Reliability of the evidence to guide decision-making in foot ulcer prevention in diabetes: an overview of systematic reviews

Ref ID 858
First Author F. Crawford
Journal BMC MEDICAL RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Year Of Publishing 2022
URL https://bmcmedresmethodol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12874-022-01738-y
Keywords • Expertise
• Reproducibility
• Low reporting quality
• Searching
• Low methodological quality
• Risk of bias
• Endocrinology
Problem(s) • High risk of bias (ROBIS)
• Lack of prespecification in eligibility criteria
• Insufficient literature searches
• Lack of statistical expertise in handling of quantitative data
• Poor execution of narrative synthesis
Article Type Empirical
Article Subtype Cross-sectional survey/Methodological systematic review
First Author Country United Kingdom
Checklists • ROBIS
Aim To assess the comprehensiveness and utility of the available secondary evidence as a reliable source of robust estimates of effect with the aim of informing a cost-effective care pathway using an economic model.
Level of Investigation Descriptive
Summary of Findings From 30 included systematic reviews of foot ulcer prevention in diabetes indexed across 6 databases up to 17th May 2021. Many of the 30 included systematic reviews were poorly reported and have fundamental methodological shortcomings (assessed using ROBIS) associated with increased risk of bias. Most concerns relate to vague inclusion criteria (60%), weak search or selection strategies (70%) and quality appraisal methods (53%) and inexpert conduct and interpretation of quantitative and narrative evidence syntheses (57%).
Number of systematic reviews included 30
Number of eligible systematic reviews assessed 8980
Treatment impacted No
Treatment impacted description
Interpretation impacted Not Applicable
Interpretation impacted description