Narrative Synthesis

Background: Narrative synthesis is a common approach to the synthesis of data in systematic reviews, however methodological guidance on the conduct of narrative syntheses is limited. As a result, in reviews where statistical or other formal methods of pooling of data is not possible or appropriate, approaches to summarising and presenting findings narratively is varied and often inadequate. Narrative synthesis goes beyond the act of simply describing and summarising the main features of included studies. It enables investigation of similarities and differences between studies, exploration of relationships within the data and assessment of the strength of the evidence, and results in a summary of knowledge related to a specific review question that may be used to inform practice or policy. Here, a basic framework for narrative synthesis is discussed with examples to provide guidance for reviewers.