scholarly journals A Systematic Review of Clinical Practice Guidelines’ Recommendations on Levothyroxine Therapy Alone versus Combination Therapy (LT4 plus LT3) for Hypothyroidism

2015 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eyal Kraut ◽  
Pendar Farahani

Purpose: Patients with hypothyroidism are increasingly enquiring about the benefit of using combination therapy of levothyroxine (LT4) and liothyronine (LT3) as a potential treatment for hypothyroidism. Combination therapy, however, remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to systematically review available hypothyroidism treatment recommendations from clinical practice guidelines from around the world to identify the consensus regarding combination therapy. Source: Clinical practice guidelines were obtained from searches of PubMed, EMBASE, and MEDLINE, using several combinations of MeSH terms. The search was limited to clinical guidelines in English-language publications, published between January 1, 1990 and May 1, 2015. A quantitative approach was utilized for data synthesis. Principal Findings: Thirteen guidelines were identified, including three regarding pregnancy, two regarding pediatric populations and eight regarding adult populations. There were six guidelines from North America, four guidelines from Europe and three guidelines from South America. Twelve of the guidelines were published after 2010. Nine guidelines addressed combination therapy of LT4 plus LT3, and all nine concluded that LT4 therapy alone is the standard of care, with insufficient evidence to recommend widespread combination therapy. Only the 2012 ETA Guidelines and the 2015 BTA Guidelines concluded that combination therapy could be used, although only in certain circumstances and as an experimental treatment. Conclusion: This systematic review illustrates that clinical practice guidelines worldwide do not recommend and do not support routine use of combination LT4 and LT3 therapy to treat hypothyroidism.

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 204209862098568
Author(s):  
Fenella Barlow-Pay ◽  
Thura Win Htut ◽  
Mina Khezrian ◽  
Phyo Kyaw Myint

Aims: Individuals taking immunosuppressants are at increased susceptibility to viral infections in general. However, due to the novel nature of the COVID-19, there is a lack of evidence about the specific risks of the disease in this patient group. This systematic review aims to summarize the current international clinical guidelines to highlight areas where research is needed through critical appraisal of the evidence base of these guidelines. Methods: We conducted a systematic review of clinical practice guidelines about the usage of immunosuppressants during the COVID-19 pandemic. Electronic databases including MEDLINE and the websites of relevant professional bodies were searched for English language guidelines that were published or updated between March 2020 and May 2020 in this area. We assessed the quality and consistency of guidelines. The evidence base underpinning these guidelines was critically appraised using GRADE criteria. Results: Twenty-three guidelines were included. Most guidelines ( n = 15, 65.2%) informed and updated evidence based on expert opinion. The methodological quality of the guidelines varied, ranging from ‘very low’ to ‘moderate’. Guidelines consistently recommended that high-risk patients, including those who are taking high doses of steroids for more than a month, or a combination of two or more immunosuppressants, should be shielding during the outbreak. Most guidelines stated that steroids usage should not be stopped abruptly and advised on individualized risk–benefit analysis considering the risk of the effect of COVID-19 infection and the relapse of the autoimmune condition in patients. Discussion: Clinical practice guidelines on taking immunosuppressants during the COVID-19 outbreak vary in quality. The level of evidence informing the available guidelines was generally low. Given the novel nature of COVID-19, the guidelines draw on existing knowledge and data, refer to the use of immunosuppressants and risks of serious infections of other aetiologies and have extrapolated these to form their evidence base.


2021 ◽  
pp. 100008
Author(s):  
Manoj Mohan ◽  
Joohi Ramawat ◽  
Gene La Monica ◽  
Pradeep Jayaram ◽  
Sherif Abdel Fattah ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Gimigliano ◽  
◽  
Sara Liguori ◽  
Antimo Moretti ◽  
Giuseppe Toro ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The identification of existing rehabilitation interventions and related evidence represents a crucial step along the development of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Package of Interventions for Rehabilitation (PIR). The methods for such identification have been developed by the WHO Rehabilitation Programme and Cochrane Rehabilitation under the guidance of the WHO’s Guideline Review Committee secretariat. The aim of this paper is to report on the results of the systematic search for clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) relevant to the rehabilitation of adults with fractures and to present the current state of evidence available from the identified CPGs. Methods This paper is part of the Best Evidence for Rehabilitation (be4rehab) series, developed according to the methodology presented in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Package of Interventions for Rehabilitation (PIR) introductory paper. It is a systematic review of existing CPGs on fractures in adult population published from 2009 to 2019. Results We identified 23 relevant CPGs after title and abstract screening. According to inclusion/exclusion criteria, we selected 13 CPGs. After checking for quality, publication time, multiprofessionality, and comprehensiveness, we finally included five CPGs dealing with rehabilitative management of fractures in adult population, two CPGs addressing treatment of distal radius fracture and three the treatment of femoral/hip fracture. Conclusion The selected CPGs on management of distal radius and femoral/hip fracture include few recommendations regarding rehabilitation, with overall low to very low quality of evidence and weak/conditional strength of recommendation. Moreover, several gaps in specific rehabilitative topics occur. Further high-quality trials are required to upgrade the quality of the available evidence. Level of evidence Level 1.


CMAJ Open ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. E66-E73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cara Tannenbaum ◽  
Barbara Clow ◽  
Margaret Haworth-Brockman ◽  
Patrice Voss

BMJ Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. e021040 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Blanco-Mavillard ◽  
Miguel Angel Rodríguez-Calero ◽  
Enrique Castro-Sánchez ◽  
Miquel Bennasar-Veny ◽  
Joan De Pedro-Gómez

ObjectiveCatheter-related bloodstream infections are one of the most important adverse events for patients. Evidence-based practice embraces interventions to prevent and reduce catheter-related bloodstream infections in patients. At present, a growing number of guidelines exist worldwide. The purpose of the study was to assess clinical practice guidelines for peripheral and central venous access device care and prevention of related complications.DesignSystematic review of clinical practice guidelines: We conducted a search of the literature published from 2005 to 2018 using Medline/PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Ovid, ScienceDirect, Scopus and Web of Science. We also evaluated grey literature sources and websites of organisations that compiled or produced guidelines. Guideline quality was assessed with the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation, Second Edition tool by three independent reviewers. Cohen’s kappa coefficient was used to evaluate the concordance between reviewers.ResultsWe included seven guidelines in the evaluation. The concordance between observers was substantial, K=0.6364 (95% CI 0.0247 to 1.2259). We identified seven international guidelines, which scored poorly on crucial domains such as applicability (medium 39%), stakeholder involvement (medium 65%) and methodological rigour (medium 67%). Guidelines by Spanish Health Ministry and UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence presented the highest quality.ConclusionsIt is crucial to critically evaluate the validity and reliability of clinical practice guidelines so the best, most context-specific document is selected. Such choice is a necessary prior step to encourage and support health organisations to transfer research results to clinical practice. The gaps identified in our study may explain the suboptimal clinical impact of guidelines. Such low adoption may be mitigated with the use of implementation guides accompanying clinical documents.


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