Comment on "Ticks infected with Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV): A decision approach systematic review and meta-analysis regarding their role as vectors"

Ref ID 904
First Author J. Rouhani
Journal TRAVEL MEDICINE AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE
Year Of Publishing 2023
URL https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S147789392200165X?via%3Dihub
Keywords Transparency
Animal studies
Publication bias
Heterogeneity
Risk of bias
Low reporting quality
Non-Cochrane reviews
Problem(s) Inadequate analysis of heterogeneity
Poor consideration of publication bias
Limited quality assessment or no risk of bias
Single reviewer / lack of double checking
Methods not described to enable replication
Lack of prespecification in eligibility criteria
Number of systematic reviews included 1
Summary of Findings From a letter highlighting concerns in the conduct of a systematic review on ticks infected with Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus, published in 2022. The concerns raised in this letter relate to: the literature search, data extraction, and statistical analysis, reportedly carried out by a single author; lack of information regarding search time points, language restrictions, the search strategy, or the inclusion or exclusion criteria. The letter authors report that there is no information about the quality assessment of the included studies. There are reportedly issues with the assessment of heterogeneity and the authors highlight that neither sensitivity nor a meta-regression analysis was conducted to determine whether the confounding variable affected the overall estimates. Finally neither publication bias nor other limitations of review were mentioned by the review authors.
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?