A Cross-Sectional Study Based on Forty Systematic Reviews of Foods with Function Claims (FFC) in Japan: Quality Assessment Using AMSTAR 2

Ref ID 929
First Author H. Kamioka
Journal NUTRIENTS
Year Of Publishing 2023
URL https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10180741/
Keywords • Low methodological quality
• Non-Cochrane reviews
• Nutrition
• Protocols
Problem(s) • Insufficient literature searches
• Limited quality assessment or no risk of bias
• Low reporting or methodological quality (OTHER GUIDANCE)
• No registered or published protocol
Article Type Empirical
Article Subtype Cross-sectional survey/Methodological systematic review
First Author Country Japan
Checklists • AMSTAR 2
Aim To assess the methodological quality (AMSTAR 2) of systematic reviews of foods with function claims (FFC) registered on the Consumer Affairs Agency website in Japan from 1 April to 31 October 2022.
Level of Investigation Descriptive
Summary of Findings From 40 included systematic reviews of foods with function claims (FFC) randomly selected from the Consumer Affairs Agency website in Japan from 1 April to 31 October 2022. Overall confidence was rated as “high” (N = 0, 0%), “moderate” (N = 0, 0%), “low” (N = 2, 5%), or “critically low” (N = 38, 95%). The mean AMSTAR 2 score was 51.1% (SD 12.1%; range 19–73%). Among the 40 systematic reviews, the number of critical domain deficiencies was 4 in 7.5% of systematic reviews, 3 in 52.5% of systematic reviews, 2 in 35% of systematic reviews, and 1 in 5% of systematic reviews. Registering the review’s protocol and comprehensive search strategies were particularly common deficiencies. Additionally, the risk of bias (RoB) was insufficiently considered.
Number of systematic reviews included 40
Number of eligible systematic reviews assessed 519
Treatment impacted No
Treatment impacted description
Interpretation impacted Not Applicable
Interpretation impacted description