title: [Considerations on the use of meta-analyses in the orientation of knowledge and decisions in Occupational Medicine].
abstract: In recent years, due to the need to elaborate the amount of information available from the scientific literature, the meta-analyses and systematic reviews have become very numerous. The meta-analyses are carried out to evaluate the association between two events when single researches haven't provided comprehensive data. On the other hand, a good meta-analysis must satisfy certain criteria, from the selection of the studies until the evaluation of the outcomes; to this purpose, the application of methods for quality assessment is a crucial point to obtain data of adequate reliability. The aim of this review is to give some introductory tools for a critical approach to meta-analyses and systematic reviews, which have become useful instruments also in occupational medicine.
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Catalani
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Berra
authors.forename: Cesare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tomasi
authors.forename: Canzio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Romano
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pira
authors.forename: Giacomo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Garzaro
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Apostoli
mesh_terms: D000066491:Clinical Decision-Making; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D009787:Occupational Medicine