Effectiveness of Laxatives in the Elderly - NIHR Health Technology ...

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Methods
and side-effects of laxatives as endpoints were
included, as were trials examining the use of
laxatives in the prevention of severe side-effects
of constipation. Non-English language studies
were translated and included if they met the
inclusion criteria.
Studies of constipation in spinal cord injury
and parkinsonism were excluded. Trials of
enemas (e.g. soapsuds, Fleet ® ) and of bowel
cleansing programmes in preparation for
surgery or colonoscopy were excluded.
Study validity, data extraction
and synthesis
If a trial met the inclusion criteria and had been
included in the review by Tramonte and colleagues
(1997), the appropriate clinical data were included.
The data had been extracted independently by
two reviewers. Data from any supplementary trials
identified were extracted by one reviewer using
the same data extraction form as the Cochrane
reviewers. Authors were contacted for additional
information if necessary and, when possible,
p values and other statistics not presented in
original papers were calculated. Quality of primary
studies was summarised using the same scale used
in the Cochrane review. This involved methodological
assessment using a 6-point scale covering
reporting of inclusion and exclusion criteria,
randomisation method, standardised assessment
of adverse effects, double-blind design, description
of withdrawals, and statistical analysis (Hedges
& Olkin, 1985). Studies were grouped according
to class of laxative, if appropriate, and the data
summarised using meta-analysis.