<oai_dc:dc xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:oai_dc="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc.xsd">
  <dc:creator>Fattini Fellini, Gae</dc:creator>
  <dc:creator>Fumagalli, Giacomo A.</dc:creator>
  <dc:creator>Piano, Andrea</dc:creator>
  <dc:creator>Bensa, Alessandro</dc:creator>
  <dc:creator>Filardo, Giuseppe</dc:creator>
  <dc:date>2025</dc:date>
  <dc:description xmlns:ns0="xml" ns0:lang="en">Purpose: The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to quantify and compare the evidence on sex-specific outcomes following intra-articular injections of corticosteroids (CS), hyaluronic acid (HA), platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and cell-based therapies in patients affected by knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: A literature search was conducted on PubMed, Cochrane and Web of Science in October 2024 according to PRISMA guidelines. Inclusion criteria were clinical studies of any level of evidence, a minimum of six patients, English language, no time limitations, on the use of intra-articular CS, HA, PRP and cell-based therapies for knee OA treatment. A meta-analysis was conducted for each product on the outcomes with sufficient data at short-term (&lt;3 months) and mid/long-term (≥3 months) follow-ups. Results: A total of 848 studies were included reporting on 99,443 patients (61.5 ± 24.7 years old, 65.8% women, 34.2% men). Out of these, only 21 articles (2.5% of the total, 2265 patients) presented sex-disaggregated data, including four studies with a CS treatment group (1.9% of CS patients), three with a HA group (0.2% of HA patients), 11 with a PRP group (5.9% of PRP patients) and eight with a cell-based therapy group (10.2% of cell-based therapies patients). The meta-analysis was performed on 15 studies (1387 patients) and did not show any statistically significant difference of VAS and WOMAC improvements at short- and mid/long-term follow-ups for any of the four injectable treatment approaches analysed. Conclusion: There is a staggering lack of sex-disaggregated data in studies evaluating the most used intra-articular injective therapies for knee OA, with only 2.5% analysing women- and men-specific outcomes for CS, HA PRP and cell-based therapies. The analysis of this limited amount of sex-disaggregated data did not show statistically significant differences between women and men for any of the investigated injectable approaches. The substantial lack of disaggregation hinders the understanding of potential sex-specific effects of these treatments and underscores the need for a shift in data reporting in this field, with more robustly designed studies incorporating sex-stratified analyses. Level of Evidence: Level I.</dc:description>
  <dc:format>application/pdf</dc:format>
  <dc:identifier>https://localhost:5000/ark:/12658/srd1335503</dc:identifier>
  <dc:identifier>https://susi.usi.ch/global/documents/335503</dc:identifier>
  <dc:identifier>https://susi.usi.ch/documents/335503/files/2025 OAI injective gender.pdf</dc:identifier>
  <dc:language>eng</dc:language>
  <dc:relation>info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/2197-1153</dc:relation>
  <dc:relation>info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1002/jeo2.70432</dc:relation>
  <dc:relation>info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/ark/12658/srd1335503</dc:relation>
  <dc:rights>info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess</dc:rights>
  <dc:rights>License undefined</dc:rights>
  <dc:source>Journal of Experimental Orthopaedics. - 2025, vol. 12, no. 3, p. e70432</dc:source>
  <dc:subject xmlns:ns1="xml" ns1:lang="en">Gender</dc:subject>
  <dc:subject xmlns:ns2="xml" ns2:lang="en">Intra‐articular</dc:subject>
  <dc:subject xmlns:ns3="xml" ns3:lang="en">Knee</dc:subject>
  <dc:subject xmlns:ns4="xml" ns4:lang="en">Osteoarthritis</dc:subject>
  <dc:subject xmlns:ns5="xml" ns5:lang="en">Sex</dc:subject>
  <dc:subject>info:eu-repo/classification/udc/61</dc:subject>
  <dc:title xmlns:ns6="xml" ns6:lang="en">Sex differences in intra‐articular treatment outcomes for knee osteoarthritis : current evidence and research gaps: a systematic review and meta‐analysis</dc:title>
  <dc:type>http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501</dc:type>
</oai_dc:dc>
