Meta-Analysis of Platelet-to-Lymphocyte Ratio and Vertebral Fracture Risk

A systematic review and meta-analysis synthesizes results from seven observational studies investigating the association between platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and vertebral fracture risk in patients with osteoporosis. The analysis includes categorical data showing an odds ratio of 1.02 and continuous data showing a standardized mean difference of 1.78. It was authored by Feipeng Hu and published in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyze the reported odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals from categorical data to assess the association between high PLR groups and vertebral fracture risk.
• Examine the standardized mean difference (SMD) values from continuous data to compare PLR levels between fracture and non-fracture patient groups.
• Review the sensitivity analysis results identifying specific studies (e.g., Di et al., 2024) as potential sources of heterogeneity in the meta-analysis outcomes.
• Validate the conclusion that elevated PLR is associated with increased fracture risk using the synthesized data from seven included studies.

Strengths

• The meta-analysis is based on a systematic search of six major databases, including PubMed and Web of Science, up to July 2025.
• It provides specific statistical results, including an odds ratio of 1.02 and a standardized mean difference of 1.78, with corresponding 95% confidence intervals and p-values.
• The analysis includes assessments for publication bias and sensitivity analysis to explore result stability and heterogeneity sources.

Limitations

• The dataset is very small, consisting only of the synthesized results from seven included observational studies.
• The authors note significant heterogeneity in study designs and unstable outcomes, limiting the strength of the conclusions.
• The data is presented in a DOCX document, limiting direct computational analysis and requiring manual data extraction.

Provenance

Source

Systematic review and meta-analysis conducted by author Feipeng Hu, shared on figshare.

Collection Method

Data was synthesized from seven observational studies identified via systematic searches of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane, Wanfang, and CNKI.

Time Range

Literature search was conducted up to July 2025; the meta-analysis itself was published in March 2026.

Freshness

Last updated in March 2026, based on a literature search up to July 2025.

Geography

Coverage is not explicitly stated, but included databases suggest a global scope with potential inclusion of Chinese-language studies from Wanfang and CNKI.