Abstract
Objective
The objective of the study was to systematically review the literature for proposed
approaches and exercises conducted to prioritize topics or questions for systematic
reviews and other types of evidence syntheses in any health-related area.
Study Design and Setting
A systematic review. We searched Medline and CINAHL databases in addition to Cochrane
website and Google Scholar. Teams of two reviewers independently screened the studies
and extracted data.
Results
We included 31 articles reporting on 29 studies: seven proposed approaches for prioritization
and 25 conducted prioritization exercises (three studies did both). The included studies
addressed the following fields: clinical (n = 19; 66%), public health (n = 10; 34%), and health policy and systems (n = 8; 28%), with six studies (21%) addressing more than one field. We categorized
prioritization into 11 steps clustered in 3 phases (preprioritization, prioritization,
and postprioritization). Twenty-eight studies (97%) involved or proposed involving
stakeholders in the priority-setting process. These 28 studies referred to twelve
stakeholder categories, most frequently to health care providers (n = 24; 86%) and researchers (n = 21; 75%). A common framework of 25 prioritization criteria was derived, clustered
in 10 domains.
Conclusion
We identified literature that addresses different aspects of prioritizing topics or
questions for evidence syntheses, including prioritization steps and criteria. The
identified steps and criteria can serve as a menu of options to select from, as judged
appropriate to the context.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 14, 2019
Accepted:
December 11,
2019
Footnotes
Funding: This study was supported by the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, WHO, Geneva. The funder was not involved in the design of the study, in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data or in the writing of the manuscript.
Conflict of interest: E.A.A., R.F., and F.E.J. are authors of one of the included studies. They were not involved in the study selection and data extraction process for this study.
Ethics approval: None was required.
Identification
Copyright
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