The principle that systematic reviews are the best evidence on which to base clinical practice seems so obvious that it is surprising that their methodology is so recent.It was only in 1979 that Archie Cochrane berated the medical profession for not constructing such reviews.In 1991 the UK Cochrane Centre was founded to respond to this challenge. 1n 1998 we founded the Cochrane Neuromuscular Disease Review Group to apply the principles and methods of the Cochrane Collaboration to peripheral nerve and muscle disease.In this article, examples principally from peripheral nerve diseases illustrate how our knowledge of the effectiveness of treatments has progressed from anecdotes or observational studies through randomized controlled trials to systematic reviews.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
R. A. C. Hughes (2003) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: