AHRQ Comparative Effectiveness Reviews: Inclusion of Single Group Studies

A review of 33 published Comparative Effectiveness Reviews (CERs) prepared for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Effective Health Care Program through January 2012. The dataset analyzes the inclusion and reporting practices for single group studies, which evaluate a single intervention given to all subjects. It was compiled by extracting information from published CERs to summarize current practices and identify reporting gaps.

Use Cases

• Analyzing reporting practices for single group studies in systematic reviews based on the extracted review data.
• Methodological research on evidence synthesis designs based on the documented inclusion rationales and concerns.
• Developing guidance for integrating non-comparative evidence into comparative reviews based on the identified gaps in rationale and methods.

Strengths

• Analysis is based on a defined corpus of 33 eligible Comparative Effectiveness Reviews.
• Provides specific counts: 21 reviews included single group studies, with 10 used for harms only, 2 for nonharm effects only, and 9 for both.
• Identifies concrete rationales for inclusion, such as providing supplementary long-term data on surgical interventions.

Limitations

• Row count and column-level documentation are absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.
• The underlying data (the CERs themselves) are not directly provided, only the review's analysis of them.

Provenance

Source

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Evidence-based Practice Centers.

Collection Method

Information extracted from all published Comparative Effectiveness Reviews prepared for the AHRQ Effective Health Care Program.

Time Range

Reviews published through January 2012.

Freshness

Data covers reviews published through January 2012; last update of this analysis is unknown.

Geography

Not specified; likely U.S.-focused given the AHRQ source.