Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36936552›Full record

ArticleBMJ medicine2022

Safety of ezetimibe in lipid-lowering treatment: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials and cohort studies.

Yang Wang, Shipeng Zhan, Heyue Du, Jing Li, Safi U Khan, Bert Aertgeerts, Gordon Guyatt, Qiukui Hao, Geertruida Bekkering, Ling Li and 6 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
22citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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

22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  4. A Comprehensive, Updated Review of Ezetimibe: Evidence-Based Clinical Use for Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease.American journal of cardiovascular drugs : drugs, devices, and other interventions · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

16 authors.

Yang Wang *Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Chinese Evidence-based Medicine Centre, Cochrane China Centre, and MAGIC China Centre, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
Shipeng Zhan *Department of Pharmacy, Southwest Hospital, Army Medical University, Chongqing, China.
Heyue Du *Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Chinese Evidence-based Medicine Centre, Cochrane China Centre, and MAGIC China Centre, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
Jing LiDepartment of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Chinese Evidence-based Medicine Centre, Cochrane China Centre, and MAGIC China Centre, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
Safi U KhanDepartment of Cardiology, Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Bert AertgeertsDepartment of Public Health and Primary Care, Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Gordon GuyattDepartment of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
Qiukui HaoDepartment of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
Geertruida BekkeringDepartment of Public Health and Primary Care, Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Ling LiDepartment of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Chinese Evidence-based Medicine Centre, Cochrane China Centre, and MAGIC China Centre, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
Nicolas DelvauxDepartment of Public Health and Primary Care, Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Na SuDepartment of Pharmacy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
Irbaz RiazMayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
Per Olav VandvikDepartment of Medicine, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
Haoming TianDepartment of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Chinese Evidence-based Medicine Centre, Cochrane China Centre, and MAGIC China Centre, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
Sheyu LiDepartment of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Chinese Evidence-based Medicine Centre, Cochrane China Centre, and MAGIC China Centre, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.ORCID 0000-0003-0060-0287

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Objective: To determine the harms of ezetimibe in people who need lipid-lowering treatment. Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Data sources: Randomised controlled trials and cohort studies. Eligibility criteria for selecting studies: Studies comparing ezetimibe with placebo, standard care, or other lipid-lowering agents in people who need lipid-lowering treatment with a follow-up duration of at least six months (or 24 weeks). The relative effects for potential harms of ezetimibe were pooled by use of random effect pairwise meta-analyses for randomised controlled trials and the evidence from observational studies was narratively summarised. The certainty of evidence was assessed using the Grading of Recommendation Assessment, Development, and Evaluation. Results: 48 randomised controlled trials with 28 444 participants (median follow-up 34 weeks, range 24-312 weeks) and four observational studies with 1667 participants (median follow-up 282 weeks, range 72-400 weeks) were included. The meta-analyses of randomised trials showed moderate to high certainty that ezetimibe was not associated with cancer (relative risk 1.01; 95% confidence interval 0.92 to 1.11), fractures (0.90; 0.74 to 1.10), discontinuation due to any adverse event (0.87; 0.74 to 1.03), gastrointestinal adverse events leading to discontinuation (1.34; 0.58 to 3.08), myalgia or muscular pain leading to discontinuation (0.82; 0.51 to 1.33), neurocognitive events (1.48; 0.58 to 3.81), or new-onset diabetes (0.88; 0.61 to 1.28). The narrative analysis of observational studies provided consistent findings. No credible subgroup effects were identified for the harm outcomes, including shorter versus longer follow-up duration of trials. Conclusions: Ezetimibe results in little to no difference in adverse events or other undesirable effects compared with placebo, usual care or other lipid-lowering agents. Review registration: PROSPERO CRD42020187437.

Indexed as

Coronary diseasePharmacology

Identifiers

PMID36936552
PMCPMC10012858

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
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 Socratic graph.