Methodology minute: A guide for infection preventionists for sizing up systematic reviews.

Systematic reviews have become a key strategy to identifying evidence-based practice guidelines in infection prevention. They are considered the highest level of evidence providing the most effective answers to practice questions. Infection preventionists need to become familiar with reading systematic reviews and learn to critically appraise the findings and implications for practice. A systematic literature review is a rigorous preplanned process established to answer a specific practice question. The preplanned methods are detailed in the final publication. There are several key components that should be outlined in systematic reviews, which are briefly reviewed here.