Reviews may overestimate the effectiveness of medicines for back pain: systematic review and meta-analysis

Ref ID 597
First Author M. K. Bagg
Journal JOURNAL OF CLINICAL EPIDEMIOLOGY
Year Of Publishing 2019
URL https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31816418/
Keywords Grey literature
Pain
Searching
Problem(s) Grey literature excluded
Lack of supplementary searches beyond databases
Number of systematic reviews included 5
Summary of Findings Assessment of 16 potentially relevant clinicals trials led to an update of the analyses for two of the source reviews. The addition of data from two trials reduced the effect size of muscle relaxants, compared to sham, for recent-onset low back pain from -21.71 (95%CI -28.23 to -15.19) to -2.34 (95%CI -3.34 to -1.34) on a 0-100 scale for pain intensity. The addition of data from three trials (one enriched design) reduced the effect size of opioid analgesics, compared to sham, for chronic low back pain from -10.10 (95%CI -12.81 to -7.39) to -9.31 (95%CI -11.51 to -7.11).
Did the article find that the problem(s) led to qualitative changes in interpretation of the results? Yes
Are the methods of the article described in enough detail to replicate the study? Yes