• FluTrackers.com Inc. does not provide medical advice. Information on this web site is collected from various internet resources, and the FluTrackers board of directors makes no warranty to the safety, efficacy, correctness or completeness of the information posted on this site by any author or poster. The information collated here is for instructional and/or discussion purposes only and is NOT intended to diagnose or treat any disease, illness, or other medical condition. Every individual reader or poster should seek advice from their personal physician/healthcare practitioner before considering or using any interventions that are discussed on this website. By continuing to access this website you agree to consult your personal physican before using any interventions posted on this website, and you agree to hold harmless FluTrackers.com Inc., the board of directors, the members, and all authors and posters for any effects from use of any medication, supplement, vitamin or other substance, device, intervention, etc. mentioned in posts on this website, or other internet venues referenced in posts on this website.
  • We are not asking for any donations. Do not donate to any entity who says they are raising funds for us.

After adjusting for bias in meta-analysis seasonal influenza vaccine remains effective in community-dwelling elderly

tetano

Editor, Senior Moderator
J Clin Epidemiol. 2014 Apr 23. pii: S0895-4356(14)00060-2. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2014.02.009. [Epub ahead of print]
After adjusting for bias in meta-analysis seasonal influenza vaccine remains effective in community-dwelling elderly.
Darvishian M1, Gefenaite G1, Turner RM2, Pechlivanoglou P3, Van der Hoek W4, Van den Heuvel ER5, Hak E6.
Author information
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:

To compare the performance of the bias-adjusted meta-analysis to the conventional meta-analysis assessing seasonal influenza vaccine effectiveness among community-dwelling elderly aged 60 years and older.
STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING:

Systematic literature search revealed 14 cohort studies that met inclusion and exclusion criteria. Laboratory-confirmed influenza, influenza-like illness, hospitalization from influenza and/or pneumonia, and all-cause mortality were study outcomes. Potential biases were identified using bias checklists. The magnitude and uncertainty of biases were assessed by expert opinion. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated using random effects model.
RESULTS:

After incorporating biases, overall effect estimates regressed slightly toward no effect, with the largest relative difference between conventional and bias-adjusted ORs for laboratory-confirmed influenza (OR, 0.18; 95% CI: 0.01, 3.00 vs. OR, 0.23; 95% CI: 0.03, 2.04). In most of the studies, CIs widened reflecting uncertainties about the biases. The between-study heterogeneity reduced considerably with the largest reduction for all-cause mortality (I2 = 4%, P = 0.39 vs. I2 = 91%, P < 0.01).
CONCLUSION:

This case study showed that after addressing potential biases influenza vaccine was still estimated effective in preventing hospitalization from influenza and/or pneumonia and all-cause mortality. Increasing the number of assessors and incorporating empirical evidence might improve the new bias-adjustment method.

Copyright ? 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
KEYWORDS:

Bias adjustment, Community-dwelling elderly, Meta-analysis, Observational studies, Seasonal influenza, Vaccination

PMID:
24768004
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24768004
 
Back
Top Bottom