Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that compared moxifloxacin-based triple therapy (amoxicillin or nitroimidazoles plus proton pump inhibitor) with clarithromycin-based triple therapy in patients with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection were eligible for inclusion. Trials had to report confirmation of infection eradication at least four weeks after treatment completion based on urea breath testing, or gastric mucosal biopsy for histology, or culture.
Included trials were conducted in China, Croatia, Italy and Turkey. Triple therapy regimes included tinidazole, amoxicillin, lansoprazole, esomeprazole, metronidazole, omeprazole or ranitidine bismuth citrate in addition to moxifloxacin or clarithromycin. Most trials included H. pylori positive patients with non-ulcer dyspepsia; one study included H. pylori positive adults. Treatment duration was one week in all but one trial (which was two weeks). Most trials confirmed eradication using the urea breath test; one trial used histology. Eradication was assessed after four to eight weeks follow-up.
The authors did not state how many reviewers selected studies for inclusion.