DOI: 10.4103/mgmj.mgmj_127_26 ISSN: 2347-7946

Registration, completion, and publication status of systematic reviews in health professions education: a cross-sectional analysis of the PROSPERO registry

Chujie Chen
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Abstract

Background:

Systematic reviews are fundamental to evidence-based health professions education (HPE) and are increasingly being registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO). However, the extent of registration, completion, and publication transparency of HPE systematic reviews has not been systematically evaluated using the PROSPERO registry.

Materials and Methods:

We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of a frozen PROSPERO dataset (June 8, 2026). Using a high-specificity Boolean search strategy (not intended as an exhaustive retrieval), we identified 2818 HPE systematic review registrations. Registration trends were assessed using the Mann–Kendall test and Theil–Sen estimator; geographic concentration was quantified using the Gini coefficient; completion was evaluated as the cohort-age-adjusted proportion of reviews marked as completed at the time of the snapshot (as PROSPERO does not record completion dates); and registration-to-publication linkage was estimated using Europe PubMed Central accession numbers as a conservative lower bound.

Results:

Annual HPE review registrations increased markedly, from a single registration in 2012 to 786 in 2025 (Mann–Kendall τ = 0.978; Theil–Sen slope = 34 registrations/year). Registrations originated from 100 lead countries but were highly concentrated (Gini coefficient = 0.750), with China (545 registrations), Brazil (219), and the United States (200) contributing the largest numbers. Named funding information was available for only 22 of 2823 records based on the server-side funder facet. The proportion of reviews recorded as completed increased with cohort age, rising from 5.9% among reviews registered within the previous 0–2 years to 22.2% (95% confidence interval: 17.9–27.3) among those registered ≥6 years earlier; nevertheless, approximately three-quarters of the oldest cohort remained classified as ongoing. Accession-identifiable publication linkage was 14.2% overall and 34.1% among completed reviews, with a median registration-to-publication interval of 1.0 year.

Conclusion:

Registration of HPE systematic reviews has expanded rapidly, with Asia contributing the largest share of registrations. Despite this growth, documented review completion and traceable publication remain limited, even among mature cohorts. Improving routine record updating, consistent reporting of accession numbers, and stronger registry-to-publication linkage could substantially enhance the transparency and accountability of HPE evidence synthesis.

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