Megwalu Uchechukwu C, Piccirillo Jay F
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, New York, NY, USA.
Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2008 Aug;134(8):805-9. doi: 10.1001/archotol.134.8.805.
To review the published literature on uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) and assess the methodological quality of the research and compare it with a similar article published in 1995; and to determine what, if any, improvement in the methodological quality of the research resulted during the ensuing 10 years.
Methodological and statistical evaluation of the published literature on UPPP. Thirty articles representing the clinical studies on UPPP and related procedures written from January 1996 to August 2005 were reviewed. Only articles reporting polysomnography data were included.
Overall, the articles demonstrated fair methodological and statistical quality. Compared with the previous review by Schechtman et al, there was a slight increase in the number of articles that discussed statistical power and reported confidence intervals. There were increases in the mean sample size, the percentage of randomized controlled studies, the number of end points, and the use of validated subjective outcome measures; longer mean follow-up time; and more complete reporting of age and sex information. There was no increase in the percentage of published studies that used a prospective study design. None of the studies that required minimum acceptable baseline values of objective sleep parameter measures for enrollment indicated the use of separate screening and baseline assessments. There were 7 different definitions of sleep apnea and 17 different definitions of success in treatment.
There has been an overall improvement in the quality of the articles published on UPPP since 1995. Several areas still need improvement: use of more prospective studies, decrease in number of end points, use of separate screening and baseline assessments, and consensus in the definitions of sleep apnea and success.
回顾已发表的关于悬雍垂腭咽成形术（UPPP）的文献，评估研究的方法学质量，并将其与1995年发表的一篇类似文章进行比较；确定在随后的10年中研究的方法学质量是否有任何改进。
对已发表的关于UPPP的文献进行方法学和统计学评估。回顾了1996年1月至2005年8月间撰写的代表UPPP及相关手术临床研究的30篇文章。仅纳入报告多导睡眠图数据的文章。
总体而言，这些文章展示了尚可的方法学和统计学质量。与Schechtman等人之前的综述相比，讨论统计功效并报告置信区间的文章数量略有增加。平均样本量、随机对照研究的百分比、终点数量、有效主观结局测量的使用有所增加；平均随访时间延长；年龄和性别信息的报告更完整。采用前瞻性研究设计的已发表研究百分比没有增加。在纳入研究时需要客观睡眠参数测量的最低可接受基线值的研究中，没有一项表明使用了单独的筛查和基线评估。睡眠呼吸暂停有7种不同定义，治疗成功有17种不同定义。
自1995年以来，关于UPPP的已发表文章质量总体有所提高。仍有几个方面需要改进：更多地使用前瞻性研究、减少终点数量、使用单独的筛查和基线评估，以及在睡眠呼吸暂停和成功的定义上达成共识。
