2.1 Study Protocol
In this study, we followed the Meta-analyses Of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) (21-23) protocol and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) (S1 file) (24) guidelines for reporting the results. All study steps were performed independently by two authors. If necessary, the dispute was resolved by consultation with a third author.
The search strategy is designed to find published studies. Comprehensive search was done in the following biomedical databases until July 2019:
Cochrane Library (Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews - CDSR), PubMed/Medline, Web of Science (ISI), Science Direct, EMBASE, Scopus, CINAHL, EBSCO, and Google Scholar search engine.
There were no restrictions based on language or release date. The search was done using the following MeSH keywords: "Metabolic Syndrome"[Mesh], "Gastroesophageal Reflux"[Mesh], "Esophagitis"[Mesh], "Barrett Esophagus"[Mesh], and "Esophagus"[Mesh].
Combined search in PubMed was done as follows: ((("Metabolic Syndrome"[Mesh]) AND "Gastroesophageal Reflux"[Mesh]) OR (“Esophagus"[Mesh] OR "Barrett Esophagus"[Mesh])) OR "Esophagitis"[Mesh]. Reference lists were screened from all relevant studies to find potential articles.
Two authors (M.A, M.K, or M.S) screened the titles and abstracts independently and then reviewed the full text of the retrieved studies for eligibility based on the defined criteria. If necessary, the dispute was resolved by consultation with a third reviewer.
- 2.4 Inclusion and exclusion criteria
This study included prospective and retrospective studies (e.g. cohort, case-control and cross-sectional studies). The language of the published articles was considered in all languages and no historical restrictions were placed on the search. Google Translate and a relevant language teacher were referred to for the translation of non-English texts if necessary. The exclusion criteria were: duplicate studies, studies that did not differentiate BE from GERD, being irrelevant; low quality in qualitative assessment; case studies, review articles, letters to the editor without quantitative data and theses.
If available, the following data were extracted according to the aim of the study: first author's name, year of publication, year of review, country/continent, in formation about the study population (specific groups, population size for the entire sample, case, control, male and female in each case and control groups), number of BE positive patients in each case and control, study design, setting, adjusted or unadjusted odds ratio (ORs) or relative risk (RRs), diagnostic criteria for MetS, and quality assessment score.
Methodological quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale (25) for both cohort or case-control studies based on study design and its adapted type for cross-sectional studies. The scale is based on three categories: 1. sample selection (4 points), 2. Comparability of groups (2 points), and 3. Level of exposure/outcome (3 points). Therefore, a maximum of 9 points can be attained. The different levels of methodological quality were defined as follows: 0-4 points: low quality, 5-7 points: average quality, and 8-9 points: high quality.
We combined the studies with the odds ratio (ORs) index and 95% confidence interval. In studies that did not report ORs and 95% confidence intervals, we calculated them based on the total sample size of each group as well as the number of MetS positive cases in each of the case (BE) and control (Non-BE) groups. A P value below 0.10 in the Q test for heterogeneity is considered as significant. I2 index and Q test were used to evaluate the heterogeneity of studies. Cut-off points for I2 were defined as 0-24%, 25-49%, 50-74%, and 75-100% for low, medium, high and very high, respectively (26, 27). According to significant heterogeneity, we used random effects model in meta-analysis. We performed sensitivity analysis for the stability of pooled estimation through omission of only one study. To find out the cause of the heterogeneity, we performed subgroup analysis based on study type, setting, control groups, MetS diagnostic criteria, and continent. Meta-regression analysis was also performed based on the year of publication. Funnel plot and Begg and Egger's tests were used to assess publication bias (28, 29). All analyses were performed using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis Software Ver.2, while p-value lower than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.