PURPOSE Several epidemiologic studies have evaluated the association between statins and lung cancer risk, whereas randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on cardiovascular outcomes provide relevant data as a secondary end point. We conducted a meta-analysis of all relevant studies to examine this association. METHODS A systematic literature search up to March 2012 was performed in PubMed databas...

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis and systematic review to assess the effect of exercise on cognitive function in people with chronic diseases. METHODS PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, the Cochrane Library, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and three Chinese databases were electronically searched for papers that were published until September 2016. This meta-analysis and syst...

OBJECTIVES To perform a meta-analysis of gene expression microarray data from animal studies of lung injury, and to identify an injury-specific gene expression signature capable of predicting the development of lung injury in humans. METHODS We performed a microarray meta-analysis using 77 microarray chips across six platforms, two species and different animal lung injury models exposed to lu...

BACKGROUND Variability in phenotypic characterization of coronary artery disease (CAD) may contribute to the heterogeneity of genetic association studies, and more consistency in phenotype definitions might improve replication of genetic associations. We assessed the extent of phenotypic heterogeneity and quantified its impact in a large literature sample of association studies. METHODS AND R...

There has been enormous debate regarding the possibility of a link between childhood vaccinations and the subsequent development of autism. This has in recent times become a major public health issue with vaccine preventable diseases increasing in the community due to the fear of a 'link' between vaccinations and autism. We performed a meta-analysis to summarise available evidence from case-con...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether valproate (VPA) monotherapy influences homocysteine metabolism in patients with epilepsy. DESIGN Systematic review and meta-analysis. DATA SOURCES We searched all articles in English through PubMed, Web of Science and EMBASE published up to August 2013 concerning the homocysteine levels in VPA monotherapeutic patients with epilepsy. PARTICIPANTS VPA-treated ...

OBJECTIVE To investigate meta-analysis of published data on overall incidence of cleft lip, cleft palate, and cleft lip and palate of newborns in Iran. METHODS This meta-analysis was carried out at the School of Dentistry, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran between May 2009 and December 2009. Our data were consisted of all incidences of cleft lip and palate from 1978 to Jun...

Xpert MTB/RIF (Cepheid, Sunnyvale, CA, USA) is endorsed for the detection of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the accuracy of Xpert for the detection of extrapulmonary TB. We searched multiple databases to October 15, 2013. We determined the accuracy of Xpert compared with culture and a composite reference standard (CRS). We grouped data ...

Asthma and wheezing disorders are common chronic health problems in childhood. Breastfeeding provides health benefits, but it is not known whether or how breastfeeding decreases the risk of developing asthma. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies published between 1983 and 2012 on breastfeeding and asthma in children from the general population.We searched the PubMed and...

OBJECTIVE To carry out a systematic review with meta-analysis of prevalence of caries in Latin America and Caribbean children considering studies performed in this new century. METHODS Two reviewers searched PubMed, Embase, LILACS and governmental databases through May 2016 to identify papers published in English, Portuguese or Spanish. Studies in those countries performed with 5-6 or 11-13 y...