RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Proposed triggers for retiring a living systematic review
JF BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine
JO BMJ EBM
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP bmjebm-2022-112100
DO 10.1136/bmjebm-2022-112100
A1 Mohammad Hassan Murad
A1 Zhen Wang
A1 Haitao Chu
A1 Lifeng Lin
A1 Ibrahim K El Mikati
A1 Joanne Khabsa
A1 Elie A Akl
A1 Robby Nieuwlaat
A1 Holger J Schuenemann
A1 Irbaz Bin Riaz
YR 2023
UL http://ebm.bmj.com/content/early/2023/03/16/bmjebm-2022-112100.abstract
AB Living systematic reviews (LSRs) are systematic reviews that are continually updated, incorporating relevant new evidence as it becomes available. LSRs are critical for decision-making in topics where the evidence continues to evolve. It is not feasible to continue to update LSRs indefinitely; however, guidance on when to retire LSRs from the living mode is not clear. We propose triggers for making such a decision. The first trigger is to retire LSRs when the evidence becomes conclusive for the outcomes that are required for decision-making. Conclusiveness of evidence is best determined based on the GRADE certainty of evidence construct, which is more comprehensive than solely relying on statistical considerations. The second trigger to retire LSRs is when the question becomes less pertinent for decision-making as determined by relevant stakeholders, including people affected by the problem, healthcare professionals, policymakers and researchers. LSRs can also be retired from a living mode when new studies are not anticipated to be published on the topic and when resources become unavailable to continue updating. We describe examples of retired LSRs and apply the proposed approach using one LSR about adjuvant tyrosine kinase inhibitors in high-risk renal cell carcinoma that we retired from a living mode and published its last update.Data sharing not applicable as no datasets generated and/or analysed for this study. No data are available.