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BMC Medicine Systematic Reviews 2017

Every year, BMC Medicine publishes several systematic reviews that can inform evidence-based interventions, treatment approaches, and policies within clinical and/or population health settings, and across a variety of countries and global issues. Below is a list of recent systematic reviews that may be of interest to our readership and other key stakeholders in designing clinical or global health interventions.  

  1. Docetaxel, pemetrexed, erlotinib, and gefitinib are recommended as second-line treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with wild-type or unknown status for epidermal growth factor receptor (E...

    Authors: Perrine Créquit, Anna Chaimani, Amélie Yavchitz, Nassima Attiche, Jacques Cadranel, Ludovic Trinquart and Philippe Ravaud
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2017 15:193
    Content type: Research article Published on:

    The Commentary to this article has been published in BMC Medicine 2018 16:24

  2. This study has attempted to assess the effectiveness of quantitative faecal immunochemical tests (FIT) for triage of people presenting with lower abdominal symptoms, where a referral to secondary care for inve...

    Authors: Marie Westwood, Shona Lang, Nigel Armstrong, Sietze van Turenhout, Joaquín Cubiella, Lisa Stirk, Isaac Corro Ramos, Marianne Luyendijk, Remziye Zaim, Jos Kleijnen and Callum G. Fraser
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2017 15:189
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  3. Conflicting results regarding the impact of repeated vaccination on influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) may cause confusion regarding the benefits of receiving the current season’s vaccine.

    Authors: Lauren C. Ramsay, Sarah A. Buchan, Robert G. Stirling, Benjamin J. Cowling, Shuo Feng, Jeffrey C. Kwong and Bryna F. Warshawsky
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2017 15:159
    Content type: Research article Published on:

    The Retraction Note to this article has been published in BMC Medicine 2018 16:133

  4. Unintended repeat conceptions can result in emotional, psychological and educational harm to young women, often with enduring implications for their life chances. This study aimed to identify which young women...

    Authors: Rabeea’h W. Aslam, Maggie Hendry, Andrew Booth, Ben Carter, Joanna M. Charles, Noel Craine, Rhiannon Tudor Edwards, Jane Noyes, Lupetu Ives Ntambwe, Diana Pasterfield, Jo Rycroft-Malone, Nefyn Williams and Rhiannon Whitaker
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2017 15:155
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  5. The criteria for defining severe malaria have evolved over the last 20 years. We aimed to assess the strength of association of death with features currently characterizing severe malaria through a systematic ...

    Authors: Paulina Sypniewska, Jose F. Duda, Isabella Locatelli, Clotilde Rambaud Althaus, Fabrice Althaus and Blaise Genton
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2017 15:147
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  6. Clinicians are inaccurate at predicting survival. The ‘Surprise Question’ (SQ) is a screening tool that aims to identify people nearing the end of life. Potentially, its routine use could help identify patient...

    Authors: Nicola White, Nuriye Kupeli, Victoria Vickerstaff and Patrick Stone
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2017 15:139
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  7. Giant cell arteritis (GCA), if untreated, can lead to blindness and stroke. The study’s objectives were to (1) determine a new evidence-based benchmark of the extent of diagnostic delay for GCA and (2) examine...

    Authors: James A. Prior, Hoda Ranjbar, John Belcher, Sarah L. Mackie, Toby Helliwell, Jennifer Liddle and Christian D. Mallen
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2017 15:120
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  8. Pregnant women with epilepsy frequently experience seizures related to pregnancy complications and are often prescribed anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) to manage their symptoms. However, less is known about the co...

    Authors: Areti Angeliki Veroniki, Elise Cogo, Patricia Rios, Sharon E. Straus, Yaron Finkelstein, Ryan Kealey, Emily Reynen, Charlene Soobiah, Kednapa Thavorn, Brian Hutton, Brenda R. Hemmelgarn, Fatemeh Yazdi, Jennifer D’Souza, Heather MacDonald and Andrea C. Tricco
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2017 15:95
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  9. The optimal revascularization technique in patients with left main coronary artery disease (CAD) remains controversial. We aimed to compare the long-term performance of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)...

    Authors: Xin-Lin Zhang, Qing-Qing Zhu, Jing-Jing Yang, Yu-Han Chen, Yang Li, Su-Hui Zhu, Jun Xie, Lian Wang, Li-Na Kang and Biao Xu
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2017 15:84
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  10. Incontinence constitutes a major health problem affecting millions of people worldwide. The present study aims to assess cure rates from treating urinary (UI) or fecal incontinence (FI) and the number of peopl...

    Authors: Rob Riemsma, Suzanne Hagen, Ruth Kirschner-Hermanns, Christine Norton, Helle Wijk, Karl-Erik Andersson, Christopher Chapple, Julian Spinks, Adrian Wagg, Edward Hutt, Kate Misso, Sohan Deshpande, Jos Kleijnen and Ian Milsom
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2017 15:63
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  11. The minimum clinically important difference (MCID) is used to interpret the clinical relevance of results reported by trials and meta-analyses as well as to plan sample sizes in new studies. However, there is ...

    Authors: Mette Frahm Olsen, Eik Bjerre, Maria Damkjær Hansen, Jørgen Hilden, Nino Emanuel Landler, Britta Tendal and Asbjørn Hróbjartsson
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2017 15:35
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  12. Raised plasma lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) concentration is an independent and causal risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Several types of pharmacological approaches are under evaluation for thei...

    Authors: Amirhossein Sahebkar, Luis E. Simental-Mendía, Gerald F. Watts, Maria-Corina Serban and Maciej Banach
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2017 15:22
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  13. Delivering efficient and effective healthcare is crucial for a condition as burdensome as low back pain (LBP). Stratified care strategies may be worthwhile, but rely on early and accurate patient screening usi...

    Authors: Emma L. Karran, James H. McAuley, Adrian C. Traeger, Susan L. Hillier, Luzia Grabherr, Leslie N. Russek and G. Lorimer Moseley
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2017 15:13
    Content type: Research article Published on:

    The Erratum to this article has been published in BMC Medicine 2017 15:44