| Ref ID | 501 |
| First Author | L. Jørgensen |
| Journal | SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS |
| Year Of Publishing | 2016 |
| URL | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27160280/ |
| Keywords |
• Cochrane • Risk of bias • General medical |
| Problem(s) |
• Flawed risk of bias undertaken |
| Article Type | Empirical |
| Article Subtype | Cross-sectional survey/Methodological systematic review |
| First Author Country | Denmark |
| Aim | To assess the use of the Cochrane risk of bias tool using editorial comments published in PubMed, The Cochrane Methodology Register and Google Scholar on the tool's strengths and challenges. An observational study of 100 Cochrane and 100 non-Cochrane reviews from 2014 was also conducted to understand how the tool is applied to both Cochrane and non-Cochrane systematic reviews. |
| Level of Investigation | Descriptive |
| Summary of Findings | The tool was used in all Cochrane reviews (100/100) and was the preferred tool in non-Cochrane reviews (31/100). The tool is often used in ways not recommended such as implementing non-standard domains either as fully new domains or incorporating them into the “other bias” function, which is primarily intended for special situations, e.g. crossover trials. Both strengths and challenges of the Cochrane risk of bias tool were identified from comments. Challenges included: concern whether the chosen domains comprehensively address all threats to validity (for example, including funding as an independent bias domain); difficulties in the subjective interpretation of the tool; modest inter-observer agreement, difficulty in assessing selective reporting of outcomes, terminological ambiguity (i.e. of the terms subjective/objective) and the low proportion of reviews using risk of bias assessments as a basis for sensitivity analyses; challenges in assigning an overall risk of bias to a trial based on risk of bias of single domains to the trial as such. |
| Number of systematic reviews included | 68 |
| Number of eligible systematic reviews assessed | 976 |
| Treatment impacted | No |
| Treatment impacted description | |
| Interpretation impacted | Not Applicable |
| Interpretation impacted description |