Can AMSTAR also be applied to systematic reviews of non-randomized studies? The Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) is widely used to evaluate the scientific quality of systematic reviews, but it has not been validated for SRs of non-randomized studies.  The objective of this paper is to report our experience in applying AMSTAR to systematic reviews of non-randomized studies in terms of applicability, reliability and feasibility.  Thus, we applied AMSTAR to a recently published review of 32 systematic reviews of non-randomized studies investigating the hospital volume-outcome relationship in surgery.


 In terms of feasibility, AMSTAR proved easy to apply to systematic reviews of non-randomized studies, each review taking 5-10 minutes to complete.  AMSTAR showed good psychometric properties, comparable to prior findings in systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials.  AMSTAR can be applied to systematic reviews of non-randomized studies, although there are some item specific issues users should be aware of.  Revisions and extensions of AMSTAR might be helpful.
AMSTAR
Can AMSTAR also be applied to systematic reviews of non-randomized studies? The Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) is widely used to evaluate the scientific quality of systematic reviews, but it has not been validated for SRs of non-randomized studies.  The objective of this paper is to report our experience in applying AMSTAR to systematic reviews of non-randomized studies in terms of applicability, reliability and feasibility.  Thus, we applied AMSTAR to a recently published review of 32 systematic reviews of non-randomized studies investigating the hospital volume-outcome relationship in surgery.


 In terms of feasibility, AMSTAR proved easy to apply to systematic reviews of non-randomized studies, each review taking 5-10 minutes to complete.  AMSTAR showed good psychometric properties, comparable to prior findings in systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials.  AMSTAR can be applied to systematic reviews of non-randomized studies, although there are some item specific issues users should be aware of.  Revisions and extensions of AMSTAR might be helpful.
AMSTAR
Can AMSTAR also be applied to systematic reviews of non-randomized studies? The Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) is widely used to evaluate the scientific quality of systematic reviews, but it has not been validated for SRs of non-randomized studies.  The objective of this paper is to report our experience in applying AMSTAR to systematic reviews of non-randomized studies in terms of applicability, reliability and feasibility.  Thus, we applied AMSTAR to a recently published review of 32 systematic reviews of non-randomized studies investigating the hospital volume-outcome relationship in surgery.


 In terms of feasibility, AMSTAR proved easy to apply to systematic reviews of non-randomized studies, each review taking 5-10 minutes to complete.  AMSTAR showed good psychometric properties, comparable to prior findings in systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials.  AMSTAR can be applied to systematic reviews of non-randomized studies, although there are some item specific issues users should be aware of.  Revisions and extensions of AMSTAR might be helpful.
AMSTAR