Latest Epidemiology research

Top 10 this week

Week of 20 September 2026

1. 1

   Menopause hormone therapy and type 2 diabetes risk and prognosis: systematic review and meta-analyses

   Diabetologia · Q1 journal · SR/MA of RCTs · Evidence level 1 (High) · 18 September 2026

   Excluded: systematic review/meta‑analysis of RCTs

2. 2

   Effects of different types of mind-body exercises on depressive symptoms in older adults: a systematic review and network meta-analysis

   Frontiers in public health · Q1 journal · SR/MA of RCTs · Evidence level 1 (High) · 31 August 2026

   Systematic review of mind‑body exercises for depression

3. 3

   Efficacy and safety of fecal microbiota transplantation for chronic constipation: a systematic review and meta-analysis integrating pre-post and single-arm evidence

   Frontiers in microbiology · Q1 journal · SR/MA of RCTs · Evidence level 1 (High) · 3 September 2026

   Systematic review of RCTs on fecal microbiota transplantation

4. 4

   Circulating Tumor DNA and Circulating Tumor Cells in Liquid Biopsy as Post-Treatment Prognostic Biomarkers in Early Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

   International journal of molecular sciences · Q1 journal · SR/MA of RCTs · Evidence level 1 (High) · 28 August 2026

   Ranked by evidence level and journal quartile

5. 5

   Burst vs Tonic Spinal Cord Stimulation for Chronic Neuropathic Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Multidimensional Outcomes

   Neuromodulation : journal of the International Neuromodulation Society · Q1 journal · SR/MA of RCTs · Evidence level 1 (High) · 21 July 2026

   Systematic review of RCTs on spinal cord stimulation therapy

6. 6

   CRD-guided step-up care for pediatric dust mite allergy: A systematic review of evidence gaps and global disparities (2014-2025)

   The World Allergy Organization journal · Q1 journal · SR/MA of RCTs · Evidence level 1 (High) · 10 September 2026

   A meta-analysis of 17 trials found that sublingual immunotherapy for pediatric house-dust-mite allergy had local reactions in under 10% of children and markedly fewer systemic reactions than subcutaneous shots, while injections achieved slightly better symptom remission in polysensitized kids. The review proposes a component-resolved diagnosis-guided stepped-care model, but the framework is still theoretical and needs prospective testing across diverse settings.

7. 7

   Longitudinal Multimodal Brain Mapping and Post-Stroke Neuroplasticity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Combined Neuroimaging and Molecular Biomarker Evidence

   Journal of stroke and cerebrovascular diseases : the official journal of National Stroke Association · Q1 journal · SR/MA of RCTs · Evidence level 1 (High) · 18 September 2026

   Systematic review/meta‑analysis of stroke neuroplasticity, not epidemiology

8. 8

   Efficacy and Safety Ranking of HER2-Targeted TKIs in Advanced Breast Cancer: A Bayesian Network Meta-Analysis

   Clinical Medicine Insights. Oncology · Q2 journal · SR/MA of RCTs · Evidence level 1 (High) · 15 September 2026

9. 9

   Avoidance of cardiac toxicity during the application of immune checkpoint inhibitors: a safety systematic review combining network meta-analysis and pharmacovigilance study

   Frontiers in immunology · Q1 journal · SR/MA of RCTs · Evidence level 1 (High) · 31 August 2026

   A review of 135 trials and FDA adverse-event reports found that PD-1 and PD-L1 checkpoint blockers are linked to higher rates of myocarditis, acute myocardial infarction, cardiac arrest and ventricular tachycardia, especially when combined with CTLA-4 agents or targeted therapies. Clinicians should monitor cardiac signs closely in patients receiving these agents, particularly those with pre-existing heart disease.

10. 10

    Adjunctive traditional Chinese medicine for ischemic stroke: a systematic review with structured narrative synthesis and GRADE assessment of randomized controlled trials

    Frontiers in medicine · Q1 journal · SR/MA of RCTs · Evidence level 1 (High) · 4 September 2026

    In a randomized trial of 1,487 patients, adding Panax notoginseng saponins to standard care raised the proportion achieving a modified Rankin Scale of 0-2 at three months from 82% to 89%, roughly doubling the odds of functional independence. The benefit was seen only in this single formulation, with moderate-to-low certainty evidence and incomplete safety data, so routine use cannot be recommended yet.

Paper of the day, last two weeks

• Comparing lithium and valproate in reducing suicide risk: A territory-wide retrospective cohort study with pairwise and network meta-analysis

  Psychological medicine · Q1 journal · SR/MA of RCTs · Evidence level 1 (High) · 21 September 2026

  Lithium vs valproate suicide risk cohort

• Risk of stroke in SLE: a systematic review and meta-analysis

  Lupus science & medicine · Q1 journal · SR of cohorts · Evidence level 2 (Moderate) · 15 September 2026

  Systematic review and meta-analysis of stroke risk in SLE

• Antibiotic pretreatment and culture yield in pediatric osteoarticular infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis

  Clinical and experimental pediatrics · Q1 journal · SR/MA of RCTs · Evidence level 1 (High) · 14 September 2026

  Systematic review of antibiotic pretreatment on culture yield in pediatric

• Duration of effectiveness of tuberculosis preventive treatment across various tuberculosis burden settings: a systematic review and individual-participant meta-analysis

  The Lancet. Respiratory medicine · Q1 journal · SR/MA of RCTs · Evidence level 1 (High) · 18 September 2026

  Systematic review and IPD meta-analysis of TPT

• Factors associated with unplanned readmission after elective gastroenterological surgery: An analysis of 1,824 participants with clean-contaminated wounds enrolled in two randomized controlled trials for the prevention of surgical site infection

  The Journal of hospital infection · Q1 journal · RCT · Evidence level 1 (High) · 17 September 2026

  In a cohort of 1,824 patients undergoing elective gastroenterology operations with clean-contaminated wounds, 3.9% were readmitted within 30 days, most often for ileus or organ/space infection. Multivariate analysis showed pre-existing pulmonary disease roughly doubled the odds of readmission, highlighting the need for targeted peri-operative lung optimization.

• Prevalence and associated factors of hospitalisation-associated disability in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis

  Age and ageing · Q1 journal · SR/MA of RCTs · Evidence level 1 (High) · 4 September 2026

  Systematic review and meta‑analysis of hospitalisation‑associated disability prevalence

• Chronic Preoperative Corticosteroid Use and Postoperative Venous Thromboembolism Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

  Thrombosis and haemostasis · Q1 journal · SR/MA of RCTs · Evidence level 1 (High) · 14 September 2026

  Systematic review and meta‑analysis of corticosteroid use and VTE risk

• Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Diseases Increase ALS Risk by 82% While Optimal Cardiovascular Health Halves It: A 0.5-Million Prospective Cohort Study

  Annals of neurology · Q1 journal · Prospective cohort · Evidence level 2 (Moderate) · 12 September 2026

  Prospective UK Biobank cohort linking ASCVD to ALS risk

• Influenza vaccine effectiveness in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a cohort study emulating a randomized trial

  Clinical microbiology and infection : the official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases · Q1 journal · RCT · Evidence level 1 (High) · 12 September 2026

  Cohort emulating RCT of influenza vaccine effectiveness in COPD

• Efficacy and cardiovascular safety of lasmiditan in patients with cardiovascular risk factors: A systematic review and meta-analysis with updated synthesis of triptan safety data

  Headache · Q1 journal · SR/MA of RCTs · Evidence level 1 (High) · 10 September 2026

  Systematic review/meta‑analysis of lasmiditan efficacy and CV safety

• Patient characteristics, treatment patterns, and survival across estrogen receptor expression subgroups in HER2-negative breast cancer: a population-based cohort study

  The Lancet regional health. Europe · Q1 journal · Prospective cohort · Evidence level 2 (Moderate) · 26 August 2026

  In a Swedish cohort of 75,000 HER2-negative patients, those with tumors expressing 10-59% estrogen receptor had 30-60% higher mortality than ER-high cancers, but receiving both chemotherapy and endocrine therapy cut their risk of death by roughly half compared with endocrine therapy alone. The results suggest that reporting ER as a percentage can guide more aggressive treatment for these intermediate-ER tumors.

• Perioperative immunochemotherapy for resectable gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer: a meta-analysis of efficacy and safety from randomized trials

  Frontiers in immunology · Q1 journal · SR/MA of RCTs · Evidence level 1 (High) · 25 August 2026

  A meta-analysis of seven randomized trials (3,252 patients) found that adding immune checkpoint inhibitors to chemotherapy before surgery increased the complete tumor disappearance rate by almost threefold and improved event-free survival by about a quarter and overall survival by roughly 20%. R0 resection rates and serious toxicity were unchanged, but longer follow-up is still needed.

• Evidence-based ranking of diabetes prevention in prediabetes: A comprehensive network meta-analysis of 378 randomised controlled trials

  Clinical and translational medicine · Q1 journal · SR/MA of RCTs · Evidence level 1 (High) · 1 September 2026

  Network meta‑analysis of diabetes‑prevention interventions in prediabetes

• Constructing an External Control Arm Using the French REALYSA Cohort to Replicate Outcomes of a Randomized Trial Arm in Advanced Hodgkin Lymphoma

  Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics · Q1 journal · RCT · Evidence level 1 (High) · 7 September 2026

  Using the French REALYSA registry, researchers built an external control cohort that met the eligibility of the AHL2011 trial and applied propensity-score weighting. The resulting progression-free survival was virtually identical to the randomized arm (hazard ratio 0.98), and response rates were comparable. This suggests well-balanced real-world data can serve as a reliable comparator, though validation in other settings is still needed.

Evidence summaries in Epidemiology

• Case-Control Study Design