scholarly journals Do early life “non-cognitive skills” matter? A systematic review and meta-analysis of early life effects on academic achievement, psychosocial, language and cognitive, and health outcomes

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa G. Smithers ◽  
Alyssa C. P. Sawyer ◽  
Catherine R. Chittleborough ◽  
Neil Davies ◽  
George Davey Smith ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Study Design ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Sample Type ◽  
Cross Sectional

AbstractBackgroundSuccess in school and the labour market is due to more than just high intelligence. Associations between traits such as attention, self-regulation, and perseverance in childhood, and later outcomes have been investigated by psychologists, economists, and epidemiologists. Such traits have been loosely referred to as “non-cognitive” skills. There has been no attempt to systematically assess the relative importance of non-cognitive skills in early life on later outcomes.MethodsThe systematic review protocol was registered with the International Prospective Register for Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO, CRD42013006566) in December 2013. We systematically reviewed electronic databases covering psychology, education, health and economics for articles published from database conception until September 2015. Titles and abstracts were screened for eligibility, and from eligible articles data was extracted on study design, sample type and size, age of participants at exposure and outcome, loss to follow up, measurement of exposure and outcome, type of intervention and comparison group, confounding adjustment and results. Where possible we extracted a standardised effect size. We reviewed all studies and rated their evidence quality as ‘better, weak, or poor’ on the basis of study design and potential for confounding, selection and measurement bias.ResultsWe reviewed 375 studies and provided interpretation of results from 142 (38%) better quality studies comprising randomised controlled trials, quasi-experimental, fixed effects including twin studies, longitudinal and some cross-sectional designs that made reasonable attempts to control confounding. In the academic achievement category outcomes were reported in 78 publications of better quality studies which were consistent with 0.1-0.2 SD effects.Psychosocial outcomes were reported in 65 better quality studies consistent with effects of 0.3-0.4 SD. For the language and cognitive category there were 42 publications reporting better quality studies consistent with effects of 0.3-0.4 SD. For physical health, results across only eight better quality studies were inconsistent but centred around zero. Analysis of funnel plots consistently showed asymmetric distributions, raising the potential of small study bias which may inflate these observed effects.ConclusionsThe evidence under-pinning the importance of non-cognitive skills for life success is diverse and inconsistent. Nevertheless, there is tentative evidence from published studies that non-cognitive skills associate with modest improvements in academic achievement, psychosocial, and language and cognitive outcomes with effects in the range of 0.2-0.4 SD. The quality of evidence under-pinning this field is generally low with more than a third of studies making little or no attempt to control even the most basic confounding (endogeneity) bias. The evidence could be improved by adequately powering studies, and using procedures and tools that improve the conduct and reporting of RCTs and observational studies. Interventions designed to develop children’s non-cognitive skills could potentially improve opportunities, particularly for disadvantaged children. The inter-disciplinary researchers interested in these skills should take a more rigorous approach to determine which interventions are most effective.

scholarly journals Total Dairy, Cheese and Milk Intake and Arterial Stiffness: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Cross-sectional Studies.

Nutrients ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 741 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Diez-Fernández ◽  
Celia Álvarez-Bueno ◽  
Vicente Martínez-Vizcaíno ◽  
Mercedes Sotos-Prieto ◽  
José Recio-Rodríguez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Arterial Stiffness ◽  
Dairy Products ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Dairy Product ◽  
Milk Intake ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Product Consumption ◽  
Dairy Product Consumption

The aim of this review was to determine the relationship between dairy product consumption and arterial stiffness, measured by pulse wave velocity (PWV). We systematically searched the Medline, Embase and Web of Science databases until 30th January 2019 for cross-sectional data from studies addressing the association between dairy product consumption and PWV. This study was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42018110528). Both the inverse-variance fixed effects method and the DerSimonian and Laird method were used to compute pooled estimates of effect size (ES) and the respective 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Seven studies were included in the meta-analysis, with a total of 16,443 patients. Total dairy product (ES = −0.03; 95% CI [−0.04, −0.01]) and cheese (ES = −0.04; 95% CI [−0.07, −0.01]) consumption were weak, but significantly associated with lower PWV levels. Conversely, milk intake showed no significant association with PWV (ES = 0.02; 95% CI [−0.01, 0.05]). Heterogeneity in the ES was not important for the three groups of dairy products assessed. This systematic review and meta-analysis of seven studies found no detrimental effects of dairy product consumption on arterial stiffness measured by PWV. Due to the scarcity of studies, further investigations are warranted to clarify the role of dairy products on arterial stiffness.

scholarly journals Cognitive and academic benefits of music training with children: A multilevel meta-analysis

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Sala ◽  
Fernand Gobet
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Random Allocation ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Music Training ◽  
Academic Benefits ◽  
Analytic Review ◽  
And Mathematics

Music training has repeatedly been claimed to positively impact children’s cognitive skills and academic achievement (literacy and mathematics). This claim relies on the assumption that engaging in intellectually demanding activities fosters particular domain-general cognitive skills, or even general intelligence. The present meta-analytic review (N = 6,984, k = 254, m = 54) shows that this belief is incorrect. Once the quality of study design is controlled for, the overall effect of music training programs is null (g ̅ ≈ 0) and highly consistent across studies (τ2 ≈ 0). Results of Bayesian analyses employing distributional assumptions (informative priors) derived from previous research in cognitive training corroborate these conclusions. Small statistically significant overall effects are obtained only in those studies implementing no random allocation of participants and employing non-active controls (g ̅ ≈ 0.200, p < .001). Interestingly, music training is ineffective regardless of the type of outcome measure (e.g., verbal, non-verbal, speed-related, etc.), participants’ age, and duration of training. Furthermore, we note that, beyond meta-analysis of experimental studies, a considerable amount of cross-sectional evidence indicates that engagement in music has no impact on people’s non-music cognitive skills or academic achievement. We conclude that researchers’ optimism about the benefits of music training is empirically unjustified and stems from misinterpretation of the empirical data and, possibly, confirmation bias.

scholarly journals Study protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis of comorbidities and stroke characteristics associated with troponin elevation after acute stroke

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. e043613
Author(s):  
Amado Jimenez-Ruiz ◽  
Sebastian Fridman ◽  
Luciano A Sposato
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Renal Failure ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Sensitivity Analyses ◽  
Stroke Recurrence ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Stroke Severity ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Cardiovascular Comorbidities

IntroductionIt is unknown which comorbidities and stroke characteristics are associated with elevated cardiac troponin (cTn) levels after stroke. The main objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to assess the association of elevated cTn with preexisting cardiovascular comorbidities (eg, coronary artery disease, heart failure and structural heart disease), specific stroke characteristics (eg, infarct/haemorrhage size, stroke severity, insular cortex involvement) and renal failure after ischaemic stroke (IS) or intracranial haemorrhage (ICH). The secondary objective is to evaluate the association of elevated cTn with stroke recurrence and death.Methods and analysisWe will include all cross-sectional, case–control, cohort studies and clinical trials involving IS and ICH adult patients (≥18 years), published between 1 January 1990 and 31 December 2020 in English or Spanish, reporting the proportion with elevated cTn. We will search PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science by applying predefined search terms. Two reviewers will independently screen titles and abstracts, retrieve full texts, extract the data in a predesigned form, and assess the risk of bias. We will apply random-effects or fixed-effects meta-analyses to estimate the association between cardiovascular comorbidities, stroke characteristics and renal failure with cTn elevation. We will report results as risk ratios or ORs. We will perform sensitivity analyses for subtypes of cTn (cTn-I and cTn-T), regular versus high-sensitivity assays, and type of stroke (IS vs ICH). We will estimate heterogeneity by using t2Q and I2 measures. We will use funnel plots, Rosenthal’s Fail-Safe N, Duval and Tweedie’s trim and fill procedure, and Egger’s regression intercept to assess publication bias.Ethics and disseminationThis review will be based on published data and does therefore not require ethical clearance. The results will be published in peer-reviewed journals.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42020203126.

Is Periodontal Disease Associated with Alzheimer's Disease? A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis

2017 ◽  
Vol 48 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 21-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yago Leira ◽  
Clara Domínguez ◽  
Juan Seoane ◽  
Juan Seoane-Romero ◽  
Juan Manuel Pías-Peleteiro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Periodontal Disease ◽  
Observational Studies ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Newcastle Ottawa Scale ◽  
Analysis Quality

Background: In the last decade, several observational studies have suggested that there exists an association between periodontal disease (PD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). The aim of this systematic review was to investigate whether or not this link exists. Summary: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guideline for systematic review was used and registered at PROSPERO (CRD42016035377). The search strategy included using electronic databases and by hand searching articles published up to January 2016. MEDLINE via PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science were searched by 2 independent reviewers. Observational studies including patients meeting criteria for both AD and PD were eligible to be included in the analysis. Quality assessment of selected studies was performed by the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. From a total of 550 titles and abstracts, 5 studies were included (2 cross-sectional, 2 case-control and one cohort study) in the review. A fixed effects meta-analysis showed that the presence of PD is associated with the presence of AD (OR 1.69, 95% CI 1.21-2.35). When only severe forms of PD were evaluated, a significant association was also observed (OR 2.98, 95% CI 1.58-5.62). Key Messages: In the present review, a significant association was observed between PD and AD. Further studies should be carried out in order to investigate the direction of the association and factors that may confound it.

scholarly journals A systematic review and meta-analysis of effects of early life non-cognitive skills on academic, psychosocial, cognitive and health outcomes

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (11) ◽  
pp. 867-880 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa G. Smithers ◽  
Alyssa C. P. Sawyer ◽  
Catherine R. Chittleborough ◽  
Neil M. Davies ◽  
George Davey Smith ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Meta Analysis

scholarly journals Cognitive and academic benefits of music training with children: A multilevel meta-analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (8) ◽  
pp. 1429-1441
Author(s):  
Giovanni Sala ◽  
Fernand Gobet
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Random Allocation ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Music Training ◽  
Academic Benefits ◽  
Analytic Review ◽  
And Mathematics

AbstractMusic training has repeatedly been claimed to positively impact children’s cognitive skills and academic achievement (literacy and mathematics). This claim relies on the assumption that engaging in intellectually demanding activities fosters particular domain-general cognitive skills, or even general intelligence. The present meta-analytic review (N = 6,984, k = 254, m = 54) shows that this belief is incorrect. Once the quality of study design is controlled for, the overall effect of music training programs is null ($$ \overline{g} $$ g ¯ ≈ 0) and highly consistent across studies (τ2 ≈ 0). Results of Bayesian analyses employing distributional assumptions (informative priors) derived from previous research in cognitive training corroborate these conclusions. Small statistically significant overall effects are obtained only in those studies implementing no random allocation of participants and employing non-active controls ($$ \overline{g} $$ g ¯ ≈ 0.200, p < .001). Interestingly, music training is ineffective regardless of the type of outcome measure (e.g., verbal, non-verbal, speed-related, etc.), participants’ age, and duration of training. Furthermore, we note that, beyond meta-analysis of experimental studies, a considerable amount of cross-sectional evidence indicates that engagement in music has no impact on people’s non-music cognitive skills or academic achievement. We conclude that researchers’ optimism about the benefits of music training is empirically unjustified and stems from misinterpretation of the empirical data and, possibly, confirmation bias.

scholarly journals Prevalence and laboratory analysis of malaria and dengue co-infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manas Kotepui ◽  
Kwuntida Uthaisar Kotepui
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Case Reports ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Febrile Illness ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Fixed Effects Model ◽  
Cross Sectional

Abstract Background A clear understanding of the epidemiology of malaria and dengue co-infection is essential for informed decisions on appropriate control strategies for dengue and malaria. This systematic review synthesized evidence on the relationship of malaria and dengue co-infection and related it to alterations in platelet, hemoglobin, hematocrit, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels when compared to malaria mono-infection. Methods A systematic review in accordance with PRISMA guidelines was conducted. All published articles available in PubMed and Web of Science (ISI) databases before October 21, 2017 were recruited. All epidemiological studies except case reports on the prevalence or incidence of malaria and dengue co-infection among patients visiting hospitals with febrile illness were included. Studies that involved conference abstracts, protocols, systematic reviews, only mono-dengue or mono-malaria infections, and only animal or in vitro studies were excluded after screening the titles, abstracts, and body texts. Studies were additionally excluded after full text review when they lacked epidemiologic data on malaria and dengue co-infection. Two reviewers independently screened, reviewed, and assessed all the studies. Cochrane Q (Chi-square) and Moran’s I2 were used to assess heterogeneity, and the funnel plot was used to examine publication bias. The summary odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using a fixed-effects model. Thirteen cross-sectional and two retrospective studies were eligible to be included in the systematic review and meta-analysis. Results Out of the 2269 citations screened, 15 articles were eligible to be included in the systematic review and meta-analysis. The 15 studies involved 13,798 (10,373 cases with malaria and 3425 with dengue) patients in 9 countries. Thirteen studies compared the incidence and odds of Plasmodium sp. infection, five studies compared the odds of mean platelet, three studies compared Plasmodium parasite density, and four studies compared the odds of hemoglobin, hematocrit, AST, and ALT levels among co-infected groups and single-malaria-infected groups. Conclusions This study showed that dengue and malaria co-infection was associated with decreased odds of malaria infection, malaria parasitemia, AST, and ALT levels when compared to malaria mono-infection. However, malaria and dengue co-infection was associated with increased odds of platelet and hemoglobin levels when compared to malaria mono-infection.

The association between dietary inflammatory index and risk of central obesity in adults: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 90 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 535-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahdieh Abbasalizad Farhangi ◽  
Mahdi Vajdi
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Observational Studies ◽  
Central Obesity ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Weighted Mean Difference ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Dietary Factors ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Inflammatory Status ◽  
Obesity Indices

Abstract. Backgrounds: Central obesity, as a pivotal component of metabolic syndrome is associated with numerous co-morbidities. Dietary factors influence central obesity by increased inflammatory status. However, recent studies didn’t evaluate the association between central obesity and dietary inflammation index (DII®) that give score to dietary factors according to their inflammatory potential. In the current systematic review and meta-analysis, we summarized the studies that investigated the association between DII® with central obesity indices in the general populations. Methods: In a systematic search from PubMed, SCOPUS, Web of Sciences and Cochrane electronic databases, we collected relevant studies written in English and published until 30 October 2019. The population of included studies were apparently healthy subjects or individuals with obesity or obesity-related diseases. Observational studies that evaluated the association between DII® and indices of central obesity including WC or WHR were included. Results: Totally thirty-two studies were included; thirty studies were cross-sectional and two were cohort studies with 103071 participants. Meta-analysis of observational studies showed that higher DII® scores were associated with 1.81 cm increase in WC (Pooled weighted mean difference (WMD) = 1.813; CI: 0.785–2.841; p = 0.001). Also, a non-significant increase in the odds of having higher WC (OR = 1.162; CI: 0.95–1.43; p = 0.154) in the highest DII category was also observed. In subgroup analysis, the continent, dietary assessment tool and gender were the heterogeneity sources. Conclusion: The findings proposed that adherence to diets with high DII® scores was associated with increased WC. Further studies with interventional designs are necessary to elucidate the causality inference between DII® and central obesity indices.

Effectiveness of Passion Fruit Peel Flour (Passiflora edulis L.) versus Turmeric Flour (Curcuma longa L.) on Glycemic Control: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 450-456
Author(s):  
Danilo F. Sousa ◽  
Vivian S. Veras ◽  
Vanessa E.C.S. Freire ◽  
Maria L. Paula ◽  
Maria A.A.O. Serra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Glycemic Control ◽  
Curcuma Longa ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Passion Fruit ◽  
Joint Analysis ◽  
Case Control Studies ◽  
Bias Analysis ◽  
Fruit Peel ◽  
Cross Sectional

Background:: It is undeniable that diabetes may cause several health complications for the population. Many of these complications are associated with poor glycemic control. Due to this, strategies to handle this problem are of great clinical importance and may contribute to reducing the various complications from diabetes. Objective: : The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of the passion fruit peel flour versus turmeric flour on glycemic control. Methods: This is a systematic review and meta-analysis following the PRISMA protocol. The following inclusion criteria were applied: (1) Case-control studies, cohort studies, and clinical trials, due to the improved statistical analysis and, in restrict cases, cross-sectional studies; (2) Articles published in any language. The databases used for the search were PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane, and LILACS. A bias analysis and a meta-analyses were undertaken using R Studio (version 3.3.1) using effect- size models. Results: : A total of 565 studies were identified from which 11 met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Through isolated analysis, the effectiveness of turmeric flour on glycemic control was in the order of 0.73 CI (Confidence Interval) (from 0.68 to 0.79) and the effectiveness of passion fruit peel flour was 0.32 CI (0.23 to 0.45). The joint analysis resulted in 0.59 CI (0.52 to 0.68). The assessment of blood glucose was by glycated hemoglobin levels. All values were significant at a p < 0.05 level. Conclusion: Both interventions showed significant effects on glycemic control.

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