Table 2 Overall methodological quality of the included systematic reviews by bibliographical characteristics
AMSTAR2 rated overall methodological qualityb | Critically lowa | Lowa | Moderatea | Higha | P values |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 36 (35.3) | 48 (47.1) | 14 (13.7) | 4 (3.9) | - |
Cochrane SRs | <0.001*** | ||||
Yes | 2 (20.0) | 0 (0) | 4 (40.0) | 4 (40.0) | |
No | 34 (37.0) | 48 (52.2) | 10 (10.9) | 0 (0) | |
An update of a previous SR | 0.605 | ||||
Yes | 5 (35.7) | 5 (35.7) | 3 (21.4) | 1 (7.1) | |
No | 31 (35.2) | 43 (48.9) | 11 (12.5) | 3 (3.4) | |
SRs reporting intervention harms | 0.188 | ||||
Yes | 27 (33.8) | 36 (45.0) | 13 (16.3) | 4 (5.0) | |
No | 9 (40.9) | 12 (54.5) | 1 (4.5) | 0 (0) | |
SRs that search for non-English databases | 0.085 | ||||
Yes | 15 (29.4) | 24 (47.1) | 8 (15.7) | 4 (7.8) | |
No | 21 (41.2) | 24 (47.1) | 6 (11.8) | 0 (0) | |
Included a PRISMA-like flow diagram | 0.086 | ||||
Yes | 30 (34.5) | 42 (48.3) | 11 (12.6) | 4 (4.6) | |
No | 6 (40.0) | 6 (40.0) | 3 (20.0) | 0 (0) | |
Publication year | 0.652 | ||||
2014–2015 | 15 (41.7) | 15 (41.7) | 6 (16.7) | 0 (0) | |
2016–2018 | 8 (27.6) | 18 (62.1) | 1 (3.4) | 2 (6.9) | |
2019–2021 | 13 (35.1) | 15 (40.5) | 7 (18.9) | 2 (5.4) | |
Location of the corresponding author | 0.016* | ||||
Europe | 3 (16.7) | 7 (38.9) | 5 (27.8) | 3 (16.7) | |
America | 6 (50.0) | 4 (33.3) | 1 (8.3) | 1 (8.3) | |
Asia | 27 (39.7) | 34 (50.0) | 7 (10.3) | 0 (0) | |
Oceania | 0 (0) | 3 (100) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |
Africa | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (100) | 0 (0) | |
Funding reported by the SR | 0.240 | ||||
No funding | 6 (28.6) | 11 (52.4) | 4 (19.0) | 0 (0) | |
Yes | 20 (33.9) | 26 (44.1) | 9 (15.3) | 4 (6.8) | |
Not reported | 10 (45.5) | 11 (50.0) | 1 (4.5) | 0 (0) | |
Types of treatment | 0.024* | ||||
Non-pharmacological interventions | 11 (57.9) | 8 (42.1) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |
Pharmacological treatments | 24 (31.2) | 36 (46.8) | 13 (16.9) | 4 (5.2) | |
Both types | 1 (16.7) | 4 (66.7) | 1 (16.7) | 0 (0) | |
Report year span of search | 0.854 | ||||
Not mentioned | 2 (66.7) | 0 (0) | 1 (33.3) | 0 (0) | |
Partially | 19 (38.8) | 19 (38.8) | 7 (14.3) | 4 (8.2) | |
Yes | 15 (30.0) | 29 (58.0) | 6 (12.0) | 0 (0) | |
Search terms reported for electronic databases | 0.023* | ||||
No research term | 0 (0) | 2 (100) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |
Topics/free text/keywords/MeSH | 26 (42.6) | 30 (49.2) | 5 (8.2) | 0 (0) | |
Full Boolean | 9 (24.3) | 15 (40.5) | 9 (24.3) | 4 (10.8) | |
Readers are referred elsewhere for full search strategy | 1 (50) | 1 (50) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |
Language criteria of primary studies | 0.240 | ||||
English only | 13 (54.2) | 8 (33.3) | 3 (12.5) | 0 (0) | |
Language other than English | 0 (0) | 1 (100) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |
English and language other than English | 14 (26.4) | 32 (60.4) | 4 (7.5) | 3 (5.7) | |
Not reported | 9 (37.5) | 7 (29.2) | 7 (29.2) | 1 (4.2) | |
Methodological quality assessment tools | 0.001** | ||||
Cochrane Risk of Bias | 15 (22.4) | 37 (55.2) | 11 (16.4) | 4 (6.0) | |
Tools other than Cochrane Risk of Bias | 11 (47.8) | 10 (43.5) | 2 (8.7) | 0 (0) | |
Names of the tools not reported | 5 (71.4) | 1 (14.3) | 1 (14.3) | 0 (0) | |
No quality assessment | 5 (100) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |