Abstract
BackgroundAn increasing number of systematic reviews assessed the safety of surgical interventions over time. How well these systematic reviews were designed and conducted determines the reliability of evidence. In this study, we aimed to assess the methodological quality of systematic reviews on the safety of surgical interventions.MethodsWe searched PubMed for systematic reviews of surgical interventions with safety as the exclusive outcome from 1st-Jan, 2015 to 1st-Jan, 2020. The methodological quality of eligible systematic reviews was evaluated according to the AMSTAR 2.0 instrument. The primary outcomes were the number of methodological weaknesses and the global methodological quality. The proportion of each methodological weakness among eligible systematic reviews was compared by three pre-defined stratification variables. The absolute difference of the proportion (PD) was used as the effect estimator, with the two-tailed z-test for the significance.ResultsWe identified 127 systematic reviews from 18,636 records. None (n = 0, 0.00%) of them could be rated as “high” in terms of the global methodological quality; in contrast, they were either rated as “low” (n = 18, 14.17%) or as “critically low” (n = 109, 85.83%). The median number of methodological weaknesses of these systematic reviews was 8 (interquartile range, IQR: 6 to 9), in which 4 (IQR: 2 to 4) were critical weaknesses. Systematic reviews that used any reporting guideline (e.g., domain 13, PD = -0.22, 95% CI: − 0.39, − 0.06; p = 0.01) and developed a protocol in advance (e.g., domain 6, PD = -0.20, 95% CI: − 0.39, − 0.01; p = 0.04) were less likely to have methodological weakness in some domains but not for the rest (e.g., domain 8, PD = 0.04, 95% CI: − 0.14, 0.21; p = 0.68; with protocol vs. without).ConclusionsThe methodological quality of current systematic reviews of adverse events with surgical interventions was poor. Further efforts, for example, encouraging researchers to develop a protocol in advance, are needed to enhance the methodological quality of these systematic reviews.
Highlights
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses have been increasingly popular in healthcare intervention comparisons that offer an important source of evidence to support the decision-making [1, 2]
We investigated the methodological quality of published systematic reviews of adverse events with surgical interventions
From the remaining 1330 records, we identified 542 systematic reviews of interventions on safety outcomes, where 127 (19.48%) referred to surgical interventions (Fig. 1)
Summary
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses have been increasingly popular in healthcare intervention comparisons that offer an important source of evidence to support the decision-making [1, 2]. Zhou et al BMC Med Res Methodol (2021) 21:223 former frequently draws more attention over the latter. This preference has been reflected in the related publications; most systematic reviews and meta-analyses were about effectiveness rather than safety [6]. It is arguably reasonable to some extent because patients with serious symptoms may care more about the pain caused by disease rather than potential adverse events, and for many interventions, adverse events are rare [7]. An increasing number of systematic reviews assessed the safety of surgical interventions over time. How well these systematic reviews were designed and conducted determines the reliability of evidence. We aimed to assess the methodological quality of systematic reviews on the safety of surgical interventions
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
