Pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for osteoporosis: A protocol for an overview with an evidence map and a network meta-analysis of trials

BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis is a common bone disease that has a significant social and economic effect. Many meta-analyses of pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments for osteoporosis have been reported, but the findings may be contradictory, and both the reporting and methodological quality remain unknown. As a result, an overview that includes a network meta-analysis was proposed to address these issues. METHODS: The Cochrane library, PubMed, Embase, CBM, and CNKI databases will be systematically searched for meta-analyses of osteoporosis interventions from inception to May 2021. In order to evaluate the reporting and methodological quality of each included meta-analysis, Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis 2020 (PRISMA-2020), and A MeaSurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR-2) will be used. For the assessment of the relative efficacy and safety of treatments reported in the randomized controlled trials included in the meta-analyses identified by the overview, a Bayesian network meta-analysis will be carried out. The odds ratio and standard mean difference with their 95% credible intervals will be used to present the binary and continuous outcomes, respectively, and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation method will be used to determine the certainty of the evidence through Confidence In Network Meta-Analysis. Data analysis will be performed using WinBUGS, R, and Stata, with a 2-sided P < .05 considered as statistically significant. RESULTS: The findings of this overview, which includes a network meta-analysis, will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication. CONCLUSION: An overview with network meta-analysis will provide evidence on the efficacy and safety of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for osteoporosis, while also identifying the flaws in previously published meta-analyses. All of these results may be used to improve clinical decision-making and future studies. INPLASY REGISTRATION NUMBER: INPLASY202150022.