Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23585064›Full record

ArticleBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2013

Orlistat and the risk of acute liver injury: self controlled case series study in UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink.

Ian J Douglas, Julia Langham, Krishnan Bhaskaran, Ruth Brauer, Liam Smeeth

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
29citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
12.6field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

29 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 71 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Clinical outcomes associated with anti-obesity medications in real-world practice: A systematic literature review.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2021
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  16. CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2019
    Article
  17. Tools for causality assessment in drug-induced liver disease.Current opinion in gastroenterology · 2019
    Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Ian J DouglasFaculty of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK. ian.douglas@lshtm.ac.uk
Julia Langham
Krishnan Bhaskaran
Ruth Brauer
Liam Smeeth
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine · GBUniversity of London · GB

Funding

Department of Health PDF-2011-04-007Medical Research Council G0802403Medical Research Council MR/K006584/1Wellcome Trust 098504
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo measure the association between orlistat and acute liver injury.

designSelf controlled case series study.

settingPopulation based primary care setting, United Kingdom.

participants94,695 patients receiving orlistat and registered in the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink and linked with Hospital Episode Statistics data between 1999 and 2011.

main outcome measureRelative incidence of acute liver injury comparing periods when patients were receiving orlistat with periods of non-usage.

resultsAmong 94,695 patients who received orlistat, 988 cases of acute liver injury were identified, with 335 confirmed as definite cases and 653 as probable cases. For all cases an increased incidence of liver injury was detected during the 90 day period before orlistat was first started, with an incidence rate ratio of 1.50 (95% confidence interval 1.10 to 2.06). The incidence remained raised during the first 30 days of treatment (2.21, 1.43 to 3.42), before returning to baseline levels with prolonged treatment. When the risk during the first 90 days of treatment was compared with the 90 days preceding first treatment, the incidence of liver injury was not increased (1.02, 0.67 to 1.56). An analysis restricted to definite cases showed no evidence of an increased risk of liver injury during treatment.

conclusionThe incidence of acute liver injury was higher in the periods both immediately before and immediately after the start of orlistat treatment. This suggests that the observed increased risks of liver injury linked to the start of treatment may reflect changes in health status associated with the decision to begin treatment rather than any causal effect of the drug.

Indexed as

AdultAnti-Obesity AgentsCase-Control StudiesCausalityChemical and Drug Induced Liver InjuryDatabases, FactualFemaleHumansIncidenceLactonesMaleMiddle AgedObesityOrlistatTime FactorsUnited KingdomAnti-Obesity AgentsLactonesOrlistat

Identifiers

PMID23585064
PMCPMC3624963
OpenAlexW2135413686

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.