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