Correlation between serum levels of C-reactive protein and neonatal pneumonia: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Few studies have reported the correlation between serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and neonatal pneumonia. The purpose of the present meta-analysis was to clarify whether an increased serum level of CRP accelerates the development of neonatal pneumonia. METHODS: This protocol is conducted according to the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis protocol (PRISMA-P) statement guidelines. Related articles were identified by searching PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Science Direct, and CNKI databases. Two investigators extracted information according to the selection criteria and used a set of predefined criteria based on the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale (NOS) criteria to assess the studies. All calculations were carried out with Stata 12.0 (Stata Corp, College Station, TX). RESULTS: The results of this systematic review and meta-analysis will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. CONCLUSION: We hypothesized that a higher serum CRP level is closely correlated with the progression of neonatal pneumonia. CRP as a general systemic inflammation biomarker may help clinicians to make difficult therapeutic decisions for neonatal pneumonia. OPEN SCIENCE FRAMEWORK REGISTRATION NUMBER: 10.17605/OSF.IO/RGBMX.