Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to K Bannigan.
Systematic reviews are a source of evidence to guide practice and identify the need for future research. This article gives an outline of the methods involved in conducting systematic reviews, including the identification of a review topic, searching literature, selecting studies to be reviewed and synthesising study findings.
Research shows the rate of relapse among people with schizophrenia can be reduced by interventions focusing on how a family functions. This article is a systematic review of the studies, held by the Cochrane Library. The review concludes that relapse, hospital admission and compliance with medication were improved where family-based interventions were used.
Asthma is one of the main causes of chronic ill health in the UK but management of the disease is of variable quality. This article summarises a systematic review of the literature held on the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness (DARE) and highlights the dearth of reliable evidence on effective ways to organise the care of people with asthma. The number of firm findings is limited but care delivered by specialists appears to be more effective, and there is evidence to suggest that care shared between GPs and specialist consultants is the cheapest option.