| Strategy |
Domains† |
Strengths |
Limitations |
| Maintaining an updated review (Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions, periodically updated, Higgins 2005). |
Search strategy.
Administrative issues.
Clinical.
Updating format. |
a) Periodic updating ensures validity at some time.
b) Timing of updating is known (e.g. every two years). |
a) 2‐year updating cycle may lead to out‐datedness in rapidly developing fields, or wasted resources in slowly developing fields. |
| Strategies for updating a review (Weller 1998). |
Clinical.
Public health.
Economic.
Updating format. |
a) Applicable to systematic reviews, clinical practice guidelines, and health technology assessments. |
a) General description of actions.
b) Low practical utility. |
| Steps in maintaining an updated review (Chalmers 1993). |
Search strategy.
Administrative issues. |
a) Minimizes publication bias by obtaining grey literature and contacting authors for further information or clarifications. |
a) Inefficient.
b) Cumbersome to implement. |
| Assessment of the need to update (Lutje 2005). |
Search strategy.
Administrative issues.
Clinical.
Public health. |
a) Assesses the need to update.
b) Prioritizes reviews requiring updating.
c) Efficient.
d) Uses evidence‐based editorial consensus on whether or not to update.
e) Algorithm of administrative actions. |
a) Unclear how to determine if a review is out‐of‐date.
b) Unclear how to determine the importance of the topic in order to reach editorial consensus. |
