title: Predictors of in-hospital mortality among patients with pulmonary tuberculosis: a protocol of systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.
abstract: Tuberculosis (TB) continues to be a major public health issue worldwide, with 1.4 million deaths occurring annually. There is uncertainty regarding which factors are associated with in-hospital mortality among patients with pulmonary TB. This knowledge gap complicates efforts to identify and improve the management of those individuals with TB at greatest risk of death. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to establish predictors of in-hospital mortality among patients with pulmonary TB to enhance the evidence base for public policy.
  
  
  
  Studies will be identified by a MEDLINE, EMBASE and Global Health search. Eligible studies will be cohort and case-control studies that report predictors or risk factors for in-hospital mortality among patients with pulmonary TB and an adjusted analysis to explore factors associated with in-hospital mortality. We will use the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach to summarise the findings of some reported predictors. Teams of 2 reviewers will screen the titles and abstracts of all citations identified in our search, independently and in duplicate, extract data, and assess scientific quality using standardised forms quality assessment and tools tailored. We will pool all factors that were assessed for an association with mortality that were reported by >1 study, and presented the OR and the associated 95% CI. When studies provided the measure of association as a relative risk (RR), we will convert the RR to OR using the formula provided by Wang. For binary data, we will calculate a pooled OR, with an associated 95% CI.
  
  
  
  This study is based on published data, and therefore ethical approval is not a requirement. Findings will be disseminated through publication in peer-reviewed journals and conference presentations at relevant conferences.
  
  
  
  CRD42015025755.
authors.affiliation: Respiratory Sciences Program, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Carlos Podalirio Borges de
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.affiliation: The Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Pain Research and Care, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Couban
authors.affiliation: The Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Pain Research and Care, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Sun Makosso
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kallyth
authors.affiliation: Respiratory Sciences Program, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Vagner Kunz
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Cabral
authors.affiliation: The Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Pain Research and Care, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Samantha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Craigie
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.|Department of Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, The Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Pain Research and Care, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Jason Walter
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Busse
authors.affiliation: Respiratory Sciences Program, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.|Faculty of Medicine, Pulmonology Division, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Denise Rossato
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Silva
mesh_terms: D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D064887:Observational Studies as Topic; D012107:Research Design; D012307:Risk Factors; D000078202:Systematic Reviews as Topic; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000401:mortality*; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic
keywords: Meta-analysis; Mortality; Protocol; Pulmonary tuberculosis; Risk factors; Systematic review