Table 1.
Characteristics of the 23 included meta-analyses
| Meta-analysis | Variables | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First author | Year | Journal | Drug exposure | Outcome |
| Weiss J [20] | 2017 | Ann Intern Med | Antihypertensive drugs | Harms outcomes: Cognitive impairment, quality of life, falls, fractures, syncope, functional status, hypotension, acute kidney injury, medication burden, withdrawal due to adverse events |
| Bally M [21] | 2017 | BMJ | NSAIDs | Myocardial infarction |
| Sordo L [22] | 2017 | BMJ | Opioid substitution treatment (methadone, buprenorphine) | All cause and overdose mortality |
| Tariq R [23] | 2017 | JAMA Intern Med | Gastric acid suppressants | Recurrent Clostridium difficile infection |
| Maruthur NM [24] | 2016 | Ann Intern Med | Diabetes monotherapy (thiazolidinediones, metformin, sulfonylureas, DPP-4 inhibitors, SGLT-2 inhibitors, GLP-1 receptor agonists) or metformin-based combinations | All-cause mortality, macrovascular and microvascular outcomes, intermediate outcomes (hemoglobin A1c, body weight, systolic blood pressure, heart rate), hypoglycemia, gastrointestinal side effects, genital mycotic infections, congestive heart failure |
| Paul S [25] | 2016 | Ann Intern Med | Antiviral prophylaxis | Primary outcome: Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) reactivation Secondary outcomes: HBV-related hepatitis, interrupted chemotherapy, acute liver failure, mortality |
| Li L [26] | 2016 | BMJ | Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors | Heart failure |
| Hospital admissions for heart failure | ||||
| Molnar AO [27] | 2015 | BMJ | Generic immunosuppressive drugs | Patient survival, allograft survival, acute rejection, adverse events, bioequivalence |
| Ziff OJ [28] | 2015 | BMJ | Digoxin | Primary outcome: All-cause mortality |
| Secondary outcomes: Cardiovascular mortality; admission to hospital for any cause, cardiovascular causes and heart failure; incident stroke, incident myocardial infarction | ||||
| CGESOC [29] | 2015 | Lancet | Hormone therapy (oestrogen, progestagen) | Ovarian cancer |
| Bellemain- Appaix A [30] | 2014 | BMJ | Tienopyridines (clopidogrel) | Primary outcome: All-cause mortality, major bleeding Secondary outcomes: Major cardiovascular events and myocardial infarction, stroke, urgent revascularization, stent thrombosis |
| Grigoriadis S [31] | 2014 | BMJ | Antidepressants (SSRIs) | Persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn |
| Li L [32] | 2014 | BMJ | Incretin-based treatments | Pancreatitis |
| Kalil AC [33] | 2014 | JAMA | Vancomycin MIC | All-cause mortality |
| Stegeman BH [34] | 2013 | BMJ | Combined oral contraceptives | Venous thrombosis |
| Maneiro JR [35] | 2013 | JAMA Intern Med | Biologic agents (abatacept, adalimumab, etanercept, golimumab, infliximab, rituximab) | Influence of AABs: on efficacy in immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, or other spondyloarthropathies), in hypersensitivity reactions, and on the concentration of biological drugs; effect of concomitant treatment in development of AAB |
| Hartling L [36] | 2012 | Ann Intern Med | Antipsychotics | Primary outcomes: Improved core symptoms of illness (positive and negative symptoms and general psychopathology), adverse events: diabetes mellitus, death, tardive dyskinesia, major metabolic syndrome |
| Secondary outcomes: Functional outcomes, health care system use; response, remission and relapse rates; medication adherence, health-related quality of life, other patient-oriented outcomes (e.g. patient satisfaction), other adverse events: extrapyramidal symptoms, weight gain | ||||
| Hsu J [37] | 2012 | Ann Intern Med | Antivirals (oseltamivir, zanamivir, amantadine, rimantadine) | Mortality, hospitalization, intensive care unit admission, mechanical ventilation and respiratory failure, duration of hospitalization, duration of signs and symptoms, time to return to normal activity, complications, critical adverse events: major psychotic disorders, encephalitis, stroke, seizure; important adverse events: pain in extremities, clonic twitching, body weakness, dermatologic changes (urticaria or rash); influenza viral shedding, emergence of antiviral resistance |
| Caldeira D [38] | 2012 | BMJ | ACEIs and ARBs | Incidence of pneumonia |
| Pneumonia related mortality | ||||
| MacArthur GJ [39] | 2012 | BMJ | Opiate substitution, methadone detoxification | HIV infection among people who inject drugs |
| Mantha S [40] | 2012 | BMJ | Progestin-only contaception | Venous thromboembolic events |
| Silvain J [41] | 2012 | BMJ | Enoxaparin, unfractioned heparin | Primary outcome: Mortality, major bleeding Secondary outcomes: Composite ischaemic end point (death or myocardial infarction), complications of myocardial infarction, minor bleeding |
| McKnight RF [42] | 2012 | Lancet | Lithium | Renal function, thyroid function, parathyroid function, hair disorders, skin disorders, bodyweight, teratogenicity |
Abbreviations: AABs antibodies against biologic agents, ACEIs, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, Ann Intern Med Annals of Internal Medicine, ARBs angiotensin receptor blockers, BMJ British Medical Journal, DPP-4 Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4, GLP-1 glucagon like peptide-1, JAMA Journal of the American Medical Association, MIC minimum inhibitory concentration, NSAIDs non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, SGLT-2 sodium–glucose cotransporter 2, SSRIs selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors