Trends in published meta-analyses in cancer research, 2008-2013.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Qadir XV
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5219854 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Trends in published meta-analyses in cancer research, 2008-2013.
Qadir Ximena V XV Clyne Mindy M Lam Tram Kim TK Khoury Muin J MJ Schully Sheri D SD
Cancer causes & control : CCC 20161129 1
In order to capture trends in the contribution of epidemiology to cancer research, we describe an online meta-analysis database resource for cancer clinical and population research and illustrate trends and descriptive detail of cancer meta-analyses from 2008 through 2013. A total of 4,686 cancer meta-analyses met our inclusion criteria. During this 6-year period, a fivefold increase was observed in the yearly number of meta-analyses. Fifty-six percent of meta-analyses concerned observational st ...[more]
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Project description:BackgroundAn understanding of how public health research output from India is changing in relation to the disease burden and public health priorities is required in order to inform relevant research development. We therefore studied the trends in the public health research output from India during 2001-2008 that was readily available in the public domain.MethodsThe scope and type of the published research from India in 2007 that was included in the PubMed database was assessed and compared with a previous similar assessment for 2002. Papers were classified based on the review of abstracts and original public health research papers were assessed in detail. Impact factors for the journals were used to compute quality-adjusted research output. The websites of governmental organizations, academic and research institutions and international organizations were searched in order to identify and review reports on original public health research produced in India from 2001 to 2008. The reports were classified based on the topics covered and quality and their trends over time were assessed.ResultsThe number of original health research papers from India in PubMed doubled from 4494 in 2002 to 9066 in 2007. This included a 3.1-fold increase in public health research papers, but these comprised only 5% of the total papers in 2007. Within public health, the increase was lowest for the health system and policy category. Several major causes of disease burden in India continued to be underrepresented in the quality-adjusted public health research output in 2007. The number of papers evaluating population health interventions increased from 2002 to 2007, but there were none on the leading non-communicable causes of disease burden or on road traffic injuries. The number of identified original public health research reports increased by 64.7% from 204 in 2001-2004 to 336 in 2005-2008. The proportion of reports on reproductive and child health was very high but decreased slightly from 38.7% of the total in 2001-2004 to 31.5% in 2005-2008 (P = 0.09); those on the leading chronic non-communicable conditions and injuries increased from 6.4% to 13.4% (P = 0.01) but this was still much lower than their contribution to the disease burden. Health system/policy issues were the topic in 27.4% reports but health information issues were covered in a miniscule 0.6% reports. The proportion of reports that were evaluations increased slightly from 26% in 2001-2004 to 31.5% in 2005-2008, with this proportion being higher among the reports commissioned by international organizations (P < 0.001). The proportion of reports commissioned by Indian governmental organizations alone, or in collaboration with international organizations, doubled from 2001-2004 to 2005-2008 (P < 0.001). Only 25% of the total 540 reports had a quality score of adequate or better. The quality of reports produced by collaborations between Indian and international organizations was higher than those produced by Indian or international organizations alone (P < 0.001).ConclusionThis is the first analysis from India that includes research reports in addition to published papers. It provides the most up-to-date understanding of public health research output from India. The increase in available public health research output and the increase in commissioning of this research by Indian governmental organizations are encouraging. However, the distribution of research topics and the quality of research reports continue to be unsatisfactory. It is necessary for health policy to address these continuing deficits in public health research in order to reduce the very large disease burden in India.
| S-EPMC2766381 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The burden of pneumonia continues to be substantial, particularly among the poorest in global society. We describe here the trends for UK pneumonia R&D investment and published outputs, and correlate with 2013 global mortality.Data related to awards to UK institutions for pneumonia research from 1997 to 2013 were systematically sourced and categorised by disease area and type of science. Investment was compared to mortality figures in 2010 and 2013 for pneumonia, tuberculosis and influenza. Investment was also compared to publication data.Of all infectious disease research between 2011 and 2013 (£917.0 million), £28.8 million (3.1%) was for pneumonia. This was an absolute and proportionate increase from previous time periods. Translational pneumonia research (33.3%) received increased funding compared with 1997-2010 where funding was almost entirely preclinical (87.5%, here 30.9%), but high-burden areas such as paediatrics, elderly care and antimicrobial resistance received little investment. Annual investment remains volatile; publication temporal trends show a consistent increase. When comparing investment to global burden with a novel 'investment by mortality observed' metric, tuberculosis (£48.36) and influenza (£484.21) receive relatively more funding than pneumonia (£43.08), despite investment for pneumonia greatly increasing in 2013 compared to 2010 (£7.39). Limitations include a lack of private sector data and the need for careful interpretation of the comparisons with burden, plus categorisation is subjective.There has been a welcome increase for pneumonia funding awarded to UK institutions in 2011-2013 compared with 1997-2010, along with increases for more translational research. Published outputs relating to pneumonia rose steadily from 1997 to 2013. Investment relative to mortality for pneumonia has increased, but it remains low compared to other respiratory infections and clear inequities remain. Analyses that measure investments in pneumonia can provide an insight into funding trends and research gaps.Pneumonia continues to be a high-burden illness around the globe. This paper shows that although research funding is increasing in the UK (between 1997 and 2013), it remains poorly funded compared to other important respiratory infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and influenza. Publications about pneumonia have been steadily increasing over time, indicating continuing academic and clinical interest in the topic. Though global mortality of pneumonia is declining, it should still be an area of high priority for funders, policymakers and researchers.
| S-EPMC4588381 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectivesTo comprehensively analyse the global scientific outputs of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) research.MethodsData of publications were downloaded from the Web of Science Core Collection. We used CiteSpace IV and Excel 2016 to analyse literature information, including journals, countries/regions, institutes, authors, citation reports and research frontiers.ResultsUntil March 31, 2018, a total of 24,331 papers in HCC research were identified as published between 2008 and 2017. Oncotarget published the most papers. China contributed the most publications and the United States occupied leading positions in H-index value and the number of ESI top papers. Llovet JM owned the highest co-citations. The keyword "transarterial chemoembolization" ranked first in the research front-line.ConclusionsThe amount of papers published in HCC research has kept increasing since 2008. China showed vast progress in HCC research, but the United States was still the dominant country. Transarterial chemoembolization, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and cancer stem cell were the latest research frontiers and should be paid more attention.
| S-EPMC6098682 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveA comprehensive bibliometric analysis was conducted on publications for yoga therapy research in clinical populations.MethodsMajor electronic databases were searched for articles in all languages published between 1967 and 2013. Databases included PubMed, PsychInfo, MEDLINE, IndMed, Indian Citation Index, Index Medicus for South-East Asia Region, Web of Knowledge, Embase, EBSCO, and Google Scholar. Nonindexed journals were searched manually. Key search words included yoga, yoga therapy, pranayama, asana. All studies met the definition of a clinical trial. All styles of yoga were included. The authors extracted the data.ResultsA total of 486 articles met the inclusion criteria and were published in 217 different peer-reviewed journals from 29 different countries on 28,080 study participants. The primary result observed is the three-fold increase in number of publications seen in the last 10 years, inclusive of all study designs. Overall, 45% of the studies published were randomized controlled trials, 18% were controlled studies, and 37% were uncontrolled studies. Most publications originated from India (n=258), followed by the United States (n=122) and Canada (n=13). The top three disorders addressed by yoga interventions were mental health, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory disease.ConclusionA surge in publications on yoga to mitigate disease-related symptoms in clinical populations has occurred despite challenges facing the field of yoga research, which include standardization and limitations in funding, time, and resources. The population at large has observed a parallel surge in the use of yoga outside of clinical practice. The use of yoga as a complementary therapy in clinical practice may lead to health benefits beyond traditional treatment alone; however, to effect changes in health care policy, more high-quality, evidence-based research is needed.
| S-EPMC4605382 | biostudies-literature
Project description:A significant number of meta-analyses reporting data on the diagnostic performance of positron emission tomography (PET) in prostate cancer (PCa) is currently available in the literature. In particular, different PET radiopharmaceuticals were used for this purpose. The aim of this review is to summarize information retrieved by published meta-analyses on this topic. The first step included a systematic search of the literature (last search date: June 2020), screening two databases (PubMed/MEDLINE and Cochrane Library). This combination of key words was used: (A) "PET" OR "positron emission tomography" AND (B) "prostate" OR "prostatic" AND (C) meta-analysis. Only meta-analyses on Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography (PET/CT) or Positron Emission Tomography/Magnetic Resonance (PET/MR) in PCa were selected. We have summarized the diagnostic performance of PET imaging in PCa, taking into account 39 meta-analyses published in the literature. Evidence-based data showed the good diagnostic performance of PET/CT with several radiopharmaceuticals, including prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted agents, radiolabeled choline, fluciclovine, and fluoride in restaging and staging settings. Less evidence-based data were available for PET/MR with different radiotracers. More prospective multicentric studies and cost-effectiveness analyses are warranted.
| S-EPMC7463824 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveTo assess how common it is to have multiple overlapping meta-analyses of randomized trials published on the same topic.DesignSurvey of published meta-analyses.Data sourcesPubMed.Study selection and methodsMeta-analyses published in 2010 were identified, and 5% of them were randomly selected. We further selected those that included randomized trials and examined effectiveness of any medical intervention. For eligible meta-analyses, we searched for other meta-analyses on the same topic (covering the same comparisons, indications/settings, and outcomes or overlapping subsets of them) published until February 2013.ResultsOf 73 eligible meta-analyses published in 2010, 49 (67%) had at least one other overlapping meta-analysis (median two meta-analyses per topic, interquartile range 1-4, maximum 13). In 17 topics at least one author was involved in at least two of the overlapping meta-analyses. No characteristics of the index meta-analyses were associated with the potential for overlapping meta-analyses. Among pairs of overlapping meta-analyses in 20 randomly selected topics, 13 of the more recent meta-analyses did not include any additional outcomes. In three of the four topics with eight or more published meta-analyses, many meta-analyses examined only a subset of the eligible interventions or indications/settings covered by the index meta-analysis. Conversely, for statins in the prevention of atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery, 11 meta-analyses were published with similar eligibility criteria for interventions and setting: there was still variability on which studies were included, but the results were always similar or even identical across meta-analyses.ConclusionsWhile some independent replication of meta-analyses by different teams is possibly useful, the overall picture suggests that there is a waste of efforts with many topics covered by multiple overlapping meta-analyses.
| S-EPMC3716360 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundIndividual patient data meta-analyses (IPDMAs) prevail as the gold standard in clinical evaluations. We investigated the distribution and epidemiological characteristics of published IPDMA articles.Methodology/principal findingsIPDMA articles were identified through comprehensive literature searches from PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane library. Two investigators independently conducted article identification, data classification and extraction. Data related to the article characteristics were collected and analyzed descriptively. A total of 829 IPDMA articles indexed until 9 August 2012 were identified. An average of 3.7 IPDMA articles was published per year. Malignant neoplasms (267 [32.2%]) and circulatory diseases (179 [21.6%]) were the most frequently occurring topics. On average, each IPDMA article included a median of 8 studies (Interquartile range, IQR 5 to 15) involving 2,563 patients (IQR 927 to 8,349). Among 829 IPDMA articles, 229 (27.6%) did not perform a systematic search to identify related studies. In total, 207 (25.0%) sought and included individual patient data (IPD) from the "grey literature". Only 496 (59.8%) successfully obtained IPD from all identified studies.Conclusions/significanceThe number of IPDMA articles exhibited an increasing trend over the past few years and mainly focused on cancer and circulatory diseases. Our data indicated that literature searches, including grey literature and data availability were inconsistent among different IPDMA articles. Possible biases may arise. Thus, decision makers should not uncritically accept all IPDMAs.
| S-EPMC4063791 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundA meta-analysis as part of a systematic review aims to provide a thorough, comprehensive and unbiased statistical summary of data from the literature. However, relevant study results could be missing from a meta-analysis because of selective publication and inadequate dissemination. If missing outcome data differ systematically from published ones, a meta-analysis will be biased with an inaccurate assessment of the intervention effect. As part of the EU-funded OPEN project (www.open-project.eu) we conducted a systematic review that assessed whether the inclusion of data that were not published at all and/or published only in the grey literature influences pooled effect estimates in meta-analyses and leads to different interpretation.Methods and findingsSystematic review of published literature (methodological research projects). Four bibliographic databases were searched up to February 2016 without restriction of publication year or language. Methodological research projects were considered eligible for inclusion if they reviewed a cohort of meta-analyses which (i) compared pooled effect estimates of meta-analyses of health care interventions according to publication status of data or (ii) examined whether the inclusion of unpublished or grey literature data impacts the result of a meta-analysis. Seven methodological research projects including 187 meta-analyses comparing pooled treatment effect estimates according to different publication status were identified. Two research projects showed that published data showed larger pooled treatment effects in favour of the intervention than unpublished or grey literature data (Ratio of ORs 1.15, 95% CI 1.04-1.28 and 1.34, 95% CI 1.09-1.66). In the remaining research projects pooled effect estimates and/or overall findings were not significantly changed by the inclusion of unpublished and/or grey literature data. The precision of the pooled estimate was increased with narrower 95% confidence interval.ConclusionsAlthough we may anticipate that systematic reviews and meta-analyses not including unpublished or grey literature study results are likely to overestimate the treatment effects, current empirical research shows that this is only the case in a minority of reviews. Therefore, currently, a meta-analyst should particularly consider time, effort and costs when adding such data to their analysis. Future research is needed to identify which reviews may benefit most from including unpublished or grey data.
| S-EPMC5404772 | biostudies-literature
Project description:UnlabelledBackgroundThe economic impact and ease of measurement of all-cause hospital readmission rates (HRR) have led to the current debate as to whether they are reducible, and whether they should be used as a publicly reported quality indicators of medical care.ObjectiveTo assess the efficacy of broad clinical interventions in preventing HRR of patients with chronic diseasesMethodA meta-review of published systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of clinical interventions that have included HRR among the patients' outcomes of interest.Main findingsMeta-analyses of RCTs have consistently found that, in the community, disease management programs significantly reduced HRR in patients with heart failure, coronary heart disease and bronchial asthma, but not in patients with stroke and in unselected patients with chronic disorders. Inhospital interventions, such as discharge planning, pharmacological consultations and multidisciplinary care, and community interventions in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases had an inconsistent effect on HRR. MAIN STUDY LIMITATION: Despite their economic impact and ease of measurement, HRR are not the most important outcome of patient care, and efforts aimed at their reduction may compromise patients' health by reducing also justified re-admissions.ConclusionsThe efficacy of inhospital interventions in reducing HRR is in need of further study. In patients with heart diseases and bronchial asthma, HRR may be considered as a publicly reported quality indicator of community care, provided that future research confirms that efforts to reduce HRR do not adversely affect other patients' outcomes, such as mortality, functional capacity and quality of life. Future research should also focus on the reasons for the higher efficacy of community interventions in patients with heart diseases and bronchial asthma than in those with other chronic diseases.
| S-EPMC3557155 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ImportanceMany meta-analyses have been conducted on a wide array of topics, and many of these have focused on treatment efficacy of drugs or bias in interventional studies on a specific topic.ObjectiveTo examine the factors associated with having a positive study conclusion in meta-analyses in the field of oncology.Evidence reviewAll meta-analyses published between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2021, on 5 oncology journal websites were identified and study characteristics, study results, and information on study authors were abstracted. The meta-analysis authors' conclusions were coded as positive, negative, or equivocal, and each article subject matter was coded as one that could affect profits and marketing of a company. Whether an association existed between study characteristics and authors' conclusions was also examined.FindingsDatabase searches resulted in 3947 potential articles, of which 93 meta-analyses were included in this study. Of the 21 studies with author funding from industry, 17 studies (81.0%) reported favorable conclusions. Of the 9 studies that received industry funding, 7 (77.8%) reported favorable conclusions, and of the 63 studies that did not have author or study funding from industry, 30 (47.6%) reported favorable conclusions. Studies that were funded through nonindustry sources and authors who had no relevant conflict of interest had the lowest percentage of positive conclusions and the highest percentage of negative and equivocal conclusions compared with studies with other sources of potential conflict of interest.Conclusions and relevanceIn this cross-sectional study of meta-analyses published in oncology journals, multiple factors were associated with having a positive study conclusion, which suggests that future research should be performed to elucidate reasons for more favorable conclusions among studies with study or author industry funding.
| S-EPMC10293908 | biostudies-literature