Objective To detect the false-positive results of cumulative meta-analyses of Cochrane Urology Group with the trial sequential analysis (TSA). Methods The systematic reviews of Urology Group of The Cochrane Library were searched to collect meta-analyses with positive results. Two researchers independently screened literature and extracted data of included meta-analyses. Then, TSA was performed using TSA software version 0.9 beta. Results A total of 11 meta-analyses were included. The results of TSA showed that, 8 of 11 (72.7%) meta-analyses were potentially false-positive results for failing to surpass the trial sequential monitoring boundary and to reach the required information size. Conclusion TSA can help researchers to identify the false-positive results of meta-analyses.
Objectives To evaluate the methodological quality of published clinical practice guidelines for benign prostatic hyperplasia. Methods PubMed, EMbase, CNKI, WanFang Data, VIP and CBM databases, website of Yimaitong, and international authoritative guide platforms were electronically searched to collect the relevant clinical practice guidelines or consensus for benign prostate hyperplasia. The retrieval covered the time up to December 13th, 2016. Literatures were independently screened by 2 reviewers. After data extraction, the methodological quality of included guidelines was evaluated by 4 reviewers using the AGREE Ⅱ. Each domain score was calculated and the intraclass correlation coefficient was used to evaluate the consistency among the reviewers. Results A total of 15 clinical practice guidelines were included. The mean scores for the six domains in AGREE Ⅱ were: 72%, 38%, 30%, 58%, 16%, and 40%, respectively. The intraclass correlation coefficient was larger than 0.87, which indicated the total consistency was well. Conclusions The quality of clinical practice guidelines for benign prostatic hyperplasia is not satisfactory as expected. They are heterogeneous in quality and some requires improvement. Guidelines are required to be further developed in methodology in future, especially in three domains, including participants, preciseness and applicability of the design.