Cochrane systematic reviews of Chinese herbal medicines: an overview

Ref ID 566
First Author J. Hu
Journal PLOS ONE
Year Of Publishing 2011
URL https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22174870/
Keywords • Cochrane
• Heterogeneity
• Low reporting quality
• Low methodological quality
• Complementary & Alternative
Problem(s) • Weaknesses identified in some Cochrane reviews
• Inadequate analysis of heterogeneity
• Low reporting or methodological quality (OTHER GUIDANCE)
Article Type Empirical
Article Subtype Cross-sectional survey/Methodological systematic review
First Author Country China
Checklists • OQAQ
Aim To assess the methodological quality of systematic reviews on Chinese herbal medicines published in the Cochrane Library in 2010using OQAQ.
Level of Investigation Descriptive
Summary of Findings 70% of included reviews were too broad in terms of combining multiple interventions such as herbs or preparations into the synthesis. Merging a heterogeneous range of interventions make the comprehensiveness of the review's literature searches more unlikely.
Number of systematic reviews included 58
Number of eligible systematic reviews assessed 278
Treatment impacted No
Treatment impacted description
Interpretation impacted Not Applicable
Interpretation impacted description