Abstract

Today, keeping up with the fast evolving evidence is more challenging than ever for practising physicians. A huge number of studies are published every day, and it is no longer possible to read all the relevant individual studies. Many physicians prefer attending continuing medical education (CME) to reading international scientific publications. Consequently, it is critical that CME is based on the best available evidence and presented in an unbiased manner free of conflicts of interest. Systematic reviews and Cochrane reviews in particular can thus provide a valuable resource of up-to-date and high-quality information on health care questions for CME providers. Of note, systematic reviews might become outdated quickly. Furthermore, some systematic reviews are fraught with limitations such as poor methodology and conduct or incomplete and misleading reporting. This article provides a brief overview of systematic reviews and Cochrane reviews, outlines how systematic reviews can be “kept alive” using today’s digital opportunities and points to several common problems of systematic reviews with suggestions for solutions.

Details

Title
Systematic reviews should be at the heart of continuing medical education
Author
Eisele-Metzger, Angelika 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Bollig, Claudia 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Meerpohl, Joerg J 1 

1  Institute for Evidence in Medicine, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany; Cochrane Germany, Cochrane Germany Foundation, Freiburg, Germany 
Publication year
2021
Publication date
Dec 2021
Publisher
Taylor & Francis Ltd.
e-ISSN
21614083
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/21614083.2021.2014096
ProQuest document ID
2613106205
Copyright
© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons  Attribution – Non-Commercial License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.