Physical harms in colorectal cancer screening: An overview of the reporting in systematic reviews and randomised controlled trials.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To assess the comprehensiveness of the reporting of physical harms in colorectal cancer screening programmes (CRCSPs) in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and systematic reviews (SRs).

Design

We conducted an overview of reviews, comparing the comprehensiveness of reporting of harms in SRs and RCTs with a recent SR conducted according to the PRISMA-harms extension, identifying 17 types of physical harm potentially resulting from CRCSPs.

Main outcome measures

Proportion of the 17 types of physical harm reported per study (study coverage), across studies (outcome coverage) and the level of harm severity reported in RCTs and SRs.

Results

We identified 24 RCTs and 16 SRs investigating physical harms related to CRCSPs. The median study coverage was 4 and

SUBMITTER: Bie AKL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12425235 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature