School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VICTORIA, 3004, Australia.
Cochrane Methods Support Unit, Cochrane, London, SW1Y 4QX, UK.
F1000Res. 2021 Jun 8;10:455. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.53034.1. eCollection 2021.
Systematic reviews underpin clinical practice and policies that guide healthcare decisions. A core component of many systematic reviews is meta-analysis, which is a statistical synthesis of results across studies. Errors in the conduct and interpretation of meta-analysis can lead to incorrect conclusions regarding the benefits and harms of interventions; and studies have shown that these errors are common. Enabling peer reviewers to better detect errors in meta-analysis through the use of a checklist provides an opportunity for these errors to be rectified before publication. To our knowledge, no such checklist exists. To develop and evaluate a checklist to detect errors in pairwise meta-analyses in systematic reviews of interventions. We will undertake a four-step process to develop the checklist. First, we will undertake a systematic review of studies that have evaluated errors in the conduct and interpretation of meta-analysis to generate a bank of items to consider for the checklist. Second, we will undertake a survey of systematic review methodologists and statisticians to seek their views on which items, of the bank of items generated in step 1, are most important to include in the checklist. Third, we will hold a virtual meeting to agree upon which items to include in the checklist. Fourth, before finalising the checklist, we will pilot with editors and peer reviewers of journals. The developed checklist is intended to help journal editors and peer reviewers identify errors in the application and interpretation of meta-analyses in systematic reviews. Fewer errors in the conduct and improved interpretation will lead to more accurate review findings and conclusions to inform clinical practice.
系统评价是临床实践和指导医疗决策的政策的基础。许多系统评价的核心组成部分是荟萃分析，这是对研究结果的统计综合。荟萃分析的实施和解释中的错误会导致干预措施的益处和危害的结论不正确；研究表明，这些错误很常见。通过使用清单使同行评审员能够更好地检测荟萃分析中的错误，为在发表前纠正这些错误提供了机会。据我们所知，目前还没有这样的清单。 制定和评估一份清单，以检测干预措施系统评价中荟萃分析的错误。 我们将分四步来制定清单。首先，我们将对评估荟萃分析实施和解释错误的研究进行系统回顾，为清单生成考虑的项目库。其次，我们将对系统评价方法学家和统计学家进行调查，征求他们对从步骤 1 中生成的项目库中哪些项目最重要纳入清单的意见。第三，我们将举行虚拟会议，就清单中应包含的项目达成一致。第四，在最终确定清单之前，我们将对期刊编辑和同行评审员进行试点。 制定的清单旨在帮助期刊编辑和同行评审员识别系统评价中荟萃分析应用和解释中的错误。荟萃分析实施中的错误减少和解释的改善将导致更准确的审查结果和结论，以指导临床实践。
