Priority setting for systematic review of health care interventions in Nigeria.
OBJECTIVE
In an era of evidence based medicine and systematic review, this study seeks to identify priority systematic review topics that address common health problems in Nigeria.


METHODS
Firstly, a primary list of health problems was compiled from the National Health Management Information Systems and information from key informants (health professionals, researchers and NGOs) drawn from the six geo-political zones in Nigeria. Key steps included compilation and ranking of a comprehensive list of health problems into 4 categories: adult communicable, non-communicable, maternal and child health; searching the Cochrane Library and electronic databases for systematic reviews on identified priority problems, analysis of search outputs to identify gaps; listing and ranking of new priority systematic review topics using pre-determined criteria.


RESULTS
Eighteen questions made the final list of priorities systematic reviews and 9 of them were related to malaria. There were 7 additional issues that the panelists identified as crucial cross-cutting issues that need to be addressed in systematic reviews.


CONCLUSIONS
Identification and prioritization of systematic reviews relevant to health care in Nigeria will improve the opportunity to deliver evidence-based and equitable health care to the people. These topics are likely to be also important for health care decision in other resource-poor settings.
Institute of Tropical Diseases Research and Prevention, University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar, Nigeria. mmeremiku@yahoo.co.uk
Martin
M
Meremikwu
Ekong
E
Udoh
Bridget
B
Nwagbara
Emmanuel
E
Effa
Chioma
C
Oringanje
Bassey
B
Edet
Eucharia
E
Nwagbara
Segun
S
Bello
Felix
F
Eke
D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006292:Health Priorities; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods; D009549:Nigeria; D000078202:Systematic Reviews as Topic