michigan informatics

Appraising Reviews

Although the goal of a systematic review is to critically appraise research and provide evidence-based conclusions, it is still important for you to evaluate the systematic review itself. Below are a number of questions that you should ask while reading a systematic review.

From BMJ's How to Read a Paper: Papers that summarise other papers (systematic reviews and meta-analyses):

1. Can you find an important clinical question which the review addressed?
2. Was a thorough search done of the appropriate databases and were other potentially important sources explored?
3. Was methodological quality assessed and the trials weighted accordingly?
4. How sensitive are the results to the way the review has been done?
5. Have the numerical results been interpreted with common sense and due regard to the broader aspects of the problem?
   

From the Annals of Internal Medicine, Locating and Appraising Systematic Reviews:

1. Did the review article address a focused question?
2. Is it likely that important, relevant studies were missed?
3. Were the inclusion criteria used to select articles appropriate?
4. Was the validity of the included studies assessed?
5. Were the assessments of studies reproducible?
6. Were the results similar from study to study?
7. What are the overall results and how precise are they?
8. Will the results help in caring for patients? Determining this involves asking several questions: Can I apply the results to my patients? Did the studies consider all the clinically important outcomes? Are the benefits worth any associated risks or costs?