Table 1 Bibliographical characteristics of the 106 included systematic reviews on acupuncture
From: Low methodological quality of systematic reviews on acupuncture: a cross-sectional study
Bibliographical characteristics | Results* |
|---|---|
Cochrane review | 5 (4.7) |
An update of previous review | 19 (17.9) |
 An update of previous Cochrane review | 3 (2.8) |
 An update of a previous non-Cochrane review | 16 (15.1) |
Publication journal impact factor median (range) | 2.0 (0–6.8) |
Number of review authors median (range) | 6 (2–13) |
Location of corresponding author | |
 Europe | 4 (3.8) |
 America | 7 (6.6) |
 Asia | 93 (87.7) |
 Oceania | 2 (1.9) |
Number of primary studies included in SRs | |
 Total | 1864 |
 Median (range) | 13.5 (3–73) |
Number of participants enrolled in the primary studies of SRs | |
 Total | 204,784 |
 Median (range) | 1238 (178–20,827) |
SRs reporting intervention harms | 76 (71.7) |
Funding location of the SR | |
 Europe | 4 (3.8) |
 America | 4 (3.8) |
 Asia | 66 (62.3) |
 Not reported | 8 (7.5) |
 No funding support | 24 (22.6) |
SRs that searched English databases | 105 (99.1) |
SRs that searched non-English databases | 88 (83.0) |
Report year span of search | |
 Yes, reported both starting and ending years | 81 (76.4) |
 Partially, only reported starting years | 19 (17.9) |
 Not mentioned | 6 (5.7) |
Search terms reported for one or more electronic databases | |
 Topics/free text/keywords/MeSH | 47 (44.3) |
 Full Boolean | 54 (50.9) |
 Readers are referred elsewhere for full search strategy | 0 (0) |
 No research term | 5 (4.7) |
Language of included primary studies in SRs | |
 English only | 9 (8.5) |
 Language other than English | 6 (5.7) |
 English and other languages | 32 (30.2) |
Not reported | 59 (55.7) |
Risk of bias assessment tools | |
 Cochrane risk of bias | 99 (93.4) |
 Jadad scale | 2 (1.9) |
 Pedro Scale | 2 (1.9) |
 Others | 1 (0.9) |
 Risk of bias assessment tool not used | 2 (1.9) |
Included a PRISMA-like flow diagram | 102 (96.2) |