Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Background
Fibromyalgia is associated with substantial socioeconomic loss and, despite considerable research including numerous randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and systematic reviews, there exists uncertainty regarding what treatments are effective. No review has evaluated all interventional studies for fibromyalgia, which limits attempts to make inferences regarding the relative effectiveness of treatments.Methods/design
We will conduct a network meta-analysis of all RCTs evaluating therapies for fibromyalgia to determine which therapies show evidence of effectiveness, and the relative effectiveness of these treatments. We will acquire eligible studies through a systematic search of CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE, AMED, HealthSTAR, PsychINFO, PapersFirst, ProceedingsFirst, and the Cochrane Central Registry of Controlled Trials. Eligible studies will randomly allocate patients presenting with fibromyalgia or a related condition to an intervention or a control. Teams of reviewers will, independently and in duplicate, screen titles and abstracts and complete full text reviews to determine eligibility, and subsequently perform data abstraction and assess risk of bias of eligible trials. We will conduct meta-analyses to establish the effect of all reported therapies on patient-important outcomes when possible. To assess relative effects of treatments, we will construct a random effects model within the Bayesian framework using Markov chain Monte Carlo methods.Discussion
Our review will be the first to evaluate all treatments for fibromyalgia, provide relative effectiveness of treatments, and prioritize patient-important outcomes with a focus on functional gains. Our review will facilitate evidence-based management of patients with fibromyalgia, identify key areas for future research, and provide a framework for conducting large systematic reviews involving indirect comparisons.
SUBMITTER: Busse JW
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3610251 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Mar
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Busse Jason W JW Ebrahim Shanil S Connell Gaelan G Coomes Eric A EA Bruno Paul P Malik Keshena K Torrance David D Ngo Trung T Kirmayr Karin K Avrahami Daniel D Riva John J JJ Struijs Peter P Brunarski David D Burnie Stephen J SJ LeBlanc Frances F Steenstra Ivan A IA Mahood Quenby Q Thorlund Kristian K Montori Victor M VM Sivarajah Vishalini V Alexander Paul P Jankowski Milosz M Lesniak Wiktoria W Faulhaber Markus M Bała Małgorzata M MM Schandelmaier Stefan S Guyatt Gordon H GH
Systematic reviews 20130313
<h4>Background</h4>Fibromyalgia is associated with substantial socioeconomic loss and, despite considerable research including numerous randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and systematic reviews, there exists uncertainty regarding what treatments are effective. No review has evaluated all interventional studies for fibromyalgia, which limits attempts to make inferences regarding the relative effectiveness of treatments.<h4>Methods/design</h4>We will conduct a network meta-analysis of all RCTs ev ...[more]