Khalid Saeed Khan

University of Granada | UGR · Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health

Evidence syntheses of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) offer the highest level of scientific evidence for informing clinical practice and policy. The value of evidence synthesis itself depends on the trustworthiness of the included RCTs. The rising number of retractions and expressions of concern about the authenticity of RCTs has raised awareness...

The integrity of randomized clinical trials (RCT) has become a concern owing to a recent rise in the number of retractions and the repercussions this has for evidence-based patient care. However, there is little research on the subject of RCT integrity assessment. Recent literature reviews have revealed that journals' authors' instructions concerni...

Objective To prepare a set of statements for randomised clinical trials (RCT) integrity through an international multi‐stakeholder consensus. Methods The consensus was developed via: multi‐country multidisciplinary stakeholder group composition and engagement; evidence synthesis of 55 systematic reviews concerning RCT integrity; anonymised two‐rou...

Background: The trustworthiness of randomised clinical trials (RCTs) is suffering a crisis of confidence. Objectives: We undertook an umbrella review of the research integrity literature concerning RCTs. Search strategy and selection criteria: Following prospective registration (https://osf.io/3ursn), two reviewers independently searched PubMed, Sc...

Purpose of review: High-quality research underpins the best healthcare practice. This article focuses on analyzing the current literature to promote research integrity across clinical trials. Recent findings: Recent admissions of questionable practices by researchers have undermined practitioner and public confidence. There is limited evidence s...

Background Numerous biomarkers have been proposed for diagnosis, therapeutic, and prognosis in sepsis. Previous evaluations of the value of biomarkers for predicting mortality due to this life-threatening condition fail to address the complexity of this condition and the risk of bias associated with prognostic studies. We evaluate the predictive pe...

Objective This work contributed to the development of a core outcome set (COS) for heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB). The objective was to determine which research outcomes best reflect how HMB affects women’s lives and to identify additional research outcomes, not previously reported. It was important to explore and record participants’ reasoning for...

Introduction: Physicians must share decisions and choose personalised treatments regarding patients´ beliefs and values. Objective: To analyse the quality of the recommendations about shared decision making (SDM) in colorectal (CRC) and anal cancer treatment clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) and consensus statements (CSs). Methods: Guideline...

Obesity represents a major global health challenge. Female sexual dysfunctions have a negative impact on quality of life and overall health balance. A higher rate of female sexual dysfunctions in obese women has been suggested. This systematic review summarized the literature on female sexual dysfunction prevalence in obese women. The review was re...

The aim of this work was to collect, evaluate and interpret the available evidence on the relationship between continuity in primary care (i.e., longitudinality), and the prevalence of polypharmacy and its associated problems. Following the PRISMA reporting statement, we carried out a systematic review of the literature searching PubMed and Scopus...

Introduction Low dietary calcium intake is a risk factor for pre-eclampsia, a major contributor to maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity worldwide. Calcium supplementation can prevent pre-eclampsia in women with low dietary calcium. However, the optimal dose and timing of calcium supplementation are not known. We plan to undertake an indiv...

Background: Endometriosis is a chronic, often debilitating condition with a current significant delay from symptom onset to diagnosis with much of this in primary care. Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis of the primary literature was conducted to investigate the accuracy of symptoms, clinical history and first-line non-invasive tests to...

Background: Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) are experiencing a crisis of confidence in their trustworthiness. Although a comprehensive literature search yielded several reviews on RCT integrity, an overarching overview is lacking. Objectives: The authors undertook a scoping umbrella review of the research integrity literature concerning RCTs....

Background Kangaroo mother care (KMC) intervention involves skin-to-skin contact between mother and infant. Some studies have shown a decrease in postpartum depression (PPD) in mothers of preterm and low birth weight (LBW) infants. However, the literature is scattered and of variable quality. Aims To conduct a systematic review of available litera...

Abstract: Objectives: Patients with primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS) often report smell and taste disturbances. However, the correlation between smell impairment and mucosal dryness is not well understood. The objectives of this study were to investigate the following: (1) the prevalence of smell hypofunction in patients with SS; (2) the impact of...

Background In cancer care, the promotion and implementation of shared decision‐making in clinical practice guidelines (CPG) and consensus statements may have potential differences by gender. Objective To systematically analyse recommendations concerning shared decision‐making in CPGs and consensus statements for the most frequent cancers exclusive...

Background: The findings of individual epidemiological studies that suggest an association between some Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) are inconclusive. Objectives: To estimate the strength of the association between POPs exposure and GDM in a systematic review with meta-analysis. Search strategy: MEDLI...

Unlabelled: Smartphone applications or apps are increasingly being produced to help with protection against the risk of domestic violence. There is a need to formally evaluate their features. Objective: This study systematically reviewed app-based interventions for domestic violence prevention, which will be helpful for app developers. Methods:...

Intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy, a condition as common as obstetrics conditions like gestational diabetes, is associated with maternal and neonatal complications. Systematic detection of IPV is not well established in antenatal screening probably because the effectiveness of protective interventions has not been evaluated. E-health...

Background: Risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO) is the gold standard method of ovarian cancer risk reduction, but the data are conflicting regarding the impact on breast cancer (BC) outcomes. This study aimed to quantify BC risk/mortality in BRCA1/BRCA2 carriers after RRSO. Methods: We conducted a systematic review (CRD42018077613) of BRC...

Introduction Public partnerships, a route to sharing expertise, networks and resources anchored in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, has been championed by multiple stakeholders. Objective To propose a new evidence-based medicine (EBM) curriculum for harnessing patient and public expertise to ensure that EBM teaching and learning c...

This article includes Author Insights, a video abstract available at: https://vimeo.com/785911255

Objectives: High prevalence of risk factors for pelvic floor disorders (PFD) in the Eastern Mediterranean may result in higher rates of prevalence of PFD in comparison to other regions. Despite individual studies, there are no clear statistics on the cumulative prevalence of PFDs in the East Mediterranean region. The aim of this study was to inves...

Systematic reviews rank at the top of the evidence hierarchy. Concise writing implies drafting the systematic review article succinctly, i.e. using as few words to express as full an extent of the research effort as possible. Precise writing means drafting the text with accuracy especially with respect to the methodological and statistical aspects....

Locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) is a subset of breast cancer with locoregional progression without distant metastasis. The multimodality treatment (surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hormonal and targeted therapy if required) could significantly improve results in this specific group of patients. The complex and multiple options of treatmen...

Resumen El último paso en una revisión sistemática es interpretar la evidencia de forma que pueda ser útil para sustentar la toma de resultados. Es importante presentar los resultados de forma claramente diferenciada, asignar el nivel de fuerza de la evidencia que respalda cada uno de ellos teniendo en cuenta factores como el diseño de los estudios...

This systematic review aims to evaluate gender differences in authorship of prevalence literature concerning intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). GDM studies were matched for publication year and study country as a gender-neutral obstetric disease with similar morbidity to IPV. Relevant studies w...

Purpose To investigate the possibility that altered actions of endogenous progesterone affect receptivity and contribute to unexplained infertility (UI). Methods Two authors electronically searched MEDLINE, CINAHL and Embase databases from inception to 6 July 2022 and hand-searched according to Cochrane methodology. We included all published prima...

Objectives Patients with primary Sjögren’s Syndrome (pSS) often report smell and taste disturbance. However, a correlation between the smell impairment and mucosal dryness is not well understood. The objectives of this study were to investigate: 1) The prevalence of smell hypofunction in patients with SS. 2) The impact of smell hypofunction on the...

Background Cervical cancer affects 3197 women in the UK, and 604 000 women worldwide annually, with peak incidence seen in women between 30 and 34 years of age. For many, fertility‐sparing surgery is an appealing option where possible. However, absence of large‐scale data, along with a notable variation in reported outcomes in relevant studies, may...

Authoritative, clear and concise, this highly acclaimed book continues to be an essential text for all medical, surgical and allied health professionals who are seeking a quick and respected guide to systematically reviewing the literature. The third edition features a new chapter on 'Publishing systematic reviews’ and numerous new case studies cov...

Purpose A tourniquet is routinely used during total knee arthroplasty (TKA) to reduce intra-operative hemorrhage, though surgery without a tourniquet is becoming popular. To address concerns about the effect of blood at cement interfaces on long-term implant stability, we conducted a systematic review among patients undergoing total knee arthroplas...

( Anaesthesia . 2022;77:175–184) Fibrinogen levels play a key role in maintaining homeostasis during postpartum hemorrhage (PPH). Fibrinogen levels <2 g/L is significantly associated with adverse outcomes. Fibrinogen substitution effectively improves outcomes in severe PPH. However, the only studies evaluating early fibrinogen use describe the fibr...

High-quality clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) and consensus statements (CSs) are essential for evidence-based medicine. The purpose of this systematic review was to appraise the quality and reporting of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening CPGs and CSs. After prospective registration (Prospero no: CRD42021286156), a systematic review searched CRC g...

Background: Non-anemic iron deficiency precedes iron deficiency anaemia and has an estimated prevalence of 1-2 billion worldwide. Few studies have comprehensively researched the idea of treating non-anemic iron deficiency (NAID) with iron to improve the outcome of the mother and the offspring. Methods and analysis: FAIR will be a multicenter ran...

Participation in randomised clinical trials (RCTs) entails taking part in the discovery of effects of health care interventions. The question of whether participants’ outcomes are different to those of non-participants remains controversial. This umbrella review was aimed at assessing whether there are health benefits of participation in RCTs, comp...

Background: Endometriosis is a chronic, often debilitating condition with a current significant delay from symptom onset to diagnosis. Objectives: To investigate the accuracy of symptoms, clinical history and non-invasive tests to predict pelvic endometriosis. Data sources: Medline, Embase, Web of Science and Scopus from conception to September 202...

Introduction/Background Cervical cancer affects 3,197 UK-women and 570,000 women worldwide annually, with peak incidence seen between 30–34 years age. For many, fertility-sparing surgery is an appealing option where possible. However, absence of large-scale data, along-with a notable variation in reported outcomes in relevant studies may undermine...

Introduction/Background BRCA1 and BRCA2 carriers face difficult choices/decisions regarding surgical prevention for breast and ovarian cancer. Clinician counselling must accurately reflect available evidence, which for breast cancer risk following risk reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO) is now conflicting. Methodology We searched seven database...

Introduction: We aimed to systematically evaluate quality of shared decision-making (SDM) in colorectal cancer (CRC) screening clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) and consensus statements (CSs). Methods: Search for CRC screening guidances was from 2010 to November 2021 in EMBASE, Web of Science, MEDLINE, Scopus and CDSR, and the World Wide Web....

Background: Physiologic processes such as childbirth and menopause can alter vulvovaginal aesthetic appearance, reduce sexual satisfaction, and cause symptoms of vulvovaginal atrophy which affects a woman's quality of life. There is debate about whether dynamic quadripolar radiofrequency (DQRF) can be used to improve such conditions. We conducted...

Background: Hysterectomy, the most common gynecological operation, requires surgeons to counsel women about their operative risks. We aimed to develop and validate multivariable logistic regression models to predict major complications of laparoscopic or abdominal hysterectomy for benign conditions. Methods: We obtained routinely collected healt...

Background: Cervical cancer affects 3,197 women in the UK, and 604000 women worldwide annually, with peak incidence seen between 30-34 years of age. For many, fertility-sparing surgery is an appealing option where possible. However, absence of large-scale data, along with a notable variation in reported outcomes in relevant studies may undermine fu...

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer affects 3,197 women in the UK, and 604000 women worldwide annually, with peak incidence seen between 30-34 years of age. For many, fertility-sparing surgery is an appealing option where possible. However, absence of large-scale data, along with a notable variation in reported outcomes in relevant studies may undermine fu...

Mucosal dryness and dyspareunia are symptoms that may signifcantly afect women with primary Sjӧgren syndrome (pSS). We investigated whether vaginal dryness is correlated with sexual function, and the impact may have on the quality of life (QoL) and mental health well-being in pSS patients. Ethically approved comparative cross-sectional study was de...

Objective A rapidly developing scenario like a pandemic requires the prompt production of high-quality systematic reviews, which can be automated using artificial intelligence (AI) techniques. We evaluated the application of AI tools in COVID-19 evidence syntheses. Study design After prospective registration of the review protocol, we automated th...

Aim Evidence‐based medicine is essential for clinical practice. Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) and consensus statements (CSs) ought to follow a consistent methodology to underpin high‐quality healthcare. We systematically analysed the quality and reporting of colorectal (CRC) and anal cancer CPGs and CSs. Methods Embase, MEDLINE, Scopus, Web...

Abstract Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) of lifestyle modification have reported beneficial effects of interventions, compared to control. Whether participation in the control group has benefits is unknown. To determine whether control group participants experience weight loss during the course of RCTs. After prospective registration (PROSPERO CR...

Objective : To evaluate the outcomes among individuals who were eligible and approached for participation in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) during pregnancy, comparing those who enrolled versus those who declined participation. Design : Systematic review with meta-analysis Data Sources : MEDLINE, Scopus, Cinahl, the Cochrane Library, and Ovi...

Resumen La evaluación de la calidad de los estudios desempeña un papel fundamental en cada paso del proceso de realización de una revisión sistemática. Para realizar una evaluación precisa se utilizan listas de comprobación que incluyen las cuestiones genéricas relevantes al diseño de los estudios incluidos en la revisión. Los elementos de la lista...

Resumen Este es el primero de una serie de cinco artículos en los que se describen los pasos a seguir para realizar, con éxito, una revisión sistemática. En este primer artículo se aborda el primer paso: ¿cómo formular correctamente la pregunta previa a una revisión sistemática? En él se va a tratar cómo estructurar la pregunta de forma adecuada en...

Background & objective: This study aimed to assess the clinical effectiveness of Hydroxychloroquine Sulfate (200 mg orally 8 hourlies thrice a day for 5 days), oseltamivir (75 mg orally twice a day for 5 days), and Azithromycin (500 mg orally daily on day 1, followed by 250 mg orally twice a day on days 2-5) alone and in combination (in seven grou...

Resumen Este artículo, el segundo de la serie de revisiones sistemáticas, se centra en lo que debería ser el segundo paso: cómo identificar y seleccionar los estudios relevantes para la revisión planificada. La búsqueda bibliográfica, en la que se emplean términos relacionados con la pregunta formulada en el primer paso, habrá de ser exhaustiva y a...

Resumen En este artículo, el cuarto de una serie de cinco sobre revisiones sistemáticas, se muestra cómo recopilar y resumir los resultados de los estudios incluidos en una revisión. La síntesis de los datos extraídos consiste en tabular las características y la calidad de los estudios incluidos, y resumir los efectos y la magnitud de las asociacio...

BACKGROUND Intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy is a serious public health issue with wide-ranging consequences for both the mother and the unborn child. Thus, interventions are needed to address this issue. OBJECTIVE The aim of the STOP study is to implement digital screening for IPV within antenatal care and provide video counselling...

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy is a public health issue with wide-ranging consequences for both the mother and fetus, and interventions are needed. Therefore, the Stop Intimate Partner Violence in Pregnancy (STOP) cohort was established with the overall aim to identify pregnant women exposed to IPV through digital scr...

Background To assess the safety of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) for orthopedic spinal, upper limb and lower limb procedures, this systematic review of systematic reviews compared their complications with open procedures. Materials and methods A literature search was conducted electronically (PubMed, Cochrane library and Web of Science; 8th May...

The women’s sexual and reproductive healthcare sector, one of the largest employers delivering services globally, does not always commit to equality, diversity, and inclusion. There is objective, published evidence that not only care provision but also workforce treatment permits inequality and discrimination. The black and ethnic minority workforc...

( Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand . 2021;100:704–714) Annually, ~7 million women worldwide experience a maternal near miss (MNM), defined by the World Health Organization as nearly dying but surviving a complication in pregnancy, childbirth or within 42 days postpartum. A MNM can affect a patient’s health in a number of ways, but the extent of the impact...

Objectives To determine the feasibility and acceptability of conducting a randomised trial on the effects of myo-inositol in preventing gestational diabetes in high-risk pregnant women. Design A multicentre, double-blind, placebo-controlled, pilot randomised trial with nested qualitative evaluation. Setting Five inner city UK National Health Serv...

OBJECTIVES: To determine the feasibility and acceptability of conducting a randomised trial on the effects of myo-inositol in preventing gestational diabetes in high-risk pregnant women. DESIGN: A multicentre, double-blind, placebo-controlled, pilot randomised trial with nested qualitative evaluation. SETTING: Five inner city UK National Health Ser...

Psychological intimate partner violence (IPV), a global public health problem, affects mothers during pregnancy. We evaluated its relationship with preterm birth. We established a cohort of 779 consecutive mothers receiving antenatal care and giving birth in 15 public hospitals in Spain. Trained midwives collected IPV data using the Index of Spouse...