title: Reporting Quality of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses of Otorhinolaryngologic Articles Based on the PRISMA Statement.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Systematic reviews (SRs) and meta-analyses (MAs) provide the highest possible level of evidence. However, poor conduct or reporting of SRs and MAs may reduce their utility. The PRISMA Statement (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses) was developed to help authors report their SRs and MAs adequately.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Our objectives were to (1) evaluate the quality of reporting of SRs and MAs and their abstracts in otorhinolaryngologic literature using the PRISMA and PRISMA for Abstracts checklists, respectively, (2) compare the quality of reporting of SRs and MAs published in Ear Nose Throat (ENT) journals to the quality of SRs and MAs published in the 'gold standard' Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR), and (3) formulate recommendations to improve reporting of SRs and MAs in ENT journals.
  
  
  METHODS
  On September 3, 2014, we searched the Pubmed database using a combination of filters to retrieve SRs and MAs on otorhinolaryngologic topics published in 2012 and 2013 in the top 5 ENT journals (ISI Web of Knowledge 2013) or CDSR and relevant articles were selected. We assessed how many, and which, PRISMA (for Abstracts) items were reported adequately per journal type.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified large differences in the reporting of individual items between the two journal types with room for improvement. In general, SRs and MAs published in ENT journals (n = 31) reported a median of 54.4% of the PRISMA items adequately, whereas the 49 articles published in the CDSR reported a median of 100.0 adequately (difference statistically significant, p < 0.001). For abstracts, medians of 41.7% for ENT journals and 75.0% for the CDSR were found (p < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The reporting of SRs and MAs in ENT journals leaves room for improvement and would benefit if the PRISMA Statement were endorsed by these journals.
authors: Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors: Jeroen P M
authors: JP
authors: Peters
authors: Dutch Cochrane Centre, Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors: Lotty
authors: L
authors: Hooft
authors: Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors: Wilko
authors: W
authors: Grolman
authors: Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors: Inge
authors: I
authors: Stegeman
mesh_terms: D000068598:Data Accuracy; D006801:Humans; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D010038:Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases; D010506:Periodicals as Topic; D039781:PubMed