Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of International Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Int J Epidemiol. 2010 Apr;39 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):i63-9. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyq023.
Zinc supplementation for the treatment of diarrhoea has been shown to decrease the duration and severity of the diarrhoeal episode, diarrhoea hospitalization rates and, in some studies, all-cause mortality. Using multiple outcome measures, we sought to estimate the effect of zinc for the treatment of diarrhoea on diarrhoea mortality and subsequent pneumonia mortality.
We conducted a systematic review of efficacy and effectiveness studies. We used a standardized abstraction and grading format and performed meta-analyses for all outcomes with >or=2 data points. The estimated effect on diarrhoea mortality was determined by applying the standard Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group rules for multiple outcomes.
We identified 13 studies for abstraction. Zinc supplementation decreased the proportion of diarrhoeal episodes which lasted beyond 7 days, risk of hospitalization, all-cause mortality and diarrhoea mortality. Using diarrhoea hospitalizations as the closest and most conservative possible proxy for diarrhoea mortality, zinc for the treatment of diarrhoea is estimated to decrease diarrhoea mortality by 23%.
Zinc is an effective therapy for diarrhoea and will decrease diarrhoea morbidity and mortality when introduced and scaled-up in low-income countries.
补锌治疗腹泻已被证明可缩短腹泻持续时间和严重程度、降低腹泻住院率，且在某些研究中还可降低全因死亡率。本研究采用多种结局指标，旨在评估补锌治疗腹泻对腹泻死亡和随后肺炎死亡的影响。
我们对疗效和效果研究进行了系统评价。我们使用标准化的摘要和分级格式，并对具有≥2 个数据点的所有结局进行了荟萃分析。腹泻死亡的估计影响通过应用儿童健康流行病学参考组（Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group）对多种结局的标准规则来确定。
我们确定了 13 项可进行摘要的研究。补锌治疗降低了腹泻持续时间超过 7 天的比例、住院风险、全因死亡率和腹泻死亡率。以腹泻住院作为最接近和最保守的腹泻死亡替代指标，补锌治疗腹泻的死亡率估计降低了 23%。
锌是腹泻的有效治疗方法，在低收入国家引入和扩大使用后，可降低腹泻发病率和死亡率。
