Table 4 Summary across reports of systematic reviews meeting AMSTAR quality assessment criteria (N = 27)
From: Systematic review adherence to methodological or reporting quality
Item assessed | Item Description | No. of reports reporting adherence by item | Adhering SRs | Total SRs | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Methods: Protocol and registration | Was an 'a priori' design provided? | 23 | 820 | 1794 | 46 |
2. Information sources | Was the status of publication (i.e. grey literature) used as an inclusion criterion? | 23 | 1013 | 1794 | 57 |
3. Search | Was a comprehensive literature search performed? | 23 | 1149 | 1794 | 64 |
4. Data collection process | Was there duplicate study selection and data extraction? | 23 | 534 | 1794 | 30 |
5. Results: Study selection | Was a list of studies (included and excluded) provided? | 22 | 537 | 1779 | 30 |
6. Study characteristics | Were the characteristics of the included studies provided? | 23 | 1439 | 1794 | 80 |
7. Risk of bias within studies | Was the scientific quality of the included studies assessed and documented? | 23 | 1200 | 1794 | 67 |
8. Synthesis of results | Were the methods used to combine the findings of studies appropriate? | 23 | 1169 | 1794 | 65 |
9. Risk of bias across studies | Was the likelihood of publication bias assessed? | 23 | 995 | 1794 | 56 |
10. Limitations | Was the scientific quality of the included studies used appropriately in formulating conclusions? | 23 | 590 | 1794 | 33 |
11. Funding | Was the conflict of interest stated? | 22 | 685 | 1779 | 39 |