Boza A, Oguz SY, Misirlioglu S, Yakin K, Urman B. Utilization of the Bologna criteria: a promise unfulfilled? A review of published and unpublished/ongoing trials.
Fertil Steril 2018;
109:104-109.e2. [PMID:
29198846 DOI:
10.1016/j.fertnstert.2017.09.024]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2017] [Revised: 09/19/2017] [Accepted: 09/20/2017] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
To study the use of the Bologna criteria (BC) for the definition of poor ovarian responders (POR) in clinical practice and research.
DESIGN
Systematic review of published and unpublished/ongoing trials between January 2012 and August 2017 on POR.
SETTING
Not applicable.
PATIENT(S)
Not applicable.
INTERVENTION(S)
The databases were searched using the relevant medical subject headings including all subheadings. The search was limited to humans and English language. The references of the included studies were cross-searched for possibly missed articles. Only clinical trials providing an evidence level ≥ III were included. Case reports, review, letters, and hypothetical articles were excluded.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S)
Extracted studies were divided into two groups: studies in which the BC were used or not.
RESULT(S)
One hundred nine published clinical studies analyzing a total of 30,540 women and 112 unpublished/ongoing trials were identified. The BC were used to define POR in 56 (51%) of the published and 44 (39%) of the unpublished trials. The use of the BC gradually increased from 29% to 53% from 2012 to 2017. Asian researchers were more likely to use the BC compared with European and North American researchers (65%, 49%, and 23%, respectively). Neither the design of the study nor the impact factor of the publishing journal was correlated with the use of the BC.
CONCLUSION(S)
There is still reluctance to use the BC for the definition of POR, which makes it difficult to combine data from small studies and reach a meaningful conclusion.
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