This review assessed the effects of treatment of osteoporosis in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients, but found that there was no evidence available. Given the limited search and the restriction to studies in English, it is possible that some studies may have been missed, but the authors' conclusion reflects the findings of the review.

To assess the prevalence and effects of treatment of osteoporosis in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients.

PubMed and the Cochrane Library were searched for studies in English from 1988 to April 2008; search terms were reported. Other potentially relevant articles were identified through searching references of included studies and reviews and by contacting authors. Editorials, congress abstracts and case reports were excluded.

Randomised placebo-controlled trials that assessed the effects of lifestyle interventions and/or osteoporosis medication in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients were eligible for inclusions. Eligible lifestyle interventions could include more weight-bearing exercise or smoking cessation; eligible osteoporosis medications could include bisphosphonates, calcium supplementation or vitamin D.

The authors did not state how many reviewers performed the selection.

The authors intended to assess the methodological quality of the included RCTs using the Delphi list, whereby nine items would be appraised and summed to provide an overall quality score.

The authors did not state how many reviewers would have undertaken the quality assessment.

No studies were found, but the authors did not state how the data would have been extracted, or how many reviewers would have been involved.

No studies were found, but the authors did not state how the studies would have been synthesised.

No suitable trials were identified that investigated the treatment of osteoporosis in random samples of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients.

No trials were found that assessed the effects of treatment of osteoporosis in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients.

The review addressed a clear question with well-defined inclusion criteria. A limited search of relevant databases was undertaken. Unpublished studies were not actively sought and the search was restricted to publications in English; publication and language biases may have been present and some studies may have been missed. Given that no studies were found, it was unclear whether appropriate review methods would have been employed for for assessing study quality and data extraction. It was also unclear whether the selection of studies for the review employed methods to minimise error and bias.

In light of the limited search and language restrictions, it is possible that some studies may have been missed, but the authors' conclusion reflects the findings of the review.

Practice: The authors did not state any implications for practice.

Research: The authors stated that randomised placebo-controlled trials are required to assess the effects of treatment in osteoporotic patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Not stated.

This is a critical abstract of a systematic review that meets the criteria for inclusion on DARE. Each critical abstract contains a brief summary of the review methods, results and conclusions followed by a detailed critical assessment on the reliability of the review and the conclusions drawn.