Recommendations for Assessing Risk of Bias in Studies
Author Information
Author(s): Andreas Lundh, Peter C. Gøtzsche
Primary Institution: Nordic Cochrane Centre, Rigshospitalet
Hypothesis
How do Cochrane Review Groups recommend assessing the risk of bias in studies?
Conclusion
Many Cochrane Review Groups lack empirical evidence for their recommendations on assessing risk of bias.
Supporting Evidence
- 82% of review groups recommended a component approach for quality assessment.
- Only 56% of groups had specific recommendations for using quality assessments analytically in reviews.
- Scales were recommended by 18% of the groups, often without reservations.
Takeaway
This study looked at how different groups suggest checking for mistakes in research studies, and found that many don't have good reasons for their suggestions.
Methodology
The authors reviewed guidelines from 50 Cochrane Review Groups on how to assess methodological quality in studies.
Potential Biases
Some groups recommended items not related to bias in their quality assessments.
Limitations
The study only included guidelines from Cochrane Review Groups and did not assess the actual implementation of these guidelines.
Statistical Information
P-Value
p<0.0001
Statistical Significance
p<0.0001
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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