TY  - JOUR
A1  - Matthias, Katja
A1  - Rissling, Olesja
A1  - Pieper, Dawid Aleksander
A1  - Morche, Johannes
A1  - Nocon, Marc
A1  - Jacobs, Anja
A1  - Wegewitz, Uta Elke
A1  - Schirm, Jaqueline
A1  - Lorenz, Robert C.
T1  - The methodological quality of systematic reviews on the treatment of adult major depression needs improvement according to AMSTAR 2
BT  - a cross-sectional study
JF  - Heliyon
N2  - Background:
Several standards have been developed to assess methodological quality of systematic reviews (SR). One widely used tool is the AMSTAR. A recent update -AMSTAR 2 -is a 16 item evaluation tool that enables a detailed assessment of SR that include randomised (RCT) or non-randomised studies (NRS) of healthcare interventions. 

Methods:
A cross-sectional study of SR on pharmacological or psychological interventions in major depression in adults was conducted. SR published during 2012-2017 were sampled from MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Database of SR. Methodological quality was assessed using AMSTAR 2. Potential predictive factors associated with quality were examined.

Results:
In rating overall confidence in the results of 60 SR four reviews were rated "high", two were "moderate", one was "low" and 53 were "critically low". The mean AMSTAR 2 percentage score was 45.3% (standard deviation 22.6%) in a wide range from 7.1% to 93.8%. Predictors of higher quality were: type of review (higher quality in Cochrane Reviews), SR including only randomized trials and higher journal impact factor.

Limitations:
AMSTAR 2 is not intended to be used for the generation of a percentage score.

Conclusions:
According to AMSTAR 2 the overall methodological quality of SR on the treatment of adult major depression needs improvement. Although there is a high need for summarized information in the field of mental health, this work demonstrates the need to critically assess SR before using their findings. Better adherence to established reporting guidelines for SR is needed.
KW  - public health
KW  - epidemiology
KW  - psychiatry
KW  - depression
KW  - evidence-based
KW  - medicine
KW  - AMSTAR 2
KW  - methodological quality
KW  - risk of bias
KW  - systematic
KW  - review
KW  - major depression
Y1  - 2020
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04776
SN  - 2405-8440
VL  - 6
IS  - 9
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - London [u.a.]
ER  -