S Leucht1, W Kissling, J M Davis. 1. Klinik and Poliklinik für Psychiatrie and Psychotherapie, Technische Universität München, München, Germany. Stefan.Leucht@lrz.tum.de
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses are increasingly frequently used in the evaluation of medical treatments. This review explains the principles of the methodology, significance and limitations of systematic reviews. METHOD: Short review article. RESULTS: In contrast to conventional reviews, systematic reviews use a structured approach in retrieving, analyzing and interpreting the evidence. A comprehensive search strategy is applied to identify all relevant trials. Study selection and data extraction is performed independently by at least two reviewers. The data are usually synthesized in a meta-analysis applying statistical methods to examine homogeneity. Funnel plots and other statistical methods are applied to detect publication bias. CONCLUSION: Due to the enormous amount of scientific information published every year, systematic reviews and meta-analyses have become indispensable methods for the evaluation of medical treatments.
OBJECTIVE: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses are increasingly frequently used in the evaluation of medical treatments. This review explains the principles of the methodology, significance and limitations of systematic reviews. METHOD: Short review article. RESULTS: In contrast to conventional reviews, systematic reviews use a structured approach in retrieving, analyzing and interpreting the evidence. A comprehensive search strategy is applied to identify all relevant trials. Study selection and data extraction is performed independently by at least two reviewers. The data are usually synthesized in a meta-analysis applying statistical methods to examine homogeneity. Funnel plots and other statistical methods are applied to detect publication bias. CONCLUSION: Due to the enormous amount of scientific information published every year, systematic reviews and meta-analyses have become indispensable methods for the evaluation of medical treatments.
Authors: Thomas C Baghai; Pierre Blier; David S Baldwin; Michael Bauer; Guy M Goodwin; Kostas N Fountoulakis; Siegfried Kasper; Brian E Leonard; Ulrik F Malt; Dan Stein; Marcio Versiani; Hans-Jürgen Möller Journal: Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci Date: 2011-11 Impact factor: 5.270
Authors: Thomas C Baghai; Pierre Blier; David S Baldwin; Michael Bauer; Guy M Goodwin; Kostas N Fountoulakis; Siegfried Kasper; Brian E Leonard; Ulrik F Malt; Dan J Stein; Marcio Versiani; Hans-Jürgen Möller Journal: Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci Date: 2011-11-15 Impact factor: 5.270
Authors: E Sacchetti; C Magri; A Minelli; P Valsecchi; M Traversa; S Calza; A Vita; M Gennarelli Journal: Pharmacogenomics J Date: 2016-02-09 Impact factor: 3.550
Authors: Mark R Phillips; David H Steel; Charles C Wykoff; Jason W Busse; Raveendhara R Bannuru; Lehana Thabane; Mohit Bhandari; Varun Chaudhary Journal: Eye (Lond) Date: 2022-02-10 Impact factor: 4.456