Glymphatic Dysfunction Meta-Analysis Across Sleep Disorders from 19 Studies

19 studies with 2,315 participants were synthesized in a meta-analysis examining the DTI-ALPS index in patients with sleep disorders versus healthy controls. The dataset, authored by Xiaoxin Zhang and published on figshare in April 2026, includes pooled effect sizes, subgroup results for specific disorders, and heterogeneity metrics. It is derived from a systematic literature search up to December 31, 2025.

Use Cases

• Re-analyze pooled standardized mean differences (SMDs) for global glymphatic impairment based on the reported effect size of -1.60.
• Compare disorder-specific glymphatic dysfunction based on subgroup results for obstructive sleep apnea, REM sleep behavior disorder, and PSQI-defined poor sleep.
• Investigate sources of heterogeneity in neuroimaging findings across sleep pathologies based on the reported I² statistic of 94.7%.
• Assess publication bias in the field based on the reported detection (p=0.01).

Strengths

• Includes data from 19 studies aggregating 2,315 participants, providing a substantial sample for meta-analysis.
• Reports specific quantitative results including standardized mean differences (SMDs), confidence intervals, p-values, and heterogeneity metrics (I²).
• Uses a systematic search methodology across PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library up to a defined date (December 31, 2025).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The dataset is very small (45.7 KB), indicating it likely contains summary statistics rather than raw or individual-level data.
• The authors note extreme heterogeneity (I²=94.7%) and cross-sectional data, which limits causal interpretability.

Provenance

Source

Xiaoxin Zhang via figshare.

Collection Method

Systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies comparing DTI-ALPS index between patients and controls.

Time Range

Studies from database inception to December 31, 2025.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-15 05:44:13; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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