Availability of large-scale evidence on specific harms from systematic reviews of randomized trials

Ref ID 651
First Author P. N. Papanikolaou
Journal THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MEDICINE
Year Of Publishing 2004
URL https://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(04)00494-2/fulltext
Keywords Cochrane
Harms
Open data
Problem(s) Selective reporting of harms / safety / adverse events / side effects
Reliance on randomised controlled trials for harms / safety data
Weaknesses identified in some Cochrane reviews
Number of systematic reviews included 138
Summary of Findings Systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials rarely provide large-scale evidence on specific, well-defined adverse events associated with the tested interventions. Only 25 systematic reviews in the entire Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews contained such evidence on at least one type of harm.
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