scholarly journals Effects of Horticultural Therapy on Korean Elderly with Dementia: A Meta-analysis

Author(s):  
Kyung Ja Kang ◽  
Mi-Jung Kang

Purpose: The aim of this meta-analysis was to identify the effects of horticultural therapy on Korean elderly with dementia.Methods: We searched the PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, CINAHL, and eight domestic databases, until February 2021. Data extraction and the risk of bias assessment were independently conducted by two authors. Standardized mean differences (SMDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using a random-effects meta-analysis.Results: Of the 478 studies retrieved from the databases, 21 studies were included in the final analysis. A total of 93 outcome variables were analyzed in 21 literatures. The overall effect size of the horticultural treatment program was 0.91 (95% CI: 0.74~1.09, p<.001), which was statistically significant. Compared to the control group, horticultural therapy improved cognitive functions (SMD=0.71, 95% CI: 0.42~0.99, I2=79.9%), psychosocial functions (SMD=1.01, 95% CI: -0.70~1.31, I2=67.8%), and physical functions (SMD=1.05, 95% CI: 0.77~1.33, I2=72%) in Korean elderly with dementia.Conclusion: This meta-analysis found that horticultural therapy improved the cognitive, psychosocial, and physical functions of dementia patients compared to subjects in the control group.

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongchang Yang ◽  
Xueping Wu ◽  
Min Wang

This study aimed to comprehensively assess the effects of exercise on cardiopulmonary function indices in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). A literature review was performed by searching literatures in PubMed and Embase before June 2016. Studies were selected based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, followed by data extraction and a quality assessment of the included studies using the Cochrane Collaboration’s tool. Correlations between exercise and cardiopulmonary function indices [pulse wave velocity, respiratory exchange ratio, and peak oxygen uptake (VO2 peak)] were then evaluated using mean differences and 95% confidence intervals. All meta-analyses were conducted using R 3.12 software. Finally, five eligible studies involving 179 CKD patients were included. After intervention, a heterogeneity test showed that the VO2 peak values of the treatment group were greater than those of the control group, whereas no significant differences were found for the other indices. However, a sensitivity analysis showed inconsistent results both before and after intervention. Thus, we concluded that exercise might play an important role in improving the VO2 peak values in CKD patients. Additional studies are needed to verify this conclusion.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (13) ◽  
pp. 1604-1612
Author(s):  
Congcong Wu ◽  
Hua Jiang ◽  
Jianghua Chen

Background: Although the adjuvant therapy of bisphosphonates in prostate cancer is effective in improving bone mineral density, it is still uncertain whether bisphosphonates could decrease the risk of Skeletal- Related Event (SRE) in patients with prostate cancer. We reviewed and analyzed the effect of different types of bisphosphonates on the risk of SRE, defined as pathological fracture, spinal cord compression, radiation therapy to the bone, surgery to bone, hypercalcemia, bone pain, or death as a result of prostate cancer. Methods: A systemic literature search was conducted on PubMed and related bibliographies. The emphasis during data extraction was laid on the Hazard Ratio (HR) and the corresponding 95% Confidence Interval (CI) from every eligible Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT). HR was pooled with the fixed effects model, and preplanned subgroup analyses were performed. Results: 5 RCTs (n = 4651) were included and analyzed finally after screening 51 articles. The meta-analysis of all participants showed no significant decrease in the risk of SRE when adding bisphosphonates to control group (HR = 0.968, 95% CI = 0.874 - 1.072, p = 0.536) with low heterogeneity (I2 = 0.0% (d.f. = 4) p = 0.679). There was no significant improvement on SRE neither in the subgroups with Metastases (M1) or Castration-Sensitive Prostate Cancer (CSPC) (respectively HR = 0.968, 95% CI = 0.874 - 1.072, p = 0.536, I2 = 0.0% (d.f. = 4) p = 0.679; HR = 0.954, 95% CI = 0.837 - 1.088, p = 0.484, I2 = 0.0% (d.f. = 3) p = 0.534). Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that bisphosphonates could not statistically significantly reduce the risk of SRE in patients with prostate cancer, neither in the subgroups with M1 or CSPC.


2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 030006052110023
Author(s):  
Qian Zou ◽  
Jiawei Si ◽  
Yatao Guo ◽  
Jiayu Yu ◽  
Huijuan Shi

Objective To determine the association between serum visfatin levels and psoriasis and to evaluate the correlation between serum visfatin levels and the severity of psoriasis. Methods The electronic databases PubMed®, Embase® and the Cochrane Library were searched for articles published from inception to 1 May 2020. Data were extracted and then standard mean differences (SMDs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for pooled estimates. Results A total of 11 studies met the inclusion criteria and were included (448 patients diagnosed with psoriasis and 377 controls). This meta-analysis demonstrated that patients with psoriasis had significantly higher levels of visfatin than the controls (SMD = 0.90, 95% CI 0.52, 1.28). Subgroup analyses showed that differences in serum visfatin levels between the patient group and the control group were associated with ethnicity, Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) and body mass index. Additionally, a meta-analysis of correlations showed that visfatin levels in patients with psoriasis were positively correlated with PASI ( r = 0.51, 95% CI 0.14, 0.75). Conclusions This meta-analysis showed that serum visfatin levels in patients with psoriasis were significantly higher than those in the controls and a positive correlation between serum visfatin levels and psoriasis severity was observed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna Glaser ◽  
Sarah Nouri ◽  
Alicia Fernandez ◽  
Rebecca L. Sudore ◽  
Dean Schillinger ◽  
...  

Background. Patient comprehension is fundamental to valid informed consent. Current practices often result in inadequate patient comprehension. Purpose. An updated review to evaluate the characteristics and outcomes of interventions to improve patient comprehension in clinical informed consent. Data Sources. Systematic searches of MEDLINE and EMBASE (2008–2018). Study Selection. We included randomized and nonrandomized controlled trials evaluating interventions to improve patient comprehension in clinical informed consent. Data Extraction. Reviewers independently abstracted data using a standardized form, comparing all results and resolving disagreements by consensus. Data Synthesis. Fifty-two studies of 60 interventions met inclusion criteria. Compared with standard informed consent, a statistically significant improvement in patient comprehension was seen with 43% (6/14) of written interventions, 56% (15/27) of audiovisual interventions, 67% (2/3) of multicomponent interventions, 85% (11/13) of interactive digital interventions, and 100% (3/3) of verbal discussion with test/feedback or teach-back interventions. Eighty-five percent of studies (44/52) evaluated patients’ understanding of risks, 69% (41/52) general knowledge about the procedure, 35% (18/52) understanding of benefits, and 31% (16/52) understanding of alternatives. Participants’ education level was reported heterogeneously, and only 8% (4/52) of studies examined effects according to health literacy. Most studies (79%, 41/52) did not specify participants’ race/ethnicity. Limitations. Variation in interventions and outcome measures precluded conduct of a meta-analysis or calculation of mean effect size. Control group processes were variable and inconsistently characterized. Nearly half of studies (44%, 23/52) had a high risk of bias for the patient comprehension outcome. Conclusions. Interventions to improve patient comprehension in informed consent are heterogeneous. Interactive interventions, particularly with test/feedback or teach-back components, appear superior. Future research should emphasize all key elements of informed consent and explore effects among vulnerable populations.


Children ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 489
Author(s):  
Sarah Nally ◽  
Angela Carlin ◽  
Nicole E. Blackburn ◽  
Judith S. Baird ◽  
Jo Salmon ◽  
...  

School-based interventions are promising for targeting a change in obesity-related behaviours in children. However, the efficacy of school-based interventions to prevent obesity remains unclear. This review examined the effectiveness of school-based interventions at changing obesity-related behaviours (increased physical activity, decreased sedentary behaviour and improved nutrition behaviour) and/or a change in BMI/BMI z-score. Following PRISMA guidelines, seven databases were systematically searched from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2020. Two review authors independently screened studies for eligibility, completed data extraction and assessed the risk of bias of each of the included studies. Forty-eight studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in a narrative synthesis. Thirty-eight studies were eligible for inclusion in a meta-analysis. The findings demonstrate that interventions in children when compared to controls resulted in a small positive treatment effect in the control group (2.14; 95% CI = 0.77, 3.50). There was no significant effect on sedentary behaviour, energy intake and fruit and vegetable intake. Significant reductions were found between groups in BMI kg/m2 (−0.39; 95% CI = −0.47, −0.30) and BMI z-score (−0.05; 95% CI = −0.08, −0.02) in favour of the intervention. The findings have important implications for future intervention research in terms of the effectiveness of intervention components and characteristics.


Author(s):  
Arne Buerger ◽  
Timo D. Vloet ◽  
Lisa Haber ◽  
Julia M. Geissler

Abstract Context Third-wave therapies have demonstrated efficacy as a treatment option for EDs in adulthood. Data on the suitability for EDs in adolescence are lacking. Objective To estimate the efficacy of third-wave interventions to reduce ED symptoms in adolescents in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and uncontrolled studies. Data sources We systematically reviewed the databases PubMed (1976-January 2021), PsycINFO (1943-January 2021), and the Cochrane database (1995-January 2021) for English-language articles on third-wave therapies. References were screened for further publications of interest. Study selection RCTs and pre-post studies without control group, comprising patients aged 11–21 years (mean age = 15.6 years) with an ED diagnosis (anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, eating disorder not otherwise specified) investigating the efficacy of third-wave psychological interventions were included. Efficacy had to be evaluated according to the Eating Disorder Examination or Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire, the Eating Disorder Inventory-2, the Eating Disorder Inventory-3, or the Structured Interview for Anorexic and Bulimic Disorders for DSM-IV and ICD-10. The outcome assessed in the meta-analysis was the EDE total score. Data extraction Independent extraction of data by two authors according to a pre-specified data extraction sheet and quality indicators. Data synthesis We identified 1000 studies after removal of duplicates, assessed the full texts of 48 articles for eligibility, and included 12 studies with a total of 487 participants (female 97.3%/male 2.6%) in the qualitative synthesis and seven studies in the meta-analysis. Articles predominantly reported uncontrolled pre-post trials of low quality, with only two published RCTs. Treatments focused strongly on dialectical behaviour therapy (n = 11). We found moderate effects of third-wave therapies on EDE total score interview/questionnaire for all EDs (d = − 0.67; z = − 5.53; CI95% = − 0.83 to − 0.59). Descriptively, the effects appeared to be stronger in patients with BN and BED. Conclusion At this stage, it is not feasible to draw conclusions regarding the efficacy of third-wave interventions for the treatment of EDs in adolescence due to the low quality of the empirical evidence. Since almost all of the identified studies used DBT, it is unfortunately not possible to assess other third-wave treatments’ efficacy.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne W. Y. Chung ◽  
Vincent C. M. Yan ◽  
Hongwei Zhang

Aim.To summarize all relevant trials and critically evaluate the effect of acupuncture on heart rate variability (HRV).Method.This was a systematic review with meta-analysis. Keyword search was conducted in 7 databases for randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Data extraction and risk of bias were done.Results.Fourteen included studies showed a decreasing effect of acupuncture on low frequency (LF) and low frequency to high frequency ratio (LF/HF ratio) of HRV for nonhealthy subjects and on normalized low frequency (LF norm) for healthy subjects. The overall effect was in favour of the sham/control group for high frequency (HF) in nonhealthy subjects and for normalized high frequency (HF norm) in healthy subjects. Significant decreasing effect on HF and LF/HF ratio of HRV when acupuncture was performed on ST36 among healthy subjects and PC6 among both healthy and nonhealthy subjects, respectively.Discussion.This study partially supports the possible effect of acupuncture in modulating the LF of HRV in both healthy and nonhealthy subjects, while previous review reported that acupuncture did not have any convincing effect on HRV in healthy subjects. More published work is needed in this area to determine if HRV can be an indicator of the therapeutic effect of acupuncture.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Duygu Akçay ◽  
Nuray Barış

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of interventions focused on reducing screen time in children. Design/methodology/approach Studies that aim to investigate the effects of interventions aimed at reducing the time spent in front of the screen (i.e. screen time). A Random-effects model was used to calculate the pooled standard mean differences. The outcome was to evaluate the screen time in children in the 0–18 age range. A subgroup analysis was performed to reveal the extent to which the overall effect size varied by subgroups (participant age, duration of intervention and follow). Findings For the outcome, the meta-analysis included 21 studies, and the standard difference in mean change in screen time in the intervention group compared with the control group was −0.16 (95% confidence interval [CI], −0.21 to −0.12) (p < 0.001). The effect size was found to be higher in long-term (=7 months) interventions and follow-ups (p < 0.05). Originality/value Subgroup analysis showed that a significant effect of screen time reduction was observed in studies in which the duration of intervention and follow-up was =7 months. As the evidence base grows, future researchers can contribute to these findings by conducting a more comprehensive analysis of effect modifiers and optimizing interventions to reduce screen time.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nasrin Amiri Dashatan ◽  
Marzieh Ashrafmansouri ◽  
Mehdi Koushki ◽  
Nayebali Ahmadi

Abstract Background Leishmaniasis is one of the most important health problems worldwide. The evidence has suggested that resveratrol and its derivatives have anti-leishmanial effects; however, the results are inconsistent and inconclusive. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of resveratrol and its derivatives on the Leishmania viability through a systematic review and meta-analysis of available relevant studies. Methods The electronic databases PubMed, ScienceDirect, Embase, Web of Science and Scopus were queried between October 2000 and April 2020 using a comprehensive search strategy. The eligible articles selected and data extraction conducted by two reviewers. Mean differences of IC50 (concentration leading to reduction of 50% of Leishmania) for each outcome was calculated using random-effects models. Sensitivity analyses and prespecified subgroup were conducted to evaluate potential heterogeneity and the stability of the pooled results. Publication bias was evaluated using the Egger’s and Begg’s tests. We also followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines for this review. Results Ten studies were included in the meta-analysis. We observed that RSV and its derivatives had significant reducing effects on Leishmania viability in promastigote [24.02 µg/ml; (95% CI 17.1, 30.8); P < 0.05; I2 = 99.8%; P heterogeneity = 0.00] and amastigote [18.3 µg/ml; (95% CI 13.5, 23.2); P < 0.05; I2 = 99.6%; P heterogeneity = 0.00] stages of Leishmania. A significant publication bias was observed in the meta-analysis. Sensitivity analyses showed a similar effect size while reducing the heterogeneity. Subgroup analysis indicated that the pooled effects of leishmanicidal of resveratrol and its derivatives were affected by type of stilbenes and Leishmania species. Conclusions Our findings clearly suggest that the strategies for the treatment of leishmaniasis should be focused on natural products such as RSV and its derivatives. Further study is needed to identify the mechanisms mediating this protective effects of RSV and its derivatives in leishmaniasis.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoyan Liu ◽  
Yali Du ◽  
Min Lei ◽  
Leyi Zhuang ◽  
Peng Lv

Abstract Objective To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of the biodegradable collagen matrix (Ologen) implant in trabeculectomy. Research design and methods We searched Pubmed, Cochrane library, Embase and Web of Science databases to find studies that met our pre-stated inclusion criteria. Reference lists of retrieved articles were also reviewed. The search was finished by February 2019. Study selection, data extraction, quality assessment, and data analyses were performed according to the Cochrane standards. Either a fixed or a random-effects model was used to calculate the overall combined risk estimates. The efficacy measures were the weighted mean differences (WMDs) for the intraocular pressure reduction (IOPR) and the glaucoma medications reduction, the odds ratio (OR) for the success rate and adverse events. Results Fifteen randomized controlled trials involved 682 eyes were included in the meta-analysis. There were no statistically differences between two groups in the IOPR at any time postoperatively. The MD of the IOPR was [MD= -0.45,95% Confidence Interval (CI), (-2.36,1.46), P=0.65] at one day, [MD= -0.82,95% CI, (-1.97, 0.33), P=0.16] at one week, [MD= -1.33, 95% CI,(-3.12, 0.47), P=0.15] at one month, [MD= 0.11,95% CI, (-1.87, 2.08), P=0.92] at three months, [MD= -0.60,95% CI, (-2.27, 1.06), P=0.48] at six months, [MD= -0.33,95% CI, (-1.99, 1.32), P=0.69] at one year, [MD= -0.13,95% CI, (-1.90, 1.65), P=0.89] at two years, [MD= 2.54,95% CI, (-2.83, 7.90), P=0.35] at three years, [MD= 3.04,95% CI, (-3.95, 10.03), P=0.39] at five years. There was no statistically significant difference between the Ologen groups and MMC groups concerned the complete success rate [OR=1.19, 95%CI, (0.83, 1.71), P=0.35]. With regard to the adverse events, no obvirously significance was observed. Seven studies reported the change of antiglaucoma medications. We found that the change of antiglaucoma medications is higher in MMC groups than that in Ologen groups [MD=-0.18, 95%CI, (-0.33, -0.03), P=0.02]. There is no significant difference in complications between the two groups. Conclusions From the current evidence, Ologen may be an alternative choice for trabeculectomy when considering the efficacy and safety. However, MMC might be the preferred choice concerned cost-effectiveness.


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