Systematic reviews of available empirical evidence are used to support clinical practice, clinical guideline development, coverage and policy decisions, quality measurement, and identification of research gaps for prioritizing new research. KP EPC researchers have extensive experience in conducting systematic reviews in prevention and behavioral interventions for the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), the CDC’s Community Preventive Services Task Force, AHRQ’s Effective Health Care Program, and others.
We have produced systematic reviews to support decision-making by the USPSTF for more than 24 years. These reviews have supported important recommendations on screening, chemoprevention, and behavioral counseling for primary care clinicians. The portfolio of topics addressed by our researchers for the USPSTF addresses all populations (infant, children, adolescents, pregnant women, adult, older adults), all primary care specialties and many other clinical specialties, and all prevention modalities (screening, chemoprevention, and behavioral counseling). Our work for the USPSTF has had national impact and continues to shape health policy in the United States.
In 2012, we received funding from the CDC to conduct updates to 11 systematic reviews on the effectiveness of public health interventions to promote physical activity for their Guide to Community Preventive Services. The findings of these systematic reviews were presented to the Community Preventive Services Task Force, who used the reviews as the foundation for recommendations to ensure that practice, policy, research, and funding decisions are be informed by the highest quality evidence.
With American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding, we completed comparative effectiveness reviews for AHRQ’s Effective Health Care Program on various breathing techniques to treat asthma, interventions to improve adherence to treatment in patients with Hepatitis C, and screening for colorectal cancer using fecal DNA.