Disagreements in risk of bias assessment for randomised controlled trials included in more than one Cochrane systematic reviews: a research on research study using cross-sectional design

Ref ID 126
First Author L. Bertizzolo
Journal BMJ OPEN
Year Of Publishing 2019
URL https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6500379/pdf/bmjopen-2018-028382.pdf
Keywords • General medical
• Cochrane
• Risk of bias
Problem(s) • Flawed risk of bias undertaken
Article Type Empirical
Article Subtype Cross-sectional survey/Methodological systematic review
First Author Country France
Aim To assess the frequency and reasons for disagreements in risk of bias assessments for randomised controlled trials included in more than one Cochrane review from a sample published between March 2011 and September 2014.
Level of Investigation Descriptive
Summary of Findings From 797 included Cochrane reviews,1604 RCTs were included in more than one review. Proportion of agreement ranged from 57% (770/1348 trials) for incomplete outcome data to 81% for random sequence generation (1193/1466). Most common source of disagreement was difference in interpretation of the same information, ranging from 65% (88/136) for random sequence generation to 90% (56/62) for blinding of participants and personnel. Access to different information explained 32/136 (24%) disagreements for random sequence generation and 38/205 (19%) for allocation concealment. Disagreements related to difference in interpretation were frequently related to incomplete or unclear reporting in the study report (83% of disagreements related to different interpretation for random sequence generation).
Number of systematic reviews included 797
Number of eligible systematic reviews assessed 2796