How to Distinguish Best Evidence from Bias: A Basic Guide to Understanding a Systematic Review

Abstract

A systematic review is a powerful tool to synthesize and show concise and robust evidence for clinical practice. Thus, the inclusion of biased, low-quality studies should be avoided, for otherwise, the resulting systematic review will not reflect the best medical evidence. Because the methodology of systematic review is relatively new, this review aims to present basic rules to guide the reader's interpretation of a systematic review.