Positive airway pressure therapy for post-stroke sleep disordered breathing: a systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression.

BACKGROUND: Sleep disordered breathing (SDB) is an under-recognised independent risk factor and a potential consequence of stroke. We systematically reviewed and meta-analysed the effectiveness of positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy in improving post-stroke outcomes. METHODS: We searched CENTRAL, Embase, PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Scopus, ProQuest, Web of Science and CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure) for randomised controlled trials comparing PAP therapy against a control or placebo group. We evaluated the pooled effects of PAP therapy on recurrent vascular events, neurological deficit, cognition, functional independence, daytime sleepiness and depression using random effects meta-analyses. RESULTS: We identified 24 studies. Our meta-analyses showed that PAP therapy reduced recurrent vascular events (risk ratio 0.47, 95% CI 0.28-0.78), and showed significant beneficial effects on neurological deficit (Hedges' g= -0.79, 95% CI -1.19- -0.39), cognition (g=0.85, 95% CI 0.04-1.65), functional independence (g=0.45, 95% CI 0.01-0.88) and daytime sleepiness (g= -0.96, 95% CI -1.56- -0.37). However, there was insignificant reduction in depression (g= -0.56, 95% CI -2.15-1.02). No publication bias was detected. CONCLUSIONS: Post-stroke patients with SDB benefited from PAP therapy. Prospective trials are needed to determine the ideal initiation period and the minimum effective therapeutic dose.

The effectiveness of preoperative education interventions on improving perioperative outcomes of adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac surgeries pose as an emotional experience for patients. Preoperative education is known to positively alter people's perceptions, emotions, and mitigate surgical distress. However, this intervention's effectiveness in improving perioperative outcomes among patients undergoing cardiac surgery lacked rigorous statistical synthesis and remains inconclusive. AIMS: The aim was to synthesize the effectiveness of preoperative education on improving perioperative outcomes [anxiety, depression, knowledge, pain intensity, pain interference with daily activities, postoperative complications, length of hospitalization, length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay, satisfaction with the intervention and care, and health-related quality of life] among patients undergoing cardiac surgery. METHODS: This systematic review and meta-analysis conducted a comprehensive search of nine electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Cochrane CENTRAL, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and ERIC) and grey literature for randomized controlled trials examining the preoperative educational interventional effects on patients undergoing cardiac surgery from inception to 31 December 2020. The studies' quality was evaluated using Cochrane Risk-of-Bias Tool 1 (RoB1). Meta-analyses via RevMan 5.4 software synthesized interventional effects. RESULTS: Twenty-two trials involving 3167 participants were included. Preoperative education had large significant effects on reducing post-intervention preoperative anxiety (P = 0.02), length of ICU stay (P = 0.02), and improving knowledge (P < 0.00001), but small significant effect sizes on lowering postoperative anxiety (P < 0.0001), depression (P = 0.03), and enhancing satisfaction (P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: This review indicates the feasibility of preoperative education in clinical use to enhance health outcomes of patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Future studies need to explore knowledge outcomes in-depth and more innovative technologies in preoperative education delivery.