Over two million biomedical papers are published each year, making it impossible for health care workers to keep up to date on current knowledge. Reviews are needed to provide manageable information on which decisions on health policy, and individual treatment, can be based. But which reviews can you trust?

Published in 1995, Systematic Reviews has become a popular introduction into the science of reviewing biomedical research. In the past few years the scope and methodology of systematic reviews have developed rapidly. This timely new edition has been expanded substantially to provide both a thoughtful introduction into the rationale and principles of systematic reviews and an overview of more advanced topics, such as the investigation of bias or the review of prognostic and diagnostic studies. The statistical methods used for meta-analysis are covered comprehensively, while keeping formulae to a minimum. Practical advice is also given on identifying relevant trials, assessing quality and on performing analyses in STATA and other software packages. Several chapters are devoted to the application of systematic reviews at the bedside, in clinical guidelines development and economic evaluation. The book concludes with a section on the Cochrane Collaboration and a chapter discussing unresolved issues and future challenges.

Written by leading practitioners of the science of reviewing biomedical research, this book will be invaluable to health care providers, researchers, consumers and policymakers who want to understand the role of systematic reviews, critically appraise published reviews or perform reviews themselves.

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