Paper – Systematic Reviewlution

Keywords	• Cochrane • Orthopaedic
Problem(s)	• Inconclusive or lack of recommendations • Weaknesses identified in some Cochrane reviews
Article Type	Empirical
Article Subtype	Cross-sectional survey/Methodological systematic review
First Author Country	Canada
Aim	To assess whether results and conclusions on the effectiveness of exercise for workers with neck pain vary with the Cochrane Back Review Group Guidelines and best-evidence synthesis review methods.
Level of Investigation	Descriptive
Summary of Findings	There was great discordance between the Cochrane Back Review Group Guidelines and best-evidence synthesis methods due to methodological weaknesses in data synthesis.
Number of systematic reviews included	2
Number of eligible systematic reviews assessed	2
Treatment impacted	Yes
Treatment impacted description	Review results and conclusions were sensitive to the methods for appraising trial quality and incorporating quality into data synthesis when the evidence consisted largely of low-quality trials
Interpretation impacted	Yes
Interpretation impacted description	No treatment recommendation could be formulated based on Cochrane review groups methods whereas best-evidence synthesis could recommend exercise.

Does the article have a publicly available protocol?	No
Did the review team include both methodological and clinical experts?	Yes
Sampling strategy for obtaining the systematic reviews under assessment	Pre Selected
Was the sample size of systematic reviews subject to any formal sample size or power calculation?	No
Were any or all of the study selection and data extraction performed in duplicate?	Yes
Were any statistical adjustments made to correct for confounding?	No
Are the methods of the article described in enough detail to replicate the study?	Yes