Current Knowledge on Factor V Leiden Mutation as a Risk Factor for Recurrent Venous Thromboembolism: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Thrombophilia screening is widely done in clinical practice, and it is claimed that the extent of venous thromboembolism (VTE) recurrence risk in patients with common defects is still not fully understood.

Aim: We aimed to summarize data of all observational studies prospectively assessing the association of heterozygous factor V Leiden (FVL) mutation and recurrent VTE in patients with VTE, and to calculate pooled relative risks (RR), overall and in various subgroups.

Methods: We searched MEDLINE and EMBASE databases for cohort studies prospectively assessing VTE recurrence in patients with and without FVL mutation (PROSPERO: CRD42021182800).

A BEME systematic review of UK undergraduate medical education in the general practice setting: BEME Guide No. 32.

Background: General practice is increasingly used as a learning environment in undergraduate medical education in the UK.

Aim: The aim of this project was to identify, summarise and synthesise research about undergraduate medical education in general practice in the UK.

Methods: We systematically identified studies of undergraduate medical education within a general practice setting in the UK from 1990 onwards.

A tool to assess the quality of a meta-analysis.

Background: Because meta-analyses are increasingly prevalent and cited in the medical literature, it is important that tools are available to assess their methodological quality. When performing an empirical study of the quality of published meta-analyses, we found that existing tools did not place a strong emphasis on statistical and interpretational issues.

Methods: We developed a quality-assessment tool using existing materials and expert judgment as a starting point, followed by multiple iterations of input from our working group, piloting, and discussion.

Methodological quality of meta-analyses: matched-pairs comparison over time and between industry-sponsored and academic-sponsored reports.

Context: Meta-analyses are regularly used to inform healthcare decisions. Concerns have been expressed about the quality of meta-analyses and, in particular, about those supported by the pharmaceutical industry.

Objective: The objective of this study is to compare the quality of pharmaceutical-industry-supported meta-analyses with academic meta-analyses and of meta-analyses published before and after companies started to disclose their data.

WITHDRAWN: Dieting to reduce body weight for controlling hypertension in adults.

Background: As early as the 1920's, researchers noted a relationship between caloric restriction, weight loss and a decreased incidence of hypertension (Terry 1922, Preble 1923, Bauman 1928, Master 1929). In 1988 a meta-analysis of aggregate data from 12 prospective studies, including 5 randomized controlled trials (RCTs), found that on average each 1 kilogram decrease in body weight in obese hypertensive patients was associated with a 2.4 mm Hg systolic and 1.