Evidence-Based Practice Quiz

See Evidence-Based Practice. Option D is correct. A systematic review is an overview of primary studies done using explicit and reproducible methods, meaning that the way the studies were found and judged is clearly stated so someone else could repeat it. It can include a broad range of studies, even those with greater clinical heterogeneity, which means the patients, treatments or outcomes differ between studies. A meta-analysis is a quantitative synthesis of the results of two or more primary studies that addressed the same hypothesis in the same way. It combines the numbers, so it needs studies that are similar enough to be pooled. Meta-analysis therefore often forms part of a systematic review, but not every systematic review contains one: if the studies are too different to combine, the review simply describes and appraises them. Both approaches aim to reduce bias and give a more complete picture than any single study, but both depend on the quality of the studies they include, which is why the phrase rubbish in, rubbish out is used. Meta-analysis also follows a formal protocol that sets out in advance which studies will be included.

• Systematic review: An overview of primary studies using explicit and reproducible methods, which can include clinically varied studies.
• Meta-analysis: A quantitative synthesis of the results of two or more primary studies that addressed the same hypothesis in the same way.
• Relationship: Meta-analysis often forms part of a systematic review, but not every systematic review contains one.