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April 2007
Evidence-Based Tip
Searching for the evidence: Finding a systematic review
Systematic reviews are generally considered to be the top of the evidence pyramid. They combine a thorough search of the literature with a tough analysis of the quality and validity of existing studies. Especially when containing the statistical power of a meta-analysis, a well-conducted systematic review provides you with the best possible overview of a specific clinical question.
PubMed
There are two ways to look for systematic reviews in PubMed.
1) Begin by clicking on "Clinical Queries" in the blue navigation bar on the left. Then type keywords in the "Find Systematic Reviews" search box
2) Do a direct PubMed search, then click on the "Limits" tab
Scroll down on the Limits page to "Subsets" and choose "Systematic Reviews"
Cochrane
One of the best resources for well-conducted systematic reviews, The Cochrane Collaboration
offers free summaries of their reviews. These summaries detail study methodology, the main results and the authors' conclusion.
The Cochrane Library provides the full text of reviews, and is available to readers
affiliated with MUSC via the MUSC Library. It is available to others by subscription.
From the home page, click on either "Browse free summaries" or "Free summaries." Then, either use the browse "by topic" link, or the search box, to look for the review.
The browse "by topic" feature allows you to see all the reviews available in a broad subject category, and is, perhaps counter-intuitively, the faster method of finding a specific summary of a systematic review.
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