The use of rapid review methods for the U.S. Preventive services task force
Open accessAbstract
Rapid review products are intended to synthesize available evidence in a timely fashion while still meeting the needs of healthcare decision makers. Various methods and products have been applied for rapid evidence syntheses, but no single approach has been uniformly adopted. Methods to gain efficiency and compress the review time period include focusing on a narrow clinical topic and key questions; limiting the literature search; performing single (versus dual) screening of abstracts and full-text articles for relevance; and limiting the analysis and synthesis. In order to maintain the scientific integrity, including transparency, of rapid evidence syntheses, it is imperative that procedures used to streamline standard systematic review methods are prespecified, based on sound review principles and empiric evidence when possible, and provide the end user with an accurate and comprehensive synthesis. The collection of clinical preventive service recommendations maintained by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, along with its commitment to rigorous methods development, provide a unique opportunity to refine, implement, and evaluate rapid evidence synthesis methods and add to an emerging evidence base on rapid review methods. This paper summarizes the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force's use of rapid review methodology, its criteria for selecting topics for rapid evidence syntheses, and proposed methods to streamline the review process.
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National and international health agencies use rapid reviews, including to inform guideline recommendations in urgent and emergent public health settings.
“Respected national and international health agencies [13,14] are also using RRs, including to inform guideline recommendations in urgent and emergent public health settings [15,16].”
From Cochrane Rapid Reviews Methods Group offers evidence-informed guidance to conduct rapid reviews (2021) · cites this paper as [14]
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- Authors
- Patnode, C. D., Eder, M. L., Walsh, E. S., Viswanathan, M., & Lin, J. S.
- Affiliations
- Kaiser Permanente (US)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
- Corresponding author
- Patnode, Carrie D.
- Venue
- American Journal of Preventive Medicine
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2018-01
- Volume
- 54
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- S19-S25
- ISSN
- 0749-3797 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2771573624
- Cited by
- 40
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 4.16
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- American Journal of Preventive Medicine (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (HHSA290201600006C)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty › Meta-analysis and systematic reviews
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Clinical practice guidelines implementation
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Sciences Research and Education
- Keywords
- rapid evidence synthesis, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, clinical preventive services, evidence-based recommendations, abstract screening
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Preventive Health Services, Research Design, United States, Evidence-Based Medicine, Advisory Committees
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