Showing papers by "Ingram Olkin published in 2003"

Adjusting for publication bias in the presence of heterogeneity

Abstract: It is known that the existence of publication bias can influence the conclusions of a meta-analysis. Some methods have been developed to deal with publication bias, but issues remain. One particular method called 'trim and fill' is designed to adjust for publication bias. The method, which is intuitively appealing and comprehensible by non-statisticians, is based on a simple and popular graphical tool called the funnel plot. We present a simulation study designed to evaluate the behaviour of this method. Our results indicate that when the studies are heterogeneous (that is, when they estimate different effects), trim and fill may inappropriately adjust for publication bias where none exists. We found that trim and fill may spuriously adjust for non-existent bias if (i) the variability among studies causes some precisely estimated studies to have effects far from the global mean or (ii) an inverse relationship between treatment efficacy and sample size is introduced by the studies' a priori power calculations. The results suggest that the funnel plot itself is inappropriate for heterogeneous meta-analyses. Selection modelling is an alternative method warranting further study. It performed better than trim and fill in our simulations, although its frequency of convergence varied, depending on the simulation parameters.

Efficacy and Safety of Low-Carbohydrate Diets: A Systematic Review

Abstract: ContextLow-carbohydrate diets have been popularized without detailed evidence of their efficacy or safety. The literature has no clear consensus as to what amount of carbohydrates per day constitutes a low-carbohydrate diet.ObjectiveTo evaluate changes in weight, serum lipids, fasting serum glucose, and fasting serum insulin levels, and blood pressure among adults using low-carbohydrate diets in the outpatient setting.Data SourcesWe performed MEDLINE and bibliographic searches for English-language studies published between January 1, 1966, and February 15, 2003, with key words such as low carbohydrate, ketogenic, and diet.Study SelectionWe included articles describing adult, outpatient recipients of low-carbohydrate diets of 4 days or more in duration and 500 kcal/d or more, and which reported both carbohydrate content and total calories consumed. Literature searches identified 2609 potentially relevant articles of low-carbohydrate diets. We included 107 articles describing 94 dietary interventions reporting data for 3268 participants; 663 participants received diets of 60 g/d or less of carbohydrates—of whom only 71 received 20 g/d or less of carbohydrates. Study variables (eg, number of participants, design of dietary evaluation), participant variables (eg, age, sex, baseline weight, fasting serum glucose level), diet variables (eg, carbohydrate content, caloric content, duration) were abstracted from each study.Data ExtractionTwo authors independently reviewed articles meeting inclusion criteria and abstracted data onto pretested abstraction forms.Data SynthesisThe included studies were highly heterogeneous with respect to design, carbohydrate content (range, 0-901 g/d), total caloric content (range, 525-4629 kcal/d), diet duration (range, 4-365 days), and participant characteristics (eg, baseline weight range, 57-217 kg). No study evaluated diets of 60 g/d or less of carbohydrates in participants with a mean age older than 53.1 years. Only 5 studies (nonrandomized and no comparison groups) evaluated these diets for more than 90 days. Among obese patients, weight loss was associated with longer diet duration (P = .002), restriction of calorie intake (P = .03), but not with reduced carbohydrate content (P = .90). Low-carbohydrate diets had no significant adverse effect on serum lipid, fasting serum glucose, and fasting serum insulin levels, or blood pressure.ConclusionsThere is insufficient evidence to make recommendations for or against the use of low-carbohydrate diets, particularly among participants older than age 50 years, for use longer than 90 days, or for diets of 20 g/d or less of carbohydrates. Among the published studies, participant weight loss while using low-carbohydrate diets was principally associated with decreased caloric intake and increased diet duration but not with reduced carbohydrate content.