Methods used to conceptualize dimensions of health equity impacts of public health interventions in systematic reviews.

Objectives: Our aims were to, first, identify and summarize the use of methods, frameworks, and tools as a conceptual basis for investigating dimensions of equity impacts of public health interventions in systematic reviews including an equity focus. These include PROGRESS-Plus, which identifies key sociodemographic characteristics that determine health outcomes. Second, we aimed to document challenges and opportunities encountered in the application of such methods, as reported in systematic reviews.

Potential value of systematic reviews of qualitative evidence in informing user-centered health and social care: findings from a descriptive overview.

Objectives: Systematic reviews of quantitative evidence are well established in health and social care. Systematic reviews of qualitative evidence are increasingly available, but volume, topics covered, methods used, and reporting quality are largely unknown. We provide a descriptive overview of systematic reviews of qualitative evidence assessing health and social care interventions included on the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE).

Multiple Risk Behavior Interventions: Meta-analyses of RCTs.

Context: Multiple risk behaviors are common and associated with developing chronic conditions such as heart disease, cancer, or Type 2 diabetes. A systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression of the effectiveness of multiple risk behavior interventions was conducted.

Evidence Acquisition: Six electronic databases including MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsycINFO were searched to August 2016.

Antiretroviral therapy and liver disease progression in HIV and hepatitis C co-infected patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: HIV co-infection exacerbates hepatitis C disease, increasing the risk of cirrhosis and hepatitis C-related mortality. Combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) is the current standard treatment for co-infected individuals, but the impact of cART and antiretroviral (ARV) monotherapy on liver disease in this population is unclear. We aimed to assess the effect of cART and ARV monotherapy on liver disease progression and liver-related mortality in individuals co-infected with HIV and chronic hepatitis C.

A systematic review on the clustering and co-occurrence of multiple risk behaviours.

Background: Risk behaviours, such as smoking and physical inactivity account for up to two-thirds of all cardiovascular deaths, and are associated with substantial increased mortality in many conditions including cancer and diabetes. As risk behaviours are thought to co-occur in individuals we conducted a systematic review of studies addressing clustering or co-occurrence of risk behaviours and their predictors. As the main aim of the review was to inform public health policy in England we limited inclusion to studies conducted in the UK.

Characteristics of interventions targeting multiple lifestyle risk behaviours in adult populations: a systematic scoping review.

Background: Modifiable lifestyle risk behaviours such as smoking, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and alcohol misuse are the leading causes of major, non-communicable diseases worldwide. It is increasingly being recognised that interventions which target more than one risk behaviour may be an effective and efficient way of improving people's lifestyles. To date, there has been no attempt to summarise the global evidence base for interventions targeting multiple risk behaviours.

Interventions for alcohol and drug problems in outpatient settings: a systematic review.

Issues: Research evidence indicates a high prevalence of substance abuse among patients presenting in general hospital settings. Such misuse of alcohol and illicit drugs has a major impact on population health and on costs to health services and to society at large. This review aimed to identify the interventions for alcohol or illicit drug misuse problems that have been evaluated for hospital outpatient populations.

Housing and health inequalities: a synthesis of systematic reviews of interventions aimed at different pathways linking housing and health.

Housing and neighbourhood conditions are widely acknowledged to be important social determinants of health, through three main pathways: (1) internal housing conditions, (2) area characteristics and (3) housing tenure. We conducted a systematic overview of systematic reviews of intervention studies to provide an overview of the evidence on the impact of housing and neighbourhood interventions on health and health inequalities. There is relatively strong evidence for interventions aimed at improving area characteristics and compelling evidence for warmth and energy efficiency interventions targeted at vulnerable individuals.

Shifting schedules: the health effects of reorganizing shift work.

Background: Approximately one fifth of workers are engaged in some kind of shift work. The harmful effects of shift work on the health and work-life balance of employees are well known. A range of organizational interventions has been suggested to address these negative effects.

Systematic review of the effectiveness of stage based interventions to promote smoking cessation.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of interventions using a stage based approach in bringing about positive changes in smoking behaviour.

Design: Systematic review.

Data Sources: 35 electronic databases, catalogues, and internet resources (from inception to July 2002).