Table 1 Characteristics of living systematic reviews on covid-19, 1 January 2020 to 7 November 2022
From: How to update a living systematic review and keep it alive during a pandemic: a practical guide
Total | Living systematic reviews n (%) |
|---|---|
97 (100) | |
Research area* | |
 Pharmacological interventions | 46 (47) |
 Prevalence of conditions or risk factors | 30 (31) |
 Diagnostic test accuracy | 10 (10) |
 Health and social care delivery | 6 (6) |
 Nonpharmacological interventions | 4 (4) |
 Prognosis | 2 (2) |
 Research on research | 2 (2) |
 Aetiology | 1 (1) |
 Economic impact | 1 (1) |
Study design of eligible studies | |
 Observational and randomised study designs | 45 (46) |
 Randomised controlled trials only | 28 (29) |
 Observational study designs only | 22 (23) |
 Economic evaluation | 1 (1) |
 Guidelines and recommendations | 1 (1) |
Covid-19 infection status of study population | |
 Suspected or diagnosed covid-19 or long COVID | 61 (63) |
 Susceptible to covid-19 | 32 (33) |
 Mixed group | 4 (4) |
Age and subgroups of study population | |
 Any ages | 61 (63) |
 Hospital patients (n = 23) | |
 Cancer survivors (n = 1) | |
 Patients and healthcare workers (n = 1) | |
 Pregnant or recently pregnant women and their children (n = 1) | |
 Students and staff in schools (n = 1) | |
Adults only (≥ 18 years) | |
 Hospital patients (n = 13) | 34 (35) |
 Healthcare workers (n = 5) | |
 Pregnant and recently pregnant women (n = 3) | |
 People in living in long-term care facilities (n = 2) | |
Children only (< 18 years) | |
 Infants born to mothers with confirmed covid-19 (n = 1) | 2 (2) |
 Protocol published before first publication | 84 (87) |
 At least one version published in peer-reviewed journal | 95 (98) |
 Any update†available, by date of first publication | 34 (35) |
 January-June 2020 (n = 9) | 7 |
 July-December 2020 (n = 28) | 15 |
 January-June 2021 (n = 22) | 7 |
 July-December 2021 (n = 15) | 6 |
 January-June 2022 (n = 18) | 3 |
 July-November 2022 (n = 5) | 2 |