ObjectivesTo investigate the citation status of systematic reviews (SRs)/meta-analyses in clinical practice guidelines and consensuses of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).MethodsWe electronically searched PubMed, CBM, WanFang Data and CNKI databases to collect TCM guidelines and consensus from January 1st, 2009 to December 31st, 2018. Two reviewers independently screened literature and extracted data. Citation analysis method was used to analyze the citation status of SRs/meta-analysis in TCM guidelines and consensuses.ResultsA total of 142 TCM guidelines and consensuses were included, of which 39 (26.5%) failed to provide relevant citations. Of the 103 (72.5%) TCM guidelines and consensuses providing citations, 48 (34.3%) cited SRs/meta-analyses, and 43 cited outdated SRs/ meta-analyses. Four TCM guidelines and consensuses cited Cochrane reviews. In terms of citations, the average citations of guidelines and consensuses were 35.1 and 42.2, respectively; and the average SRs/meta-analyses citations of guidelines and consensuses were 3.8 and 5.5, respectively.ConclusionsTCM guidelines and consensuses citation report rates and the proportion of citation SRs/meta-analyses still require increase. TCM guidelines developers should strengthen the role and significance of SRs, especially Cochrane reviews, in supporting recommendations.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the prognostic efficacy and safety of patients with ovarian cancer treated with systemic lymphadenectomy (SL). MethodsPubMed, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CNKI, WanFang Data, and CBM databases were electronically searched to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort studies on the prognostic outcomes of patients with ovarian cancer treated with SL from inception to December 16th, 2020. Six reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Meta-analysis was then performed using RevMan 5.4 software. ResultsA total of 5 RCTs and 23 cohort studies involving 6 166 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that there were no significant differences in the 3-year survival rate, 5-year survival rate, 3-year progression-free survival rate, and 5-year progression-free survival rate between SL group and the no systemic lymphadenectomy (NSL) group. The results of the subgroup analysis showed that pelvic and para-aortic lymph node dissection combined with large omentum resection had a better prognosis for patients. ConclusionsCurrent evidence shows that SL has no significant efficacy on survival and progression-free survival in patients with ovarian cancer. Due to limited quality and quantity of the included studies, more high-quality studies are required to verify the above conclusions.
Technology in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which has a long history, provides excellent traditional culture and valuable spiritual wealth in China. TCM standardization technology will provide an important basis for guiding and evaluating the professional level and service quality of technicians in TCM. And it is also conducive to the sustainable development of TCM technology. However, at present, there is no relevant research on the development process of technical specifications for TCM. So, the urgent need is how to develop standardized technical specifications, and apply them to patients in practice. Therefore, this study first convened relevant experts, including TCM clinical experts, epidemiologists, methodology experts, etc., to form the core expert group, implementation group and quality assurance task group. According to the personnel functions, they are divided into technical specification steering committee, consensus expert group, secretariat group, external review group, evidence evaluation group, etc. Then, the initial entries are collected by systematically searching the current TCM technical guidelines, consensus and specifications and referring to the existing technical specifications. Finally, expert opinions were collected based on the Delphi survey, and the final reporting checklist of technical specifications for TCM was formed after consensus discussion. The study can provide evidence-based methodological guidance for the development of TCM technical specifications, and promote the standardization and internationalization of TCM technical specifications.