Systematic reviews in spinal cord injury: A step-by-step guide for rehabilitation science learners and clinicians

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has created opportunity for multiple rehabilitation science learners and clinicians to critically evaluate and synthesize published research in the field of spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation. Objective: To provide a step-by-step guide for rehabilitation science learners and clinicians outlining how to conduct rigorous systematic reviews in the field of SCI. Results: Steps for conducting a systematic review (SR) include: (1) formation of the SR team consisting of interprofessional experts; (2) formulation of the research question(s) with patient/population/problem, Intervention, Comparison, and Outcome (PICO) specification; (3) determination of inclusion and exclusion criteria; (4) development of SR protocol and registration; (5) development of the search strategies (database specific); (6) screening of titles and abstracts (level 1 screening), and full-texts (level 2 screening); (7) quality assessment of the included studies; (8) data extraction; (9) summary of findings and discussion; and, (10) dissemination of results. Conclusions: The enclosed ten steps for conducting SRs in SCI rehabilitation research have the potential to significantly improve the quality of evidence synthesis and the associated inferences. The importance of assembling team with diverse expertise is emphasized to assure a quality product with the potential to influence practice and inform the content of clinical practice recommendations.