Reporting and methodological quality of meta-analyses of acupuncture for patients with migraine: A methodological investigation with evidence map / 中西医结合学报

BACKGROUND@#Acupuncture has been widely used to relieve migraine-related symptoms. However, the findings of previous systematic reviews (SRs) and meta-analyses (MAs) are still not completely consistent. Their quality is also unknown, so a comprehensive study is needed.@*OBJECTIVE@#To evaluate the reporting and methodological quality of these MAs concerning acupuncture for migraine, and summarize evidence about the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for migraine.@*SEARCH STRATEGY@#PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Biomedical Databases, Wanfang Data, and VIP databases were searched from inception to September 2020, with a comprehensive search strategy.@*INCLUSION CRITERIA@#The pairwise MAs of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) concerning migraine treated by acupuncture or acupuncture-based therapies, with a control group that received sham acupuncture, medication, no treatment, or acupuncture at different acupoints were included.@*DATA EXTRACTION AND ANALYSIS@#Two independent investigators screened studies, extracted relevant data, and assessed reporting and methodological quality using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2009 and A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR 2), then all results were cross-checked. Spearman correlation test was used to evaluate the correlation between reporting and methodological quality scores.@*RESULTS@#A total of 20 MAs were included in this study. The included MAs indicated that acupuncture was efficacious and safe in preventing and treating migraine when compared with control intervention. There was a high correlation between reporting and methodological quality scores (rs = 0.87, P < 0.001). The quality of the included SRs needs to be improved mainly with regard to protocol and prospective registration, using a comprehensive search strategy, summarizing the strength of evidence body for key outcomes, a full list of excluded studies with reasons for exclusion, reporting of RCTs' funding sources, and assessing the potential impact of risk of bias in RCTs on MA results.@*CONCLUSION@#Acupuncture is an effective and safe intervention for preventing and treating migraine, and could be considered as a good option for patients with migraine. However, the reporting and methodological quality of MAs included in this overview is suboptimal. In the future, AMSTAR 2 and PRISMA tools should be followed when making and reporting an SR with MA.

Exercise Intervention for Patients with Depression: An Evidence Mapping / 中国康复理论与实践

Objective To systematically identify, describe, and evaluate research evidence related to exercise intervention in patients with depression through the evidence mapping method. Methods Related studies on exercise intervention for patients with depression were searched in CNKI, Wanfang Data, CBM, VIP, Web of Science, EMBASE, Cochrane library, and PubMed from inception to July, 2021. The quality of the studies was assessed using the risk of bias (RoB) tool recommended by the Cochrane Handbook Version 5.1.0 and A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Review-2 (AMSTAR-2). Based on World Health Organization Family International Classifications (WHO-FICs) framework, an evidence mapping framework was established, using EPPI software and Microsoft Excel 2019 tools for data extraction and coding, and using bubble charts to comprehensively present the research population, intervention categories, original research sample size, and the number of studies included in the systematic review/meta-analysis, conclusion classification and other information. Results A total of 101 randomized controlled trials and 52 systematic reviews/meta-analyses were included. The randomized controlled trials involved three types of intervention strategies with 15 different interventions, mainly including unspecified exercise intervention (28, 27.72%) and yoga intervention (19, 18.81%). The main research outcomes included b1. Global mental functions (92, 91.09%) and d9. Community, social and civic life (19, 18.81%). Among the three types of intervention strategies, rehabilitation accounted for the highest proportion, with 47 studies in total, accounting for 46.53%. The main research population was patients with other specified depression (19, 40.42%), such as patients with major depression and elderly depression. Forty-six research conclusions (97.87%) were classified as "beneficial" or "probably beneficial". In 52 systematic reviews/meta-analyses, nine interventions were involved, mainly including unspecified exercise intervention (17, 32.69%) and yoga intervention (12, 23.08%). The main study outcomes included b1. Global mental functions (41, 78.85%) and adverse reactions (12, 23.08%). Among the three types of intervention strategies, the treatment type accounted for the highest proportion, with a total of 34 studies, accounting for 65.38%. The study population was mainly patients with other specific depression (27, 79.41%), such as adult depression and pregnant women with depression, 28 (82.35%) of the research conclusions were classified as "beneficial" or " probably beneficial". At the same time, the intervention environment/background was mainly outpatient and inpatient environment. Conclusion Exercise intervention may be beneficial for patients with depression. However, the effectiveness of walking, cycling, Qigong, resistance training, and sports game interventions, the optimal intervention duration or intensity, and the adverse effects of the intervention, still need to be further explored by high-quality study in the future.

Exercise Intervention for Patients with Depression: An Evidence Mapping / 中国康复理论与实践

Objective To systematically identify, describe, and evaluate research evidence related to exercise intervention in patients with depression through the evidence mapping method. Methods Related studies on exercise intervention for patients with depression were searched in CNKI, Wanfang Data, CBM, VIP, Web of Science, EMBASE, Cochrane library, and PubMed from inception to July, 2021. The quality of the studies was assessed using the risk of bias (RoB) tool recommended by the Cochrane Handbook Version 5.1.0 and A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Review-2 (AMSTAR-2). Based on World Health Organization Family International Classifications (WHO-FICs) framework, an evidence mapping framework was established, using EPPI software and Microsoft Excel 2019 tools for data extraction and coding, and using bubble charts to comprehensively present the research population, intervention categories, original research sample size, and the number of studies included in the systematic review/meta-analysis, conclusion classification and other information. Results A total of 101 randomized controlled trials and 52 systematic reviews/meta-analyses were included. The randomized controlled trials involved three types of intervention strategies with 15 different interventions, mainly including unspecified exercise intervention (28, 27.72%) and yoga intervention (19, 18.81%). The main research outcomes included b1. Global mental functions (92, 91.09%) and d9. Community, social and civic life (19, 18.81%). Among the three types of intervention strategies, rehabilitation accounted for the highest proportion, with 47 studies in total, accounting for 46.53%. The main research population was patients with other specified depression (19, 40.42%), such as patients with major depression and elderly depression. Forty-six research conclusions (97.87%) were classified as "beneficial" or "probably beneficial". In 52 systematic reviews/meta-analyses, nine interventions were involved, mainly including unspecified exercise intervention (17, 32.69%) and yoga intervention (12, 23.08%). The main study outcomes included b1. Global mental functions (41, 78.85%) and adverse reactions (12, 23.08%). Among the three types of intervention strategies, the treatment type accounted for the highest proportion, with a total of 34 studies, accounting for 65.38%. The study population was mainly patients with other specific depression (27, 79.41%), such as adult depression and pregnant women with depression, 28 (82.35%) of the research conclusions were classified as "beneficial" or " probably beneficial". At the same time, the intervention environment/background was mainly outpatient and inpatient environment. Conclusion Exercise intervention may be beneficial for patients with depression. However, the effectiveness of walking, cycling, Qigong, resistance training, and sports game interventions, the optimal intervention duration or intensity, and the adverse effects of the intervention, still need to be further explored by high-quality study in the future.

Proposal of Living Evidence-based Guideline for Combination of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine for Treatment of COVID-19 / 中国中药杂志

In order to standardize the clinical diagnosis and treatment decision-making with traditional Chinese medicine for pa-tients of coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) and put the latest clinical study evidence into clinical practice, the international trust-worthy traditional Chinese medicine recommendations( TCM Recs) working group started the compilation of Living Evidence-based Guideline for Combination of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine for Treatment of COVID-19 on the basis of the standards and re-quirements of WHO handbook, GRADE and RIGHT. This proposal mainly introduces the formulation methods and processes of the living guidelines in details, such as the composition of the working group, the collection and identification of clinical issues and out-comes, the production of the living systematic review and the consensus of recommendations. The guidelines will continue to monitor the clinical study evidences of TCM in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19, and conduct regular evidence updating, retrieval and screening. When there is new study evidence, the steering committee will evaluate the possibility of the evidence to change clinical practice or previous recommendations, so as to decide whether the recommendations for the guidelines shall be implemented or upda-ted. The main criteria considered in the guideline updating are as follows:(1) There are new high-quality randomized controlled trial(RCT) evidences for TCM uninvolved in the previous edition of the guidelines;(2) as for the TCM involved in the guidelines, living sys-tematic review shows that new evidence may change the direction or strength of the existing recommendations. The specific implementation of the living evidence-based guidelines will take this proposal as the study basis and framework, in order to ensure the standardization of the formulation process and methods. This will be the first exploration of the methodology for living guidelines in the field of TCM.

Recommendations of Clinical Practice Guidelines of Stroke Rehabilitation / 中国康复理论与实践

@#Objective To analyze the contents of the recommendations of stroke clinical rehabilitation guidelines in order to provide advice for the development and implementation of stroke rehabilitation guidelines.Methods PubMed, EMBASE, CNKI, China Biology Medicine disc, Wanfang databases and guideline-related websites were retrieved from the date of establishment to January 2020, to collect stroke clinical rehabilitation guidelines. The main content, recommendations based on evidence, the type of evidences, and the scope of evidence classification had been explored based on World Health Organization Handbook for Guideline Development-2nd Edition.Results A total of twelve guidelines were included in this study, one in Chinese and eleven in English. They were from the United States (3 guidelines), United Kingdom (3 guidelines), Canada (3 guidelines), Australia (2 guidelines) and China (1 guidelines), and published from September, 2005 to February, 2019. Three articles (25.0%) used the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE) for quality evaluation, and two articles (16.7%) used Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) as the grading system. The recommendations covered the areas such as: cognitive dysfunction (4 dimensions) with a recommendation of cognitive function assessment at most (7 guidelines, 66.7%), language and swallowing dysfunction (5 dimensions) with a recommendation of swallowing-related complications at most (10 guidelines, 83.3%), motor dysfunction (6 dimensions) with a recommendation of spasm treatment at most (10 guidelines, 83.3%), and psychological and behavioral dysfunction (4 dimensions) with a recommendation for assessment or monitoring at most (6 guidelines, 50.0%). There were many recommendations in these areas, but the types of evidence were different, and observational studies and/or randomized controlled trials accounted for most.Conclusion There are different types of evidence and levels of recommendation strength. It is proposed for future guideline developers in stroke rehabilitation to follow World Health Organization Handbook for Guideline Development-2nd Edition to improve the quality and the overall implementation of the rehabilitation guidelines, and to improve the quality and safety of rehabilitation.

Report Quality of Clinical Practice Guidelines of Rehabilitation Based on RIGHT / 中国康复理论与实践

@#Objective To evaluate the quality of reporting of clinical practice guidelines of rehabilitation.Methods A comprehensive retrieve was performed in electronic databases of PubMed, EMBASE, CNKI, China Biology Medicine disc, Wanfang data, etc., from January 1, 2017 to January 11, 2020. Supplementary searches had been done on relevant websites. Two researchers reviewed literatures and assessed the reporting quality independently by using Reporting Items for Practice Guidelines in Healthcare (RIGHT), and any disagreements needed to be discussed in a consensus meeting.Results A total of 16 guidelines were included, with an average reporting rate of (44.8±27.9)%. Among the seven domains of RIGHT, basic information was reported the highest (57.3%), and evidence (31.3%) and other information (31.3%) was the lowest. The reporting rate was less as the guidelines published in China than in foreign contries (OR = 0.80, 95%CI 0.56-1.16), in original version than in update version (OR = 0.79, 95%CI 0.54-1.16); and higher as developed by various societies or associations than developed by non-societies or associations (OR = 1.15, 95%CI 0.82-1.61), however, no statistically significant difference was found in above comparisons.Conclusion Current clinical practice guidelines of rehabilitation reported with low quality. It is proposed that future guideline developers should report guidelines after RIGHT statements, including key information and content, in order to improve the quality of reporting guidelines.

Quality of Evidence and Strength of Recommendations of Clinical Practice Guidelines of Rehabilitation Based on GRADE / 中国康复理论与实践

Objective:To analyze the results of Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) for clinical practice guidelines of rehabilitation. Methods:Clinical practice guidelines of rehabilitation were systematically retrieved from PubMed, EMBASE, CNKI, China Biology Medicine disc, Wanfang database and the guideline-related websites until January 11, 2020. Two researchers independently screened guidelines using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE), and extracted and analyzed the results. Results:A total of 83 clinical practice guidelines of rehabilitation were included, in which 46 (55.4%) applied grading systems. Only four (4.8%) guidelines applied GRADE, including 44 recommendations, in which 39 guidelines (88.6%) had quality of evidence. Among the evidences citied in the recommendations, low quality evidences were the most (34.1%); among the recommendations, weak recommendations were more (56.8%). The quality of strong recommendation supporting evidence was higher than that of weak recommendation (χ2 = 8.218,P < 0.05). Conclusion:The application of the GRADE grading system in clinical practice guidelines of rehabilitation remains to be improved. It is proposed for guideline makers to further implement the methodology of guidelines and GRADE to improve the reliability and applicability of the clinical practice guidelines of rehabilitation more effectively.

Clinical Practice Guidelines of Rehabilitation: Composition of Expert Group and Situation of Conflict of Interest / 中国康复理论与实践

@#Objective To evaluate and analyze the panel composition and conflict of interest management of clinical practice guidelines of rehabilitation.Methods Clinical practice guidelines of rehabilitation were systematically retrieved from PubMed, EMBASE, China Biology Medicine disc, CNKI, Wanfang Data and Medlive database, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, National Guideline Clearinghouse, The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network, World Health Organization (WHO) and Guidelines International Network until January 11, 2020. Two researchers independently screened and cross-checked the literatures, and extracted the basic information of included guidelines, including the title, formulating institution, published journol, as well as the expert group, the number of expert group, the specific division of labor and their discipline, affiliation and the geographic location, the statement and management of conflict of interest, types of conflicts of interest, and whether to accept fund and the source of the fund.Results A total of 84 guidelines were finally included, 17 domestic ones and 67 foreign ones, in which, 52 (61.9%) reported the expert panel; 22 (26.2%) reported the number of expert panel groups, 21 (25.0%) indicated the specific division of work among the members of the expert panel, 74 (88.1%) reported the names of the members of the expert panel, 47 (56.0%) reported the subjects and specialties of the panelists, 70 (83.3%) reported the affiliation and location of panelists, 14 (16.7%) mentioned the management of conflicts of interest, and 25 (29.8%) reported if there were conflicts of interest. Only five of the 16 funded guidelines stated that there was no conflict of interest between the funding and the development of the guidelines. Among them, the reporting rate of expert panel was significantly higher in foreign countries than in China (χ2 = 9.542, P < 0.01), the reporting rate of name of expert panel members and specific division of labor were higher in foreign countries than in China ( χ2 > 4.155, P < 0.05), and the reporting rate of conflict of interest management was also higher in foreign countries than in China ( P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in whether there was a conflict of interest, whether it was funded and the type of funding at home and abroad ( P > 0.05). Conclusion In gerenal, clinical practice guidelines of rehabilitation published at home and abroad are necessary to be improved in the reporting quality of expert group formulation and division of labor, conflict of interest reporting and management. It is proposed that future guideline developers should follow the WHO Handbook for Guideline Development, assign roles of experts, strengthen the management and reporting of conflicts of interest, and standarderize the development process and reporting of the guidelines.

Clinical Practice Guidelines of Rehabilitation: Methodological Quality / 中国康复理论与实践

@#Objective To evaluate the methodological quality of clinical practice guidelines of rehabilitation using Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE) II.Methods Clinical practice guidelines of rehabilitation were searched in databases such as PubMed, EMBASE, Wanfang database, CNKI, China Biology Medicine disc and related websites from medlive.cn, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, National Guideline Clearinghouse, Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network, World Health Organization, and Guidelines International Network from establishment to January 11, 2020. Two researchers reviewed literatures and assessed the methodological quality of the guidelines independently by using AGREE II; any disagreements needed to be discussed in a consensus meeting.Results A total of 84 guidelines were included in the study, with 67 foreign guidelines and 17 domestic guidelines. The average score rate for all the guidelines was 48.1%, in which 49.9% for the foreign guidelines and 40.7% for the domestic guidelines. In the six areas of AGREE II, the average score rate of the foreign guidelines was higher than that of domestic ones (|Z| > 2.034, P < 0.05), expect applicability; the average score rate of clarity and independence improved with the launch of AGREE Ⅱ ( Z > 2.130, P < 0.05). The average scores rate ranged from high to low followed as range and purpose (41.6%), clarity (39.9%), participants (24.5%), rigor (23.2%), independence (15.5%) and applicability (12.9%). Conclusion Clinical practice guidelines of rehabilitation is mainly of low quality by AGREE II. Guideline developers need to work after AGREE Ⅱ standard in the future.

Clinical Practice Guidelines of Rehabilitation: Development Status / 中国康复理论与实践

@#Objective To analyze the development trends and issues of clinical practice guidelines of rehabilitation.Methods Clinical practice guidelines of rehabilitation were retrieved from PubMed, EMBASE, China Biology Medicine disc, CNKI, Wangfang database, Medlive, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, National Guideline Clearinghouse, Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network, World Health Organization and Guidelines International Network from establishiment to January 11, 2020. The number, publication date, distribution of countries, journals, institutions, subject areas and methods for developing guidelines of included literatures were analyzed. Results A total of 84 clinical practice guidelines of rehabilitation were included, in which there were 17 published in Chinese and 67 in English. The top four countries that published rehabilitation guidelines were the United States (19 articles), China (17 articles), the United Kingdom (12 articles) and Canada (11 articles). The guidelines were developed mainly by the health professional societies and associations (49 articles). The main health conditions involved stroke (12 articles), cardiovascular disease (9 articles), shoulder joint injury (5 articles), pulmonary disease (5 articles) and spinal cord injury (5 articles). There were 35 guidelines expressiong evidence classification and recommendation intensity (42%), and 22 guidelines (26%) would update regularly.Conclusion Clinical practice guidelines of rehabilitation focuse on neurological and musculoskeletal system diseases and cardiopulmonary dysfunction. There are relatively few published clinical practice guidelines for rehabilitation. Most guidelines are based on literature review or expert opinions, while a few are evidence-based. It is proposed to implement standardized approaches to develop clinical practice guidelines of rehabilitation.

Toward Evidence-Based Chinese Medicine: Status Quo, Opportunities and Challenges / 中国结合医学杂志

How to test the treatments of Chinese medicine (CM) and make them more widely accepted by practitioners of Western medicine and the international healthcare community is a major concern for practitioners and researchers of CM. For centuries, various approaches have been used to identify and measure the efficacy and safety of CM. However, the high-quality evidence related to CM that produced in China is still rare. Over the recent years, evidence-based medicine (EBM) has been increasingly applied to CM, strengthening its theoretical basis. This paper reviews the past and present state of CM, analyzes the status quo, challenges and opportunities of basic research, clinical trials, systematic reviews, clinical practice guidelines and clinical pathways and evidence-based education developed or conducted in China, pointing out how EBM can help to make CM more widely used and recognized worldwide.

A network meta-analysis of treatment for newly diagnosed glioblastoma based on radiotherapy plus temozolomide

Background & Objective: Radiotherapy and temozolomide are the standard therapy for newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). However, it is unclear whether adding another agent to the commonly used radiotherapy-temozolomide (RT + TMZ) benefits newly diagnosed GBM patients. The present network meta-analysis aimed to assess the efficacy of combining other agents with RT + TMZ for GBM treatment. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted on PubMed, EMBASE.com, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials from inception to September 23, 2014, to include all randomized controlled trials of RT + TMZ-based therapy in GBM patients. Pairwise and network meta-analyses were performed to compare the therapeutic regimens. Results: Seventeen studies involving 4,148 patients were identified. The results of pairwise meta-analysis indicated no significant differences among most comparison groups, except for bevacizumab + RT + TMZ versus RT + TMZ for progression-free survival (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.71, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.59–0.86; P = 0.000) and RT + TMZ versus RT alone for overall survival (HR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.58–0.88; P = 0.001). The results of network meta-analysis also showed no significant differences in most comparisons; however, adverse events were more common among patients receiving additional therapeutic agents other than RT + TMZ. The ranking probability analysis indicated that bevacizumab + RT + TMZ and nimustine + cisplatin + RT + TMZ were associated with the best progression-free and overall survival, but they also caused the most adverse events in GBM patients. RT + bevacizumab + irinotecan had the highest probability of being the best regimen for minimizing adverse events. Conclusions: The addition of other targeted agents, particularly bevacizumab and nimustine, to RT + TMZ could be slightly effective for the treatment of newly diagnosed GBM patients; however, adverse events remained common.

Network meta-analysis on selecting Chinese medical injections in radiotherapy for esophageal cancer / 中国中药杂志

To assess the clinical effect and safety of Chinese traditional medicine injection combined with radiotherapy for esophageal cancer. The relative randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of Chinese medical injections (CMI) combined with radiotherapy as well as simple radiotherapy for esophageal cancer were searched from PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database(CBM), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Database and VIP Database as at September 2014. Two researchers completed the data extraction and quality evaluation independently. The data were analyzed by GeMTC 0.14.3 and Stata 12. 0 software. Finally, 43 RCTs involving 3 289 patients were finally included. The star network was constructed by different comparison groups. The results of network meta-analysis showed that the seven CMIs combined with radiotherapy was superior to simple radiotherapy in the treatment of esophageal cancer in efficacy, quality of life, and reduction in the incidence of nausea and leucopenia, but with no significant difference among the seven CMIs. Probability ranking result showed a great possibility for Shenqi Fuzheng and astragalus polysaccharide injections in improving the overall response rate and quality of life, which were followed by cinobufagin and kangai injections. However, only one study was included for Shenqi Fuzheng and astragalus polysaccharide injections. Therefore, cinobufagin or kangai injections were preferred in improving the overall response rate and quality of life. Aidi or compound sophora injections were better than other CMIs in reducing? the incidences of nausea (III-IV) and leukopenia. More RCTs of Shenqi Fuzheng and astragalus polysaccharide injections combined with radiotherapy for patients with esophageal cancer were expected in the future to confirm our results. Moreover, study findings will be reported, particularly for the adverse events in radiotherapy for esophageal cancer.

Shenqi Fuzheng Injection for advanced gastric cancer: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials / 中国结合医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the effectiveness of Shenqi Fuzheng Injection (, SFI) combined with chemotherapy for advanced gastric cancer.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from 10 databases were searched for this meta-analysis till December 31, 2012 without language restriction. Grey literature and potential unpublished literature was also searched. The key search terms were "chemotherapy", "Shenqi Fuzheng Injection" and "advanced gastric cancer". Criteria were built to select these clinical trials, in which SFI combined with chemotherapy was compared with chemotherapy alone for advanced gastric cancer. The methodological quality of each RCT was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. RevMan 5.1 software was applied for data analyses.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Thirteen RCTs involving 860 patients met the selection criteria (all articles were from Chinese databases). The meta-analysis showed positive results for the use of SFI combined with chemotherapy according to quality of life in terms of the scores when compared with chemotherapy alone. Positive results were also obtained for the combination treatment, in terms of complete remission and partial remission efficacy rate, body weight and decreased adverse events including nausea and vomiting at grade 3-4, oral mucositis at grade 1-2, leucopenia at grade 3-4, and myelo-suppression at grade 1-2.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>This systematic review found encouraging albeit limited evidence for SFI combined with chemotherapy. However, to obtain stronger evidence without the drawbacks of trial design and the quality of studies, we recommend comparative effectiveness researches to test the effectiveness of combination treatment.</p>

Based on evidence to establish reporting guidelines for TCM-featured acupuncture systematic reviews/Meta-analysis: a methodology discussion / 中国针灸

Existing reporting guidelines for systematic reviews/Meta-analysis (SRs/MAs) cannot meet the requirements of clinical practice and scientific research, so based on evidence, methods and thoughts on establishing reporting guidelines for TCM-featured acupuncture systematic reviews/Meta-analysis were proposed. Through literature analysis, according to evidence-based principle, preliminary ideas on methodology of establishing reporting guidelines for TCM-featured acupuncture systematic reviews /Meta-analysis were proposed. With consensus as one main research method, it was proposed that in the consensus that was selected and established by experts, the pro- portion of Chinese scholars should be increased to fully declare the opinions of Chinese acupuncturists, and by verification of practice and application, the reporting guidelines for TCM-featured acupuncture systematic reviews/Meta-analysis can be finally made.

A systematic review regarding the effects of different kinds of selenium supplementations on Kaschin-Beck disease / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective To systematically assess the efficacy of different programs regarding the selenium supplementation formulae used for prevention and treatment of Kaschin-Beck disease (KBD) in children.Methods PubMed,EMBASE,Cochrane Library,SCI expanded,CNKI (Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure),VIP (Chinese Science and Technique Journals Database),CBM (The Chinese Biomedical Database),Wanfang Database,CSCD (Chinese Science Citation Database)had been electronically searched.All the searching processes were up-dated to Dec 2012 to identify randomized trials (RCTs) and non-RCTs to compare the selenium supplementation formulae with placebo or with no intervention.Two reviewers assessed the methodological quality of the study design,including RCTs or non-RCTs according to Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions 5.1 or a checklist described by Deeks J J,et al,respectively.Data was extracted independently.Results There were 14 RCTs and 12 non-RCTs papers included,but showing low methodological quality.Data from Meta analysis showed that selenium supplementation had caused the following progresses:radiologic improvement (RR=3.28,95％CI:2.06-5.22),higher hair selenium (SMD=2.05,95％ CI:1.00-3.11) lower new radiologic lesions (OR=0.18,95％ CI:0.09-0.36) than in the placebo or with no treatment groups.Both selenium and vitamin C supplementation did not show differences in radiologic improvement of metaphysis (RR=1.01,95％CI:0.84-1.22).Combination of selenium and vitamin E supplementation showed higher radiologic improvement than the placebo group.Combination of selenium and vitamin C supplementation had no influence on the difference in radiologic improvement or hair selenium than selenium supplementation.Selenium-enriched yeast showed higher radiologic improvement than sodium selenite (70.83％ vs.48.84％,P＜0.05).Selenium fertilization showed higher radiologic improvement than the nontreatment group (RR=3.98,95％ CI:2.25-7.05).Comprehensive intervention program and ‘grain drying approach' also showed certain effects.Conclusion Selenium supplementation could lead to better radiologic improvement and hair selenium,with lower new radiologic lesions.Current evidence supported its benefits on prevention and treatment of KBD.Large sample sized and well-designed trials together with the reporting on adverse outcome remained necessary.

Meta-analysis on impact of Danshen on liver regeneration in rats / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess the effect of Danshen on liver regeneration capacity of carbon tetrachloride-induced liver injury rats.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Computer retrieval of data from CJFD, CBM, Chinese science & technology journal full-text database and Chinese medical association digital journals, and such foreign databases as PubMed, EMBASE and SCI was included in the randomized controlled trials (RCT) of rat liver injury induced by carbon tetrachloride,with the search as at May 2012. A Meta analysis was made using Rev-Man 5.1 software. Using the GRADE system to addess five outcomes in stuay.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Two hundred and fourteen rats got involved in seven randomized trials. Meta analysis showed there were statistical differences between the Danshen group and the control group in alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), superoxide dismutase (SOD), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and hyaluronic acid (HA) after rat liver injury induced by carbon tetrachloride. When we used system to each outcome, because of serious limitations and indirect, they are all very low quality.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Danshen shows certain promoting effect to liver regeneration in carbon tetrachloride-induced liver injury rats.</p>

Quality assessment of clinical guidelines in China: 1993 - 2010 / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) play an important role in healthcare in China as well as in the world. However, the current status and trends of Chinese CPGs are unknown. The aim of this study was to systematically review the present situation and the quality of Chinese CPGs published in the peer-reviewed medical literature.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>To identify Chinese CPGs, a systematic search of relevant literature databases (CBM, WANFANG, VIP, and CNKI) was performed for the period January 1978 to December 2010. We used the AGREE II instrument to assess the quality of the included guidelines.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>We evaluated 269 guidelines published in 115 medical journals from 1993 to 2010 and produced by 256 different developers. Only four guidelines (1%) described the systematic methods for searching and selecting the evidence, 14 (5%) guidelines indicated an explicit link between the supporting evidence and the recommendations, only one guideline used the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system. Thirty-one guidelines (12%) mentioned updates and the average frequency of update was 5.5 years; none described a procedure for updating the guideline. From the assessment with the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Ecaluation II (AGREE II), the mean scores were low for the domains "scope and purpose" (19%) and "clarity of presentation" (26%) and very low for the other domains ("rigour of development" 7%, "stakeholder involvement" 8%, "applicability" 6% and "editorial independence" 2%).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Compared with other studies on the quality of guidelines assessed with the AGREE instrument in other countries, Chinese CPGs received lower scores, which indicates a relatively poor quality of the guidelines. However, there was some increase over time.</p>

Effect of dexamethasone on atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery: a meta-analysis / 中华外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess the effect of preoperative dexamethasone on the occurrence of postoperative atrial fibrillation.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Random controlled trails were gathered though searches of PubMed (1966 - 2009.11), EMBASE (1974 - 2009.11), Cochrane Library (issue 4, 2009), Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (1978 - 2009.11), China Journal Full-text Database (1994 - 2009.11), Chinese Scientific Journals Full-text Database (1989 - 2009.11). Two reviewers independently assessed eligibility and quality of trials, then extracted data. Data were synthesized using RevMan5.0 software provided by the Cochrane Collaboration.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A total of four randomized controlled trials (667 participants) were included for systematic review. Meta-analysis showed that there were statistical differences between dexamethasone and placebo in postoperative atrial fibrillation (RR = 0.6, 95%CI: 0.40 to 0.92, P = 0.02), dexamethasone did not reduce post-operative mortality (RR = 0.79, 95%CI: 0.28 to 2.22, P = 0.66).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The current evidence shows that dexamethasone could reduce the incidence of atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery, not decrease mortality. There were few limitations in our study may lead to weaken reliability of the conclusions, such as small simple size, different operation types, or the dosage, time and frequency of dexamethasone were unclear. Its effectiveness was needed to further validate in future clinical studies.</p>

The diagnostic value of urine-based survivin mRNA test using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction for bladder cancer: a systematic review / 癌症

<p><b>BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE</b>Survivin has gradually become an important target in diagnosis, prognosis prediction and treatment of tumor. There are many studies on urine-based survivin mRNA test using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) as a noninvasive examination for bladder cancer. However, its clinical value remains controversial. This study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of urine survivin mRNA detection with RT-PCR for bladder cancer by a systematic review of related studies.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>With the search terms such as bladder neoplasm, survivin, RT-PCR, sensitivity, specificity and diagnosis, we systematically searched through PubMed, EMBASE, SCI, Cochrane Library, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), Chinese Scientific Journal Full-text Database (CSJD), China Journal Full-text Database (CJFD), Chinese Medical Association (CMA) digital periodicals and Google Scholar totally from January 1997 to April 2009 for diagnostic trials with RT-PCR detection of urine survivin mRNA for bladder cancer. The Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (QUADAS) items were used to evaluate the quality of the included studies. Meta-disc software was used to calculate outcome indicators.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Twenty-six studies, totally 2 416 patients, were eligible. Meta-analysis showed that compared with pathologic examination, the summary values of sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio and summary receiver operating characteristic curve (SROC) of urine-based survivin mRNA test using RT-PCR for bladder cancer were 88%, 94%, 14.56, 0.13 and 0.9736, respectively. Nested RT-PCR got the highest sensitivity, specificity and SROC and the values were 91%, 95% and 0.9805, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of general RT-PCR were the second highest, which were 87% and 94%, respectively. The sensitivity of quantitative RT-PCR was 80% and the specificity was 93%.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Comparing with pathologic examination, the sensitivity and specificity of urine-based survivin mRNA test using RT-PCR are relatively high. It can be used as an important adjunct method for cystoscope in early screening and postoperative monitoring of bladder cancer.</p>