RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Systematic reviews of the effectiveness of quality improvement strategies and programmes
JF Quality and Safety in Health Care
JO Qual Saf Health Care
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 298
OP 303
DO 10.1136/qhc.12.4.298
VO 12
IS 4
A1 J Grimshaw
A1 L M McAuley
A1 L A Bero
A1 R Grilli
A1 A D Oxman
A1 C Ramsay
A1 L Vale
A1 M Zwarenstein
YR 2003
UL http://qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/12/4/298.abstract
AB Systematic reviews provide the best evidence on the effectiveness of healthcare interventions including quality improvement strategies. The methods of systematic review of individual patient randomised trials of healthcare interventions are well developed. We discuss methodological and practice issues that need to be considered when undertaking systematic reviews of quality improvement strategies including developing a review protocol, identifying and screening evidence sources, quality assessment and data abstraction, analytical methods, reporting systematic reviews, and appraising systematic reviews. This paper builds on our experiences within the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC) review group.