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A Beginner’s Guide to Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

3 PRISMA

I’m going to get this out of the way now:

If you have not read the PRISMA Statement12, you need to do that before going forward in this book.

I am not going to explain the entire PRISMA statement. Please, just read the paper13 and review the PRISMA website.

That said, let’s check out the pieces that are most relevant for us.

3.1 What is the PRISMA statement?

The PRISMA statement specifies what information should be reported in systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Please read it. Seriously, please just read the paper14 and review the PRISMA website.

3.2 What do I need to know?

Did you read the paper15 and review the PRISMA website? If not, why?

If you did review the paper16 and review the PRISMA website, let’s check out a couple key take-away points.

3.2.1 PRISMA Checklist

By now you should have read the paper17 and reviewed the PRISMA website. So, you should know that there is a checklist you should complete when reporting your review.

3.2.2 PRISMA Flow Chart

By now you should have read the paper18 and reviewed the PRISMA website. So, you should know that there is a flow chart you should complete when reporting your review.

3.3 Practical Implications

You’re probably thinking, wow Noah, you didn’t say anything about PRISMA in this chapter. Why is that? Well, I want you to read the paper19 and review the PRISMA website. It is worth the time.

You should follow the PRISMA statement and use the checklist and flow chart when reporting your study. To do that you’ll need to keep track of specific information as you conduct your study. Here are a few items you’ll want to track and clearly report in your methods:

  • The exact date of your literature search

  • The exact search terms you used in each database, including any limiters or filters

  • The exact databases you searched

  • The exact number of items located in each database

  • The total number of abstracts located for review

  • The total number of duplicates removed

  • The total number of studies excluded during title and abstract screening

  • The total number of studies reviewed during full-text screening

  • The total number of studies excluded during full-text screening and the reasons why, aligned with the inclusion/exclusion criteria

That seems like a lot, but it’s really not difficult. Especially if you read the paper20 and reviewed the PRISMA website, given that there are templates for the check list and flow chart available. All of these items must be reported in order to have a transparent review.

3.4 Summary

At the risk of sounding redundant, please read the paper21 and review the PRISMA website if you have not already. If you are serious about conducting systematic reviews, the time spent reading and understanding PRISMA will save you huge amounts of headache when your study is peer-reviewed. Reviewers expect you to follow and report your review aligned with PRISMA. Some journals will not even consider a manuscript if it is not aligned with PRISMA.