The applicability and utilization of systematic reviews for clinical practice

Abstract

The aims of this thesis are to examine the applicability and utilization of systematic reviews in health care, and to identify barriers and provide insights for integrating systematic reviews more effectively into clinical practice in order to positively affect the health of patients. For the purposes of this thesis, applicability refers to whether a systematic review is relevant or appropriate for clinical decision-making. Utilization is defined as the actual use of systematic reviews in practice. The first part of this thesis assesses the extent to which systematic reviews are being used to inform clinical practice guidelines (Chapter 2). Subsequent chapters investigate specific challenges and potential solutions for incorporating systematic reviews, or evidence synthesis research generally, into health care decision-making (Chapters 3-7). The final chapter summarizes the work presented in this thesis and provides implications for practice and research (Chapter 8).