Systematic reviews of prognosis studies: a critical appraisal of five core clinical journals.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Prognosis research refers to the investigation of association between a baseline health state, patient characteristic and future outcomes. The findings of several prognostic studies can be summarized in systematic reviews (SRs), but some characteristics of prognostic studies may result in difficulties when performing the analyses. This study aimed to investigate trends in the volume and quality of SRs of prognostic studies in the literature.

Methods

We conducted a systematic review in five high-impact clinical journals (Annals of Internal Medicine, BMJ, Circulation, JAMA, and Stroke) to identify SRs of prognosis studies focused on fundamental prognosis research and prognostic factor research published between 2000 and 2012. We excluded studies of clinical predicti

SUBMITTER: Matino D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6460771 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature