Literature/Technical Review
Intrinsik is experienced in conducting literature reviews using the Cochrane methodology. Our scientists utilize a comprehensive search strategy and data extraction approach that includes the compilation of a customized database. Intrinsik has prepared systematic literature reviews of peer reviewed literature spanning a variety of exposures and health outcomes. Previous reviews have evaluated respiratory system effects associated with nitrogen dioxide exposures and health outcomes associated with residential proximity to petrochemical industries and oil and gas activities.
The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions (Cochrane Collaboration, 2011) governs the development of Intrinsik’s study search and evaluation process for systematic reviews. The Cochrane Handbook provides the standard for conducting reviews in healthcare and pharmaceutical industries and we have adapted it for use for environmental health issues. Cochrane reviews adhere to the principle that “science is cumulative” and by considering all available evidence, decisions can be made that reflect the best science available. The applicability of the Cochrane methodology is widespread across disciplines.
The Cochrane Handbook cites the five (5) key characteristics of a systematic review as:
- A clearly stated set of objectives with pre-defined eligibility criteria for studies
- An explicit, reproducible methodology
- A systematic search that attempts to identify all studies that would meet the eligibility criteria
- An assessment of the validity of the findings of the included studies, for example, through the assessment of the risk of bias
- A systematic presentation, and synthesis, of the characteristics and findings of the included studies
(Cochrane Collaboration, 2011, Section 1.2.2).
The five key characteristics identified above govern Intrinsik’s implementation of all systematic literature reviews.