abstract
- High-quality, up-to-date, systematic reviews comprehensively summarize the evidence from clinical studies for a focused clinical question. A meta-analyses is a quantitative summary of results from individual studies and often part of a systematic review. Important features of a systematic review are a focused research question, a comprehensive, reproducible search for primary studies, selection of studies using clear and transparent eligibility criteria, and a standardized critical appraisal of the methodological quality of included studies.