Table 3 Eligibility criteria and searches (the HTA data were collected for this study; all other data are from Page et al. [1], i.e. the data collected for 300 systematic reviews for a single month in 2004 and 2014)
From: Nature and reporting characteristics of UK health technology assessment systematic reviews
Characteristic | 2004 n = 300 [1] | HTA 2004 n = 23 | HTA 2014 n = 30 | Cochrane 2014 n = 45 [1] | 2014 n = 300 [1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Type of included literature | |||||
Published and unpublisheda | - (41%) | 9/23 (39%) | 19 (65%) | 41 (91%) | 116 (39%) |
Published only | - (23%) | 0 | 1 (5%) | 2 (4%) | 80 (27%) |
Not reported | - (36%) | 14/23 (61%) | 10 (33%) | 2 (4%) | 103 (34%) |
All languages | - (37%) | 11 (48%) | 18 (60%) | 37 (82%) | 129 (43%) |
English only | - (16%) | 9 (39%) | 11 (37%) | 1 (2%) | 92 (31%) |
Not reported | - (45%) | 3 (13%) | 1 (3%) | 6 (13%) | 48 (16%) |
Study design criteria specifiedb | - (72%) | 21/23 (93%) | 30/30 (100%) | 45 (100%) | 237 (79%) |
RCTs | NR | 15 (65%) | 25 (83%) | 44 (98%) | 158 (53%) |
Quasi-RCTs | NR | 3 (13%) | 11 (37%) | 14 (31%) | 33 (11%) |
Controlled | NR | 3 (13%) | 12 (40%) | 4 (9%) | 30 (10%) |
Cohort | NR | 1 (4%) | 12 (40%) | 0 (0%) | 76 (25%) |
Case-control | NR | 0 (0%) | 4 (13%) | 0 (0%) | 49 (16%) |
Other | NR | 5 (22%) | 4 (13%) | 1 (2%) | 56 (19%) |
Unclear | NR | 2 (9%) | 2 (6%) | 0 (0%) | 36 (12%) |
Only RCTs / Quasi-RCTs | NR | 9 (39%) | 8 (27%) | 40 (89%) | 107 (36%) |
Number of databases median (range) | 3 | 10 (4–15) | 9 (2–13) | 5 (4–6) | 4 (3–5) |
Start / end dates of all databases given | - (69%) | 20/23 (87%) | 28 (93%) | 41 (91%) | 196 (65%) |
Only some start / end dates given | - (16%) | 1/23 (4%) | 2 (7%) | 4 (9%) | 88 (29%) |
Full search given of ≥ 1 database | - (42%) | 21/23 (91%) | 30 (100%) | 44 (98%) | 134 (45%) |
Other sources searched | |||||
One or more trial registriesa | NR | 12 (52%) | 21 (70%) | 28 (62%) | 58 (19%) |
Number of other source types searched | NR | 3 (1–6) | 3 (1–6) | 2 (1–3) | 1 (1–2) |
Grey literature | NR | 8 (35%) | 15 (50%) | 9 (20%) | 21 (7%) |
Reference lists | NR | 21 (91%) | 26 (87%) | 38 (84%) | 243 (81%) |
Conference abstracts | NR | 7 (30%) | 10 (33%) | 11 (24%) | 47 (16%) |
Experts | NR | 7 (30%) | 16 (53%) | 23 (51%) | 54 (18%) |
Handsearching particular journals | NR | 5 (22%) | 3 (10%) | 6 (13%) | 25 (8%) |
Manufacturers | NR | 14 (61%) | 4 (13%) | 8 (18%) | 11 (4%) |
Regulators | NR | 3 (13%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 2 (1%) |
Citation tracking | NR | 2 (9%) | 2 (7%) | 8 (18%) | 35 (12%) |