5,042,053 papers found

BACKGROUND: Systematic reviews of literature are increasingly important in healthcare. While reviewers are expected to follow reporting guidelines, inconsistencies may be observed in presentation of reviews, potentially detracting from the credibility of findings. Predetermined eligibility criteria are fundamental to t…

INTRODUCTION: In the U.K. more than 40,000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer every year and an estimated 65,000 people are living with lung cancer. The most effective follow-up strategy for these patients is undetermined. This article reports a systematic review of studies comparing different follow-up strategies f…

OBJECTIVES: The English language is generally perceived to be the universal language of science. However, the exclusive reliance on English-language studies may not represent all of the evidence. Excluding languages other than English (LOE) may introduce a language bias and lead to erroneous conclusions. STUDY DESIGN…

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether, according to the conclusions of a 2000 systematic review with meta-analysis on interventions to prevent pain from propofol injection that provided a research agenda to guide further research on the topic, subsequently published trials were more often optimally blinded, reported on childre…

BACKGROUND: The National Information Service of the General Practice Evaluation Program (GPEP) produced publications relating to research undertaken under the auspices of the program with the view to adding value to such research. Two anthologies of literature reviews from GPEP research have been produced, one in 1998…

BACKGROUND: High-quality review evidence is useful for informing and influencing public health policy and practice decisions. However, certain topic areas lack representation in terms of the quantity and quality of review literature available. The objectives of this paper are to identify the quantity, as well as qualit…

OBJECTIVE: Clinical practice guideline recommendations are often informed by systematic reviews. This review aimed to appraise the reporting and methodological quality of systematic reviews informing clinical practice recommendations relevant to vascular surgery. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE and Embase. METHODS: MEDLINE and…

BACKGROUND: Systematic review guidance recommends the use of programme theory to inform considerations of if and how healthcare interventions may work differently across socio-economic status (SES) groups. This study aimed to address the lack of detail on how reviewers operationalise this in practice. METHODS: A metho…

A good medical review article is easily readable and pares down the seemingly overwhelming amount of information available in the literature. The research experience and clinical expertise of the writer do not guarantee valid and relevant recommendations. Uncritical acceptance of information by readers further potentia…

Purpose This systematic review aimed at identifying the common psychosocial factors that facilitate or hinder the return to work (RTW) after a sick leave due to common mental disorders (CMDs), cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), or cancers (CAs). Methods We conducted a review of reviews searching 13 databases from 1994 to…

BACKGROUND: Selective reporting bias (SRB), the incomplete publication of outcomes measured or of analyses performed in a study, may lead to the over- or underestimation of treatment effects or harms. Cochrane systematic reviews of interventions are required to assess the risk of SRB, achieved in part by applying the C…

BACKGROUND: Citations in scientific articles may tend to favor the views presented. We studied whether there is such reference bias in narrative review articles that discuss interventions against house dust mites for people with asthma. DESIGN: Systematic review of reviews identified in a Medline search that expressed…

Consistent with a move towards evidence based practice, systematic review of research relating to effective health care practices is having an increasing influence on health care decision making at all levels. This paper explains the systematic review as a specific type of literature review, one that contrasts with les…

BACKGROUND: Search strategies for systematic reviews aim to identify all evidence relevant to the research question posed. Reports of methodological research can be difficult to find leading to biased results in systematic reviews of research methodology. Evidence suggests that contact with investigators can help to id…

BACKGROUND: Overviews of systematic reviews attempt to systematically retrieve and summarise the results of multiple systematic reviews. Methods for conducting, interpreting and reporting overviews are in their infancy. To date, there has been no evidence map of the methods used in overviews, thus making it difficult t…

OBJECTIVE: To understand whether international differences in recommendations of whether to screen for rare diseases using the newborn blood spot test might in part be explained by use of systematic review methods. DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis. DATA SOURCES: Website searches of 26 national screening or…

This paper describes a mini review which enabled the identification of a suitable methodology to undertake a study about quality in the public health nursing in the Republic of Ireland. Reviews of literature increasingly adopt the methods of systematic review. In general, these methods have been developed to answer cle…

OBJECTIVE: This rapid review of systematic reviews aimed to synthesize the adoption factors of digital health technologies (DHTs). METHODS: A reference search was performed on MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsychInfo, PubMed, EBM Review, Web of Science, Scopus, PROSPERO and Google Scholar to search systematic reviews publis…

BACKGROUND: Maternity care providers, particularly midwives, have a window of opportunity to influence pregnant women about positive health choices. This aim of this paper is to identify evidence of effective public health interventions from good quality systematic reviews that could be conducted by midwives. METHODS:…