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 • General medical
• Subgroup
• Multiplicity
• Pre-specification
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? N/A
Are the methods of the article described in enough detail to replicate the study? N/A