To assess non-Cochrane update systematic reviews and their reporting characteristics retrieved from PubMed between 2016-2018.
Level of Investigation
Descriptive
Summary of Findings
From 100 included systematic reviews: the number of newly included studies and participants and the number of studies and participants included from the previous systematic review were often not reported. Only 51/100 systematic review updates used the term “update” in the title and none reported having based the decision to update the previous systematic review on an existing method/decision tool.
Number of systematic reviews included
100
Number of eligible systematic reviews assessed
2644
Does the article have a publicly available protocol?
Yes
Did the review team include both methodological and clinical experts?
Not Applicable
Sampling strategy for obtaining the systematic reviews under assessment
Random
Was the sample size of systematic reviews subject to any formal sample size or power calculation?
No
Were any or all of the study selection and data extraction performed in duplicate?
Yes
Were any statistical adjustments made to correct for confounding?
Not Applicable
Are the methods of the article described in enough detail to replicate the study?
