ArticleCochrane evidence synthesis and methods2023
Trustworthiness assessment as an inclusion criterion for systematic reviews-What is the impact on results?
Article in Cochrane evidence synthesis and methods, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 10 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Continuation versus discontinuation of intravenous oxytocin in the active phase of labour.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2026Pooled it
- Prognostic accuracy of clinical markers of postpartum bleeding in predicting maternal mortality or severe morbidity: a WHO individual participant data meta-analysis.Lancet (London, England) · 2025Pooled it
- Progestogen for preventing miscarriage in women with recurrent miscarriage of unclear etiology.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of combinations of diagnostic and treatment strategies for postpartum haemorrhage: a network meta-analysis.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Uterotonic agents for preventing postpartum haemorrhage: a network meta-analysis.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Caesarean myomectomy in pregnant women with uterine fibroids.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Cell salvage for the management of postpartum haemorrhage.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Calcium supplementation (other than for preventing or treating hypertension) for improving pregnancy and infant outcomes.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Vitamin D supplementation for women during pregnancy.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Prepublication abstract-only reports compared with full-text manuscripts for randomised controlled trials in inflammatory bowel disease: a systematic review.BMJ open gastroenterology · 2024Pooled it
- Cognitive-behavioural treatment for neck pain.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2026Article
- Trial trustworthiness assessment: commentary on the Cochrane 2025 systematic review on calcium supplementation during pregnancy.Reproductive health · 2026Article
- Exploring factors associated with nursing students' artificial intelligence literacy: insights from a national mixed methods study.BMC nursing · 2026Article
- Anti-D administration after childbirth for preventing Rhesus alloimmunisation for subsequent pregnancies.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2026Article
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- Article
- Individual participant data meta-analysis tips and tricks: troubleshooting commonly encountered issues of contacting trialists for individual participant data.JBI evidence synthesis · 2026Article
- Impact of a Research Integrity Assessment (RIA) of Randomized Controlled Trials Included in Interventional COVID-19 Systematic Reviews: A Meta-Epidemiological Study.Cochrane evidence synthesis and methods · 2026Article
- The Effectiveness of Oxytocin for Preventing Postpartum Haemorrhage: An Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis.BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology · 2026Review
- Data-sharing and trustworthiness of trials evaluating cervical ripening in induction of labour: a meta-epidemiological study of randomised controlled trials.EClinicalMedicine · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: There is increasing concern that a significant proportion of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) included in Cochrane reviews may not be trustworthy. Applying the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Trustworthiness Screening Tool (CPC-TST) has already had a clinically important effect on several reviews published by the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group. Objectives: We wanted to assess the impact of removing untrustworthy RCTs from already-published Cochrane reviews on a defined clinical area (antenatal and postnatal nutritional interventions). Methods: We applied the tool to 18 Cochrane reviews (374 RCTs). The tool had four domains: (i) is the research governance trustworthy; (ii) are the baseline characteristics trustworthy; (iii) is the study feasible; (iv) are the results plausible? When additional information was needed, authors were contacted using a standard template. At least two attempts were made to contact the authors. At the end of the evaluation process each study was classified as: (i) included (YES to all questions); (ii) excluded (retracted study); or (iii) awaiting classification (any NO to the questions). Results: Ninety-three out of 374 included studies (25%) were reclassified as "excluded" or "awaiting classification." The number of included RCTs was reduced in 14 out of 18 reviews. Six reviews (33%) were judged to require updating because of important differences in the Summary of Findings tables (direction and size of effects and/or GRADE ratings), conclusions, implication for practice, and/or implication for research. Conclusions: Formal assessment of trustworthiness, and inclusion only of studies that satisfy prespecified criteria for trustworthiness, affect conclusions in a relatively large number of Cochrane reviews, with potentially important clinical implications for practice and research.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.