Conducting Systematic Reviews on HIV Infection and AIDS

Key components of a systematic review include: ¥ a well-formulated question and pre-specified criteria for study inclusion and exclusion, ¥ a comprehensive and methodical search for studies, ¥ a critical appraisal of the quality of included studies, ¥ a synthesis of study findings and, if appropri-ate, a meta-analysis to determine the effects of the same or similar interventions for the same health care condition.1, 5-7 The Cochrane Collaboration The Cochrane Collaboration is an international network of researchers, health care providers and individuals whose mission is to prepare, main-tain and disseminate systematic, continuously updated reviews of health interventions.8-11 Named for Professor Archie Cochrane, a British epidemiologist and early advocate of thoughtful, structured research synthesis, the Cochrane Collaboration is working methodically to review all controlled trials of health care interventions since the first randomized controlled trial (RCT) was published in 1948. The Collaboration is comprised of 50 collaborative review groups, which are organized around health care topics such as infectious diseases, drugs and alcohol, stroke, schizophrenia, pregnancy, and HIV infection and AIDS. Each of these review groups produces systematic reviews in its respective topic area; however, the interests of these groups often overlap and collaborative efforts between groups are common