Skip to main content

Table 1 Basic characteristics of published DRMA in past 7 years

From: Improving the quality of reporting of systematic reviews of dose-response meta-analyses: a cross-sectional survey

Category by items

All publications (N = 529)

No. of authors [median (first to third quartile)]

6 (4 to 8)

  ≤ 4

171 (32.33%)

 5 ~  8

278 2.55%)

  > 8

80 (15.12%)

Year of publish

 2011

35 (6.62%)

 2012

44 (8.32%)

 2013

56 (10.59%)

 2014

117 (22.12%)

 2015

120 (22.68%)

 2016

85 (16.07%)

 2017 (up to July-31)

72 (13.61%)

Database searched [median ((first to third quartile))]

2 (2 to 3)

  ≤ 1

61 (11.53%)

 2 ~  3

385 (72.78%)

  > 3

83 (15.69%)

Journal distribution (n = 174 for journal numbers)

 Specialist journal

410 (77.50%)

 General journal

119 (22.50%)

Methodologist involved

 Yes

349 (65.97%)

 No

180 (34.03%)

Design of source study

 Cohort

318 (60.11%)

 Case-control

7 (1.32%)

 Cross-section

3 (0.57%)

 Mixed

199 (37.62%)

 CCT and RCT

2 (0.38%)

Classification of subject

 Epidemiology

525 (99.24%)

 Intervention

1 (0.19%)

 Prognosis

2 (0.38%)

 Diagnose

1 (0.19%)

Primary outcome

 Cancer

260 (49.15%)

 CVD

118 (22.31%)

 Type 2 Diabetes

45 (8.51%)

 Fracture and Osteoarthritis

21 (3.97%)

 CVD and Cancer/Diabetes

13 (2.46%)

 Metabolic Syndrome or Obesity

13 (2.46%)

 Pregnancy Outcomes (e.g. neonatal death, low birth weight)

12 (2.27%)

 Dementia/Cognitive impairment/Alzheimer’s Disease/Parkinson’s disease

12 (2.27%)

 Depression

6 (1.13%)

 Digestive tract disease (e.g. pancreatitis, gallbladder disease)

12 (2.27%)

 Urinary System disease (e.g. urolithiasis)

6 (1.13%)

 Others (e.g. Cataract, Gout)

12 (2.27%)

No. of included studies [median ((first to third quartile))]

14 (10 to 21)

  ≤ 10

151 (28.54%)

 11 ~  21

247 (46.69%)

  > 21

130 (24.57%)

 Missing

1 (0.19%)

Region

 Asian

350 (66.16%)

 European

129 (24.39%)

 America

47 (8.88%)

 Australia

3 (0.57%)

Reporting checklist

 PRISMA

109 (20.60%)

 MOOSE

204 (38.56%)

 PRISMA + MOOSE

31 (5.86%)

 Other

6 (1.13%)

 None

179 (33.84%)

Model used in trend approximationa

 RCS regression

295 (55.77%)

 FP regression

61 (11.53%)

 Other non-linear regression

21 (3.97%)

 Linear

152 (28.73%)

Funding

 Yes

337 (63.71%)

 No

54 (10.21%)

 Not reported

138 (26.09%)

  1. aRCS restricted cubic spline, FP fractional polynomial; other non-linear regression including natural cubic spline, quadratic polynomial, et al.