Longitudinal Evaluation and Meta-analysis of Clinical Articles on the Antihypertensive Effects of Incretin-related Drugs

Abstract

The number and outcome of articles on clinical studies change over time, and reflect the outcome of the studies as shown by meta-analyses. Thus, meta-analyses should be precisely timed. We fragmentally and cross-sectionally assessed articles describing the antihypertensive effects of incretin-related drugs to determine the optimal timing and feasibility of meta-analyses. We searched PubMed and ICHUSHI Web databases for clinical articles describing the effects of incretin-related drugs on blood pressure, and longitudinally evaluated the number and quality of the articles. We analyzed 54 English articles published between 2000 and 2015: 79.6％ studies were randomized, 42.6％ were analyzed in a double-blind comparative manner, and 83.3％ described cancelled and dropout cases. The mean Jadad score was 2.7 ± 1.7 (Mean ± SD). The correlation coefficient of the quality and sample size was-0.916. Our meta-analysis revealed that compared to placebo, liraglutide 1.2 mg, exenatide 5 μg, and liraglutide 1.8 mg reduced systolic blood pressure by-5.38 mmHg, and-5.27 mmHg, and-3.89 mmHg, respectively [95％ confidence intervals:-7.91 to-2.84,-9.18 to-1.36, and-6.41 to-1.37 respectively]. The quality level was retained in studies published between 2000 and 2011. Therefore, the quality and quantity may be balanced at the time of the meta-analysis of the first published article. A similar approach may determine the optimal timing of meta-analyses in other fields.

Trends in Study Design Assessment for Anti-Influenza Agents

“…were obtained in a study about chronic illness. 8) In addition, a report that assessed language bias from an effect viewpoint also found the English language bias. 17) Language bias is generally considered to stem from the significance of study results.…”

“…We 8) This means that the quality and sample size of the English articles were inversely proportionate in a steady state, while a certain level of quality was maintained.…”

“…A negative correlation was conrmed between study quality and the sample size, with the quality varying depending on the time of assessment. 8) These articles studied chronic illness. Because acute illness involves different study durations and target populations, the change trend may differ from that for chronic illness.…”