The worldwide transformation of the healthcare industry is being driven by ever-increasing costs and an ageing population. The global population is estimated to reach 8.1 billion by 2025, out of which 2.1 billion people will be at or above 50 years of age. (1,2) Organisations like WHO and UN confirm that by 2025, 70% of […]
Systematic literature reviews (SLRs) are widely used to pool and present the findings from multiple studies in a dependable way and are often used to inform policy and practice guidelines. (1) An important SLR feature is the application of scientific tools to find and curtail bias as well as error in the selection and treatment […]
The 90’s saw the Internet and the World Wide Web entering commercial markets as a result of major advancements in Information Technology (IT). Another huge development was later followed when mobile devices connected to the Internet became a rage in late 2000’s. Today, we’re in the middle of the next major leap, i.e. the next […]
Systematic literature reviews (SLRs) are the foundation of evidence-based healthcare. Explicit methods need to be implemented while conducting SLRs to minimize bias in order to provide more reliable findings, since reduction of bias may affect all steps of the review process. For instance, bias can occur while identifying/screening studies, selecting studies (e.g. due to unclear […]
Use of multiple databases together with additional search strategies is often suggested to search relevant references for systematic reviews. (1,2) For instance, the Cochrane Handbook recommends using at least MEDLINE and Cochrane Central as well as EMBASE, when available, to search randomized controlled trials (RCTs). (3) However, using multiple databases can be strenuous and time […]
Value-based healthcare is driven by ‘meaningful’ treatment that matters to the patient. The purpose of value-based healthcare is not minimizing the costs, but maximizing the ‘value’, which is defined by “patient outcomes divided by cost”; (1) thus emphasizing on a patient’s importance. (2) The progress in efficient healthcare services relies to a great extent on […]
Systematic literature reviews (SLRs) have always been amongst preferred tools for policy and decision makers owing to their quality of evidence as well as the ability to provide knowledge-base in terms of clinical practice guidelines as well as policy briefs. However, strict methodology followed during the conduct of an SLR can impact its duration, which […]
Systematic literature reviews (SLRs) are classically conducted with an aim of mapping the complete evidence base of a particular healthcare intervention, which enables an impartial evaluation of the evidence and lays the foundation for strong recommendations. The initial step in achieving this aim, while carrying out an SLR, is to conduct an extensive literature search […]
Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is gaining wide acceptance from researchers globally as it thoroughly optimizes the latest available evidence to make informed care decisions. This involves evaluating the quality of the clinical data by critically assessing methodologies reported in publications. Moreover, EBM incorporates both clinical expertise as well as patient values. Meta-analyses of RCTs often make […]
