The effect of bolus advisors on glycaemic parameters in adults with diabetes on intensive insulin therapy: A systematic review with meta-analysis.

AIM: To conduct a systematic review with meta-analysis to provide a comprehensive synthesis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and prospective cohort studies investigating the effects of currently available bolus advisors on glycaemic parameters in adults with diabetes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An electronic search of PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane Library and ClinicalTrials.gov was conducted in December 2022. The risk of bias was assessed using the revised Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. (Standardized) mean difference (MD) was selected to determine the difference in continuous outcomes between the groups. A random-effects model meta-analysis and meta-regression were performed. This systematic review was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42022374588). RESULTS: A total of 18 RCTs involving 1645 adults (50% females) with a median glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) concentration of 8.45% (7.95%-9.30%) were included. The majority of participants had type 1 diabetes (N = 1510, 92%) and were on multiple daily injections (N = 1173, 71%). Twelve of the 18 trials had low risk of bias. The meta-analysis of 10 studies with available data on HbA1c showed that the use of a bolus advisor modestly reduced HbA1c compared to standard treatment (MD -011%, 95% confidence interval -0.22 to -0.01; I2 = 0%). This effect was accompanied by small improvements in low blood glucose index and treatment satisfaction, but not with reductions in hypoglycaemic events or changes in other secondary outcomes. CONCLUSION: Use of a bolus advisor is associated with slightly better glucose control and treatment satisfaction in people with diabetes on intensive insulin treatment. Future studies should investigate whether personalizing bolus advisors using artificial intelligence technology can enhance these effects.

Can consumer wearable activity tracker-based interventions improve physical activity and cardiometabolic health in patients with chronic diseases? A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.

BACKGROUND: To date, it is unclear if consumer wearable activity trackers (CWATs), with or without behaviour multi-component strategies, effectively improve adherence to physical activity and health outcomes under free living conditions in populations with chronic diseases. Therefore, we systematically evaluated the efficacy of CWAT-based interventions to promote physical activity levels and cardiometabolic health in populations with chronic diseases. METHODS: Randomised controlled trials were collected from five bibliographic databases (PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and CINAHL). Studies were eligible for inclusion if they evaluated a CWAT-based counselling intervention versus control intervention among patients with chronic respiratory diseases, type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, overweight/obesity, cognitive disorders, or sedentary older adults. Data were pooled using a random-effects model. RESULTS: After deduplication 8147 were identified of which 35 studies met inclusion criteria (chronic respiratory diseases: 7, type 2 diabetes mellitus: 12, cardiovascular diseases: 6, overweight/obesity: 3, cognitive disorders: 1, sedentary older adults: 6). Compared to control groups, CWAT-based interventions significantly increased physical activity by 2123 steps per day (95% confidence interval [CI], [1605-2641]; p < 0.001). In addition, CWAT-based interventions in these populations significantly decreased systolic blood pressure (- 3.79 mm Hg; 95% CI: [- 4.53, - 3.04] mm Hg; p < 0.001), waist circumference (- 0.99 cm; 95% CI: [- 1.48, - 0.50] cm; p < 0.001) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration (- 5.70 mg/dl; 95% CI: [- 9.24, - 2.15] mg/dl; p = 0.002). CONCLUSION: CWAT-based interventions increase physical activity and have beneficial effects on important health-related outcomes such as systolic blood pressure, waist circumference and LDL cholesterol concentration in patients with chronic diseases.

Taxonomy of teaching methods and their use in health professions education: a scoping review protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Applying the lens of social constructivist theory, teaching methods facilitate the process of learning and may be used differently across settings to align learning goals. Teaching methods are used across disciplines, occupations and learning settings, yet terminology, descriptions and application for use vary widely. This scoping review will identify eligible literature of reported teaching methods with documented descriptions across disciplines with a focus of how teaching methods are applied to health professions education. A literary description of a teaching method was used as a basis from which to select eligible articles based on two criteria, a specified method and delivery of that teaching by a teacher figure. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Using the extension of the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology aligned to Arksey and O'Malley's six-stage framework and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews guidelines, this scoping review will systematically search ERIC, Embase, Web of Science and PubMed databases. The search strategy was supported by an information specialist. Eligible studies will be identified in a two-stage screening process with four researchers. To complement eligible peer-reviewed literature, we will also search out relevant grey literature including University Websites, Conference Programmes and handsearched reference lists. Data extraction will be performed using a developed data extraction tool. A narrative summary will accompany charted results and describe the results aligned to the study objectives. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: As no intervention or patient recruitment is required for this research, ethics board approval is not required. Results will be disseminated via publication in a peer-reviewed journal, conference presentations and where feasible reaching out to those organisations and universities with published glossaries of terms for teaching.

Sedentary behaviour, physical activity and cardiometabolic health in highly trained athletes: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Prolonged periods of sedentary time appear to increase the risk for the development of several chronic conditions and all-cause mortality, even when moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) is taken into consideration. However, whether the beneficial health effects of MVPA in highly active individuals remain present when leisure time is spent sedentary remains speculative. Therefore, we systematically evaluated off-training sedentary behaviour and physical activity levels in athletes. Studies were collected from four bibliographic databases (PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials). Studies were eligible for inclusion if they evaluated sedentary behaviour and physical activity levels among athletes. Data from athletes were compared with the general population and pooled using a random-effects model. After deduplication 3104 were identified of which 13 studies met inclusion criteria. Compared to the general population, athletes spent significantly more time in sedentary behaviour (+79 min/day; 95% confidence interval [CI]: [41, 65] min/day; p<0.001). In addition, athlete individuals spent less time in light intensity physical activity (-92 min/day; 95% CI: [-117, -66] min/day; p<0.001) and had increased levels of MVPA (+62 min/day; 95% CI: [38, 85] min/day; p<0.001) compared to the general population. Athletes exceed the average time spend sedentary per day and make them even more sedentary compared to the general population.

Temporal trends of sex differences for COVID-19 infection, hospitalisation, severe disease, intensive care unit (ICU) admission and death: a meta-analysis of 229 studies covering over 10M patients.

Background: This review aims to investigate the association of sex with the risk of multiple COVID-19 health outcomes, ranging from infection to death. Methods: Pubmed and Embase were searched through September 2020. We considered studies reporting sex and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outcomes. Qualitative and quantitative data were extracted using standardised electronic data extraction forms with the assessment of Newcastle Ottawa Scale for risk of bias. Pooled trends in infection, hospitalization, severity, intensive care unit (ICU) admission and death rate were calculated separately for men and women and subsequently random-effects meta-analyses on relative risks (RR) for sex was performed. Results: Of 10,160 titles, 229 studies comprising 10,417,452 patients were included in the analyses. Methodological quality of the included studies was high (6.9 out of 9). Men had a higher risk for infection with COVID-19 than women (RR = 1.14, 95%CI: 1.07 to 1.21). When infected, they also had a higher risk for hospitalization (RR = 1.33, 95%CI: 1.27 to 1.41), higher risk for severe COVID-19 (RR = 1.22, 95%CI: 1.17 to 1.27), higher need for Intensive Care (RR = 1.41, 95%CI: 1.28 to 1.55), and higher risk of death (RR = 1.35, 95%CI: 1.28 to 1.43). Within the period studied, the RR for infection and severity increased for men compared to women, while the RR for mortality decreased for men compared to women. Conclusions: Meta-analyses on 229 studies comprising over 10 million patients showed that men have a higher risk for COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, disease severity, ICU admission and death. The relative risks of infection, disease severity and death for men versus women showed temporal trends with lower relative risks for infection and severity of disease and higher relative risk for death at the beginning of the pandemic compared to the end of our inclusion period. PROSPERO registration: CRD42020180085 (20/04/2020).

Intraperitoneal drug delivery systems releasing cytostatic agents to target gastro-intestinal peritoneal metastases in laboratory animals: a systematic review.

For peritoneal metastases (PM), there are few curative treatment options, and they are only available for a select patient group. Recently, new therapies have been developed to deliver intraperitoneal chemotherapy for a prolonged period, suitable for a larger patient group. These drug delivery systems (DDSs) seem promising in the experimental setting. Many types of DDSs have been explored in a variety of animal models, using different cytostatics. This review aimed to provide an overview of animal studies using DDSs containing cytostatics for the treatment of gastro-intestinal PM and identify the most promising therapeutic combinations. The review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and Systematic Review Center for Laboratory Animal Experimentation (SYRCLE) guidelines. The 35 studies included revealed similar results: using a cytostatic-loaded DDS to treat PM resulted in a higher median survival time (MST) and a lower intraperitoneal tumor load compared to no treatment or treatment with a 'free' cytostatic or an unloaded DDS. In 65% of the studies, the MST was significantly longer and in 24% the tumor load was significantly lower in the animals treated with cytostatic-loaded DDS. The large variety of experimental setups made it impossible to identify the most promising DDS-cytostatic combination. In most studies, the risk of bias was unclear due to poor reporting. Future studies should focus more on improving the clinical relevance of the experiments, standardizing the experimental study setup, and improving their methodological quality and reporting.

Demographic risk factors for COVID-19 infection, severity, ICU admission and death: a meta-analysis of 59 studies.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to describe the associations of age and sex with the risk of COVID-19 in different severity stages ranging from infection to death. DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis. DATA SOURCES: PubMed and Embase through 4 May 2020. STUDY SELECTION: We considered cohort and case-control studies that evaluated differences in age and sex on the risk of COVID-19 infection, disease severity, intensive care unit (ICU) admission and death. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: We screened and included studies using standardised electronic data extraction forms and we pooled data from published studies and data acquired by contacting authors using random effects meta-analysis. We assessed the risk of bias using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. RESULTS: We screened 11.550 titles and included 59 studies comprising 36.470 patients in the analyses. The methodological quality of the included papers was high (8.2 out of 9). Men had a higher risk for infection with COVID-19 than women (relative risk (RR) 1.08, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.12). When infected, they also had a higher risk for severe COVID-19 disease (RR 1.18, 95% CI 1.10 to 1.27), a higher need for intensive care (RR 1.38, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.74) and a higher risk of death (RR 1.50, 95% CI 1.18 to 1.91). The analyses also showed that patients aged 70 years and above have a higher infection risk (RR 1.65, 95% CI 1.50 to 1.81), a higher risk for severe COVID-19 disease (RR 2.05, 95% CI 1.27 to 3.32), a higher need for intensive care (RR 2.70, 95% CI 1.59 to 4.60) and a higher risk of death once infected (RR 3.61, 95% CI 2.70 to 4.84) compared with patients younger than 70 years. CONCLUSIONS: Meta-analyses on 59 studies comprising 36.470 patients showed that men and patients aged 70 and above have a higher risk for COVID-19 infection, severe disease, ICU admission and death. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42020180085.