{
  "abstract": "Background Systematic reviews and meta-analyses guide heart failure (HF) practice, yet their methodological quality has been questioned. An AMSTAR-2 (A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews) appraisal of HF reviews in 11 high-impact journals during 2009-2019 rated 79 of 81 as critically low confidence. Whether quality has changed in the era of routine protocol registration and PRISMA 2020 is unknown. Methods In a pre-registered repeat cross-sectional survey, we replicated that sampling frame for 2021-2025: HF systematic reviews with a meta-analysis of an intervention, in the same 11 journals. Two reviewers independently applied all 16 AMSTAR-2 items to each review; disagreements were resolved by consensus. Item-level compliance (the proportion rated Yes or Partial Yes) and overall confidence were compared with the 2009-2019 figures. Results Of 751 records screened, 26 reviews were included (median of eight primary studies). Overall confidence was critically low in 16, low in seven, and moderate in three; none was high. A total of 10 of 26 (38%) reached low confidence or better, versus two of 81 (2%) in 2009-2019. Compliance was higher for an a priori protocol (5% to 88%), the provision of an excluded-studies list (5% to 46%), and the specification of population, intervention, comparison, and outcome (PICO) (65% to 100%). Conversely, accounting for the risk of bias when interpreting results was lower (88% to 35%). Reporting the funding of individual included studies remained rare in both eras (4%). Inter-rater agreement was moderate (kappa = 0.47). Conclusions The AMSTAR-2 compliance of high-impact HF systematic reviews was higher in 2021-2025 than in 2009-2019, most markedly for protocol reporting, though most reviews remained critically low. Reviews were less likely to carry risk-of-bias findings into their interpretation; one interpretation is that registration has become routine while substantive appraisal has not.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "General Practice, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield, GBR.",
    "Acute Medicine, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield, GBR."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 2,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Md Shadman Shakib"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Raidah Sadia"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8hb1zk3z7hrmj.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.7759/cureus.117099",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13716480",
  "id": "8hb1zk3z7hrmj",
  "issns": [
    "2168-8184"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42953577",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Cardiology"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Epidemiology/Public Health"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Internal Medicine"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1804|Meta-analysis and systematic reviews"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7214590940",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13716480?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13716480",
  "pmid": "42953577",
  "published": "2026-09-28",
  "publisher": "Cureus Inc.",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8hb1zk3z7hrmj.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-31T00:20:41Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42953577",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42953577"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-01T12:23:25Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13716480",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.117099"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "heading:Cardiology",
      "subfield": "cardiovascular"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Methodological Quality of Heart Failure Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses in the Era of AMSTAR-2 (a Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews): A Pre-registered Repeat Cross-Sectional Survey.",
  "title_text": "Methodological Quality of Heart Failure Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses in the Era of AMSTAR-2 (a Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews): A Pre-registered Repeat Cross-Sectional Survey.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-01T12:23:25Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8hb1zk3z7hrmj",
  "venue": "Cureus",
  "versions": []
}