Risk of bias judgments for random sequence generation in Cochrane systematic reviews were frequently not in line with Cochrane Handbook

BMC Medical Research Methodology
Ognjen BarcotLivia Puljak

Abstract

Assessing the risk of bias (RoB) in included studies is one of the key methodological aspects of systematic reviews. Cochrane systematic reviews appraise RoB of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) with the Cochrane RoB tool. Detailed instructions for using the Cochrane RoB tool are provided in the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions (The Cochrane Handbook). The purpose of this study was to analyse whether Cochrane authors use adequate judgments about the RoB for random sequence generation of RCTs included in Cochrane reviews. We extracted authors' judgments (high, low or unclear RoB) and supports for judgments (comments accompanying judgments which explain the rationale for a judgment) for random sequence generation of included RCTs from RoB tables of Cochrane reviews using automated data scraping. We categorised all supporting comments, analysed the number and type of various supporting comments and assessed adequacy of RoB judgment for randomisation in line with recommendations from the Cochrane Handbook. We analysed 10,103 RCTs that were included in 704 Cochrane reviews. For 5,706 RCTs, randomisation was not described, but for the remaining RCTs, it was indicated that randomisation was performed using c...Continue Reading

References

Jan 31, 2006·American Journal of Epidemiology·Lise Lotte Gluud
Oct 20, 2011·BMJ : British Medical Journal·Julian P T HigginsUNKNOWN Cochrane Statistical Methods Group
Nov 28, 2012·Journal of Clinical Epidemiology·Bruno R da CostaMatthias Egger
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Dec 15, 2017·Frontiers in Psychiatry·Paola Matiko Martins OkudaHugo Cogo-Moreira
Apr 23, 2019·Journal of Clinical Epidemiology·Frano SaricLivia Puljak

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Citations

Aug 16, 2019·Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics·David SchnadowerStephen B Freedman
Jun 7, 2019·World Journal of Urology·Mihai Dorin VartolomeiChristian Seitz
Sep 24, 2019·The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews·Michael DanIan A Harris
Sep 27, 2019·Stroke; a Journal of Cerebral Circulation·Robert C ShawTerence J Quinn
May 16, 2019·The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews·Karla ZadnikKristina Lindsley
May 28, 2019·The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews·Diana Buitrago-GarciaRodrigo Pardo
Jul 25, 2019·The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews·Tamara BrownCarolyn D Summerbell
Aug 20, 2019·The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews·Magdalena Bofill RodriguezIain T Cameron
Mar 19, 2019·The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews·Emily LawTonya M Palermo
Jul 19, 2019·The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews·Sarah J NevittCatrin Tudur Smith
May 28, 2019·The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews·Julia BidondeCatherine Boden
Aug 29, 2019·The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews·Darryl Braganza MenezesMartin Dedicoat
Jul 3, 2019·The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews·Louise SharpeBrian McGuire
May 17, 2019·The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews·Sheel R PatelAnne Barmettler
Aug 20, 2019·The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews·Li Li ShiJinSong Geng
Jun 4, 2019·The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews·Rebecca F McKnightAndrea Cipriani
May 19, 2019·The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews·Eu Chang HwangMichael C Risk
Jul 17, 2019·The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews·Shu-Hua KoMei-Ya Hsu
Oct 7, 2019·The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews·Juan Va FrancoValeria Vietto
Oct 16, 2019·The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews·Aurora E Serralde-ZúñigaGuillermo Melendez
Apr 10, 2020·The Journal of Clinical Hypertension·Lanfranco D'EliaFerruccio Galletti
May 28, 2020·Journal of Comparative Effectiveness Research·Ognjen BarcotLivia Puljak
Nov 18, 2019·Journal of Clinical Epidemiology·Andrija BabicLivia Puljak
Feb 9, 2021·Journal of Nursing Scholarship : an Official Publication of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing·Julian HirtGerhard Mueller

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
scraping

Software Mentioned

Cochrane RoB tool
Visual Basic for Applications ( VBA
Cochrane
Cochrane RoB
MS
VBA
IVRS
Excel

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