Methodologic lessons from published systematic reviews

Ref ID 1013
First Author A. Ferreira
Journal EYE
Year Of Publishing 2023
URL https://www.nature.com/articles/s41433-023-02599-5
Keywords • Heterogeneity
• Neurology
Problem(s) • Lack of statistical expertise in handling of quantitative data
• Inadequate analysis of heterogeneity
• Meta-analyses and forest plots presented without considering risk of bias / quality
Article Type Editorial
Article Subtype Comment/letter
First Author Country Portugal
Aim A letter concerning 2 Systemic Reviews (SRs) with meta-analysis on the same topic (Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA) for assessment of retinal microvasculature in Parkinson’s Disease) with methodological differences in the meta-analysis, and their consequences.
Level of Investigation Descriptive
Summary of Findings From a letter to the editor concerning 2 Systemic Reviews (SRs) published in 2023 on the same topic (Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA) for assessment of retinal microvasculature in Parkinson’s Disease) with methodological differences in the meta-analysis, and their consequences. One Systematic Review excluded studies deemed low quality, but did not perform a sensitivity or sub-group analysis, while the other only included fully published original papers and excluded a conference abstract present in the other SR. Neither of the systematic reviews explored the source of the high heterogeneity (>70%) found in both.
Number of systematic reviews included 2
Number of eligible systematic reviews assessed 2
Treatment impacted Not Applicable
Treatment impacted description
Interpretation impacted Not Applicable
Interpretation impacted description