scholarly journals Menopausal hormone therapy and women’s health: An umbrella review

PLoS Medicine ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. e1003731
Author(s):  
Guo-Qiang Zhang ◽  
Jin-Liang Chen ◽  
Ying Luo ◽  
Maya B. Mathur ◽  
Panagiotis Anagnostis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Colorectal Cancer ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Hormone Therapy ◽  
Women's Health ◽  
Systematic Reviews ◽  
Observational Studies ◽  
Menopausal Hormone Therapy ◽  
Umbrella Review ◽  
Meta Analyses

Background There remains uncertainty about the impact of menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) on women’s health. A systematic, comprehensive assessment of the effects on multiple outcomes is lacking. We conducted an umbrella review to comprehensively summarize evidence on the benefits and harms of MHT across diverse health outcomes. Methods and findings We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and 10 other databases from inception to November 26, 2017, updated on December 17, 2020, to identify systematic reviews or meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies investigating effects of MHT, including estrogen-alone therapy (ET) and estrogen plus progestin therapy (EPT), in perimenopausal or postmenopausal women in all countries and settings. All health outcomes in previous systematic reviews were included, including menopausal symptoms, surrogate endpoints, biomarkers, various morbidity outcomes, and mortality. Two investigators independently extracted data and assessed methodological quality of systematic reviews using the updated 16-item AMSTAR 2 instrument. Random-effects robust variance estimation was used to combine effect estimates, and 95% prediction intervals (PIs) were calculated whenever possible. We used the term MHT to encompass ET and EPT, and results are presented for MHT for each outcome, unless otherwise indicated. Sixty systematic reviews were included, involving 102 meta-analyses of RCTs and 38 of observational studies, with 102 unique outcomes. The overall quality of included systematic reviews was moderate to poor. In meta-analyses of RCTs, MHT was beneficial for vasomotor symptoms (frequency: 9 trials, 1,104 women, risk ratio [RR] 0.43, 95% CI 0.33 to 0.57, p < 0.001; severity: 7 trials, 503 women, RR 0.29, 95% CI 0.17 to 0.50, p = 0.002) and all fracture (30 trials, 43,188 women, RR 0.72, 95% CI 0.62 to 0.84, p = 0.002, 95% PI 0.58 to 0.87), as well as vaginal atrophy (intravaginal ET), sexual function, vertebral and nonvertebral fracture, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular mortality (ET), and colorectal cancer (EPT), but harmful for stroke (17 trials, 37,272 women, RR 1.17, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.29, p = 0.027) and venous thromboembolism (23 trials, 42,292 women, RR 1.60, 95% CI 0.99 to 2.58, p = 0.052, 95% PI 1.03 to 2.99), as well as cardiovascular disease incidence and recurrence, cerebrovascular disease, nonfatal stroke, deep vein thrombosis, gallbladder disease requiring surgery, and lung cancer mortality (EPT). In meta-analyses of observational studies, MHT was associated with decreased risks of cataract, glioma, and esophageal, gastric, and colorectal cancer, but increased risks of pulmonary embolism, cholelithiasis, asthma, meningioma, and thyroid, breast, and ovarian cancer. ET and EPT had opposite effects for endometrial cancer, endometrial hyperplasia, and Alzheimer disease. The major limitations include the inability to address the varying effects of MHT by type, dose, formulation, duration of use, route of administration, and age of initiation and to take into account the quality of individual studies included in the systematic reviews. The study protocol is publicly available on PROSPERO (CRD42017083412). Conclusions MHT has a complex balance of benefits and harms on multiple health outcomes. Some effects differ qualitatively between ET and EPT. The quality of available evidence is only moderate to poor.

scholarly journals Dietary Inflammatory Index and Health Outcomes: An Umbrella Review of Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses of Observational Studies

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fang-Hua Liu ◽  
Chuan Liu ◽  
Ting-Ting Gong ◽  
Song Gao ◽  
Hui Sun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prostate Cancer ◽  
Colorectal Cancer ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Observational Studies ◽  
Cancer Colorectal ◽  
Dietary Inflammatory Index ◽  
Umbrella Review ◽  
Inflammatory Index ◽  
Cancer Breast ◽  
Meta Analyses

Background and Aims: The dietary inflammatory index (DII) is associated with non-communicable disease. We conducted an umbrella review to systematically evaluate meta-analyses of observational studies on DII and diverse health outcomes.Methods: We comprehensively searched the PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase databases to identify related systematic reviews and meta-analyses of observational studies. Those investigating the association between DII and a wide range of health outcomes in humans were eligible for inclusion. For each meta-analysis, we estimated the summary effect size by using fixed and random effects models, the 95% confidence interval, and the 95% prediction interval. We assessed heterogeneity, evidence of small-study effects, and excess significance bias.Results: The umbrella review identified 35 meta-analyses assessing associations between DII and various health outcomes: cancer (n = 24), mortality (n = 4), metabolic (n = 4), and other (n = 3). The methodological quality was high or moderate. Of the 35 meta-analyses, we observed highly suggestive evidence for harmful associations between digestive tract cancer, colorectal cancer, overall cancer, pharyngeal cancer, UADT cancer, and CVD mortality. Moreover, 11 harmful associations showed suggestive evidence: hormone-dependent cancer, rectal cancer, colon cancer, breast and prostate cancer, gynecological cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, all-cause mortality, and depression.Conclusion: DII is likely to be associated with harmful effects in multiple health outcomes. Robust randomized controlled trials are warranted to understand whether the observed results are causal.Systematic Review Registration: CRD42021218361

scholarly journals Dietary Carbohydrate and Diverse Health Outcomes: Umbrella Review of 30 Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses of 281 Observational Studies

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ya-Shu Liu ◽  
Qi-Jun Wu ◽  
Jia-Le Lv ◽  
Yu-Ting Jiang ◽  
Hui Sun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Metabolic Syndrome ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Systematic Reviews ◽  
Observational Studies ◽  
Carbohydrate Intake ◽  
Dietary Carbohydrate ◽  
Umbrella Review ◽  
Suggestive Evidence ◽  
All Cause Mortality ◽  
Meta Analyses

Background and Aims: The associations between dietary carbohydrate and diverse health outcomes remain controversial and confusing. To summarize the existing evidence of the association between dietary carbohydrate intake and diverse health outcomes and to evaluate the credibility of these sources of evidence. We performed this umbrella review of evidence from meta-analyses of observational studies.Methods: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science databases, and manual screening of references up to July 2020 were searched. Systematic reviews with meta-analyses of observational studies in humans investigating the association between dietary carbohydrate intake and multiple health outcomes were identified. We assessed the evidence levels by using summary effect sizes, 95% prediction intervals, between-study heterogeneity, evidence of small-study effects, and evidence of excess significance bias for each meta-analysis.Results: We included 43 meta-analyses of observational research studies with 23 health outcomes, including cancer (n = 26), mortality (n = 4), metabolic diseases (n = 4), digestive system outcomes (n = 3), and other outcomes [coronary heart disease (n = 2), stroke (n = 1), Parkinson's disease (n = 1), and bone fracture (n = 2)]. This umbrella review summarized 281 individual studies with 13,164,365 participants. Highly suggestive evidence of an association between dietary carbohydrate intake and metabolic syndrome was observed with adjusted summary odds ratio of 1.25 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.15–1.37]. The suggestive evidences were observed in associations of carbohydrate consumption with esophageal adenocarcinoma (0.57, 95% CI = 0.42–0.78) and all-cause mortality (adjusted summary hazard ratio 1.19, 95% CI = 1.09–1.30).Conclusions: Despite the fact that numerous systematic reviews and meta-analyses have explored the relationship between carbohydrate intake and diverse health outcomes, there is no convincing evidence of a clear role of carbohydrate intake. However, there is highly suggestive evidence suggested carbohydrate intake is associated with high risk of metabolic syndrome, suggestive evidence found its association with increased risk of all-cause mortality and decreased risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma.Systematic Review Registration: CRD42020197424.

scholarly journals Telomere length and health outcomes: An umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses of observational studies

2019 ◽  
Vol 51 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Smith ◽  
Claudio Luchini ◽  
Jacopo Demurtas ◽  
Pinar Soysal ◽  
Brendon Stubbs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Telomere Length ◽  
Systematic Reviews ◽  
Observational Studies ◽  
Umbrella Review ◽  
Meta Analyses

scholarly journals Global assessment of C-reactive protein and health-related outcomes: an umbrella review of evidence from observational studies and Mendelian randomization studies

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgios Markozannes ◽  
Charalampia Koutsioumpa ◽  
Sofia Cividini ◽  
Grace Monori ◽  
Konstantinos K. Tsilidis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Systematic Reviews ◽  
Observational Studies ◽  
Mendelian Randomization ◽  
Convincing Evidence ◽  
Mr Studies ◽  
C Reactive Protein ◽  
Umbrella Review ◽  
Reactive Protein ◽  
Meta Analyses

Abstract C-reactive protein (CRP) has been studied extensively for association with a large number of non-infectious diseases and outcomes. We aimed to evaluate the breadth and validity of associations between CRP and non-infectious, chronic health outcomes and biomarkers. We conducted an umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses and a systematic review of Mendelian randomization (MR) studies. PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were systematically searched from inception up to March 2019. Meta-analyses of observational studies and MR studies examining associations between CRP and health outcomes were identified, excluding studies on the diagnostic value of CRP for infections. We found 113 meta-analytic comparisons of observational studies and 196 MR analyses, covering a wide range of outcomes. The overwhelming majority of the meta-analyses of observational studies reported a nominally statistically significant result (95/113, 84.1%); however, the majority of the meta-analyses displayed substantial heterogeneity (47.8%), small study effects (39.8%) or excess significance (41.6%). Only two outcomes, cardiovascular mortality and venous thromboembolism, showed convincing evidence of association with CRP levels. When examining the MR literature, we found MR studies for 53/113 outcomes examined in the observational study meta-analyses but substantial support for a causal association with CRP was not observed for any phenotype. Despite the striking amount of research on CRP, convincing evidence for associations and causal effects is remarkably limited.

scholarly journals An umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses of observational investigations of obstructive sleep apnea and health outcomes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weiwei Chen ◽  
Yuting Li ◽  
Liliangzi Guo ◽  
Chenxing Zhang ◽  
Shaohui Tang
Keyword(s):  
Obstructive Sleep Apnea ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Systematic Reviews ◽  
Coronary Revascularization ◽  
Umbrella Review ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Quality Of Evidence ◽  
Obstructive Sleep ◽  
Meta Analyses

Abstract Purpose The previous analysis of systematic reviews and meta-analyses have illustrated that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is correlated with multiple health outcomes. In the present research, our main aim was to execute an umbrella review to assess the available evidence for the associations between OSA and health outcomes. Methods Herein, a meta-analysis of previous observational investigations that have reported associations between OSA and health outcomes in all human populations and settings was performed. We used these studies to execute an umbrella review of available meta-analyses and systematic reviews. Results Sixty-six articles comprising 136 unique outcomes were enrolled in this analysis. Of the 136 unique outcomes, 111 unique outcomes had significant associations (p < 0.05). Only 7 outcomes (coronary revascularization after PCI, postoperative respiratory failure, steatosis, alaninetrans aminase (ALT) elevation, metabolic syndrome (MS), psoriasis, and Parkinson’s disease) had a high quality of evidence. Twenty-four outcomes had a moderate quality of evidence, and the remaining 80 outcomes had a weak quality of evidence. Sixty-nine outcomes exhibited significant heterogeneity. Twenty-five outcomes exhibited publication bias. Sixty-three (95%) studies showed critically low methodological quality. Conclusion Among the 66 meta-analyses exploring 136 unique outcomes, only 7 statistically significant outcomes were rated as high quality of evidence. OSA may correlate with an increased risk of coronary revascularization after PCI, postoperative respiratory failure, steatosis, ALT elevation, MS, psoriasis, and Parkinson’s disease.

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