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Reading and Using Systematic Reviews

of Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Systems, University of Washington, Seattle. Correspondence: JoAnne D. Whitney, PhD, RN, CWCN (e-mail: joiewhit@u.washington.edu). In the upcoming months, Spotlight on Research will feature a series of articles on the clinical application of research knowledge. The explosion in research and improvements in access to and availability of information necessitates that providers develop their skills in interpreting research findings and other sources of information. This is true in many fields and practice specialties, including wound, ostomy, and continence management. As our understanding of the physiologic and cellular responses implicated in the pathology of wound failure and incontinence broadens, so too does the availability of treatments. In addition to interpreting findings from single studies, basing practice on evidence requires related skills for fully using the information at hand. These include skill in the appraisal of how review findings apply to the care of patients in specific clinical settings. As the evidence-based practice movement evolves, so does our understanding of how to confront the mounting scientific evidence and make logical use of it in daily practice. In the preface to their book, Systematic Reviews. Synthesis of Best Evidence for Health Care Decisions, Mulrow and Cook site an applicable quotation of T.S. Eliot, “Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?” As practitioners, educators, and researchers, we are faced daily with increasing information and data. It is clearly a challenge to stay on top of this exciting and ever-growing wealth of information. Specific techniques for summarizing and interpreting a body of scientific knowledge, also known as systematic reviews, are increasingly common and offer care providers opportunities to remain clinically current and stay abreast of recent developments. This issue of Spotlight begins the knowledge use series by briefly looking at systematic reviews and their salient features, along with some tips to help in appraising their quality and practical meaning.