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Table 1 Number of Cochrane plain language summaries adhering to the PLEACS standards

From: Cochrane plain language summaries are highly heterogeneous with low adherence to the standards

 

PLEACS items

N (%) of PLS adhering to the PLEACS itema

1

Title of systematic review restated in plain language

1105 (64)

2

Number of PLSs within recommended word count (400-700)

404 (23)

3

Technical terms and jargon absent

748 (43)

4

PLS structured

626 (36)

5

If structured, subtitles as recommended

217 (35)

6

If not structured as recommended, how many of the 5 recommended subtitles are missing?

1 missing: 141 (34)

2 missing: 90 (22)

3 missing: 47 (10)

4 missing: 40 (10)

5 missing: 94 (23)

7

Search date indicated

Month and year: 992 (57)

Year only: 20 (11)

8

Details of search strategy absent

1718 (99)

9

Population details provided

236 (15)

10

Number of studies indicated

1429 (91)

11

Number of participants indicated

1201 (77)

12

Complex statistical data absent

1527 (98)

13

Quality of the studies addressed

875 (56)

14

GRADE system mentioned

11 (0.7)

  1. aItems 1–4 and 7–8 calculated for all included PLSs (N = 1738), items 9–14 for those that were not empty (N = 1562). Item five was calculated only for structured PLSs (N = 626) and item six for PLSs not structured as recommended (N = 409)