Applying Appraisal Tools in Aphasia Systematic Reviews: A Tutorial.

Area of Science:

• Epidemiology
• Clinical Research Methodology

Background:

• Systematic reviews (SRs) synthesize research but quality varies.
• Not all SRs meet established standards for conduct and reporting.
• Assessing SR quality is crucial for reliable clinical application.

Approach:

• This tutorial describes PRISMA 2020 for reporting and AMSTAR 2 for appraising SRs.
• It compares items on PRISMA 2020 and AMSTAR 2 checklists.
• AMSTAR 2 was used to critically appraise two SRs on aphasia treatment.

Key Points:

• PRISMA 2020 guides SR preparation; AMSTAR 2 assesses SR quality.
• AMSTAR 2 identified critical weaknesses in the methodological quality of both appraised SRs.
• Both SRs, though thorough, received critically low overall confidence ratings.

Conclusions:

• AMSTAR 2 is the preferred tool for examining SR quality.
• Clinicians should use quality assessment tools like AMSTAR 2 to ensure SRs meet validity criteria.
• This ensures findings from SRs can be confidently applied to patient care.