The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 271 No 7259 p131
26 July 2003

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Well written and useful for any pharmacist wishing to explore systematic reviews

'Systematic reviews to support evidence-based medicine: how to review and apply findings of healthcare research', by Khalid S. Khan, Regina Kunz, Jos Kleijnen, Gerd Antes. Pp xi+136. Price £17.50. Oxford: Royal Society of Medicine Press Ltd; 2003. ISBN 1 85315 525 X

This book is aimed at health care professionals who either wish to understand the principles behind a good quality systematic review of the evidence base, or are about to begin undertaking their own systematic reviews. It is a practical book written by authors with experience of producing high quality systematic reviews.

Most pharmacists will know that a systematic review of trials sits at the top of the hierarchy of evidence, but many may not appreciate how a good systematic review is put together and what to look out for to determine whether a systematic review is robust.

The book describes what a systematic review is (eg, how meta-analysis links in) and the five key stages of constructing a systematic review (eg, how to identify, select and assess the quality of studies to include in a review).

Each section contains numerous helpful summary boxes and practical clinical examples to highlight key points. The book describes common terms such as intention-to-treat, Forest plots, funnel plots and relative risk number-needed-to-treat.

It describes sources of good quality systematic review (eg, Cochrane) and has a number of practical clinical case studies to work through at the end.

This book is well written and is a useful tool for any pharmacist wishing to explore systematic review further.

Claire Jones

Claire Jones is assistant head of NHS service development at the National Pharmaceutical Association