Completeness of Reporting of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis of Diagnostic Test Accuracy (DTA) of Radiological Articles Based on the PRISMA-DTA Reporting Guideline

Abstract

Rationale and objectives: This study evaluated the completeness of systematic reviews and meta-analyses in radiology using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for Diagnostic Test Accuracy (PRISMA-DTA) and PRISMA-DTA for Abstracts guidelines between articles published before and those published after the issuance of the guideline and identify areas that have been poorly reported.

Materials and methods: PubMed were searched for systematic reviews on DTA with or without meta-analyses published in general radiology journals between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2020. The identified articles were assessed for completeness of reporting according to the PRISMA-DTA. Subgroup analyses were performed for association of completeness of reporting with multiple cofactors.

Results: The search identified 183 reviews from 12 journals. The mean numbers (standard deviation) of reported PRISMA-DTA and PRISMA-DTA for Abstracts items in the full texts and abstracts were 18.45 (2.02) and 5.66 (1.28), respectively. Subgroup analysis showed that compared to the corresponding reference groups, a higher mean number of reported PRISMA-DTA items was associated with publication during July 2018-December 2020 [(17.82 (2.01) vs 18.89 (1.91); p = 0.034), citation of the PRISMA-DTA [17.62 (1.86) vs 20.27 (2.02); p < 0.001], and inclusion of supplementary materials [17.64 (2) vs 19.09 (1.8); p < 0.001] on multiple-linear regression analysis.

Conclusion: Completeness of reporting with respect to the PRISMA-DTA and PRISMA-DTA for Abstracts has improved modestly since the publication of the PRISMA-DTA guideline; however, increasing awareness of the specific weakness provides the chance for completeness improvement.

Keywords: Completeness; Meta-analysis; PRISMA-DTA; Systematic reviews.