Table 1

Essential steps in a systematic overview

Defining primary objective of the overview
Defining the primary objective of any additional outcome measures
Systematic retrieval of the relevant studies
Abstracting the quantitative information
Summarizing the evidence (using appropriate statistical methods if possible)
Interpreting the results

Rossi et al. Annals of General Hospital Psychiatry 2004 3:2   doi:10.1186/1475-2832-3-2