Effects of art therapy interventions on satisfaction with life: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Behavioral infant sleep interventions: helping parents and clinicians make scientifically informed decisions

Weight control in children depends on executive function. Previous studies have shown that exercise interventions can effectively improve children's executive function. However, the effects of these interventions on children with overweight and obesity remain unclear and require further investigation. This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the effects of exercise interventions on executive function-related indicators in children with overweight and obesity. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the effects of exercise interventions on executive functions in children with overweight and obesity were included by searching PubMed, Web of Science, EMbase, Cochrane Library, ProQuest, Scopus, CNKI, China Wanfang, and VIP databases. The quality of the included studies was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool. RevMan 5.4 software was used for effect size pooling, forest plot creation, and subgroup analyses. Stata 16.0 software was employed for publication bias testing and sensitivity analysis. The evidence levels of the results were evaluated using the GRADEpro tool. This meta-analysis included a total of 13 studies. The results indicate that exercise interventions may help improve executive functions in children with overweight and obesity. Specifically, inhibitory control (standardized mean (SMD) = -0.59, 95% confidence interval (CI) [-0.89 to -0.29], Z=3.85, P<0.001) and cognitive flexibility (SMD = -0.54, 95% CI [-1.06 to -0.01], Z=2.01, P<0.05) showed moderate effect sizes. Working memory exhibited a smaller effect size (SMD = 0.40, 95% CI [-0.69 to -0.10], Z=2.61, P<0.01), while attention did not show significant improvement (SMD = 0.13, 95% CI [-0.39 to 0.65], Z=0.50, P>0.05). The results of this meta-analysis indicate that exercise interventions have significant benefits for inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility in children with overweight and obesity, but the impact on attention is not significant. Moreover, the effects of inhibitory control interventions are influenced by exercise duration, exercise intensity, exercise type, and age.

Background: The prevalence of iron-deficiency anemia (IDA) among school-aged children in India varies from 27% to 90%. There is no evidence of the comparative effects of various available interventions. Thus, this study aimed to quantify and rank the effects of different interventions on IDA among school-going children.Study Design: Systematic review and Meta-analysis.Methods: To this end, PubMed, Scopus, and ScienceDirect databases were searched, and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the comparative effects of various interventions on hemoglobin (Hb) and serum ferritin against a control were included in this study. The random-effect model was conducted for Hb, and the fixed-effects model was performed for ferritin to estimate the mean difference (MD) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of the effect of interventions of outcomes based on the heterogeneity (I2).Results: Eight RCTs (including 2534 participants) investigating the effects of 12 interventions for IDA treatment among school-going children in India were obtained. The results of reference-based forest plots and P score indicated that iron-rich fish powder was the most effective intervention for increasing Hb levels (MD: 2.07 g/dL, 95% CI: 0.68–3.47, P score=0.8656), followed by iron and folic acid (IFA) given twice weekly (MD: 1.47 g/dL, 95% CI: -0.31–3.25, P score=0.7209). Additionally, IFA supplementation twice weekly was found to be highly effective in increasing serum ferritin levels among anemic school children (MD: 0.80 ng/mL, 95% CI: 0.33–1.27, P score=0.9148).Conclusion: It seems that iron-rich fish powder and intermittent IFA supplementation were the most effective interventions, but further research is needed to confirm these results and assess their public health implications.Protocol Registration: PROSPERO registration number was CRD42024541802.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.2196/15779.].

Introduction: Considering the rapid growth in the number of aged people and their oral &amp; dental health problems, there is a need for effective community-based interventions to improve their oral health. Objective: This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of community-based interventions in improving the oral &amp; dental health of elderly people. Materials and Methods: This is a systematic review and meta-analysis. The related studies published from January 2000 to March 2023 were searched in PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Oral Health’s Trials Register, and Web of Science databases. The risk of bias in the included studies was assessed using the Cochrane tool. Results: Nineteen articles were included in the review. Interventions were divided into four groups: educational interventions, oral &amp; dental health care interventions, chewing gum, and combined interventions. A total of 95 indicators were examined in the studies, 53 of which were not statistically significant. Regarding the overall effectiveness of the interventions, 10 studies reported them as completely effective, 5 studies as relatively effective, and 4 as ineffective. Chewing gum had the highest effectiveness. The results of the meta-analysis showed that the mean difference in the dental plaque index between the intervention and control groups was -0.65 (95% CI; -2.03%, 0.74%, Q=59.6, df=5, P=0.001, I2=97.8%) the mean difference in the denture plaque index was -0.20 (95% CI; -0.38%, -0.02%, Q=3.22, df=3, P=0.36, I2=21.3%), and the mean difference in the gingival index was -0.36 (95% CI; -0.99%, 0.27%; Q=5.2, df=1, P=0.02, I2=80.9%). Conclusion: There are no clear advantages or evidence about the effectiveness of community-based interventions in improving the oral &amp; dental health of elderly people.

BackgroundMobile app-assisted self-care interventions are emerging promising tools to support self-care of patients with chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and hypertension. The effectiveness of such interventions requires further exploration for more supporting evidence.ObjectiveA systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were conducted to examine the effectiveness of mobile app-assisted self-care interventions developed for type 2 diabetes and/or hypertension in improving patient outcomes.MethodsWe followed the Cochrane Collaboration guidelines and searched MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and CINAHL Plus for relevant studies published between January 2007 and January 2019. Primary outcomes included changes in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels, systolic blood pressure (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). Changes in other clinical-, behavioral-, knowledge-, and psychosocial-related outcomes were included as secondary outcomes. Primary outcomes and objective secondary outcomes that were reported in at least two trials were meta-analyzed; otherwise, a narrative synthesis was used for data analysis.ResultsA total of 27 trials were identified and analyzed. For primary outcomes, the use of mobile app-assisted self-care interventions was associated with significant reductions in HbA1c levels (standardized mean difference [SMD] −0.44, 95% CI −0.59 to −0.29; P<.001), SBP (SMD −0.17, 95% CI −0.31 to −0.03, P=.02), and DBP (SMD −0.17, 95% CI −0.30 to −0.03, P=.02). Subgroup analyses for primary outcomes showed that several intervention features were supportive of self-management, including blood glucose, blood pressure, and medication monitoring, communication with health care providers, automated feedback, personalized goal setting, reminders, education materials, and data visualization. In addition, 8 objective secondary outcomes were meta-analyzed, which showed that the interventions had significant lowering effects on fasting blood glucose levels and waist circumference. A total of 42 secondary outcomes were narratively synthesized, and mixed results were found.ConclusionsMobile app-assisted self-care interventions can be effective tools for managing blood glucose and blood pressure, likely because their use facilitates remote management of health issues and data, provision of personalized self-care recommendations, patient–care provider communication, and decision making. More studies are required to further determine which combinations of intervention features are most effective in improving the control of the diseases. Moreover, evidence regarding the effects of these interventions on the behavioral, knowledge, and psychosocial outcomes of patients is still scarce, which warrants further examination.

Interventions for promoting reintegration and reducing harmful behaviour and lifestyles in street‐connected children and young people: a systematic review

Purpose: To summarize evidence on the effects of multidisciplinary psychosocial rehabilitation interventions for adult cancer patients on fatigue, quality of life, participation, coping, and self-efficacy.Materials and methods: We searched MEDLINE, Embase, PyscINFO, PEDro, OT Seeker, Sociological s, CINAHL, and Cochrane CENTRAL for randomized controlled trials. Two reviewers selected articles independently.Results: Thirty-one articles were included and four meta-analyses were conducted. The results of one meta-analysis was statistically significant when comparing multidisciplinary psychosocial interventions to standard care on fatigue among breast cancer patients (standardized mean differences [SMD] 0.30 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.04, 0.56)) at 2–6 months follow-up. However, no significant results were revealed on health-related quality of life among breast cancer (SMD 0.38 (95% CI −0.40, 1.16)), prostate cancer (SMD 0.06 (95% CI −0.18, 0.29)), and patients with different cancer diagnoses (SMD 0.06 (95% CI −0.14, 0.25)) at follow-up. One study reported on effects of interventions on participation, and four studied the outcomes of coping and self-efficacy.Conclusions: Multidisciplinary psychosocial interventions may decrease fatigue among breast cancer patients. There is an urgent need for rigorous designed trials in cancer rehabilitation, preferably on fatigue, participation, and coping or self-efficacy. The interventions need to be thoroughly described.Implications for rehabilitationMultidisciplinary psychosocial interventions may reduce fatigue among breast cancer patients.The effects of multidisciplinary psychosocial interventions among cancer patients on health-related quality of life, participation, and coping are unclear.Urgent need for a systemic approach to the development and conduction of multidisciplinary psychosocial interventions, ideally based on guidelines for complex interventions.Need of larger and more rigorously conducted randomized controlled trials investigating the effects of these rehabilitation interventions on fatigue, participation and coping.

Improving Health Screening Uptake in Men: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Online psychosocial interventions for improving mental health in people during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Comparative effectiveness of non-pharmacological interventions on the prognosis of critically ill patients: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.

Reducing the rates of diabetes across the United States

This systematic review and meta-analysis examined previous studies on music-based interventions for individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD). The effectiveness of the interventions on various motor and non-motor outcomes was evaluated. This review was conducted by searching PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Cochrane Library CENTRAL prior to June 2022 for randomized controlled trial (RCT) and controlled clinical trial (CCT) studies published in English. Data were expressed as weighted/standardized mean difference (MD/SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). I2 index was used for heterogeneity. The initial search identified 745 studies, and 13 studies involving 417 participants with PD which met the inclusion criteria included in this review. The results of the meta-analysis revealed that music-based interventions can significantly improve walking velocity (MD = 0.12, 95% CI = 0.07~0.16, p < 0.00001), stride length (MD = 0.04, 95% CI = 0.02~0.07, p = 0.002), and mobility (MD = −1.05, 95% CI = −1.53~−0.57, p < 0.0001). However, the results did not support significant effects for music-based interventions on cadence (MD = 3.21, 95% CI = −4.15~10.57, p = 0.39), cognitive flexibility (MD = 20.91, 95% CI = −10.62~52.44, p = 0.19), inhibition (SMD = 0.07, 95% CI = −0.40~0.55, p = 0.76), and quality of life (SMD = −0.68, 95% CI= −1.68~0.32, p = 0.18). The findings suggest that music-based interventions are effective for the improvement of some motor symptoms, but evidence for non-motor symptoms is limited. Further high-quality studies with a larger sample size are required to obtain the robust effects of music-based interventions on various outcomes among patients with PD.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of self-determination-theory-based interventions in the education context

There is a lack of evidence regarding the effects of exercise on older individuals living with HIV. This systematic review and meta-analysis examined previous studies on physical activity interventions for people living with HIV aged ≥50 years. The effectiveness of the interventions on various physical and psychological health outcomes was evaluated. Databases used for this review included PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, and Cochrane Library CENTRAL. Twelve randomized controlled trials on physical activity interventions for people ≥50 years and living with HIV were included. Standardized mean differences were calculated using random-effect models. All effect sizes were expressed using Cohen’s d values and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Physical activity interventions had a significant effect on walking capacity (Cohen’s d: 0.467; 95% CI [0.069, 0.865]). The effect sizes on cardiorespiratory fitness, weight, and health-related quality of life were not significant. These findings suggest that physical activity interventions for people living with HIV aged ≥50 years are effective for the improvement of walking capacity. Further larger and higher-quality studies are required to determine the full effects of physical activity interventions on various health outcomes among older adults with HIV.