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Arch Intern Med. 2001;161:125-126.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

The concept of evidence-based medicine is as simple as it is compelling and has indisputably had a major influence on modern therapeutics. Evidence-based medicine aims to objectively evaluate all medical interventions with a view of translating this knowledge into routine medical practice and thus enhancing patient care. One of its most powerful tools to achieve this aim is the systematic review (SR).¹ Systematic reviews, including meta-analyses, aim at impartially assessing the evidence for a given treatment and usually focus on efficacy or effectiveness. Yet safety data are equally important for evidence-based decisions about the value (or otherwise) of therapeutic interventions.

To determine to what extent safety issues have been the subject of SRs, the literature was searched using MEDLINE (1966 to November 1999). The search terms were "systematic review," "meta-analysis," "efficacy," "effectiveness," "safety," "adverse effects," "adverse reactions," and derivatives of these terms. Identified articles were categorized according to the time . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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