| Ref ID | 684 |
| First Author | L. Hartling |
| Journal | BMC MEDICAL RESEARCH METHODOLOGY |
| Year Of Publishing | 2017 |
| URL | https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12874-017-0347-z |
| Keywords |
• Cochrane • Grey literature • Paediatrics • Language |
| Problem(s) |
• Language restriction • Grey literature excluded |
| Article Type | Empirical |
| Article Subtype | Meta-epidemiological analysis |
| First Author Country | Canada |
| Aim | To assess the searches for and contribution of non-English reports, unpublished studies, and dissertations and their impact on results of meta-analyses from child-relevant Cochrane registered systematic reviews. |
| Level of Investigation | Descriptive |
| Summary of Findings | Whilst the majority of included reviews searched for non-English studies, only 12% of reviews included non-English studies. Most reviews also searched for unpublished studies but only 6% included unpublished studies. |
| Number of systematic reviews included | 129 |
| Number of eligible systematic reviews assessed | 1345 |
| Treatment impacted | Yes |
| Treatment impacted description | Inclusion of non-English, unpublished studies and dissertation was examined in the meta-analyses of included reviews to study the impact to the effect size. |
| Interpretation impacted | Yes |
| Interpretation impacted description | In a minority of cases, inclusion of non-English studies, unpublished studies or dissertations caused large changes to the effect size. |