Efficacy of Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy for treatment of functional dyspepsia: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE: The effect of Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) eradication therapy in functional dyspepsia (FD) patients was inconsistent in previously published randomized controlled trials. Therefore, we performed a comprehensive protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis in order to assess whether H pylori eradication therapy benefits patients with FD. METHODS: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we will search Web of Science, Embase, PubMed, Wanfang Data, Medline, Science Direct, Cochrane Library through April, 2021. The protocol was written following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocols. Data extraction was performed independently and only randomized clinical trials were included in this study. The risk of bias assessment was performed using the tool recommended in the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. All calculations were carried out with Stata 11.0 (The Cochrane Collaboration, Oxford, United Kingdom). RESULTS: We hypothesized that H pylori eradication therapy compared to no eradication therapy has a statistically significant benefit for symptom relief and can also reduce the development of peptic ulcer disease. CONCLUSION: This study expects to provide credible and scientific evidence for the efficacy of H pylori eradication therapy for patients with FD. OSF REGISTRATION NUMBER: 10.17605/OSF.IO/4EHRB