OBJECTIVE To examine whether network meta-analyses, increasingly used to assess comparative effectiveness of healthcare interventions, follow the key methodological recommendations for reporting and conduct of systematic reviews. DESIGN Methodological systematic review of reports of network meta-analyses. DATA SOURCES Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Database of Abstracts of Reviews...

Structured summary 2 Provide a structured summary including, as applicable: background; objectives; data sources; study eligibility criteria, participants, and interventions; study appraisal and synthesis methods; results; limitations; conclusions and implications of key findings; systematic review registration number.

Vaccination is one of the most effective ways of reducing childhood mortality. Despite global uptake of childhood vaccinations increasing, rates remain sub-optimal, meaning that vaccine-preventable diseases still pose a public health risk. A range of interventions to promote vaccine uptake have been developed, although this range has not specifically been reviewed in early childhood. We conduct...

BACKGROUND It is perceived that North American home treatment studies reveal greater success in reducing days in hospital than do European studies. There are difficulties in extrapolating findings internationally. AIMS We aimed to determine whether North American studies find greater reductions in days in hospital and whether experimental service patients in North American studies spend less ...

Objective To investigate whether the success rate of retrieving individual participant data (IPD) for use in IPD meta-analyses has increased over time, and to explore the characteristics associated with IPD retrieval.Design Systematic review of published IPD meta-analyses, supplemented by a reflection of the Cochrane Epilepsy Group's 20 years' experience of requesting IPD.Data sources Medline, ...

Background: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is one of the most common infectious diseases in pregnant women in terms of global impact and is related with many adverse health consequences during pregnancy. For the first time, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis study to evaluate the possible association between CMV infection and preeclampsia (PE). Methods: A comprehensive literat...

background & aim : the number of cancer patients has been continuously increasing due to early diagnosis and the developments in cancer treatment. this has led to an increase in psychosocial problems associated with the diagnoses and treatment of cancer. loneliness is emphasized to be one of the most frequently observed psychological symptoms in cancer patients. personal and external factors th...

Introduction: It remains unclear whether the clinical outcomes of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) receiving secondand first-generation drug-eluting stents (DES) are identical. The study aimed to investigate the differences in clinical utility between the two generations of DES in these specific subjects by a meta-analysis. Material and methods: We systemically searched PubMed an...

BACKGROUND The evidence base on the prevalence of dementia is expanding rapidly, particularly in countries with low and middle incomes. A reappraisal of global prevalence and numbers is due, given the significant implications for social and public policy and planning. METHODS In this study we provide a systematic review of the global literature on the prevalence of dementia (1980-2009) and me...