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Anales de Pediatria Sep 2021We present the summary of a critical appraisal document of the available evidence on COVID-19, developed with a clinical practice guide format following GRADE... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
We present the summary of a critical appraisal document of the available evidence on COVID-19, developed with a clinical practice guide format following GRADE methodology. The document tries to provide answers to a series of structured clinical questions, with an explicit definition of the population, intervention / exposure, comparison and outcome, and a rating of the clinical relevance of the outcome measures. We conducted a systematic review of the literature to answer the questions, grouped into six chapters: epidemiology, clinical practice, diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and vaccination. We assessed the risk of bias of the selected studies with standard instruments (RoB-2, ROBINS-I, QUADAS and Newcastle-Ottawa). We constructed evidence tables and, when necessary and possible, meta-analysis of the of the most relevant outcome measures. We followed the GRADE system to synthesise the evidence, assessing its quality, and, when appropriate, giving recommendations, rated according to the quality of the evidence, the values and preferences, the balance between benefits, risks and costs, equity and feasibility.
Topics: COVID-19; Child; Evidence-Based Medicine; Female; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Pediatrics; Pregnancy; SARS-CoV-2; Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome
PubMed: 34380606
DOI: 10.1016/j.anpede.2021.05.003 -
World Journal of Surgery Jan 2022The objective of this study was to evaluate the current body of evidence on the use of telemedicine in surgical subspecialties during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
The objective of this study was to evaluate the current body of evidence on the use of telemedicine in surgical subspecialties during the COVID-19 pandemic.
METHODS
This was a scoping review conducted in compliance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR). MEDLINE via Ovid, PubMed, and EMBASE were systematically searched for any reports discussing telemedicine use in surgery and surgical specialties during the first period (February 2020-August 8, 2020) and second 6-month period (August 9-March 4, 2021) of the COVID-19 pandemic.
RESULTS
Of 466 articles screened through full text, 277 articles were included for possible qualitative and/or quantitative data synthesis. The majority of publications in the first 6 months were in orthopedic surgery, followed by general surgery and neurosurgery, whereas in the second 6 months of COVID-19 pandemic, urology and neurosurgery were the most productive, followed by transplant and plastic surgery. Most publications in the first 6 months were opinion papers (80%), which decreased to 33% in the second 6 months. The role of telemedicine in different aspects of surgical care and surgical education was summarized stratifying by specialty.
CONCLUSION
Telemedicine has increased access to care of surgical patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, but whether this practice will continue post-pandemic remains unknown.
Topics: COVID-19; Humans; Orthopedics; Pandemics; SARS-CoV-2; Telemedicine
PubMed: 34743242
DOI: 10.1007/s00268-021-06348-1 -
Journal of Digital Imaging Jun 2023Artificial neural networks (ANN) are artificial intelligence (AI) techniques used in the automated recognition and classification of pathological changes from clinical... (Review)
Review
Use of Deep Neural Networks in the Detection and Automated Classification of Lesions Using Clinical Images in Ophthalmology, Dermatology, and Oral Medicine-A Systematic Review.
Artificial neural networks (ANN) are artificial intelligence (AI) techniques used in the automated recognition and classification of pathological changes from clinical images in areas such as ophthalmology, dermatology, and oral medicine. The combination of enterprise imaging and AI is gaining notoriety for its potential benefits in healthcare areas such as cardiology, dermatology, ophthalmology, pathology, physiatry, radiation oncology, radiology, and endoscopic. The present study aimed to analyze, through a systematic literature review, the application of performance of ANN and deep learning in the recognition and automated classification of lesions from clinical images, when comparing to the human performance. The PRISMA 2020 approach (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses) was used by searching four databases of studies that reference the use of IA to define the diagnosis of lesions in ophthalmology, dermatology, and oral medicine areas. A quantitative and qualitative analyses of the articles that met the inclusion criteria were performed. The search yielded the inclusion of 60 studies. It was found that the interest in the topic has increased, especially in the last 3 years. We observed that the performance of IA models is promising, with high accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity, most of them had outcomes equivalent to human comparators. The reproducibility of the performance of models in real-life practice has been reported as a critical point. Study designs and results have been progressively improved. IA resources have the potential to contribute to several areas of health. In the coming years, it is likely to be incorporated into everyday life, contributing to the precision and reducing the time required by the diagnostic process.
Topics: Humans; Artificial Intelligence; Reproducibility of Results; Ophthalmology; Dermatology; Neural Networks, Computer
PubMed: 36650299
DOI: 10.1007/s10278-023-00775-3 -
Annals of Medicine Dec 2023The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to identify, evaluate, and synthesize the evidence from studies that have investigated the treatment effect... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to identify, evaluate, and synthesize the evidence from studies that have investigated the treatment effect telemedicine interventions on depressive symptoms, quality of life, and work and social functioning in patients with depression. Six electronic databases (MEDLINE [1916-2021], PubMED [1950-2021], PsycINFO [1971-2021], Scopus [2004-2021], Embase [1972-2021], and CINAHL [1937-2021]) were systematically searched in March 2021. Reference lists of identified articles were hand searched. Randomized controlled trials were included if they investigated the treatment effects telemedicine interventions in patients who had a depression diagnosis. Quality assessment was evaluated using the critical appraisal checklists developed by the Joanna Briggs Institute. Seventeen (17) trials ( = 2,394) met eligibility criteria and were included in the analysis. Eleven (11) randomized controlled trials shared common outcome measures, allowing meta-analysis. The results provided evidence that treatment telemedicine interventions were beneficial for depressive symptoms (standardized mean difference= -0.44; 95% CI= -0.64 to -0.25; < .001) and quality of life (standardized mean difference= 0.25, 95% CI -0.01 to 0.49, = .04) in patients of depression. There were insufficient data for meta-analysis of work and social functioning. This study showed the positive effects of treatment telemedicine interventions on depressive symptoms and quality of life in patients with depression and supported the idea for clinical practice to establish a well-organized telepsychiatry system.KEY MESSAGESTelemedicine is effective at reducing symptoms of depression.Telemedicine can improve quality of life in persons with depression.
Topics: Humans; Depression; Quality of Life; Psychiatry; Telemedicine
PubMed: 36920229
DOI: 10.1080/07853890.2023.2187078 -
Mapping the value for money of precision medicine: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in Public Health 2023This study aimed to quantify heterogeneity in the value for money of precision medicine (PM) by application types across contexts and conditions and to quantify sources... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to quantify heterogeneity in the value for money of precision medicine (PM) by application types across contexts and conditions and to quantify sources of heterogeneity to areas of particular promises or concerns as the field of PM moves forward.
METHODS
A systemic search was performed in Embase, Medline, EconLit, and CRD databases for studies published between 2011 and 2021 on cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) of PM interventions. Based on a willingness-to-pay threshold of one-time GDP of each study country, the net monetary benefit (NMB) of PM was pooled using random-effects meta-analyses. Sources of heterogeneity and study biases were examined using random-effects meta-regressions, jackknife sensitivity analysis, and the biases in economic studies checklist.
RESULTS
Among the 275 unique CEAs of PM, publicly sponsored studies found neither genetic testing nor gene therapy cost-effective in general, which was contradictory to studies funded by commercial entities and early stage evaluations. Evidence of PM being cost-effective was concentrated in a genetic test for screening, diagnosis, or as companion diagnostics (pooled NMBs, $48,152, $8,869, $5,693, < 0.001), in the form of multigene panel testing (pooled NMBs = $31,026, < 0.001), which only applied to a few disease areas such as cancer and high-income countries. Incremental effectiveness was an essential value driver for varied genetic tests but not gene therapy.
CONCLUSION
Precision medicine's value for money across application types and contexts was difficult to conclude from published studies, which might be subject to systematic bias. The conducting and reporting of CEA of PM should be locally based and standardized for meaningful comparisons.
Topics: Precision Medicine; Cost-Benefit Analysis
PubMed: 38074712
DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1151504 -
Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety Jul 2021Pharmacoepidemiologic multi-database studies (MDBS) provide opportunities to better evaluate the safety and effectiveness of medicines. However, the issue of missing... (Review)
Review
PURPOSE
Pharmacoepidemiologic multi-database studies (MDBS) provide opportunities to better evaluate the safety and effectiveness of medicines. However, the issue of missing data is often exacerbated in MDBS, potentially resulting in bias and precision loss. We sought to measure how missing data are being recorded and addressed in pharmacoepidemiologic MDBS.
METHODS
We conducted a systematic literature search in PubMed for pharmacoepidemiologic MDBS published between 1st January 2018 and 31st December 2019. Included studies were those that used ≥2 distinct databases to assess the same safety/effectiveness outcome associated with a drug exposure. Outcome variables extracted from the studies included strategies to execute a MDBS, reporting of missing data (type, bias evaluation) and the methods used to account for missing data.
RESULTS
Two thousand seven hundred and twenty-six articles were identified, and 62 studies were included: using data from either North America (56%), Europe (31%), multiple regions (11%) or East-Asia (2%). Thirty-five (56%) articles reported missing data: 11 of these studies reported that this could have introduced bias and 19 studies reported a method to address missing data. Thirteen (68%) carried out a complete case analysis, 2 (11%) applied multiple imputation, 2 (11%) used both methods, 1 (5%) used mean imputation and 1 (5%) substituted information from a similar variable.
CONCLUSIONS
Just over half of the recent pharmacoepidemiologic MDBS reported missing data and two-thirds of these studies reported how they accounted for it. We should increase our vigilance for database completeness in MDBS by reporting and addressing the missing data that could introduce bias.
Topics: Bias; Databases, Factual; Europe; Humans; Pharmacoepidemiology; Research Design
PubMed: 33834576
DOI: 10.1002/pds.5245 -
Systematic Reviews Jan 2022Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) has gained popularity among the general population, but its acceptance and use among medical specialists have been...
BACKGROUND
Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) has gained popularity among the general population, but its acceptance and use among medical specialists have been inconclusive. This systematic review aimed to identify relevant studies and synthesize survey data on the acceptance and use of CAM among medical specialists.
METHODS
We conducted a systematic literature search in PubMed and Scopus databases for the acceptance and use of CAM among medical specialists. Each article was assessed by two screeners. Only survey studies relevant to the acceptance and use of CAM among medical specialists were reviewed. The pooled prevalence estimates were calculated using random-effects meta-analyses. This review followed both PRISMA and SWiM guidelines.
RESULTS
Of 5628 articles published between 2002 and 2017, 25 fulfilled the selection criteria. Ten medical specialties were included: Internal Medicine (11 studies), Pediatrics (6 studies), Obstetrics and Gynecology (6 studies), Anesthesiology (4 studies), Surgery (3 studies), Family Medicine (3 studies), Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (3 studies), Psychiatry and Neurology (2 studies), Otolaryngology (1 study), and Neurological Surgery (1 study). The overall acceptance of CAM was 52% (95%CI, 42-62%). Family Medicine reported the highest acceptance, followed by Psychiatry and Neurology, Neurological Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Anesthesiology, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Internal Medicine, and Surgery. The overall use of CAM was 45% (95% CI, 37-54%). The highest use of CAM was by the Obstetrics and Gynecology, followed by Family Medicine, Psychiatry and Neurology, Pediatrics, Otolaryngology, Anesthesiology, Internal Medicine, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Surgery. Based on the studies, meta-regression showed no statistically significant difference across geographic regions, economic levels of the country, or sampling methods.
CONCLUSION
Acceptance and use of CAM varied across medical specialists. CAM was accepted and used the most by Family Medicine but the least by Surgery. Findings from this systematic review could be useful for strategic harmonization of CAM and conventional medicine practice.
SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION
PROSPERO CRD42019125628.
Topics: Child; Complementary Therapies; Humans; Neurology; Obstetrics; Psychiatry
PubMed: 35027078
DOI: 10.1186/s13643-021-01882-4 -
Stem Cell Research & Therapy Oct 2020Human amniotic epithelial cells (hAECs) derived from placental tissues have gained considerable attention in the field of regenerative medicine. hAECs possess embryonic... (Review)
Review
Human amniotic epithelial cells (hAECs) derived from placental tissues have gained considerable attention in the field of regenerative medicine. hAECs possess embryonic stem cell-like proliferation and differentiation capabilities, and adult stem cell-like immunomodulatory properties. Compared with other types of stem cell, hAECs have special advantages, including easy isolation, plentiful numbers, the obviation of ethical debates, and non-immunogenic and non-tumorigenic properties. During the past two decades, the therapeutic potential of hAECs for treatment of various diseases has been extensively investigated. Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that hAEC transplantation helps to repair and rebuild the function of damaged tissues and organs by different molecular mechanisms. This systematic review focused on summarizing the biological characteristics of hAECs, therapeutic applications, and recent advances in treating various tissue injuries and disorders. Relevant studies published in English from 2000 to 2020 describing the role of hAECs in diseases and phenotypes were comprehensively sought out using PubMed, MEDLINE, and Google Scholar. According to the research content, we described the major hAEC characteristics, including induced differentiation plasticity, homing and differentiation, paracrine function, and immunomodulatory properties. We also summarized the current status of clinical research and discussed the prospects of hAEC-based transplantation therapies. In this review, we provide a comprehensive understanding of the therapeutic potential of hAECs, including their use for cell replacement therapy as well as secreted cytokine and exosome biotherapy. Moreover, we showed that the powerful immune-regulatory function of hAECs reveals even more possibilities for their application in the treatment of immune-related diseases. In the future, establishing the optimal culture procedure, achieving precise and accurate treatment, and enhancing the therapeutic potential by utilizing appropriate preconditioning and/or biomaterials would be new challenges for further investigation.
Topics: Amnion; Cell Differentiation; Cells, Cultured; Epithelial Cells; Female; Humans; Placenta; Pregnancy; Regenerative Medicine
PubMed: 33059766
DOI: 10.1186/s13287-020-01951-w -
Theranostics 2022In recent decades, extracellular vesicles (EVs), as bioactive cell-secreted nanoparticles which are involved in various physiological and pathological processes... (Review)
Review
In recent decades, extracellular vesicles (EVs), as bioactive cell-secreted nanoparticles which are involved in various physiological and pathological processes including cell proliferation, immune regulation, angiogenesis and tissue repair, have emerged as one of the most attractive nanotherapeutics for regenerative medicine. Herein we provide a systematic review of the latest progress of EVs for regenerative applications. Firstly, we will briefly introduce the biogenesis, function and isolation technology of EVs. Then, the underlying therapeutic mechanisms of the native unmodified EVs and engineering strategies of the modified EVs as regenerative entities will be discussed. Subsequently, the main focus will be placed on the tissue repair and regeneration applications of EVs on various organs including brain, heart, bone and cartilage, liver and kidney, as well as skin. More importantly, current clinical trials of EVs for regenerative medicine will also be briefly highlighted. Finally, the future challenges and insightful perspectives of the currently developed EV-based nanotherapeutics in biomedicine will be discussed. In short, the bioactive EV-based nanotherapeutics have opened new horizons for biologists, chemists, nanoscientists, pharmacists, as well as clinicians, making possible powerful tools and therapies for regenerative medicine.
Topics: Extracellular Vesicles; Kidney; Nanoparticles; Regenerative Medicine; Wound Healing
PubMed: 35836815
DOI: 10.7150/thno.72812 -
Radiotherapy and Oncology : Journal of... Apr 2022Complex surgery and radiotherapy are the central pillars of loco-regional oncology treatment. This paper describes the reimbursement schemes used in radiation and... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Complex surgery and radiotherapy are the central pillars of loco-regional oncology treatment. This paper describes the reimbursement schemes used in radiation and complex surgical oncology, reports on literature and policy reviews.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
A systematic review of the literature of the reimbursement models has been carried out separately for radiotherapy and complex cancer surgery based on PRISMA guidelines. Using searches of PubMed and grey literature, we identified articles from scientific journals and reports published since 2000 on provider payment or reimbursement systems currently used in radiation oncology and complex cancer surgery, also including policy models.
RESULTS
Most European health systems reimburse radiotherapy using a budget-based, fee-for-service or fraction-based system; while few reimburse services according to an episode-based model. Also, the reimbursement models for cancer surgery are mostly restricted to differences embedded in the DRG system and adjustments applied to the fees, based on the complexity of each surgical procedure. There is an enormous variability in reimbursement across countries, resulting in different incentives and different amounts paid for the same therapeutic strategy.
CONCLUSION
A reimbursement policy, based on the episode of care as the basic payment unit, is advocated for. Innovation should be tackled in a two-tier approach: one defining the common criteria for reimbursement of proven evidence-based interventions; another for financing emerging innovation with uncertain definitive value. Relevant clinical and economic data, also collected real-life, should support reimbursement systems that mirror the actual cost of evidence-based practice.
Topics: Fee-for-Service Plans; Humans; Neoplasms; Radiation Oncology; Surgical Oncology
PubMed: 34461186
DOI: 10.1016/j.radonc.2021.08.002