Reviews in Environmental Health: How Systematic are they?

Background: Systematic review methodologies are gaining traction in the environmental health field, with aims to inform research and evidence-based decision-making. How the methods and results of a systematic review compare to those of a traditional expert-based narrative review on the same topic has not been empirically evaluated. Methods: We identified reviews through the literature searches conducted during 3 Navigation Guide systematic review case studies: (1) Air Pollution and Autism Spectrum Disorder; (2) PBDEs and IQ/ADHD; and Formaldehyde and Asthma. We compared each review to the 9 domains of the Literature Review Appraisal Toolkit (LRAT), a structured appraisal of the methodological strengths and weaknesses of a review. We evaluated each review to determine if it was a self-identified systematic review, and compared the review conclusions to determine if they were broadly consistent with the conclusion of the Navigation Guide case study. Results: We identified a total of 30 reviews eligible for ...