Table 1.
Quality assessment of systematic reviews of outcome measurement instruments
| Quality aspects | % current study | % study of 2007 [1]a |
|---|---|---|
| Elements included in the research aim | ||
| Construct of interest | 94 | |
| Population of interest | 88 | |
| Type of measurement instrument of interest | 52 | |
| Measurement properties of interest | 81 | |
| All available instruments included | 52 | |
| Only instruments included that have at least some evidence of measurement properties | 48 | |
| Search strategy described | 93 | 84 |
| No search terms or validated search filter used for | ||
| Measurement properties | 64 | |
| Type of instrument | 25 | |
| Number of databases searched [median (range)] | 4 (1–15) | |
| Search in at least 2 databases | 92 | 76 |
| MEDLINE/PubMed | 92 | 93 |
| EMBASE | 59 | 35 |
| Additional databases | 87 | 57 |
| Reference checking used | 65 | |
| No time limits used or good arguments for a time limit | 72 | |
| No language restrictions used | 26 | 79 |
| Inclusion and exclusion criteria clearly described | 86 | 72 |
| Reasons for excluding articles reported | 55 | |
| Abstract selection by at least 2 reviewers? | ||
| Yes | 41 | |
| No | 21 | |
| Unclear | 38 | |
| Full-text article selection by at least 2 reviewers? | ||
| Yes | 38 | |
| No | 13 | |
| Unclear | 48 | |
| Abstract and full-text article selection by at least 2 reviewers? | ||
| Yes | 29 | 22 |
| No | 12 | 3 |
| Unclear | 59 | 75 |
| Methodological quality of studies assessed | 41 | 30 |
| Quality assessment of studies done by at least 2 reviewers | ||
| Yes | 60 | |
| No | 12 | |
| Unclear | 28 | |
| Data on measurement properties extracted by at least 2 reviewers | ||
| Yes | 25 | 25 |
| No | 13 | 4 |
| Unclear | 62 | 71 |
| Quality of the instrument (measurement properties) assessed | 58 | 55 |
| Quality assessment of the instrument by at least 2 reviewers | ||
| Yes | 33 | |
| No | 5 | |
| Unclear | 62 | |
| Results from multiple studies on the same instrument somehow combined (e.g., best evidence synthesis or pooling) | ||
| Yes, clearly described | 20 | 7b |
| Yes, but unclear how | 22 | |
| No | 58 | |
| Data synthesis was performed… | ||
| Per measurement property | 79 | |
| Only for domains (reliability, validity, responsiveness) | 9 | |
| Only for the whole instrument | 12 | |
| Recommendation provided for the best instrument | ||
| One instrument is recommended per construct | 23 | |
| More instruments are recommended per construct | 26 | |
| No recommendation for the best instrument | 51 | |
| Results for the measurement properties reported as raw data | ||
| Yes | 56 | |
| Partly | 13 | |
| No | 31 | |
| Number of measurement properties reported [median (range)] | 6 (1–9) | |
| Conflict of interest or funding source declared | 81 | |
| One of the authors of the review is also the developer of one of the instruments evaluated in the review | 9 |
aNot all items were evaluated in the study in 2007
bYes (clearly described or unclear how combined)