Steps of a systematic review

Abstract

Systematic review (SR) is defined as a review of existing research using a precise and rigorous research method. This type of reviews is classified as the highest level of scientific evidence and it is important for athletic trainers to understand framework of SRs in order to carry out evidence-based practice. However, few information is available about methods of writing SRs in the field of athletic training in Japan. The purpose of this article is to explain how to conduct SRs for athletic training related matters. The author has published a SR about outcomes of cooling modalities for treating exertional heat stroke in sport and military settings, and hopes to share the writing experience with readers of this article. Writing a SR involves six key steps: clarifying the research question; identifying the relevant articles (article search); including/excluding studies into/from the SR; organizing the data in a coherent manner; discussing the results deliberately; and providing what claims can be made from the evidence gathered in the review. The author believes that the difficulties of reading or conducting SR among readers would reduce when these steps were fully understood.