How Can Guidelines Keep Pace With Science? "Living Evidence" May Help

Traditionally, the review and updating of medical guidelines have relied on a “systematic review” – a publication following a formal synthesis of data from multiple studies to establish a clear picture of current research findings. This process often took more than 200 person-hours to find the relevant research and synthesize the evidence, which didn’t seem like a big deal when guidelines were updated every couple of years, and sometimes far longer. Even in its day, researchers acknowledged that the time it took to research and draft the systematic review often resulted in more up-to-date research being missed in the process.

Citing the flood of studies produced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, an international team of researchers suggests that a new approach is necessary to generate rigorous up-to-date summaries of scientific evidence so policymakers can make better-informed decisions.