| Ref ID | 175 |
| First Author | A. Malmivaara |
| Journal | JOURNAL OF REHABILITATION MEDICINE |
| Year Of Publishing | 2020 |
| URL | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32103277/ |
| Keywords |
• Pre-specification • Equity • Low reporting quality • Multiplicity • General medical |
| Problem(s) |
• Lack of prespecification in eligibility criteria • Individual study characteristics not reported sufficiently • Multiplicity of outcomes and lack of pre-specification for outcome reporting • Ignores setting or context of included studies which limits review applicability • Failure to consider equity, different socioeconomic groups or disadvantaged populations |
| Article Type | Empirical |
| Article Subtype | Cross-sectional survey/Methodological systematic review |
| First Author Country | Finland |
| Aim | To assess whether items relevant for the assessment of the generalizability of findings from randomized controlled trials were recorded in systematic reviews published in leading general medical journals from January 2016 to February 2019. |
| Level of Investigation | Descriptive |
| Summary of Findings | None of the 115 included systematic reviews published in leading general medical journals from 2016 to February 2019 assessed how patients were selected to the study; 35% reported relevant clinical features; 25% comorbid conditions; and 21% patients’ behavioural factors. Functioning, environmental factors, inequity-related factors; how interventions were carried out; how well the patients were followed-up; and the adequacy of statistical analyses were reported in only 0–9% of the systematic reviews. In conclusion, the reporting of study characteristics in the systematic reviews does not make it possible to assess how similar the different studies had been, or to which patients these study findings could be generalized. |
| Number of systematic reviews included | 115 |
| Number of eligible systematic reviews assessed | 115 |
| Treatment impacted | No |
| Treatment impacted description | |
| Interpretation impacted | Not Applicable |
| Interpretation impacted description |