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. 1998 Mar;88(3):475-7.
doi: 10.2105/ajph.88.3.475.

Quality of reviews in epidemiology

R A Breslow  1 , S A Ross, D L Weed
Affiliations

Quality of reviews in epidemiology

R A Breslow et al. Am J Public Health. 1998 Mar.

Abstract

Objectives: This study examined the quality of recent reviews in epidemiology.

Methods: All 1995 issues of 7 widely read epidemiology journals were searched to identify reviews.

Results: Twenty-nine reviews were identified. Methodology was not specified or incomplete for literature searches in 79% of reviews; the same was true for inclusion criteria in 83% and for combining studies in 62%. More than 60% of the reviews were not methodologically systematic.

Conclusions: There is a need to improve the quality of review papers in epidemiology. If systematic methodology were followed more frequently, epidemiologic science and its application could be improved.

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