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Methodologic lessons from published systematic reviews

Eye volume 37, page 3876 (2023)Cite this article

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We read with interest two systematic reviews with meta-analysis [1, 2] recently published in your Journal on the role of Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA) for assessment of retinal microvasculature in Parkinson’s Disease. Although the conclusions were quite similar, some methodological differences can be highlighted, allowing to reflect on the role and consequences of methodological practices in the meta-analytical context.

Regarding the selection process, Katsimpris et al. [1] excluded studies classified as low quality as assessed with the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). In their case, no studies were classified as such and therefore excluded. In spite of being an acceptable option, the authors could have instead opted for performing a sensitivity analysis excluding low-quality studies from the meta-analysis or a subgroup analysis according to risk of bias, as that would allow to understand the effect of studies’ methodological quality on meta-analytical results. On the other hand, Salehi et al. [2] included only “peer-reviewed original research”, therefore excluding grey literature. As consequence, one abstract [3] was discarded from this work which was included in the article by Katsimpris et al. [1].

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References

  1. Katsimpris A, Papadopoulos I, Voulgari N, Kandarakis S, Petrou P, Karampitsakos T, et al. Optical coherence tomography angiography in Parkinson’s disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eye. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-023-02438-7.

  2. Salehi MA, Rezagholi F, Mohammadi S, Zakavi SS, Jahanshahi A, Gouravani M, et al. Optical coherence tomography angiography measurements in Parkinson’s disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eye. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-023-02483-2.

  3. Berkowitz S, Patel S. Pilot study for neurological and retinal imaging as biomarkers for Parkinson’s disease using optical coherence tomography-angiography. Investig Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2020;61:4831.

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  4. Schwarzer G, Carpenter JR, Rücker G. Meta-analysis with R: Springer; 2015.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: André Ferreira, Rafael José Vieira.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Service of Ophthalmology, Centro Hospitalar Universitário de Santo António, Porto, Portugal

    André Ferreira

  2. Unit of Anatomy, Department of Biomedicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    André Ferreira

  3. CINTESIS@RISE - Health Research Network, MEDCIDS, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    André Ferreira, Rafael José Vieira & Bernardo Sousa-Pinto

  4. MEDCIDS - Department of Community Medicine, Information and Health Decision Sciences; Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Rafael José Vieira & Bernardo Sousa-Pinto

Authors
  1. André Ferreira
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  2. Rafael José Vieira
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  3. Bernardo Sousa-Pinto
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Contributions

AF and RJV conceived the idea for the letter; AF, RJV and BSP wrote and critically reviewed the letter.

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Correspondence to André Ferreira.

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Ferreira, A., Vieira, R.J. & Sousa-Pinto, B. Methodologic lessons from published systematic reviews. Eye 37, 3876 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-023-02599-5

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