The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Effective Health Care (EHC) Program Methods Guide for Comparative Effectiveness Reviews: keeping up-to-date in a rapidly evolving field

Abstract

A challenge for any research program is to ensure consistent use of the most current scientific methods, especially in a rapidly evolving field. Systematic review is a field that is moving into maturity from its adolescence. This issue of the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology includes 5 papers that nearly complete version 1.0 of theAgency forHealthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Effective Health Care Program Methods Guide for Comparative Effectiveness Reviews (Methods Guide). The Methods Guide is a collaborative effort among participating scientists at the 14 Evidencebased Practice Centers (EPCs) andAHRQ to identify the best methods for conducting systematic reviews on comparative effectiveness of interventions. The AHRQ-funded EPC Programwas established in 1997. These articles address areas of unnecessary variation, uncertainty, and areas of controversy raised by peer or public review of early Comparative EffectivenessReviews.Thebest approacheswereguidedby a combination of non-systematic review of empiric research and EPC experience and best practices in performing complex systematic reviews of comparative interventions. This methods guidance is intended to help advance the science and practice of systematic reviews, especially within the AHRQ EPC program. The first draft of theMethods Guide was originally posted for public comment in 2007. Subsequently, the draft was broken up into individual papers and each paper revised based on peer and public comments received. Since the draft was posted there has been growth in methods of systematic review, with development of guidance and standards by many different organizations around the world. The Methods Guide builds on work by others also established in the field, such as the Grading of Recommendations Assessment,