J Postgrad Med
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Meta Analysis
The development of QERM scoring system for comprehensive assessment of the Quality of Empirical Research in Medicine - Part 1.
Whereas a large number of features are mentioned to connote the quality of medical research, no tool is available to comprehensively measure it objectively across different types of studies. Also, all the available tools are for reporting, and none includes quality of the inputs and the process of research. The present paper is aimed to initiate a discussion on the need to develop such a comprehensive scoring system (in the first place), to show that it is feasible, and to describe the process of developing a credible system. ⋯ It is feasible to devise a comprehensive scoring system comprising domains and items for assessing the quality of medical research end-to-end from choosing a problem to publication. The proposed scoring system needs to be reviewed by the researchers and needs to be validated.
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Quality assessment of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) is important to prevent clinical application of erroneous results. ⋯ : The quantity and quality of surgical RCTs were stable and comparable over the years and across geographical regions and subspecialties. Higher impact factor of journal and review by IRB were significantly associated with a better study quality.