{"id":970,"date":"2014-09-07T20:32:58","date_gmt":"2014-09-07T19:32:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/?p=970"},"modified":"2014-09-04T16:23:08","modified_gmt":"2014-09-04T15:23:08","slug":"basics-why-bother-with-systematic-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/2014\/09\/07\/basics-why-bother-with-systematic-reviews\/","title":{"rendered":"Basics. Why bother with systematic reviews?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you&#8217;ve only recently bumped into this blog, you may not be aware of the near-obsessive compulsion for us to ask &#8220;<a title=\"A spoonful of Septrin helps the carinii stay down?\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/2014\/04\/16\/a-spoonful-of-septrin-helps-the-carinii-stay-down\/\">Is there a systematic review of that?<\/a>&#8221; at any opportunity. Why is this the case? Well, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.york.ac.uk\/inst\/crd\/staff\/phillips.htm\">partly it&#8217;s the job<\/a>. Mostly it&#8217;s because <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=gu8jrSsu4uM\">systematic reviews give us the best answers to our\u00a0questions<\/a> &#8230; and in this Basics blog we&#8217;ll cover<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What is a systematic review?<\/li>\n<li>What is meta-analysis?<\/li>\n<li>What can a systematic review do for us?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>A systematic review is a formal, scientific study, which seeks to answer a specific question by collating, appraising and synthesising information from other\u00a0research studies. In health care, it often seeks to answer a <a title=\"Finding the question\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/2009\/12\/19\/finding-the-question\/\">PICO question<\/a>, uses <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/2013\/10\/18\/reading-between-the-lines-part-2-some-equal-groups-are-more-equal-than-others\/\">risk of bias assessments<\/a> and <a title=\"New things in evidence synthesis\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/2007\/09\/20\/new-things-in-evidence-synthesis\/\">meta-analysis<\/a>. In collating all the evidence, it avoids<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/2013\/11\/02\/reading-between-the-lines-part-4-cherry-picking-the-best-results\/\"> cherry picking<\/a> the studies that tell us the answer we want, and in appraising it, it seeks to remind us that not all evidence is created equal (~ly valid).<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/bob_phillips.allmail.net\/funnel_plot_zinc.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"394\" height=\"287\" \/><\/p>\n<p>With meta-analysis, we are really just doing a <a title=\"Confident in predicting? Meta analysis models step two.\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/2011\/03\/27\/confident-in-predicting-meta-analysis-models-step-two\/\">special version of a weighted average<\/a> &#8230; <a title=\"StatsMiniBlog: Rethinking meta-analysis\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/2014\/06\/15\/statsminiblog-rethinking-meta-analysis\/\">most of the time<\/a> &#8230; that first of all tells us what the average effect size is going to be. Then it can also tell us how varied the result might be if it were done in different study settings or\u00a0populations.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/bob_phillips.allmail.net\/Echogenic%20CF%20Graph.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"405\" height=\"294\" \/><br \/>\nOr perhaps tell us how taking an average might be unhelpful (like this graph, showing how the proportion of CF-diagnosis in babies with echogenic bowel changed dramatically as the reporting era altered).<\/p>\n<p>So the results of a systematic review might be to<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Give us the most precise effect size of an intervention (how likely it is to work)<\/li>\n<li>Tell us if it varies between groups, doses, techniques etc &#8211; or not<\/li>\n<li>Explore where the research is centred, and where the gaps in research are<\/li>\n<li>Command an oversight of all information collected so far and so demand\u00a0<a title=\"Which O for PICO?\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/2014\/08\/31\/which-o-for-pico\/\">more consistent, patient-centred and meaningful outcomes<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Give us an idea of how to put it into practice<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You can appraise a systematic review in a <a title=\"FAST appraisals\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/2010\/03\/07\/fast-appraisals\/\">fairly FAST<\/a> way&#8230; (click on the link to appreciate that one) &#8230; and do feel free to tweet\/FB or comment to us about your own thoughts on how we can understand SRs better.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Archi<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<!--TrendMD v2.4.8--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you&#8217;ve only recently bumped into this blog, you may not be aware of the near-obsessive compulsion for us to ask &#8220;Is there a systematic review of that?&#8221; at any opportunity. Why is this the case? Well, partly it&#8217;s the job. Mostly it&#8217;s because systematic reviews give us the best answers to our\u00a0questions &#8230; and [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/2014\/09\/07\/basics-why-bother-with-systematic-reviews\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archimedes"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Basics. Why bother with systematic reviews? - ADC Online Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/2014\/09\/07\/basics-why-bother-with-systematic-reviews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Basics. Why bother with systematic reviews? - ADC Online Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you&#8217;ve only recently bumped into this blog, you may not be aware of the near-obsessive compulsion for us to ask &#8220;Is there a systematic review of that?&#8221; at any opportunity. Why is this the case? Well, partly it&#8217;s the job. Mostly it&#8217;s because systematic reviews give us the best answers to our\u00a0questions &#8230; and [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/2014\/09\/07\/basics-why-bother-with-systematic-reviews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ADC Online Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-09-07T19:32:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/bob_phillips.allmail.net\/funnel_plot_zinc.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bob Phillips\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bob Phillips\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/2014\\\/09\\\/07\\\/basics-why-bother-with-systematic-reviews\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/2014\\\/09\\\/07\\\/basics-why-bother-with-systematic-reviews\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Bob Phillips\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9e94029681ecf36e73bbd1eb2be2ef94\"},\"headline\":\"Basics. Why bother with systematic reviews?\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-09-07T19:32:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/2014\\\/09\\\/07\\\/basics-why-bother-with-systematic-reviews\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":378,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"archimedes\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/2014\\\/09\\\/07\\\/basics-why-bother-with-systematic-reviews\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/2014\\\/09\\\/07\\\/basics-why-bother-with-systematic-reviews\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/2014\\\/09\\\/07\\\/basics-why-bother-with-systematic-reviews\\\/\",\"name\":\"Basics. Why bother with systematic reviews? - ADC Online Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-09-07T19:32:58+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/2014\\\/09\\\/07\\\/basics-why-bother-with-systematic-reviews\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/2014\\\/09\\\/07\\\/basics-why-bother-with-systematic-reviews\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/2014\\\/09\\\/07\\\/basics-why-bother-with-systematic-reviews\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Basics. Why bother with systematic reviews?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/\",\"name\":\"ADC Online Blog\",\"description\":\"Education, debate, and meandering thoughts on child health, using evidence and research.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"ADC Online Blog\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/files\\\/2017\\\/10\\\/blog-logo-adc.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/files\\\/2017\\\/10\\\/blog-logo-adc.png\",\"width\":285,\"height\":34,\"caption\":\"ADC Online Blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9e94029681ecf36e73bbd1eb2be2ef94\",\"name\":\"Bob Phillips\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9ce6165c429dd8d36e6532db799ebe58e6f9c614c44e05e60d553e4bac662441?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9ce6165c429dd8d36e6532db799ebe58e6f9c614c44e05e60d553e4bac662441?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9ce6165c429dd8d36e6532db799ebe58e6f9c614c44e05e60d553e4bac662441?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Bob Phillips\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/adc\\\/author\\\/bphillips\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Basics. Why bother with systematic reviews? - ADC Online Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/2014\/09\/07\/basics-why-bother-with-systematic-reviews\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Basics. Why bother with systematic reviews? - ADC Online Blog","og_description":"If you&#8217;ve only recently bumped into this blog, you may not be aware of the near-obsessive compulsion for us to ask &#8220;Is there a systematic review of that?&#8221; at any opportunity. Why is this the case? Well, partly it&#8217;s the job. Mostly it&#8217;s because systematic reviews give us the best answers to our\u00a0questions &#8230; and [...]Read More...","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/2014\/09\/07\/basics-why-bother-with-systematic-reviews\/","og_site_name":"ADC Online Blog","article_published_time":"2014-09-07T19:32:58+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/bob_phillips.allmail.net\/funnel_plot_zinc.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Bob Phillips","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bob Phillips","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/2014\/09\/07\/basics-why-bother-with-systematic-reviews\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/2014\/09\/07\/basics-why-bother-with-systematic-reviews\/"},"author":{"name":"Bob Phillips","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/#\/schema\/person\/9e94029681ecf36e73bbd1eb2be2ef94"},"headline":"Basics. Why bother with systematic reviews?","datePublished":"2014-09-07T19:32:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/2014\/09\/07\/basics-why-bother-with-systematic-reviews\/"},"wordCount":378,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/#organization"},"articleSection":["archimedes"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/2014\/09\/07\/basics-why-bother-with-systematic-reviews\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/2014\/09\/07\/basics-why-bother-with-systematic-reviews\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/2014\/09\/07\/basics-why-bother-with-systematic-reviews\/","name":"Basics. Why bother with systematic reviews? - ADC Online Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-09-07T19:32:58+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/2014\/09\/07\/basics-why-bother-with-systematic-reviews\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/2014\/09\/07\/basics-why-bother-with-systematic-reviews\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/2014\/09\/07\/basics-why-bother-with-systematic-reviews\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Basics. Why bother with systematic reviews?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/","name":"ADC Online Blog","description":"Education, debate, and meandering thoughts on child health, using evidence and research.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/#organization","name":"ADC Online Blog","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/files\/2017\/10\/blog-logo-adc.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/files\/2017\/10\/blog-logo-adc.png","width":285,"height":34,"caption":"ADC Online Blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/#\/schema\/person\/9e94029681ecf36e73bbd1eb2be2ef94","name":"Bob Phillips","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9ce6165c429dd8d36e6532db799ebe58e6f9c614c44e05e60d553e4bac662441?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9ce6165c429dd8d36e6532db799ebe58e6f9c614c44e05e60d553e4bac662441?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9ce6165c429dd8d36e6532db799ebe58e6f9c614c44e05e60d553e4bac662441?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Bob Phillips"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/author\/bphillips\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/970\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/adc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}