Hoffmann Sebastian, de Vries Rob B M, Stephens Martin L, Beck Nancy B, Dirven Hubert A A M, Fowle John R, Goodman Julie E, Hartung Thomas, Kimber Ian, Lalu Manoj M, Thayer Kristina, Whaley Paul, Wikoff Daniele, Tsaioun Katya
Evidence-Based Toxicology Collaboration at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
seh consulting + services, Paderborn, Germany.
Arch Toxicol. 2017 Jul;91(7):2551-2575. doi: 10.1007/s00204-017-1980-3. Epub 2017 May 13.
Systematic reviews, pioneered in the clinical field, provide a transparent, methodologically rigorous and reproducible means of summarizing the available evidence on a precisely framed research question. Having matured to a well-established approach in many research fields, systematic reviews are receiving increasing attention as a potential tool for answering toxicological questions. In the larger framework of evidence-based toxicology, the advantages and obstacles of, as well as the approaches for, adapting and adopting systematic reviews to toxicology are still being explored. To provide the toxicology community with a starting point for conducting or understanding systematic reviews, we herein summarized available guidance documents from various fields of application. We have elaborated on the systematic review process by breaking it down into ten steps, starting with planning the project, framing the question, and writing and publishing the protocol, and concluding with interpretation and reporting. In addition, we have identified the specific methodological challenges of toxicological questions and have summarized how these can be addressed. Ultimately, this primer is intended to stimulate scientific discussions of the identified issues to fuel the development of toxicology-specific methodology and to encourage the application of systematic review methodology to toxicological issues.
系统评价发端于临床领域，提供了一种透明、方法严谨且可重复的手段，用于总结针对精确界定的研究问题的现有证据。在许多研究领域，系统评价已发展成为一种成熟的方法，作为回答毒理学问题的潜在工具，正受到越来越多的关注。在基于证据的毒理学这一更大框架下，将系统评价应用于毒理学的优势、障碍以及方法仍在探索之中。为给毒理学界提供开展或理解系统评价的起点，我们在此总结了来自各个应用领域的现有指导文件。我们通过将系统评价过程细分为十个步骤进行了详细阐述，从项目规划、问题界定、方案撰写与发表，到解释与报告。此外，我们确定了毒理学问题的具体方法挑战，并总结了应对这些挑战的方法。最终，本入门指南旨在激发对已识别问题的科学讨论，以推动毒理学特定方法的发展，并鼓励将系统评价方法应用于毒理学问题。
