Systematic reviews of low back pain prognosis had variable methods and results: guidance for future prognosis reviews

Ref ID 740
First Author J.A.Hayden
Journal JOURNAL OF CLINICAL EPIDEMIOLOGY
Year Of Publishing 2009
URL https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19136234/
Keywords Pain
Risk of bias
Rheumatology
Prognostic
Searching
Problem(s) Flawed risk of bias undertaken
No quality assessment undertaken or reported
Insufficient literature searches
Number of systematic reviews included 17
Summary of Findings A quarter of the included 17 prognostic systematic reviews of low back pain did not clearly define search strategies. Seventy percent of reviews assessed quality of included studies, but assessed only a median of four of six potential biases. The authors conclude that there is an immediate need for methodological work in the area of prognosis systematic reviews and highlight the methodological shortcomings of the primary review literature.
Did the article find that the problem(s) led to qualitative changes in interpretation of the results? Not Applicable
Are the methods of the article described in enough detail to replicate the study? Yes