Shorter versus longer durations of antibiotic treatment for patients with community-acquired pneumonia: a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), frequently encountered in both outpatient and inpatient settings, is the leading cause of infectious disease-related mortality. While equipoise regarding the optimal duration of antimicrobial therapy to treat CAP remains, recent studies suggest shorter durations of therapy may achieve optimal outcomes. We have therefore planned a systematic review and meta-analysis evaluating the impact of shorter versus longer durations of antibiotic therapy for patients with CAP. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We searched Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials from inception to September 2021 for randomised controlled trials evaluating shorter versus longer duration of antibiotics. Eligible studies will compare durations with a minimum difference of two days of antibiotic therapy, irrespective of antibiotic agent, class, route, frequency or dosage, and will report on any patient-important outcome of benefit or harm. Paired reviewers working independently will conduct title and abstract screening, full-text screening, data extraction and risk of bias (RoB) evaluation using a modified Cochrane RoB 2.0 tool. We will perform random-effects modelling for meta-analyses, with study weights generated using the inverse variance method, and will assess certainty in effect estimates using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology. The Instrument for assessing the Credibility…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a meta-analysis, done in people. Its evidence level is 1 of 5 (Highest · pooled evidence). Pooled evidence from several studies sits at the top of the evidence pyramid.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Severe clinical outcomes of COVID-19 associated with proton pump inhibitors: a nationwide cohort study with propensity score matching
- Penicillins for Treatment of Pneumococcal Pneumonia: Does In Vitro Resistance Really Matter?
- Thiophenes—Naturally Occurring Plant Metabolites: Biological Activities and In Silico Evaluation of Their Potential as Cathepsin D Inhibitors
- Inhalable Mannosylated Rifampicin–Curcumin Co-Loaded Nanomicelles with Enhanced In Vitro Antimicrobial Efficacy for an Optimized Pulmonary Tuberculosis Therapy
- Development and validation of microbial bioassay for quantification of Levofloxacin in pharmaceutical preparations
- Association between cord blood 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations and respiratory tract infections in the first 6 months of age in a Korean population: a birth cohort study (COCOA)
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.