Evidence synthesis involves a broad spectrum of review types, and scoping review is one such method, which, true to its name, is an effective technique to “scope” a broad topic in a research field. Unlike other types of reviews, scoping reviews can map the essential concepts underpinning a field of study and clarify working definitions […]
Meta-analyses summarize data from head-to-head trials to evaluate pairs of treatments that have been directly compared.[1] However, in certain circumstances, multiple therapies are of interest, and no data is available on their direct comparison. In such cases, indirect treatment comparison (ITC) is performed for synthesizing evidence surrounding treatments of interest.[2] ITC assumes that the studies […]
When seeking answers to clinical questions about efficacy or other aspects of a proposed intervention, health professionals often look for reliable evidence. Systematic literature reviews (SLRs) serve this purpose, by virtue of their ability to generate high-quality, verifiable, and trustworthy evidence in a systematic, transparent, and impartial manner.(1) In the new evidence pyramid, systematic reviews […]
Literature reviews play a vital role in fulfilling the primary goal of any evidence-based research by aiding in decision-making with transparent and impacting results.[1] With advances in all medical fields and with increased access to medical literature, different methodologies have been conceptualized for performing literature reviews, leading to the advent of different types of literature […]
Healthcare decisions for patients and public health policies should be supported by the best available research evidence. To ensure the hierarchy of the evidence, an evidence pyramid was conceptualized, with in-vitro studies and animal studies forming the bottom of the pyramid, expert opinions, case series, case reports, and observational studies forming the middle layer, and […]
Results from over half of all conducted randomized controlled trials (RCTs), especially those with negative or unfavorable results, never get published. This means, searching only electronic databases that index published literature does not provide the entire spectrum of information; additionally, a bias is induced, since most trials having negative results get omitted. This is extremely […]
Systematic reviews (SRs) are the embodiment of the evidence-based approaches, and they have reformed clinical decision-making in almost all therapy areas. The approach of SRs was essentially developed to fulfil the need of the medical practitioners to obtain precise and consistent information about the efficacy and safety of a clinical intervention, diagnostic procedure, or a […]
Systematic reviews (SRs) face a major challenge while identifying all the relevant research, including randomised controlled trials (RCTs) irrespective of their publication status.(1) Unpublished, selectively reported, or non-reported research can lead to poorer quality clinical trials, thus leading to suboptimal care delivery. It also overlooks the opportunities for potential scientific progress.(2) Such incomplete publication status […]
Systematic reviews (SRs) are crucial in health and scientific research as they offer a thorough understanding of the findings from research. (1) They provide critical information on different aspects of research, such as answers to the questions not often addressed by individual studies, problems in primary research that need to be avoided in future studies, […]
