Use of existing systematic reviews for evidence assessments in infectious disease prevention: a comparative case study

Table 2 Case studies A and B: comparison of AMSTAR (Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews) tool domain ratings in the identified systematic reviews

AMSTAR domains^a	Alshaik et al. [8]	Galvao et al. [14]	Jefferson et al. [15]	Fell et al. [13]	McMillan et al. [16]
Was an “a priori” design provided?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Was there duplicate study selection and data extraction?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Was a comprehensive literature search performed?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Was the status of publication used as an inclusion criterion?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Was a list of studies (include and excluded) provided?	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Were the characteristics of the included studies provided?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Was the scientific quality of the included studies assessed and documented?	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Was the scientific quality of the included studies used appropriately in formulating conclusions?	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Were the methods used to combine the findings of studies appropriate?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Was the likelihood of publication bias assessed?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Was the conflict of interest included?	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Summary score^b	7	10	11	9	9

ISSN: 2046-4053