The time to act is now: pseudo-systematic review

Area of Science:

• Medical research
• Public health communication

Background:

• The phrase "time to act" is frequently used in medical and public health literature.
• The rationale behind these urgent calls for action is often unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the medical or public health justification for claims stating "the time to act is now."

Main Methods:

• A pseudo-systematic review of studies indexed in PubMed.
• Included articles with "time to act" in the title, irrespective of language or publication date.

Main Results:

• 512 articles were reviewed, revealing no correlation between "time to act" claims and disease burden, severity, or medical specialty.
• Claims linking urgent action to specific dates like Christmas lacked substantiation.
• A concentration of "time to act" claims in the first quarter of the year may correlate with New Year's resolutions.

Conclusions:

• Urgent calls for action in scientific literature often lack a clear medical or public health rationale.
• The timing of such claims may be influenced by external factors like New Year's resolutions rather than clinical urgency.