Non-communicable diseases research output in the Eastern Mediterranean region: an overview of systematic reviews

Ref ID 419
First Author A. Akkawi
Journal BMC MEDICAL RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Year Of Publishing 2020
URL https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7082905/pdf/12874_2020_Article_924.pdf
Keywords Protocols
Grey literature
Error
Publication bias
Risk of bias
Disclosure
General medical
Low reporting quality
Searching
Low methodological quality
Problem(s) No registered or published protocol
Insufficient literature searches
Reasons for excluding potentially eligible studies not provided
Poor consideration of publication bias
Conflicts of interest or funding of included studies not assessed
Low methodological (AMSTAR) quality
Funding or sponsor of systematic review not reported
Conflict of interest statement or disclosures for review authors missing
Single reviewer / lack of double checking
Grey literature excluded
No quality assessment undertaken or reported
Risk of bias not incorporated into conclusions of review
Errors in effect estimate calculations or data synthesis
Number of systematic reviews included 89
Summary of Findings 83% of included reviews were of low AMSTAR quality and 1% was of high quality. Common flaws were: “a priori” design (13.5%); duplicate reviewer (21%); comprehensive literature search (20%); grey literature included (19%); list of excluded studies (3%); quality assessment (32%); quality incorporated into conclusions (21%); appropriate data synthesis (53%); publication bias assessed (16%); conflicts of interest assessed (0%).
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? Yes