Children in reviews: methodological issues in child-relevant evidence syntheses.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The delivery of optimal medical care to children is dependent on the availability of child relevant research. Our objectives were to: i) systematically review and describe how children are handled in reviews of drug interventions published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR); and ii) determine when effect sizes for the same drug interventions differ between children and adults.

Methods

We systematically identified all of the reviews relevant to child health in the CDSR 2002, Issue 4. Reviews were included if they investigated the efficacy or effectiveness of a drug intervention for a condition that occurs in both children and adults. Information was extracted on review characteristics including study methods, results, and conclusions.

Results<

SUBMITTER: Cramer K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1261269 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature