Extending the PRISMA statement to equity-focused systematic reviews (PRISMA-E 2012): explanation and elaboration

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Evidence Synthesis
• Health Equity

Background:

• Health equity is a global imperative, yet systematic reviews often lack assessments of intervention effects on equity.
• The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement aids systematic review transparency.
• Existing PRISMA guidelines do not fully address equity considerations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce PRISMA-Equity 2012 (PRISMA-E 2012), an extension to the PRISMA statement.
• To guide systematic reviewers in identifying, extracting, and synthesizing evidence on health equity.
• To improve the reporting and transparency of equity-focused systematic reviews.

Main Methods:

• Development of an equity extension (PRISMA-E 2012) for the PRISMA statement.
• Inclusion of specific items and modifications to existing PRISMA items to focus on equity.
• Provision of rationale and examples for each new or modified item.

Main Results:

• The PRISMA-E 2012 statement provides additions and modifications to PRISMA items.
• Guidance is offered for reporting equity considerations within systematic reviews.
• Examples illustrate good reporting practices for equity-focused reviews.

Conclusions:

• PRISMA-E 2012 aims to improve the transparency and completeness of reporting for equity-focused systematic reviews.
• Enhanced reporting facilitates better policy-maker judgment of applicability.
• This can lead to more appropriate health policies and programs, contributing to reduced health inequities.