An alternative to the hand searching gold standard: validating methodological search filters using relative recall

Table 1 Characteristics of the Included Systematic Reviews

Characteristic	n (total = 105)	%
Year of publication or substantive update
Median	2001
Interquartile range	1999–2001
Focus of the review
Treatment	89	84.8
Prevention	14	13.3
Diagnosis	1	1.0
Other	1	1.0
Study designs included
RCT only	55	52.4
RCT and qRCT	39	37.1
RCT and other controlled trials	11	10.5
Meta-analysis undertaken	78	74.3
Review groups with 4 or more included reviews*
Musculoskeletal Injuries	22	21.0
Eyes and Vision	12	11.4
Renal	9	8.6
Prostatic Diseases and Urologic Cancers	8	7.6
Back	6	5.7
Schizophrenia	6	5.7
Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis	5	4.8
Infectious Diseases	4	3.8
Upper Gastrointestinal and Pancreatic Diseases	4	3.8
Other	29	27.6
Number of included studies per review
Median	12
Interquartile range	5.0–19.5

Other group representation is as follows: Menstrual Disorders, Skin (3 reviews each), Effective Practice and Organisation of Care, Gynaecological Cancer, Heart, Hepato-Bilary, Hypertension, Lung Cancer (2 reviews each), Acute Respiratory Infections, Colorectal Cancer, Drugs and Alcohol, Ear, Nose and Throat, Fertility Regulation, HIV/AIDs, Metabolic and Endocrine Disorders, Movement Disorders, Oral Health, Pregnancy and Childbirth, Stroke (1 review each).

ISSN: 1471-2288