Publications by authors named "Yu-Kang Tu"
Trial sequential analysis: Reducing the likelihood of false-positive findings of meta-analyses.
Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop
January 2025
Article Synopsis
- Many countries, including Taiwan, have increased regulations on the prescription of sedative-hypnotics due to health concerns, leading to a need for research on its usage trends across different age-sex groups over time.
- A study comparing national surveys from 2014 and 2018 found decreasing sedative-hypnotic use and nonmedical use among young adult males, while trends among adolescents and females showed increases in both categories.
- The research utilized data from over 18,000 participants, analyzing responses related to their use of sedatives and factors influencing nonmedical use, with significant changes observed in specific sociodemographic groups.
Importance: Viloxazine is a novel nonstimulant medication approved for the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Objectives: To investigate the whether viloxazine is associated with effective and acceptable outcomes when treating children and adolescents with ADHD and to evaluate these outcomes' associations with viloxazine doses and duration of treatment.
Data Sources: The MEDLINE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Embase, PsycINFO, and ClinicalTrial.
Article Synopsis
- The study researched the optimal dose of lurasidone for treating bipolar depression, focusing on efficacy, acceptability, and metabolic/endocrine effects.
- It reviewed five clinical trials involving 2,032 patients and found that doses between 40-60 mg significantly improved depression, anxiety, and quality of life while experiencing manageable side effects.
- Results indicated that while higher doses led to increased side effects and weight gain, a 40-60 mg dose was generally the best choice for treatment without major risks of dropout or manic switch.
Background: Intermittent fasting (IF) holds promise for enhancing metabolic health. However, the optimum IF forms and their superiority over continuous energy restriction (CER) remain unclear due to disconnected findings.
Methods: We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane databases for meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the association between IF and metabolic health outcomes.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates how different lipid-lowering drugs (LLDs) affect the prevention of major cardiovascular events (MACEs) and renal outcomes in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) who are not on dialysis.
- A network meta-analysis of 49 randomized controlled trials involving 77,826 participants found that rosuvastatin and atorvastatin significantly reduced the risk of MACEs compared to control groups.
- Additionally, these statins, along with the combination of statin and ezetimibe, were associated with statistically significant improvements in kidney function, as measured by estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR).
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates how serum levels of autoantibodies against BP180 and BP230 relate to the severity of bullous pemphigoid (BP) disease, which remains unclear.
- Researchers searched multiple databases and included studies that measured IgG levels using ELISA in relation to disease severity scores.
- Results from 14 studies revealed that anti-BP180 levels correlated moderately to strongly with disease severity over different follow-up periods, indicating a potential marker for assessing BP severity.
Network meta-analysis (NMA) incorporates all available evidence into a general statistical framework for comparing multiple treatments. Standard NMAs make three major assumptions, namely homogeneity, similarity, and consistency, and violating these assumptions threatens an NMA's validity. In this article, we suggest a graphical approach to assessing these assumptions and distinguishing between qualitative and quantitative versions of these assumptions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: This systematic review and network meta-analysis compared the effects of various diabetes self-management programs: Diabetes Self-Management Education (DSME), Diabetes Self-Management Support (DSMS), and Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support (DSMES).
Methods: We searched four electronic databases for eligible articles up to March 1, 2023. Only randomized controlled trials investigating the effects of DSME, DSMS, or DSMES on glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) level, fasting blood glucose (FBG), total cholesterol (TC), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in adults with type 2 diabetes were included.
Article Synopsis
- - The study evaluated how well an AI chatbot (ChatPDF) could create abstracts from 30 academic psychiatric articles, comparing its output with that of human-written abstracts from 10 additional psychiatric papers.
- - The results showed low similarity and plagiarism rates in the AI-generated abstracts, but the quality varied: structured abstracts performed similarly to originals, while unstructured ones scored lower, and overall, inaccuracies were found in 30% of the AI conclusions.
- - Experts noted that while AI models like ChatPDF have potential for summarizing psychiatric information, caution is needed due to accuracy concerns in the final outputs.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates how an electronic alert (e-alert) system for acute kidney injury (AKI) affects patient outcomes, such as mortality, progression of AKI, need for dialysis, and kidney recovery, which have not been thoroughly researched before.
- Researchers conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis using data from various studies found on databases like Embase and PubMed, focusing on adult patients experiencing AKI and comparing outcomes between those who received e-alerts and those who did not.
- The results included data from 13 studies with nearly 42,000 patients, showing that while e-alerts did not significantly change mortality rates (RR 0.96), they appeared to reduce the progress of
Objective: To evaluate the comparative effectiveness and acceptability of oral monotherapy using psychedelics and escitalopram in patients with depressive symptoms, considering the potential for overestimated effectiveness due to unsuccessful blinding.
Design: Systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis.
Data Sources: Medline, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, PsycINFO, ClinicalTrial.
The efficacy and acceptability of anti-inflammatory omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplements in sepsis management: a network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids
March 2024
Sepsis is a critical medical condition associated with high mortality for patients. Current pharmacological strategies for sepsis management or prevention had not achieved satisfactory results. The omega-3 fatty acids, with anti-inflammatory benefits, are considered to be promising agents for sepsis management/prevention.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: This study aimed to compare the effect of inhaled aromatherapy using various essential oils on the sleep quality of critically ill patients.
Background: Inhalation of essential oils significantly promotes the physiological and psychological health of patients in intensive care units (ICUs). However, research identifying and ranking the effects of different essential oils on the sleep quality of critically ill patients is lacking.
The World Health Organization emphasizes the importance of providing integrated care for older people. Taiwan is the fastest aging country in the world. In 2016, Taiwan implemented the Long-Term Care Plan 2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe efficacy and acceptability of various non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) interventions for autism spectrum disorder remain unclear. We carried out a systematic review for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) regarding NIBS for reducing autistic symptoms (INPLASY202370003). Sixteen articles (N = 709) met the inclusion criteria for network meta-analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe depression response trajectory after a course of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation(rTMS) remains understudied. We searched for blinded randomized controlled trials(RCTs) that examined conventional rTMS over left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex(DLPFC) for major depressive episodes(MDE). The effect size was calculated as the difference in depression improvement, between active and sham rTMS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe prevalence of pediatric constipation ranges from 0.7 to 29.6% across different countries.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- - This study evaluated how six factors (stimulation intensity, frequency, pulses per session, treatment duration, number of sessions, and total pulses) affect the effectiveness of rTMS in treating patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD).
- - A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials with 2,391 participants showed that all six parameters significantly influenced treatment efficacy, with pulses per session being the most predictive factor.
- - Higher stimulation frequency (over 10 Hz) and greater intensity were linked to improved treatment outcomes, suggesting that optimizing these parameters may enhance rTMS effectiveness for TRD patients.
Aims: The microbial profiles of peri-implantitis and periodontitis (PT) are inconclusive. The controversies mainly arise from the differences in sampling sites, targeted gene fragment, and microbiome analysis techniques. The objective of this study was to explore the microbiomes of peri-implantitis (PI), control implants (CI), PT and control teeth (CT), and the microbial change of PI after nonsurgical treatment (PIAT).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Despite its high lifetime prevalence rate and the elevated disability caused by posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), treatments exhibit modest efficacy. In consideration of the abnormal connectivity between the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and amygdala in PTSD, several randomized controlled trials (RCTs) addressing the efficacy of different noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) modalities for PTSD management have been undertaken. However, previous RCTs have reported inconsistent results.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The effectiveness and side effects between different medical treatments in patients with primary hyperaldosteronism have not been systematically studied.
Objective: To analyze the efficacy between different mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs) and epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) inhibitors in a network meta-analysis (NMA) framework, while also evaluating adverse events.
Design: Systematic review and NMA.
Background: Early detection of dysphagia is important for preventing aspiration pneumonia. Although videofluoroscopy is currently the primary diagnostic tool for dysphagia, access to this tool may be limited because of radiation exposure risk, high cost, and other factors.
Purpose: In this study, a meta-analysis was used to determine the strength of the correlation between dysphagia detection outcomes obtained using subjective questionnaires and videofluoroscopy.