| Ref ID | 34 |
| First Author | S. Khaleel |
| Journal | WORLD JOURNAL OF UROLOGY |
| Year Of Publishing | 2019 |
| URL | https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00345-019-03032-x.pdf |
| Keywords |
• Multiplicity • Heterogeneity • Single reviewer • Open data • Protocols • Urology |
| Problem(s) |
• Undocumented or unjustified deviations to the review protocol • Multiplicity of outcomes and lack of pre-specification for outcome reporting • Inadequate analysis of heterogeneity • Unplanned or unjustified subgroup or sensitivity analyses • Single reviewer / lack of double checking • Unpublished or "zombie" reviews (the file-drawer effect) |
| Article Type | Empirical |
| Article Subtype | Cross-sectional survey/Methodological systematic review |
| First Author Country | United States |
| Aim | To assess the methodological quality and concordance with a priori protocols of urologic systematic reviews registered in PROSPERO up to December 2017. |
| Level of Investigation | Descriptive |
| Summary of Findings | Of the 576 registered urologic systematic reviews, 225 (39.1%) had corresponding full-text publications. Of these, only 40 (17.7%) had updated their PROSPERO entry to indicate review publication. Little over half of published reviews (52.7%) explicitly stated primary outcome(s) that matched the primary outcome of their corresponding PROSPERO protocol. 25.9% failed to define any primary endpoint(s). A majority (82.4%) of protocol authors indicated the intent of performing the literature screening process in duplicate; of these, 91.8% actually did so in the full-text publication. Roughly half (53.2%) of reviews planned to evaluate heterogeneity based on their protocol. Of these, only 57.0% assessed heterogeneity in their final product. Only a third (34.3%) of the protocols had specified whether they intended to perform a subgroup analysis, and less than half of these protocols (45.2%) were concordant with their planned protocol in this regard. |
| Number of systematic reviews included | 576 |
| Number of eligible systematic reviews assessed | 576 |
| Treatment impacted | No |
| Treatment impacted description | |
| Interpretation impacted | Not Applicable |
| Interpretation impacted description |