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The experience of conducting a Cochrane systematic review of the impact of clinical pathways on professional practice, patient outcomes, length of stay and hospital costs

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-18, 06:33 authored by Rotter, T, Leigh Kinsman, James, E, Machotta, A, Gothe, H, Kugler, J
Despite the high prevalence of clinical pathways (CPWs), the results from published studies are inconsistent and contradictory. The plethora of study designs, settings and lack of an agreed definition of a CPW make the relevance of individual studies difficult to apply to clinical settings. It was timely to catalogue and analyse the existing evidence base for CPWs via a rigorous systematic review. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses provide a high level of evidence for the effectiveness of interventions and are commonly employed reviewing strategies for addressing scientific questions in health-related research. This method is especially useful when research results are known to be inconsistent. Instead of conducting another primary evaluation, a detailed review is needed that reflects a summation of available research. This paper reports and discusses methodological and technical issues of a systematic review of the effectiveness of CPWs in hospitals, based on our experience with the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care Group.

History

Publication title

International Journal of Care Pathways

Volume

13

Pagination

62-66

ISSN

2040-4026

Department/School

School of Nursing

Publisher

Sage Publications Ltd.

Place of publication

United Kingdom

Rights statement

Copyright 2009 SAGE Publications

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Nursing

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