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Table 3 Overall methodological quality of the included systematic reviews on Chinese herbal medicine by bibliographical characteristics

From: Methodological quality of systematic reviews on Chinese herbal medicine: a methodological survey

Characteristics Critically-low qualitya Low qualitya Moderate qualitya High qualitya P
Total 143 (96.6) 4 (2.7) 0 (0) 1 (0.7)  
Cochrane Review      < 0.001b
 Yes 0 (0) 1 (50.0) 0 (0) 1 (50.0)  
 No 143 (97.9) 3 (2.1) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
An update of a previous SR 0.797
 Yes (Cochrane review) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
 Yes (non-Cochrane review) 12 (100) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
 No 131 (96.3) 4 (2.9) 0 (0) 1 (0.7)  
Published year 0.384
 2018 53 (96.4) 1 (1.8) 0 (0) 1 (1.8)  
 2019 72 (97.3) 2 (2.7) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
 2020 18 (94.7) 1 (5.3) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
Location of corresponding author 0.985
 Europe 1 (50.0) 1 (50.0) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
 Asia 138 (97.9) 2 (1.4) 0 (0) 1 (0.7)  
 Oceania 4 (80.0) 1 (20.0) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
Reported intervention harms 0.847
 Yes 134 (96.4) 4 (2.9) 0 (0) 1 (0.7)  
 No 9 (100) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
Result of the first primary outcome of the SR 0.233
 No significant difference between CHM intervention and control 11 (91.7) 1 (8.3) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
 In favour of CHM intervention 30 (93.8) 1 (3.1) 0 (0) 1 (3.1)  
 In favour of CHM intervention with reservation 102 (98.1) 2 (1.9) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
Funding location of the SR 0.020b
 Europe 2 (33.3) 3 (50.0) 0 (0) 1 (16.7)  
 Asia 97 (100) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
 Oceania 1 (100) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
 Not reported 22 (100) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
 No funding support 20 (100) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
 Multiple funding locations 1 (50.0) 1 (50.0) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
Source of funding, if reported 0.133
 For-profit 0 (0) 1 (100) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
 Not-for-profit 101 (96.2) 3 (2.9) 0 (0) 1 (0.9)  
 No funding support 20 (100) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
Searched English databases 0.948
 Yes 140 (96.6) 4 (2.8) 0 (0) 1 (0.7)  
 No 3 (100) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
Searched non-English databases 0.847
 Yes 134 (96.4) 4 (2.9) 0 (0) 1 (0.7)  
 No 9 (100) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
Report year span of search 0.430
 Yes 106 (95.5) 4 (3.6) 0 (0) 1 (0.9)  
 Partially 29 (100) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
 Not mentioned 8 (100) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
Search terms reported for one or more electronic databases 0,500
 Topics/free text/keywords/MeSH 97 (99.0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 1 (1.0)  
 Full Boolean 22 (91.7) 2 (8.3) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
 Readers are referred elsewhere for full search strategy 20 (95.2) 1 (4.8) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
 No search term reported 4 (80.0) 1 (20.0) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
Eligibility criteria based on language of publication 0.393
 English only 1 (100) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
 Language other than English 26 (96.3) 1 (3.7) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
 English and other languages 14 (87.5) 1 (6.3) 0 (0) 1 (6.3)  
 Not reported 102 (98.1) 2 (1.9) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
Risk of bias assessment tools 0.701
 Cochrane risk of bias tool 125 (96.2) 4 (3.1) 0 (0) 1 (0.8)  
 Jadad scale 14 (100) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
 CONSORT 2010 1 (100) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
 Newcastle-Ottawa Scale 1 (100) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
 Tool not used 2 (100) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
Included a PRISMA-like flow diagram 0.983
 Yes 142 (96.6) 4 (2.7) 0 (0) 1 (0.7)  
 No 1 (100) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)  
  1. Keys: SR systematic review, MeSH National Library of Medical Subject Headings, CHM Chinese herbal medicine, CONSORT CONsolidated Standards of Reporting Trials, PRISMA Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis
  2. aValues are n (% in subgroup)
  3. bP value of Kruskal-Wallis test was < 0.05
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BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies

ISSN: 2662-7671

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