학술논문

Systematic review and pooled analysis of randomized controlled trials in countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC): Methods and quality assessment
Systematic Review
Document Type
Report
Source
Saudi Medical Journal. April 2023, Vol. 44 Issue 4, p345, 10 p.
Subject
Persian Gulf region
Language
English
ISSN
0379-5284
Abstract
A systematic review that involves examination of several studies can be used by the researchers to address a specific research question. Researchers are expected to evaluate such studies in terms [...]
Objectives: To describe variations in characteristics of randomized controlled trials conducted in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, and critically appraising the quality of design, conduct and analysis of the trials. Methods: We carried out a systematically comprehensive electronic search of articles published between 1990 and 2018 and indexed in several databases: i) MEDLINE/ PubMed, ii) EMBASE, iii) Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), iv) ClinicalTrials.gov, and v) World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform. We summarized the overall risk of bias present in all analyzed studies using the Cochrane Collaboration risk of bias tool (CCRBT). Results: A remarkable shift in numbers of publications from 2006 onwards was found. The largest number of publications were from Saudi Arabia and consisted of hospitals/clinics based studies. Lack of randomization was found in the majority of reports, and nearly three-fourth of the studies involved the use of intention-to-treat (ITT) principle. However, the proportion of adequately generated random sequence methods has increased yearly, and this increase accounted for a relatively large proportion over the latter half of the studied period (p Conclusion: The randomization methods have gained more attention over the last 3 decades. Secondly, Journal impact factor can serve as an indicator of randomization quality. To mitigate the large rate of overall high risk of bias in GCC studies, high-quality trials must be considered by ensuring adequate allocation concealment and blinding methods. PROSPERO No. ID: CRD42022310331 Keywords: Clinical Trial, systematic review, bias, Arab world [phrase omitted]