Attention should be given to multiplicity issues in systematic reviews

Ref ID 372
First Author R. Bender
Journal JOURNAL OF CLINICAL EPIDEMIOLOGY
Year Of Publishing 2008
URL https://www.jclinepi.com/article/S0895-4356(08)00093-0/fulltext
Keywords Multiplicity
Pre-specification
Subgroup
General medical
Problem(s) Multiplicity of outcomes and lack of pre-specification for outcome reporting
Unplanned or unjustified subgroup or sensitivity analyses
Number of systematic reviews included 7
Summary of Findings The authors highlight and discuss six types of multiplicity that can occur in systematic review with reference to some published examples. Multiplicity can occur from: multiple outcomes; multiple groups, multiple time points; multiple effect measures; subgroup analyses and multiple looks at accumulating data.
Did the article find that the problem(s) led to qualitative changes in interpretation of the results? Not Applicable
Are the methods of the article described in enough detail to replicate the study?