Abstract
We appreciate the insightful critique offered by Dr. Jhou and colleagues regarding our recent publication. 1 In response to the astute observation of potential patient overlap between the PLATO study 2 and other included studies (in our meta-analysis), we were unable to definitively confirm or refute this notion during our initial or recent data collection and quality appraisal processes. Nonetheless, this limitation warrants acknowledgement, and therefore our data should be interpreted cautiously considering this caveat.
Additionally, prompted by the input of Dr. Jhou and colleagues, we conducted a thorough re-examination of our analysis and made necessary adjustments that ultimately did not affect the interpretation of our findings. We express our appreciation to Dr. Jhou and colleagues for assisting us in presenting our study in a more accurate way.
Footnotes
Acknowledgements
None.
Declaration of conflicting interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Ethical approval
Not applicable.
Informed consent
Not applicable.
Trial registration
Not applicable.
Guarantor
Ahmed Alkhiri (AA).
Contributorship
AA collected data, designed the study, analyzed the data, drafted the manuscript, and interpreted data. FSA collected data, designed the study, analyzed the data, drafted the manuscript, and interpreted data.
