3.1 Study selection and characteristics
As detailed in Figure 1, the initial search yielded 317 results. After
the removal of duplicate records and ineligible studies, 28 remained and
were fully reviewed based on inclusion criteria. Of these, a total of 8
RCTs were included, comprising 967
patients.10,11,15-20 A total of 689 (71.2%) patients
received FGF21 analogs and 278 patients (28.8%) received placebo. The
follow-up ranged between 16 to 121 weeks. The mean patient age was 55.5
years and 37% patients in the FGF21 analogs group were males. Study
characteristics are reported in Table 1. Three studies used efruxifermin
as a treatment regimen;15-17 whereas two studies used
pegozafermin.18,19 The remaining studies used
pegbelfermin.10,11,20