Prevalence and methodological quality of systematic reviews in Korean medical journals

Abstract

This study aimed to assess and evaluate the prevalence and methodological quality of systematic reviews (SRs) published in major Korean medical journals (KMJs). The top 15 journals with the highest Korean Medical Citation Index, published between 2018 to 2021, were selected. We assessed the methodological quality of SRs using A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR 2). In total, 126 SRs were included, with an average of 32 SRs being reported annually. The overall prevalence of SRs in KMJs was 2.8%, with an increase from 2.6% in 2018 to 3.4% in 2021. Overall, the methodological quality of SRs was low (9.5% low, 90.5% critically low). More than 80% of the studies adhered to critical domain items such as a comprehensive literature search and risk of bias assessment, but for items such as protocol registration and listing excluded studies and the justification for exclusion, the adherence rate was less than 15%. While the number of SRs in KMJs steadily increased, the overall confidence in the methodological quality was low to critically low. Therefore, in order to provide the best evidence for decision-making in clinical and public health areas, editors, reviewers, and authors need to pay more attention to improving the quality of SRs.

The status quo of systematic reviews published in high-impact journals in Korea: a study focused on protocol registration and GRADE use

“…We used previously collected data to investigate the methodological quality of systematic reviews in medical journals in Korea. The review protocol was registered (CRD42021283214), a full description of the study’s review methods and findings were made available [ 4 ]. The primary study process is presented below.…”

“…Recently, we evaluated the prevalence and methodological quality of systematic reviews published in medical journals in Korea [ 4 ]. We inferred that the methodological quality of the 126 systematic reviews published in the last 4 years from 2018 to 2021 was low to very low according to A MeaSurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR 2), a quality assessment tool for systematic reviews [ 5 ].…”