Table 1 Characteristics of included studies (N = 871)
Variable | N (%)a |
|---|---|
Study design | |
Overview of systematic reviews | 612 (70) |
Methodological study | 160 (18) |
Protocol for an overview of systematic reviews | 61 (7.0) |
Guideline | 29 (3.3) |
Policy brief with evidence synthesis | 1 (0.01) |
Health Technology Assessment | 1 (0.01) |
Protocol for a methodological study | 1 (0.01) |
Methodological study and overview of systematic reviews | 1 (0.01) |
Rapid review appraisal | 1 (0.01) |
Guideline assessment | 1 (0.01) |
Guideline protocol | 1 (0.01) |
Consensus statement | 1 (0.01) |
Type of report | |
Full manuscript | 826 (95) |
Conference abstract | 45 (5.2) |
The most common journals where analyzed articles were published | |
BMJ Open | 31 (3.6) |
Systematic Reviews | 23 (2.6) |
PLoS One | 22 (2.5) |
Medicine | 22 (2.5) |
Journal of Clinical Epidemiology | 19 (2.2) |
Chinese Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine | 14 (1.6) |
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews | 13 (1.5) |
Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine | 11 (1.3) |
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health | 11 (1.3) |
AMSTAR version used | |
AMSTAR 2 | 451 (52) |
AMSTAR | 382 (44) |
R-AMSTAR | 31 (3.6) |
Both AMSTAR and AMSTAR 2 | 5 (0.006) |
Both AMSTAR and R-AMSTAR | 1 (0.001) |
Unclear whether AMSTAR or AMSTAR 2 was used | 1 (0.001) |
References used to support the use of AMSTAR more than two times (N = 382) | |
Shea et al., 2007, BMC Medical Research Methodology [1] | 216 (57) |
Shea et al., 2009 [5] | 94 (25) |
Shea et al., 2007, PLoS One [6] | 20 (5.2) |
Shea et al., 2017 [2] | 11 (2.9) |
AMSTAR web site | 6 (1.6) |
Pieper et al., 2015 [7] | 6 (1.6) |
Sharif et al., 2013 [8] | 6 (1.6) |
Pollock et al., 2017 [9] | 4 (1.0) |
Xiong et al., 2009 [10] | 3 (0.8) |
References used to support the use of AMSTAR 2 (N = 451) | |
Shea et al., 2017 [2] | 396 (88) |
Shea et al., 2007, BMC Medical Research Methodology [1] | 14 (3.1) |
Shea et al., 2009 [5] | 9 (2.0) |
AMSTAR web site | 8 (1.8) |
Zhang et al., 2018 | 3 (0.07) |
Lorenz et al., 2019 [11] | 2 (0.04) |
Shea et al., 2007 PLoS One [6] | 2 (0.04) |
Ge et al., 2017 [12] | 2 (0.04) |
Banzi et al. 2018 | 1 (0.02) |
Biondi-Zoccai, 2016 [13] | 1 (0.02) |
Brouwers et al., 2010 [14] | 1 (0.02) |
Ciapponi, 2017 [15] | 1 (0.02) |
Pieper et al., 2014 [16] | 1 (0.02) |
Pollock et al., 2017 [9] | 1 (0.02) |
Tian et al., 2017 [17] | 1 (0.02) |
Xiong et al., 2009 [18] | 1 (0.02) |
Yan et al., 2018 [19] | 1 (0.02) |
References used to support the use of R-AMSTAR (N = 12) | |
Kung et al., 2010 [20] | 23 (75) |
Shea et al., 2017 [2] | 3 (9.7) |
Shea et al., 2007, BMC Medical Research Methodology [1] | 3 (9.7) |
Dosenovic et al., 2018 [21] | |
Rotta et al., 2015 [22] | 1 |
Shea et al., 2007 PLoS One [6] | |