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Is Systematic Review an Effective Tool for Evidence-Based Health System Research in Developing Countries?

An increasing number of health system researchers use systematic review to synthesize research evidence to inform the development of health policies at global and national levels. However, there are methodological challenges facing the health system research in undertaking systematic reviews of health policy literatures. This paper explored the constraints and promise of systematic review as a tool for evidence-based health system research in developing countries. It introduced the systematic review method and its evolution in health research over the past decades. The paper then discussed the definition of health system research, as system science, and contrasted its features/characteristics to those of medical research. It discussed and analyzed if the systematic review could be an effective tool for evidence-based health system research, particularly in developing countries. The paper concludes that the systematic review may be a very useful tool that can be used for evidence-based health system research to address specific policy issues; however, research on some health system/policy issues may not be appropriate to use the systematic review at all.

Is Evidence-Based Medicine Relevant to the Developing World? Systematic Reviews Have yet to Achieve Their Potential as a Resource for Practitioners in Developing Countries

中低收入国家癫痫过早死亡：国际抗癫痫联盟死亡率专业组系统评价

为了确定中低收入国家（Low- and middle-income countries，LMICs）癫痫相关的危险因素大小与过早死亡原因，专业组对来自 LMICs（世界银行定义）的死亡率及癫痫相关文献报道进行系统检索，根据代表性，病例、诊断和死亡率的确证度对研究进行评估，并提取癫痫患者中的标准化死亡比（Standardized mortality ratios，SMR）和死亡率数据。研究调查了死亡的危险因素和原因。据估计，在高质量的群体研究中，癫痫患者年死亡率为 19.8/1 000（9.7/1 000～45.1/1 000），加权中位 SMR 为 2.6（1.3～7.2）。而临床队列研究显示的死亡率为 7.1/1 000（1.6/1 000～25.1/1 000），加权中位 SMR 在男性中为 5.0，女性中为 4.5。在儿童和青少年、症状性癫痫或治疗依从性低的患者中发现了相对较高的 SMR。群体研究显示，LMICs 癫痫患者死亡的主要原因中直接归因于癫痫的平均比例死亡比（Proportional mortality ratio，PMR）为 27.3%（5.0%～73.5%）。这些直接原因包括癫痫持续状态（报道的 PMR 为 5.0%～56.5%）和癫痫猝死（Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy，SUDEP）（报道的 PMR 为 1.0%～18.9%），与癫痫相关的间接死亡原因包括溺水、头部创伤和烧伤。LMICs 癫痫患者的早亡率明显高于高收入国家。在 LMICs，死亡率过高可能与患者难以获得医疗资源有关，例如发生癫痫持续状态时，以及包括溺水、头外伤和烧伤在内的可预防死因。这类过高的早亡率可以通过进行关于死亡风险的教育，提高治疗，包括抗癫痫药物治疗的可得性而大大降低。