Tests for predicting complications of pre-eclampsia: A protocol for systematic reviews

doi:10.1186/1471-2393-8-38

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth

Volume 8

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Thangaratinam S
Coomarasamy A
Sharp S
O'Mahony F
O'Brien S
Ismail KM
Khan KS

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Coomarasamy A
Sharp S
O'Mahony F
O'Brien S
Ismail KM
Khan KS
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Study protocol

Tests for predicting complications of pre-eclampsia: A protocol for systematic reviews

Shakila Thangaratinam¹ , Arri Coomarasamy² , Steve Sharp³ , Fidelma O'Mahony⁴ , Shaughn O'Brien⁴ , Khaled MK Ismail⁴ and Khalid S Khan¹

¹Academic Unit of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Birmingham Women's Hospital, Birmingham, UK

²Assisted Conception Unit, Guy's and St Thomas Hospital, London, UK

³NLH Specialist Library for ENT and Audiology, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK

⁴Academic Unit of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Keele University School of Medicine, University Hospital of North Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, UK

author email corresponding author email

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 2008, 8:38doi:10.1186/1471-2393-8-38


Published:	11 August 2008

Abstract

Background

Pre-eclampsia is associated with several complications. Early prediction of complications and timely management is needed for clinical care of these patients to avert fetal and maternal mortality and morbidity. There is a need to identify best testing strategies in pre eclampsia to identify the women at increased risk of complications. We aim to determine the accuracy of various tests to predict complications of pre-eclampsia by systematic quantitative reviews.

Method

We performed extensive search in MEDLINE (1951–2004), EMBASE (1974–2004) and also will also include manual searches of bibliographies of primary and review articles. An initial search has revealed 19500 citations. Two reviewers will independently select studies and extract data on study characteristics, quality and accuracy. Accuracy data will be used to construct 2 × 2 tables. Data synthesis will involve assessment for heterogeneity and appropriately pooling of results to produce summary Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) curve and summary likelihood ratios.

Discussion

This review will generate predictive information and integrate that with therapeutic effectiveness to determine the absolute benefit and harm of available therapy in reducing complications in women with pre-eclampsia.