Background: Meta-analysis was introduced into China in 1990 and the Cochrane Systematic Review was introduced into China in 1996. The Chinese Cochrane Centre was established in 1999. More and more systematic reviews and meta-analyses have been published by Chinese authors in recent years.
Objectives: To investigate the current status and provide some information about systematic reviews produced by Chinese authors.
Methods: We used terms 'systematic review' or 'meta-analysis' to search the Chinese Biomedical Medicine Database (CBM, 1979-2007) and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) (1980-2007.4) in title and keywords. We excluded papers related to duplication, translation, or meeting information. We used 'China' or 'Chinese' to search the Cochrane Library, Issue 1, 2007.
Results: By the end of April 2007, there were 1088 papers on systematic reviews or meta-analysis published in Chinese from 1990 to 2007, with only a few of them registered in Cochrane Collaboration. There were 67 systematic reviews published in the Cochrane Library issue 1 2007 by Chinese authors, which only accounted for 2.2% (67/3009) of the total Cochrane reviews and 6.6 % (67/1008) of the total systematic reviews or meta-analyses in Chinese. The authors were mainly located in Chengdu, Beijing, and Guangzhou. The topics of systematic reviews or meta-analyses varied, 46.0% (501/1088) on treatment, 23.3% (254/1088) on prevention or risk factors, 3.0% (33/1088) on diagnosis, 1.7% (19/1088) on prognosis or rehabilitation. 10.5 % (114/1088) of the systematic reviews or meta-analyses related to traditional Chinese medicine or acupuncture.
Conclusions: A considerable number of systematic reviews have been produced in China in recent years. Only a small proportion of these are Cochrane reviews. There is potential to have more Cochrane reviewers from China and training in methodology and good English ability is the basic requirement for increasing the number of Cochrane review authors.