Enhancing the usability of systematic reviews by improving the consideration and description of interventions

The importance of adequate intervention descriptions in minimising research waste and improving research usability and reproducibility has gained attention in the past few years. Nearly all focus to date has been on intervention reporting in randomised trials. Yet clinicians are encouraged to use sy...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hoffmann, T, Oxman, A, Ioannidis, J, Moher, D, Lasserson, T, Tovey, D, Stein, K, Sutcliffe, K, Ravaud, P, Altman, D, Perera, R, Glasziou, P
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2017
Description
Summary:The importance of adequate intervention descriptions in minimising research waste and improving research usability and reproducibility has gained attention in the past few years. Nearly all focus to date has been on intervention reporting in randomised trials. Yet clinicians are encouraged to use systematic reviews, whenever available, rather than single trials to inform their practice. This article explores the problem and implications of incomplete intervention details during the planning, conduct, and reporting of systematic reviews and makes recommendations for review authors, peer reviewers, and journal editors.