The following is a summary of “Global environmental risk factors of schizophrenia: a study protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies,” published in the August 2023 issue of Psychiatry by Mahdavinoor et al.
Schizophrenia is a complex disorder with genetic and environmental causes. Researchers performed a retrospective study to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies to investigate global environmental risk factors of schizophrenia.
They developed the protocol following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocols guidelines. The study’s search includes databases like PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and Embase until September 30, 2022. They focus on cohort studies that highlight one or more schizophrenia risk factors. Google Scholar and reference lists are also explored. Data extraction and quality assessment will be done independently by their team members. They will use the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale to gauge study bias. To manage heterogeneity. The study will also conduct a subgroup, meta-regression, or sensitivity analysis. A funnel diagram and Begg and Egger tests will be employed to detect publication bias.
This study does not require ethical approval as there is no primary data collection or human involvement.
Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37558446/
