GRADE Reporting in Systematic Reviews Published in the Urological Literature (2009-2021).

Abstract

To evaluate the reporting of the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach to rating the certainty of evidence in systematic reviews (SRs) published in the urological literature. Based on a predefined protocol we identified all SRs published in 5 major urological journals from 1998 to 2021 that reported the use of GRADE. Two authors performed study selection and data abstraction independently to assess reporting in accordance with established criteria for applying GRADE. We included 68 of 522 (13.0%) SRs that reported the use of GRADE; the first was published in 2009. Approximately half were published between 2009-2018 (n=36) and the other half between 2019-2021 (n=32). Oncology (24; 35.3%) was the most common clinical topic and the authors were mostly based in Europe (34; 50%). In their abstract, less than half of all SRs (32; 47.1%) provided any certainty of evidence rating. Only 41 (60.3%) included a tabular result summary in the format of a summary of findings table (24; 35.3%) or evidence profile (17; 25.0%). Few (35.3%) addressed the GRADE certainty of evidence rating in the discussion section. Reporting did not improve over time when comparing the 2 time-periods. Whereas GRADE is increasingly being applied for rating the certainty of evidence, SRs published in the urological literature frequently have not followed established criteria for applying or using GRADE. There is a need for better training of authors and editors as well as for a GRADE reporting checklist for SR authors.