The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
BMJ Open. 2021 Mar 23;11(3):e043985. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-043985.
There is a substantial literature finding that moderate alcohol consumption is protective against certain health conditions. However, more recent research has highlighted the possibility that these findings are methodological artefacts, caused by confounding and other biases. While modern analytical and study design approaches can mitigate confounding and thus enhance causal inference in observational studies, they are not routinely applied in research assessing the relationship between alcohol use and long-term health outcomes. The purpose of this systematic review is to identify observational studies that employ these analytical/design-based approaches in assessing whether relationships between alcohol consumption and health outcomes are non-linear. This review seeks to evaluate, on a per-outcome basis, what these studies find the strength and form of the relationship between alcohol consumption and health to be.
Electronic databases (MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Embase and SCOPUS) were searched in May 2020. Study selection will comply with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Articles will be screened against eligibility criteria intended to capture studies using observational data to assess the relationship between varying levels of alcohol exposure and any long-term health outcome (actual or surrogate), and that have employed at least one of the prespecified approaches to enhancing causal inference. Risk of bias of included articles will be assessed using study design-specific tools. A narrative synthesis of the results is planned.
Formal ethics approval is not required given there will be no primary data collection. The results of the study will be disseminated through published manuscripts, conferences and seminar presentations.
CRD42020185861.
有大量文献发现，适量饮酒可预防某些健康状况。然而，最近的研究强调了这些发现可能是方法学上的人为产物，是由混杂因素和其他偏倚引起的。虽然现代分析和研究设计方法可以减轻混杂因素的影响，从而增强观察性研究中的因果推断，但在评估饮酒与长期健康结果之间关系的研究中，这些方法并没有常规应用。本系统评价的目的是确定采用这些分析/设计方法来评估饮酒与健康结果之间的关系是否呈非线性的观察性研究。本综述旨在按单一结果进行评估，评估这些研究发现饮酒与健康之间关系的强度和形式。
2020 年 5 月，我们对电子数据库（MEDLINE、PsycINFO、Embase 和 SCOPUS）进行了检索。研究选择将符合系统评价和荟萃分析的首选报告项目的标准。将筛选出的文章与入选标准进行对照，入选标准旨在捕获使用观察性数据评估不同水平的酒精暴露与任何长期健康结果（实际或替代）之间关系的研究，并采用至少一种增强因果推断的预定方法。将使用特定于研究设计的工具评估纳入文章的偏倚风险。计划对结果进行叙述性综合。
由于不会进行原始数据收集，因此不需要正式的伦理批准。该研究的结果将通过发表的论文、会议和研讨会报告进行传播。
PROSPERO 注册号：CRD42020185861。
