title: Systematic review found AMSTAR, but not R(evised)-AMSTAR, to have good measurement properties.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To summarize all available evidence on measurement properties in terms of reliability, validity, and feasibility of the Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) tool, including R(evised)-AMSTAR.
  
  
  METHODS
  MEDLINE, EMBASE, Psycinfo, and CINAHL were searched for studies containing information on measurement properties of the tools in October 2013. We extracted data on study characteristics and measurement properties. These data were analyzed following measurement criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We included 13 studies, four of them were labeled as validation studies. Nine articles dealt with AMSTAR, two articles dealt with R-AMSTAR, and one article dealt with both instruments. In terms of interrater reliability, most items showed a substantial agreement (>0.6). The median intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for the overall score of AMSTAR was 0.83 (range 0.60-0.98), indicating a high agreement. In terms of validity, ICCs were very high with all but one ICC lower than 0.8 when the AMSTAR score was compared with scores from other tools. Scoring AMSTAR takes between 10 and 20 minutes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  AMSTAR seems to be reliable and valid. Further investigations for systematic reviews of other study designs than randomized controlled trials are needed. R-AMSTAR should be further investigated as evidence for its use is limited and its measurement properties have not been studied sufficiently. In general, test-retest reliability should be investigated in future studies.
authors: Institute for Research in Operative Medicine, Department for Evidence-based health services research, Ostmerheimer Str. 200 (building 38), 51109 Cologne, Witten/Herdecke University, Germany. Electronic address: dawid.pieper@uni-wh.de.
authors: Dawid
authors: D
authors: Pieper
authors: Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG), Department for Health Information, Mediapark 8 (KölnTurm), 50670 Cologne, Germany.
authors: Roland Brian
authors: RB
authors: Buechter
authors: Evidence-Based Medicine Center, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 199 Donggang West Road, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China.
authors: Lun
authors: L
authors: Li
authors: Institute for Research in Operative Medicine, Department for Evidence-based health services research, Ostmerheimer Str. 200 (building 38), 51109 Cologne, Witten/Herdecke University, Germany.
authors: Barbara
authors: B
authors: Prediger
authors: Institute for Research in Operative Medicine, Department for Evidence-based health services research, Ostmerheimer Str. 200 (building 38), 51109 Cologne, Witten/Herdecke University, Germany.
authors: Michaela
authors: M
authors: Eikermann
mesh_terms: D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012107:Research Design / Q000592:standards; D012196:Review Literature as Topic
keywords: Clinimetrics; Epidemiologic methods; Measurement properties; Observer variation; Psychometrics; Reliability and validity; Systematic reviews