| Ref ID | 1112 |
| First Author | B.H.S. Cano |
| Journal | BMC MEDICAL RESEARCH METHODOLOGY |
| Year Of Publishing | 2025 |
| URL | https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12874-025-02501-9 |
| Keywords |
• General medical • Low methodological quality • Low reporting quality |
| Problem(s) |
• No registered or published protocol • Low methodological (AMSTAR) quality • Reasons for excluding potentially eligible studies not provided • Low reporting (PRISMA) quality • Search strategy not provided • Insufficient literature searches • Funding or sponsor of systematic review not reported • Misalignment between evidence base and global burden of disease |
| Article Type | Empirical |
| Article Subtype | Cross-sectional survey/Methodological systematic review |
| First Author Country | Brazil |
| Checklists |
• PRISMA 2009 • PRISMA 2020 • AMSTAR 2 • GRADE • TIDieR |
| Aim | To evaluate the methodological (AMSTAR-2) and reporting (PRISMA) quality of systematic reviews indexed across MEDLINE (via PubMed), Embase, (via Elsevier), Cochrane Library from January 1, 2014 – April 5, 2024, evaluating the association between chronic non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) in populations living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) with scientifically endorsed assessment instruments. |
| Level of Investigation | Descriptive |
| Summary of Findings | Nine systematic reviews indexed across MEDLINE (via PubMed), Embase, (via Elsevier), Cochrane Library from January 1, 2014 – April 5, 2024, evaluating the association between chronic non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) in populations living in low- and middle-income countries were included in this analysis. The average Overall Score on the PRISMA 2020 checklist was 13.5 (out of a maximum of 27) for articles published before 2020 and 25.67 for those published after 2020 (out of a maximum of 42). From the AMSTAR 2 assessment, one article achieved a moderate quality rating, three were critically low quality, and five had low quality. Among the critical items, 3 out of 9 articles failed to record a protocol and justify any changes during the study. Five studies failed to conduct and/or describe the search strategy in detail. Only one article provided a list of excluded studies and justified the exclusions. None of the reviews reported the funding of the included studies. The TIDieR assessment revealed a high level of compatibility between the included articles and the tool items. The GRADE assessment led to the generation of 40 health outcomes, but 21 outcomes could not have their effects measured and certainty estimated, as they were narrative and not grouped outcomes. The prevalence of systematically low and critically low methodological quality SRs on chronic NCDs theme and their risk factors in LMICs was 88.89% of the articles assessed in this meta-research. This reality raises concerns about the questionable quality of available evidence from these countries due to shortcomings in methodological detailing. |
| Number of systematic reviews included | 9 |
| Number of eligible systematic reviews assessed | 351 |
| Treatment impacted | Not Applicable |
| Treatment impacted description | |
| Interpretation impacted | Not Applicable |
| Interpretation impacted description |