Alberta Research Centre for Health Evidence, Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
BMC Pediatr. 2010 May 20;10:34. doi: 10.1186/1471-2431-10-34.
Systematic reviews (SRs) are considered an important tool for decision-making. There has been no recent comprehensive identification or description of child-relevant SRs. A description of existing child-relevant SRs would help to identify the extent of available child-relevant evidence available in SRs and gaps in the evidence base where SRs are required. The objective of this study was to describe child-relevant SRs from the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR, Issue 2, 2009).
SRs were assessed for relevance using pre-defined criteria. Data were extracted and entered into an electronic form. Univariate analyses were performed to describe the SRs overall and by topic area.
The search yielded 1666 SRs; 793 met the inclusion criteria. 38% of SRs were last assessed as up-to-date prior to 2007. Corresponding authors were most often from the UK (41%). Most SRs (59%) examined pharmacological interventions. 53% had at least one external source of funding. SRs included a median of 7 studies (IQR 3, 15) and 679 participants (IQR 179, 2833). Of all studies, 48% included only children, and 27% only adults. 94% of studies were published in peer-reviewed journals. Primary outcomes were specified in 72% of SRs. Allocation concealment and the Jadad scale were used in 97% and 25% of SRs, respectively. Adults and children were analyzed separately in 12% of SRs and as a subgroup analysis in 14%. Publication bias was assessed in only 14% of SRs. A meta-analysis was conducted in 68% of SRs with a median of 5 trials (IQR 3, 9) each. Variations in these characteristics were observed across topic areas.
We described the methodological characteristics and rigour of child-relevant reviews in the CDSR. Many SRs are not up-to-date according to Cochrane criteria. Our study describes variation in conduct and reporting across SRs and reveals clinicians' ability to access child-specific data.
系统评价（SRs）被认为是决策的重要工具。最近没有对与儿童相关的 SRs 进行全面的识别或描述。对现有的与儿童相关的 SRs 进行描述，有助于确定 SRs 中现有的与儿童相关证据的范围以及需要 SRs 的证据基础中的差距。本研究的目的是描述 2009 年 Cochrane 系统评价数据库（CDSR，第 2 期）中的与儿童相关的 SRs。
使用预先定义的标准评估 SRs 的相关性。提取数据并输入电子表格。进行单变量分析以描述总体和按主题领域的 SRs。
搜索产生了 1666 篇 SRs；793 篇符合纳入标准。38%的 SRs 最后一次评估是在 2007 年之前的更新。通讯作者大多来自英国（41%）。大多数 SRs（59%）检查了药理学干预措施。53%至少有一个外部资金来源。SRs 包括中位数为 7 项研究（IQR 3，15）和 679 名参与者（IQR 179，2833）。所有研究中，48%仅包括儿童，27%仅包括成人。94%的研究发表在同行评议的期刊上。72%的 SRs 指定了主要结局。97%的 SRs 使用了分配隐藏，25%的 SRs 使用了 Jadad 量表。12%的 SRs 将成人和儿童分别进行分析，14%的 SRs 将其作为亚组分析。只有 14%的 SRs评估了发表偏倚。68%的 SRs 进行了荟萃分析，中位数为 5 项试验（IQR 3，9）。在不同主题领域观察到这些特征的变化。
我们描述了 CDSR 中与儿童相关的综述的方法学特征和严谨性。许多 SRs 根据 Cochrane 标准并非最新。我们的研究描述了 SRs 之间的实施和报告差异，并揭示了临床医生获取儿童特定数据的能力。
