HTA and translating the research evidence into decision-making. This paper introduced the background, developing process and main contents of the checklist, so as to improve the reporting quality of HTA in China.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the effect of different psychological intervention methods on depressive symptoms in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. MethodsPubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CNKI, WanFang Data, VIP and CBM databases were electronically searched to collect randomized controlled trials(RCTs) on psychological interventions on depression of patients with inflammatory bowel disease from inception to January 12, 2023. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of the included studies. Network meta-analysis was then conducted by using software Stata and GeMTC. ResultsA total of 18 articles, 1 567 patients and 6 psychological intervention methods were included. The results of the network meta-analysis showed that, compared with conventional nursing, music therapy, mindfulness therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy had statistically significant differences in the intervention effect of depression in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (P<0.05); Among the six psychological intervention methods included, there was a statistically significant difference in relaxation therapy compared with music therapy, writing expression and mindfulness therapy (P<0.05); The difference between cognitive behavioral therapy and music therapy and mindfulness therapy was statistically significant (P<0.05), while there was no statistically significant difference in other interventions (P>0.05). The SUCRA ranking probability chart showed that music therapy was the best intervention method for depression in patients with inflammatory bowel disease, followed by mindfulness therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. ConclusionThe current evidence suggests that music therapy has an advantage in relieving depression in patients with inflammatory bowel disease, followed by mindfulness therapy or cognitive behavioral therapy. Due to the limited quality and quantity of the included studies, more high-quality studies are needed to verify the above conclusion.
The method of network meta-analysis of diagnostic test accuracy is in the exploratory stage. We had explored and introduced several methods of network meta-analysis of diagnostic test accuracy before. Based on example, we introduce ANOVA model for performing network meta-analysis of diagnostic test accuracy step-by-step.
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has updated and released the NCCN esophageal and esophagogastric junction cancers clinical practice guidelines in oncology (version 3. 2022). Compared with the version 4 of the guidelines in 2021, the 3 versions in 2022 have some updates and revisions, mainly focusing on molecular marker detection, perioperative treatment, advanced immunotherapy, radiotherapy and other aspects. This article will interpret the main content of the new edition of the guidelines, in order to enhance the understanding of the guidelines and guide the clinical practice of diagnosis and treatment.