scholarly journals Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses of Traditional Chinese Medicine Must Search Chinese Databases to Reduce Language Bias

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin-Yin Wu ◽  
Jin-Ling Tang ◽  
Chen Mao ◽  
Jin-Qiu Yuan ◽  
Ying Qin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Medicine ◽  
Traditional Chinese Medicine ◽  
Selection Bias ◽  
Systematic Reviews ◽  
Language Bias ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Cochrane Reviews ◽  
Artery Disease ◽  
Meta Analyses ◽  
Almost All

Systematic reviews (SRs) that fail to search non-English databases may miss relevant studies and cause selection bias. The bias may be particularly severe in SRs of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as most randomized controlled trials (RCT) in TCM are published and accessible only in Chinese. In this study we investigated how often Chinese databases were not searched in SRs of TCM, how many trials were missed, and whether a bias may occur if Chinese databases were not searched. We searched 5 databases in English and 3 in Chinese for RCTs of Chinese herbal medicine for coronary artery disease and found that 96.64% (115/119) eligible studies could be identified only from Chinese databases. In a random sample of 80 Cochrane reviews on TCM, we found that Chinese databases were only searched in 43 or 53.75%, in which almost all the included studies were identified from Chinese databases. We also compared SRs of the same topic and found that they may draw a different conclusion if Chinese databases were not searched. In conclusion, an overwhelmingly high percentage of eligible trials on TCM could only be identified in Chinese databases. Reviewers in TCM are suggested to search Chinese databases to reduce potential selection bias.

scholarly journals Concordance between systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials in assisted reproduction: an overview

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariano Mascarenhas ◽  
Theodoros Kalampokas ◽  
Sesh Kamal Sunkara ◽  
Mohan S Kamath
Keyword(s):  
Assisted Reproduction ◽  
Systematic Reviews ◽  
Selective Reporting ◽  
Methodological Issues ◽  
Quality Of Evidence ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Cochrane Reviews ◽  
Secondary Outcomes ◽  
Meta Analyses

Abstract STUDY QUESTION Are systematic reviews published within a 3-year period on interventions in ART concordant in their conclusions? SUMMARY ANSWER The majority of the systematic reviews published within a 3-year period in the field of assisted reproduction on the same topic had discordant conclusions. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY Systematic reviews and meta-analyses have now replaced individual randomized controlled trials (RCTs) at the top of the evidence pyramid. There has been a proliferation of systematic reviews and meta-analyses, many of which suffer from methodological issues and provide varying conclusions. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION We assessed nine interventions in women undergoing ART with at least three systematic reviews each, published from January 2015 to December 2017. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS The systematic reviews which included RCTs were considered eligible for inclusion. The primary outcome was extent of concordance between systematic reviews on the same topic. Secondary outcomes included assessment of quality of systematic reviews, differences in included studies in meta-analyses covering the same search period, selective reporting and reporting the quality of evidence. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE Concordant results and conclusions were found in only one topic, with reviews in the remaining eight topics displaying partial discordance. The AMSTAR grading for the majority of the non-Cochrane reviews was critically low whilst it was categorized as high for all of the Cochrane reviews. For three of the nine topics, none of the included systematic reviews assessed the quality of evidence. We were unable to assess selective reporting as most of the reviews did not have a pre-specified published protocol. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION We were limited by the high proportion of reviews lacking a pre-specified protocol, which made it impossible to assess for selective reporting. Furthermore, many reviews did not specify primary and secondary outcomes which made it difficult to assess reporting bias. All the authors of this review were Cochrane review authors which may introduce some assessment bias. The categorization of the review’s conclusions as beneficial, harmful or neutral was subjective, depending on the tone and wording of the conclusion section of the review. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS The majority of the systematic reviews published within a 3-year period on the same topic in the field of assisted reproduction revealed discordant conclusions and suffered from serious methodological issues, hindering the process of informed healthcare decision-making. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S) All the authors are Cochrane authors. M.S.K. is an editorial board member of Cochrane Gynaecology and Fertility group. No grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors was obtained.

scholarly journals Traditional Chinese Medicine for Coronary Artery Disease Treatment: Clinical Evidence From Randomized Controlled Trials

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Liang ◽  
Ning Gu
Keyword(s):  
Coronary Artery Disease ◽  
Coronary Artery ◽  
Chinese Medicine ◽  
Traditional Chinese Medicine ◽  
Randomized Controlled Trials ◽  
Controlled Trials ◽  
Jadad Score ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Prevention And Treatment ◽  
Artery Disease

Traditional Chinese medicine has a history of more than 2,000 years and has been widely used in clinical practice. However, due to the lack of a reliable scientific basis, the role of traditional Chinese medicine in the prevention and treatment of coronary artery disease is not clear. At present, the existing randomized controlled trials about traditional Chinese medicine for coronary artery disease have defects, small sample sizes, and different results, so it is difficult to make a clear conclusion on the actual advantages and disadvantages of traditional Chinese medicine. In this review, the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine in the prevention and treatment of coronary artery disease were systematically evaluated through randomized controlled trials, most of which were double-blind trials. We reviewed 17 randomized controlled trials that included a total of 11,726 coronary artery disease patients. The methodological quality of the trials was generally high, with nine (52.94%) having a modified Jadad score of 7 and only three (17.65%) having a modified Jadad score of <3. There are 16 trials (94.12%) reporting safety; the safety of traditional Chinese medicine seems not to be inferior to that of mimetic, placebo, or western medications. Moreover, the results from 17 randomized controlled trials (100.00%) showed that traditional Chinese medicine can be applied as a complementary and alternative method to the primary and secondary prevention of coronary artery disease, and only six trials (35.29%) described adverse cardiovascular events specifically. However, it is necessary to assess the safety and efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine in treating coronary artery disease with long-term hard endpoints.

scholarly journals Auricular Acupressure in Patients with Hypertension and Insomnia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Zhi-Hui Zhao ◽  
Yi Zhou ◽  
Wei-Hong Li ◽  
Zhao-Hui Tang ◽  
Ting-Wei Xia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Chinese Medicine ◽  
Traditional Chinese Medicine ◽  
Comparison Group ◽  
Controlled Trials ◽  
Efficacy Rate ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Auricular Acupressure ◽  
Meta Analyses

Objective. The efficacy of auricular acupressure in patients with hypertension and insomnia is controversial. This systematic review aims to explore the effectiveness of auricular acupressure in reducing blood pressure and improving sleep in this population. Methods. We conducted an extensive database search in Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed, Ovid LWW, Web of Science, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database, Wanfang Data, and China Science and Technology Journal Database on randomized controlled trials published from inception to November 2019 that compared auricular acupressure with a control or comparison group on blood pressure control and sleep improvement. Two reviewers independently conducted data screening and extraction. Study quality was evaluated using the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. Meta-analyses were performed on blood pressure, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the efficacy rate of diagnostic and therapeutic criteria for traditional Chinese medicine syndromes (DTCTCMS), and the efficacy rate of guidelines for traditional Chinese medicine (new drug) clinical research (GTCMCR) by Revman 5.3.0. Results. A total of 18 randomized controlled trials with 1685 patients were identified. Compared with a control or comparison group, pooled meta-analyses showed that auricular acupressure significantly improved systolic blood pressure (MD = −15.05, 95% CI (−18.49, −11.61), P<0.00001), diastolic blood pressure (MD = −8.41, 95% CI (−11.33, −5.48), P<0.00001), PSQI (MD = −2.37, 95% CI (−4.64, −0.10), P=0.04), the efficacy rate of DTCTCMS (RR = 1.63, 95% CI (1.16, 2.28), P=0.004), and the efficacy rate of GTCMCR (RR = 1.25, 95% CI (1.12, 1.38)). Conclusions. The results demonstrated a favorable effect of auricular acupressure to reduce blood pressure and improve sleep in patients with hypertension and insomnia. Further studies to better understand the acupoints and intervention times of auricular acupressure are warranted.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document