Scope for improvement in the quality of reporting of systematic reviews. From the Cochrane Musculoskeletal Group

Ref ID 158
First Author B. Shea
Journal THE JOURNAL OF RHEUMATOLOGY
Year Of Publishing 2006
URL https://www.jrheum.org/content/jrheum/33/1/9.full.pdf
Keywords • Musculoskeletal
• Low reporting quality
• Searching
• Orthopaedic
• Cochrane
Problem(s) • Weaknesses identified in some Cochrane reviews
• Insufficient literature searches
• Reasons for excluding potentially eligible studies not provided
Article Type Empirical
Article Subtype Cross-sectional survey/Methodological systematic review
First Author Country Canada
Checklists • QUOROM
• OQAQ
Aim To assess the reporting (QUOROM) and methodological (OQAQ) quality of Cochrane musculoskeletal systematic reviews published in Issue 4 (2002) in the Cochrane Library.
Level of Investigation Descriptive
Summary of Findings The reporting and methodological quality of the 57 included Cochrane musculoskeletal systematic reviews was generally good according to QUOROM and OQAQ, although minor flaws were observed. Search strategies were not deemed to be comprehensive in 37% of reviews. Bias in the selection of studies for the review was deemed to be a risk to 47% of review.
Number of systematic reviews included 57
Number of eligible systematic reviews assessed 57
Treatment impacted No
Treatment impacted description
Interpretation impacted Not Applicable
Interpretation impacted description