Abstract
Objective
Clinical practice guideline recommendations are often informed by systematic reviews. This review aimed to appraise the reporting and methodological quality of systematic reviews informing clinical practice recommendations relevant to vascular surgery.
Data sources
MEDLINE and Embase.
Methods
MEDLINE and Embase were searched from 1 January 2021 to 5 May 2023 for clinical practice guidelines relevant to vascular surgery. Guidelines were then screened for systematic reviews informing recommendations. The reporting and methodological quality of these systematic reviews were assessed using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 statement and Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR 2) 2017 tool. Pearson correlation and multiple regression analyses were performed to determine associations between these scores and extracted study characteristics.
Results
Eleven clinical practice guidelines were obtained, containing 1 783 references informing guideline recommendations. From these, 215 systematic reviews were included for synthesis. PRISMA item completeness ranged 14 – 100%, with a mean of 63% across reviews. AMSTAR 2 item completeness ranged 2 – 95%, with a mean of 50%. Pearson correlation highlighted a statistically significant association between a review’s PRISMA and AMSTAR 2 score (r = 0.85, p < .001). A more recent publication year was associated with a statistically significant increase in both scores (PRISMA coefficient 1.28, p < .001; and AMSTAR 2 coefficient 1.31, p < .001). Similarly, the presence of funding in a systematic review was shown to be statistically significantly associated with an increase in both PRISMA and AMSTAR 2 scores (coefficient 4.93, p = .024; and coefficient 6.07, p = .019, respectively).
Conclusion
Systematic reviews informing clinical practice guidelines relevant to vascular surgery were of moderate quality at best. Organisations producing clinical practice guidelines should consider funding systematic reviews to improve the quality of their recommendations.
Clinical practice guideline recommendations are often informed by systematic reviews. This review aimed to appraise the reporting and methodological quality of systematic reviews informing clinical practice recommendations relevant to vascular surgery.
Data sources
MEDLINE and Embase.
Methods
MEDLINE and Embase were searched from 1 January 2021 to 5 May 2023 for clinical practice guidelines relevant to vascular surgery. Guidelines were then screened for systematic reviews informing recommendations. The reporting and methodological quality of these systematic reviews were assessed using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 statement and Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR 2) 2017 tool. Pearson correlation and multiple regression analyses were performed to determine associations between these scores and extracted study characteristics.
Results
Eleven clinical practice guidelines were obtained, containing 1 783 references informing guideline recommendations. From these, 215 systematic reviews were included for synthesis. PRISMA item completeness ranged 14 – 100%, with a mean of 63% across reviews. AMSTAR 2 item completeness ranged 2 – 95%, with a mean of 50%. Pearson correlation highlighted a statistically significant association between a review’s PRISMA and AMSTAR 2 score (r = 0.85, p < .001). A more recent publication year was associated with a statistically significant increase in both scores (PRISMA coefficient 1.28, p < .001; and AMSTAR 2 coefficient 1.31, p < .001). Similarly, the presence of funding in a systematic review was shown to be statistically significantly associated with an increase in both PRISMA and AMSTAR 2 scores (coefficient 4.93, p = .024; and coefficient 6.07, p = .019, respectively).
Conclusion
Systematic reviews informing clinical practice guidelines relevant to vascular surgery were of moderate quality at best. Organisations producing clinical practice guidelines should consider funding systematic reviews to improve the quality of their recommendations.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | European Journal of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery |
| Early online date | 13 Nov 2024 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 13 Nov 2024 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2024 European Society for Vascular Surgery