Antibiotics for acute otitis media: a meta-analysis with individual patient data

Clinical Governance: An International Journal

ISSN: 1477-7274

Article publication date: 14 August 2007

90

Citation

(2007), "Antibiotics for acute otitis media: a meta-analysis with individual patient data", Clinical Governance: An International Journal, Vol. 12 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/cgij.2007.24812cae.005

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2007, Emerald Group Publishing Limited


Antibiotics for acute otitis media: a meta-analysis with individual patient data

Summaries of abstracts from Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness (DARE)About DARESystematic reviews provide reliable information about what is known and not known about the effects of interventions. But just as with individual studies, systematic reviews can be hard to find, may have methodological flaws and can be difficult to interpret.Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness (DARE) provides the solution by systematically identifying and quality assessing reviews from around the world. For each included review an abstract is written that describes the review, including the methods, results and conclusions, together with a critical commentary on the overall quality of the review.DARE contains over 4,000 abstracts of systematic reviews that have been quality-assessed and critically appraised on a broad range of health and social care related topics. The database also includes abstracts of all Cochrane reviews and protocols.The database is produced by the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD), and is publicly available free of charge via the web. The web interface now provides enhanced search facilities and a clearer layout. DARE on the web is updated every month and contains details of abstracts in the process of being written. These can be “fast-tracked” on request. The database can now be accessed at www.crd.york.ac.uk

DARE SummariesAntibiotics for acute otitis media: a meta-analysis with individual patient dataM.M. Rovers, P. Glasziou, C.L. Appelman, P. Burke, D.P. McCormick, R.A. Damoiseaux, I. Gaboury, P. Little and A.W. Hoes Lancet2006Vol. 368pp.1429-1435

The review aimed to identify subgroups of children with acute otitis media (AOM) who would benefit from treatment with antibiotics. The authors concluded that antibiotics are beneficial in children younger than two years who have bilateral AOM, or AOM and otorrhoea, but an observational policy seems justified for most others. The first conclusion appears reliable, but the results do not directly support the second conclusion. Given this, the conclusion about an observational policy may instead follow from other clinical considerations.

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