Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis on Asthma Treatments. A Cross-Sectional Study

Ref ID 723
First Author I.X.Y. Wu
Journal ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN THORACIC SOCIETY
Year Of Publishing 2020
URL https://dx.doi.org/10.1513/AnnalsATS.202003-187OC
Keywords • Immunology
• Non-Cochrane reviews
• Low reporting quality
• Publication bias
• Expertise
• Cochrane
• Low methodological quality
• Disclosure
• Risk of bias
• Protocols
Problem(s) • No registered or published protocol
• Low methodological (AMSTAR) quality
• Conflicts of interest or funding of included studies not assessed
• Cochrane reviews more rigorous/higher quality than non-Cochrane reviews
• Reasons for excluding potentially eligible studies not provided
• Lack of statistical expertise in handling of quantitative data
• Poor consideration of publication bias
• Meta-analyses and forest plots presented without considering risk of bias / quality
Number of systematic reviews included 136
Summary of Findings From 126 included systematic reviews of asthma treatment, 23.5% of reviews were of low methodological quality and 61% were of critically low quality. Cochrane reviews and reviews with a European corresponding author were significantly more likely to be high quality than non-Cochrane systematic reviews or reviews with a corresponding author from America, Asia or Oceania..
Did the article find that the problem(s) led to qualitative changes in interpretation of the results? N/A
Are the methods of the article described in enough detail to replicate the study? Yes