Table 2.1 Types of traditional systematic reviews
From: Guidance to best tools and practices for systematic reviews
Review type | Topic assessed | Elements of research question (mnemonic) |
|---|---|---|
Benefits and harms of interventions used in healthcare. | Population, Intervention, Comparator, Outcome (PICO) | |
Diagnostic test accuracy [62] | How well a diagnostic test performs in diagnosing and detecting a particular disease. | Population, Index test(s), and Target condition (PIT) |
Qualitative | Â | Â |
 Cochrane [63] | Questions are designed to improve understanding of intervention complexity, contextual variations, implementation, and stakeholder preferences and experiences. | Setting, Perspective, Intervention or Phenomenon of Interest, Comparison, Evaluation (SPICE) Sample, Phenomenon of Interest, Design, Evaluation, Research type (SPIDER) Perspective, Setting, Phenomena of interest/Problem, Environment, Comparison (optional), Time/timing, Findings (PerSPecTIF) |
 JBI [64] | Questions inform meaningfulness and appropriateness of care and the impact of illness through documentation of stakeholder experiences, preferences, and priorities. | Population, the Phenomena of Interest, and the Context (PICo) |
Prognostic [65] | Probable course or future outcome(s) of people with a health problem. | Population, Intervention (model), Comparator, Outcomes, Timing, Setting (PICOTS) |
Etiology and risk [66] | The relationship (association) between certain factors (e.g., genetic, environmental) and the development of a disease or condition or other health outcome. | Population or groups at risk, Exposure(s), associated Outcome(s) (disease, symptom, or health condition of interest), the context/location or the time period and the length of time when relevant (PEO) |
What is the most suitable instrument to measure a construct of interest in a specific study population? | Population, Instrument, Construct, Outcomes (PICO) | |
Prevalence and incidence [69] | The frequency, distribution and determinants of specific factors, health states or conditions in a defined population: eg, how common is a particular disease or condition in a specific group of individuals? | Factor, disease, symptom or health condition of interest, the epidemiological indicator used to measure its frequency (prevalence, incidence), the population or groups at risk as well as the context/location and time period where relevant (CoCoPop) |