Cochrane handbook for systematic reviews of interventions

Starting a review -- Determining the scope of the review and the questions it will address -- Defining the criteria for including studies and how they will be grouped for the synthesis -- Searching for and selecting studies -- Collecting data -- Choosing effect measures and computing estimates of effect -- Considering bias and conflicts of interest among the included studies -- Assessing risk of bias in a randomized trial -- Summarizing study characteristics and preparing for synthesis -- Analysing data and undertaking meta-analyses -- Undertaking network meta-analyses -- Synthesizing and presenting findings using other methods -- Assessing risk of bias due to missing results in a synthesis -- Completing 'Summary of findings' tables and grading the certainty of the evidence -- Interpreting results and drawing conclusions -- Equity and specific populations -- Intervention complexity -- Patient-reported outcomes -- Adverse effects -- Economics evidence -- Qualitative research and Cochrane Reviews -- Prospective approaches to accumulating evidence -- Including variants on randomized trials -- Including non-randomized studies on intervention effects -- Assessing risk of bias in a non-randomized study -- Individual participant data.

Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- Contributors -- Preface -- Part 1 Core methods -- Chapter 1 Starting a review -- 1.1 Why do a systematic review? -- 1.2 What is the review question? -- 1.3 Who should do a systematic review? -- 1.4 The importance of reliability -- 1.5 Protocol development -- 1.6 Data management and quality assurance -- 1.7 Chapter information -- 1.8 References -- Chapter 2 Determining the scope of the review and the questions it will address -- 2.1 Rationale for well-formulated questions -- 2.2 Aims of reviews of interventions -- 2.3 Defining the scope of a review question -- 2.4 Ensuring the review addresses the right questions -- 2.5 Methods and tools for structuring the review -- 2.6 Chapter information -- 2.7 References -- Chapter 3 Defining the criteria for including studies and how they will be grouped for the synthesis -- 3.1 Introduction -- 3.2 Articulating the review and comparison PICO -- 3.3 Determining which study designs to include -- 3.4 Eligibility based on publication status and language -- 3.5 Chapter information -- 3.6 References -- Chapter 4 Searching for and selecting studies -- 4.1 Introduction -- 4.2 General issues -- 4.3 Sources to search -- 4.4 Designing search strategies -- 4.5 Documenting and reporting the search process -- 4.6 Selecting studies -- 4.7 Chapter information -- 4.8 References -- Chapter 5 Collecting data -- 5.1 Introduction -- 5.2 Sources of data -- 5.3 What data to collect -- 5.4 Data collection tools -- 5.5 Extracting data from reports -- 5.6 Extracting studyresultsandconverting tothedesired format -- 5.7 Managing and sharing data -- 5.8 Chapter information -- 5.9 References -- Chapter 6 Choosing effect measures and computing estimates of effect -- 6.1 Types of data and effect measures -- 6.2 Study designs and identifying the unit of analysis.

"Systematic reviews summarise primary research. They are central to the evidence- based medicine movement and are widely acknowledged as the best form of evidence on which to base healthcare decisions. The Cochrane Collaboration exists to produce systematic reviews of healthcare treatments. To be reliable, systematic reviews should be conducted to the highest level of scientific rigour. This book enables Cochrane and other systematic review authors to do this and to ensure their review is of the highest quality and avoid methodological pitfalls"--