Effectiveness of biologics for patients with severe asthma: study protocol for an umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

INTRODUCTION

Many systematic reviews and meta-analyses (SRs/MAs) have evaluated the efficacy of biologic therapies for severe asthma. However, the overall quality of these SRs/MAs is unclear, which may influence the selection of biologics and lead to misleading clinical decisions. This umbrella review aims to objectively evaluate the overall quality of these SRs/MAs and reassess the efficacy of biologic therapies for severe asthma. Thus, this study will provide reliable evidence for clinical practice.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A systematic search will be performed in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Scopus and conference abstracts up to 1 March 2025. Literature screening and data extraction will be conducted according to predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. We will evaluate the reporting quality, methodological quality and evidence quality of these SRs/MAs using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 statement, PRISMA for Network Meta-Analysis 2015 checklist, A MeaSurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews 2, Cochrane Risk of Bias 1.0 and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation system. Additionally, the re-analysis of outcomes will be performed using R software (V.4.3.3).

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Since this umbrella review will use publicly available data, ethics approval is not required. The results of this study will be disseminated through publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42024607393.