Nowadays, systematic literature reviews/meta-analyses of clinical trials are considered the best evidence in clinical research; thus, if performed appropriately, they can save resources by avoiding the development of unnecessary clinical trials. Nevertheless, to carry out a systematic literature review /meta-analysis, researchers must deeply understand its methodology. This narrative review aims to act as a learning tool for new researchers to perform systematic literature reviews/meta-analyses for categorical variables, addressing this matter in a step-by-step fashion using STATA 17. Readers must understand that the scope of this topic is much broader. Therefore, concepts such as meta-analysis for numerical outcomes or meta-analysis for survival analysis are not addressed. The authors hope that the information presented in this manuscript serves as pillars to enhance research worldwide, especially in places where formal research training is uncommon. If readers want to extend their knowledge regarding this subject, we recommend reading the "The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions and the Center for Reviews and Dissemination" or the book "Finding What Works in Health Care: Standards for systematic reviews.
Introduction: Child maltreatment is a worldwide problem; not only for its repercussions at the time of the act but also for its possible sequelae, therefore, it is important to know and characterize the changes found in magnetic resonance, to correlate the structural outcome with its functional repercussions. This article seeks to unify and summarize what is already known.
Objective: To demonstrate brain changes and their functional repercussions using magnetic resonance imaging in people exposed to chronic child abuse.
Materials and methods: We performed a systematic literature review; the search was carried out through PubMed, LILACS, ScienceDirect, and Embase. The inclusion criteria were studies published in English, Spanish and French, between January 2015 and March 2020 that discussed the clinical and encephalic alterations in MRI caused by child abuse.
Results: 7 studies with a total of 760 participants were included with a mean age ranging between 6-35 years. In 42% of the articles, alterations were evidenced at the level of the amygdala and hippocampus, defined as volume reduction or decreased connectivity. On the other hand, 28% of the articles included mentioned alterations at the level of the frontal cortex.
Conclusions: Child maltreatment produces brain anatomical and functional changes, which may be reversible if early intervention is performed by separating these children from the focus of abuse. It is possible to conclude that structural changes in the brain vary depending on the sub-type of child abuse; nevertheless, it remains controversial which changes correspond to each sub-type of child abuse. There is not enough literature to classify the anatomical variations caused by child abuse according to gender. Literature must be expanded to have enough evidence to emit a concept.
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