Tuberculosis Care for Pregnant Women
Tuberculosis Care for Pregnant Women
The following databases were searched for articles in English, published in any year up to December 31, 2012: MEDLINE (indexes articles dating back to 1946), EMBASE (1973), the Cochrane Library (various), and www.clinicaltrials.gov (2000). The search strategies involved 1. using the MeSH terms "tuberculosis" and "pregnancy", limited to human; 2. the terms "tuberc*" and "pregnan*" as free text within articles indexed in the last 90 days, limited to human; 3. combining the results of MeSH "tuberculosis" and free text "tuberc*"; 4. combining the results of MeSH "pregnancy" and free text "pregnan*"; 5. combining the results of steps 3 and 4 (pregnancy AND tuberculosis, limited to Human). The syntax was adjusted for the specific databases. Reference lists were then searched for potentially relevant articles.
Studies reflecting original data and focusing on TB care (screening, diagnosis, treatment, and follow up) in pregnant women.
Articles were excluded if: 1. The target group was NOT pregnant women, 2. TB was mentioned, but NOT TB care (i.e. TB as a complication of other diseases, as part of a study on infectious diseases, etc.); 3. Original data was not included 4. They were NOT studies (letters, presentations, conference documents, case reports).
Figure 1 summarizes the selection process for review articles with detailed number of articles in each step.
(Enlarge Image)
Figure 1.
PRISMA Flow diagram of search strategy.
All references retrieved were collected and analysed using the Reference Manager (Version 11) program. All identified abstracts were read for their applicability to inclusion and exclusion criteria by two co-reviewers and discrepancies were resolved by a third reviewer. Potentially relevant articles were obtained and examined, and the quality of selected studies was assessed by two evaluators using the checklists from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)'s manual for developing public health guidance (See Additional file 1). Each study was evaluated by the appropriate NICE checklist depends on study type. The quality evaluation took into consideration the studies' internal and external validity. According to NICE guidelines, a study was rated good quality (++) if it fulfilled all or most of criteria in the check list, medium quality if it fulfilled some (+), and low quality if few or no criteria were fulfilled (−). Inter-reviewer reliability was measured using Cohen's Kappa statistics. Discrepancies were addressed by a third reviewer. MS Excel software was used to process data from the selected studies.
This is a systematic review of previously published data and therefore does not require ethical approval.
Methods
The following databases were searched for articles in English, published in any year up to December 31, 2012: MEDLINE (indexes articles dating back to 1946), EMBASE (1973), the Cochrane Library (various), and www.clinicaltrials.gov (2000). The search strategies involved 1. using the MeSH terms "tuberculosis" and "pregnancy", limited to human; 2. the terms "tuberc*" and "pregnan*" as free text within articles indexed in the last 90 days, limited to human; 3. combining the results of MeSH "tuberculosis" and free text "tuberc*"; 4. combining the results of MeSH "pregnancy" and free text "pregnan*"; 5. combining the results of steps 3 and 4 (pregnancy AND tuberculosis, limited to Human). The syntax was adjusted for the specific databases. Reference lists were then searched for potentially relevant articles.
Inclusion Criteria
Studies reflecting original data and focusing on TB care (screening, diagnosis, treatment, and follow up) in pregnant women.
Exclusion Criteria
Articles were excluded if: 1. The target group was NOT pregnant women, 2. TB was mentioned, but NOT TB care (i.e. TB as a complication of other diseases, as part of a study on infectious diseases, etc.); 3. Original data was not included 4. They were NOT studies (letters, presentations, conference documents, case reports).
Figure 1 summarizes the selection process for review articles with detailed number of articles in each step.
(Enlarge Image)
Figure 1.
PRISMA Flow diagram of search strategy.
Data Extraction and Assessment
All references retrieved were collected and analysed using the Reference Manager (Version 11) program. All identified abstracts were read for their applicability to inclusion and exclusion criteria by two co-reviewers and discrepancies were resolved by a third reviewer. Potentially relevant articles were obtained and examined, and the quality of selected studies was assessed by two evaluators using the checklists from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)'s manual for developing public health guidance (See Additional file 1). Each study was evaluated by the appropriate NICE checklist depends on study type. The quality evaluation took into consideration the studies' internal and external validity. According to NICE guidelines, a study was rated good quality (++) if it fulfilled all or most of criteria in the check list, medium quality if it fulfilled some (+), and low quality if few or no criteria were fulfilled (−). Inter-reviewer reliability was measured using Cohen's Kappa statistics. Discrepancies were addressed by a third reviewer. MS Excel software was used to process data from the selected studies.
Details of Ethics Approval
This is a systematic review of previously published data and therefore does not require ethical approval.
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