Table 5.
Transparent Reporting of the Essential Search Elements
| Q. | Search Reporting Questions | Cochrane Reviews (n=9)a |
Non-Cochrane Reviews (n=93)b |
All Reviews (n=102) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| n(%) | n(%) | n(%) | ||
| 1 | How many studies reported the databases searched? | 9 (100%) | 87 (94%) | 96 (94%) |
| 2 | How many reviews reported the interface (i.e. host, platform) used to access and search each database? | 0c | 8 (9%) | 8 (8%) |
| 3 | How many reviews clearly reported the time period of the searches? | 8 (89%) | 27 (29%) | 35 (34%) |
| 4 | How many reviews clearly reported the last date the search was implemented? | 7 (78%) | 11 (12%) | 18 (18%) |
| 5 | How many reviews reported the complete search of at least one or all databases in order to reproduce the search? | 6 (67%) | 7 (8%) | 13 (13%) |
| 6 | How many reviews provided the language limits? | 6 (67%) | 39 (42%) | 45 (44%) |
| 7 | How many reviews reported a supplemental search component? | 9 (100%) | 78 (84%) | 87 (85%) |
| 8 | How many reviews reported including an experienced searcher? | 1 (11%)d | 4 (4%) | 5 (5%) |
a
9 Cochrane Reviews are a subset of the 102 All Reviews
b
93 Non-Cochrane Reviews are a subset of the 102 All Reviews
c
"Name of the host" was a requirement of The Cochrane Handbook version 4.2.6 (2006). It was not a requirement in the 2008 version of The Cochrane Handbook 5.0.0 (2008)
d
Including an experienced searcher is not a requirement in The Cochrane Handbook