Clinical heterogeneity was a common problem in Cochrane reviews of physiotherapy and occupational therapy

Ref ID	381
First Author	C. H. van den Ende
Journal	JOURNAL OF CLINICAL EPIDEMIOLOGY
Year Of Publishing	2006
URL	https://www.jclinepi.com/article/S0895-4356(06)00059-X/fulltext
Keywords	• Physiotherapy • Low reporting quality • Multiplicity • Cochrane • Heterogeneity • Pre-specification
Problem(s)	• Inadequate analysis of heterogeneity • Multiplicity of outcomes and lack of pre-specification for outcome reporting • Poor execution of narrative synthesis • Intervention not described / defined
Number of systematic reviews included	52
Summary of Findings	In 58% of included reviews, more than one intervention was evaluated. In 52% of the reviews no quantitative data synthesis was performed, and in 33% reviews neither quantitative nor qualitative synthesis was performed. The reasons for not conducting a quantitative data synthesis were clinical and/or statistical heterogeneity; insufficient data reported; too few included studies; and other methodologic reasons. In 21% of studies a qualitative data synthesis was performed, using five different methods. In many reviews outcomes such as ‘‘functional ability’’ or ‘‘pain’’ were not restricted to specific instruments, which meant that a large number of instruments were investigated.
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?	Yes