- Framework of problems / Objective
- Failure to define clinically meaningful outcomes
- Survey of new 2007 and 2011 Cochrane reviews found 37% of prespecified outcomes not reported
| Ref ID | 496 |
| First Author | V. Smith |
| Journal | JOURNAL OF CLINICAL EPIDEMIOLOGY |
| Year Of Publishing | 2015 |
| URL | https://www.jclinepi.com/article/S0895-4356(14)00398-9/pdf |
| Keywords |
Cochrane Multiplicity Pre-specification General medical |
| Problem(s) |
Multiplicity of outcomes and lack of pre-specification for outcome reporting Failure to define clinically meaningful outcomes |
| Number of systematic reviews included | 788 |
| Summary of Findings | A total of 6,127 specified outcomes were listed in the methods sections of the included reviews. 37% of included reviews specified outcomes that were not reported. For non-reported specified outcomes, 23% were not reported because of non-measurement in the included studies or insufficient data to report. However, for 14% of non-reported outcomes, no reason could be identified in the text of the review for why the outcome was not reported. Of the new reviews with studies from 2011 which had included studies (i.e., were not empty reviews), 31% had a ‘‘summary of findings’’ table. |
| 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 |