Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-19T12:12:47.306Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Drugs for AIDS/HIV: Assessing the Evidence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2009

Jan L. Jones
Affiliation:
Scottish Health Purchasing Information Centre

Abstract

This article highlights factors that may cause bias in individual controlled trials or meta-analysis of zidovudine (AZT) in HIV disease. The overall benefit of AZT and antiretroviral drug combinations in the progression of HIV disease is probably greater than has been or can ever be shown in an ethical controlled trial.

Type
Research Notes
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1.Chalmers, T. C., & Smith, H. J.A method for assessing the quality of a randomized controlled trial. Controlled Clinical Trials, 1981, 159, 557.Google Scholar
2.Concorde Coordinating Committee. MRC/ANRS randomised double-blind controlled trial of immediate and deferred zidovudine in symptom-free HIV infection. Lancet, 1994, 343, 871–81.Google Scholar
3.Cooper, D. A., Gatell, J. M., Kroon, S., et al. Zidovudine in persons with asymptomatic HIV infection and CD4+ cell counts greater than 400 per cubic millimeter. The European-Australian Collaborative Group. New England Journal of Medicine, 1993, 329, 297303.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4.Egger, M., & Davey Smith, G.Misleading meta-analysis: Lessons from ‘an effective, safe, simple’ intervention that wasn't. British Medical Journal, 1995, 310, 752–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5.Fischl, M. A., Richman, D. D., & Causey, D. M.Prolonged zidovudine therapy in patients with AIDS and advanced AIDS-related complex. JAMA, 1989, 262, 2405–10.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.Fischl, M. A., Richman, D. D., & Grieco, M. H.The efficacy of azidothymidine (AZT) in the treatment of patients with AIDS and AIDS-related complex: A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. New England Journal of Medicine, 1987, 317,185–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7.Fischl, M. A., Richman, D. D., Hansen, N., et al. The safety and efficacy of zidovudine (AZT) in the treatment of subjects with mildly symptomatic human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV) infection. Annals of Internal Medicine, 1990, 112, 727–37.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8.Hamilton, J. D., Hartigan, P. H., Simberkoff, M. S., et al. A controlled trial of early versus late treatment with zidovudine in symptomatic human immunodeficiency virus infection. Results of the Veterans Affairs Cooperative Study. New England Journal of Medicine, 1992, 326, 437–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9.Herxheimer, A.The Cochrane Collaboration: Making the results of controlled trials properly accessible. Postgraduate Medical Journal, 1993, 69, 867–68.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10.Ioannidis, J. P., Cappelleri, J. C., Lau, J., et al. Early or deferred zidovudine therapy in HIV-infected patients without an AIDS-defining illness: A meta-analysis. Annals of Internal Medicine, 1995, 122, 856–66.Google Scholar
11.Lagakos, S., Fischl, M. A., Stein, D. S., et al. Effects of zidovudine therapy in minority and other subpopulations with early HIV infection. JAMA, 1991, 266, 2709–12.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12.Lefebvre, C.The Cochrane Collaboration: The role of the UK Cochrane Centre in identifying the evidence. Health Libraries Review, 1994, 11, 235–42.Google Scholar
13.Mannucci, P. M., Gringeri, A., Savidge, G., et al. Randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of twice-daily zidovudine in asymptomatic haemophiliacs infected with the human immunodeficiency virus type 1. European-Australian Haemophilia Collaborative Study Group. British Journal of Haematology, 1994, 86, 174–79.Google Scholar
14.McPherson, K.The best and the enemy of the good: Randomised controlled trials, uncertainty, and assessing the role of patient choice in medical decision (The Cochrane Lecture). Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 1994, 48, 615.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15.Medicines Resource Centre. An introduction to assessing medical literature. MeReC Briefing, 1995, 9, 18.Google Scholar
16.Merigan, T. C., Amato, D. A., Balsley, J., and the NHF-ACTG 36 Study Group. Placebo-controlled trial to evaluate zidovudine in treatment of human immunodeficiency virus infection in asymptomatic patients with hemophilia. Blood, 1991, 78, 900–06.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17.Mulder, J. W., Cooper, D. A., Mathiesen, L., and the European-Australian Collaborative Group (Study 017). Zidovudine twice daily in asymptomatic subjects with HIV infection and a high risk of progression to AIDS: A randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study. AIDS, 1994, 8, 313–21.Google Scholar
18.Mulrow, C. D.The medical review article: State of the science. Annals of Internal Medicine, 1987, 106, 485–88.Google Scholar
19.Oxman, A. D., Cook, D. J., & Guyatt, G. H.Users' guides to the medical literature, VI: How to use an overview. JAMA, 1994, 272, 1367–71.Google Scholar
20.Oxman, A. D., Sackett, D. L., & Guyatt, G. H.Users' guides to the medical literature, I: How to get started. JAMA, 1993, 270, 2093–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21.Robinson, A.Research, practice and the Cochrane Collaboration. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 1995, 152, 883–89.Google ScholarPubMed
22.Schooley, R. T.Correlation between viral load measurements and outcome in clinical trials of antiviral drugs. AIDS, 1995, 9, S1519.Google Scholar
23.Volberding, P. A., Lagakos, S. W., Grimes, J. M., et al. A comparison of immediate with deferred zidovudine therapy for asymptomatic HI V-infected adults with CD4 cell counts of 500 or more per cubic millimeter. New England Journal of Medicine, 1995, 333, 401–07.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
24.Volberding, P. A., Lagakos, S. W., Grimes, J. M., et al. The duration of zidovudine benefit in persons with asymptomatic HIV infection: Prolonged evaluation of protocol 019 of the AIDS Clinical Trials Group. JAMA, 1994, 272, 437–42.Google Scholar
25.Volberding, P. A., Lagakos, S. W., Koch, M. A., et al. Zidovudine in asymptomatic human immunodeficiency virus infection: A controlled trial in persons with fewer than 500 CD4-positive cells per cubic millimeter. New England Journal of Medicine, 1990, 322, 941–49.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed