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Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

Antibiotic therapy for preventing infections in people with acute stroke

Overview of attention for article published in Cochrane database of systematic reviews, January 2018
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 25% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (90th percentile)
  • Above-average Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (58th percentile)

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33 X users
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Citations

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222 Mendeley
Title
Antibiotic therapy for preventing infections in people with acute stroke
Published in
Cochrane database of systematic reviews, January 2018
DOI 10.1002/14651858.cd008530.pub3
Pubmed ID
Authors

Jan‐Dirk Vermeij, Willeke F Westendorp, Diederik WJ Dippel, Diederik van de Beek, Paul J Nederkoorn

Abstract

Stroke is the main cause of disability in high-income countries and ranks second as a cause of death worldwide. Infections occur frequently after stroke and may adversely affect outcome. Preventive antibiotic therapy in the acute phase of stroke may reduce the incidence of infections and improve outcome. In the previous version of this Cochrane Review, published in 2012, we found that antibiotics did reduce the risk of infection but did not reduce the number of dependent or deceased patients. However, included studies were small and heterogeneous. In 2015, two large clinical trials were published, warranting an update of this Review. To assess the effectiveness and safety of preventive antibiotic therapy in people with ischaemic or haemorrhagic stroke. We wished to determine whether preventive antibiotic therapy in people with acute stroke:• reduces the risk of a poor functional outcome (dependency and/or death) at follow-up;• reduces the occurrence of infections in the acute phase of stroke;• reduces the occurrence of elevated body temperature (temperature ≥ 38° C) in the acute phase of stroke;• reduces length of hospital stay; or• leads to an increased rate of serious adverse events, such as anaphylactic shock, skin rash, or colonisation with antibiotic-resistant micro-organisms. We searched the Cochrane Stroke Group Trials Register (25 June 2017); the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL; 2017, Issue 5; 25 June 2017) in the Cochrane Library; MEDLINE Ovid (1950 to 11 May 2017), and Embase Ovid (1980 to 11 May 2017). In an effort to identify further published, unpublished, and ongoing trials, we searched trials and research registers, scanned reference lists, and contacted trial authors, colleagues, and researchers in the field. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of preventive antibiotic therapy versus control (placebo or open control) in people with acute ischaemic or haemorrhagic stroke. Two review authors independently selected articles and extracted data; we discussed and resolved discrepancies at a consensus meeting with a third review author. We contacted study authors to obtain missing data when required. An independent review author assessed risk of bias using the Cochrane 'Risk of bias' tool. We calculated risk ratios (RRs) for dichotomous outcomes, assessed heterogeneity amongst included studies, and performed subgroup analyses on study quality. We included eight studies involving 4488 participants. Regarding quality of evidence, trials showed differences in study population, study design, type of antibiotic, and definition of infection; however, primary outcomes among the included studies were consistent. Mortality rate in the preventive antibiotic group was not significantly different from that in the control group (373/2208 (17%) vs 360/2214 (16%); RR 1.03, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.87 to 1.21; high-quality evidence). The number of participants with a poor functional outcome (death or dependency) in the preventive antibiotic therapy group was also not significantly different from that in the control group (1158/2168 (53%) vs 1182/2164 (55%); RR 0.99, 95% CI 0.89 to 1.10; moderate-quality evidence). However, preventive antibiotic therapy did significantly reduce the incidence of 'overall' infections in participants with acute stroke from 26% to 19% (408/2161 (19%) vs 558/2156 (26%); RR 0.71, 95% CI 0.58 to 0.88; high-quality evidence). This finding was highly significant for urinary tract infections (81/2131 (4%) vs 204/2126 (10%); RR 0.40, 95% CI 0.32 to 0.51; high-quality evidence), whereas no preventive effect for pneumonia was found (222/2131 (10%) vs 235/2126 (11%); RR 0.95, 95% CI 0.80 to 1.13; high-quality evidence). No major side effects of preventive antibiotic therapy were reported. Only two studies qualitatively assessed the occurrence of elevated body temperature; therefore, these results could not be pooled. Only one study reported length of hospital stay. Preventive antibiotics had no effect on functional outcome or mortality, but significantly reduced the risk of 'overall' infections. This reduction was driven mainly by prevention of urinary tract infection; no effect for pneumonia was found.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 33 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 222 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 222 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Bachelor 33 15%
Student > Master 22 10%
Other 19 9%
Student > Ph. D. Student 15 7%
Researcher 14 6%
Other 41 18%
Unknown 78 35%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 72 32%
Nursing and Health Professions 18 8%
Neuroscience 11 5%
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science 10 5%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 5 2%
Other 22 10%
Unknown 84 38%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 21. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 14 May 2019.
All research outputs
#1,813,962
of 25,500,206 outputs
Outputs from Cochrane database of systematic reviews
#3,922
of 13,141 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#41,519
of 451,039 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Cochrane database of systematic reviews
#92
of 221 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,500,206 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 92nd percentile: it's in the top 10% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 13,141 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 35.7. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 70% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 451,039 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 90% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 221 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 58% of its contemporaries.