Authors: Yoon K Loke, Deirdre Price and Andrew Herxheimer on behalf of the Cochrane Adverse Effects Methods Group.
Key points
To achieve a balanced perspective, all reviews should try to consider the adverse aspects of the interventions.
A detailed analysis of adverse effects is particularly relevant when evidence on the potential for harm has a major influence on treatment or policy decisions.
Interventions may have many different adverse effects, and reviews may need to focus on a few important ones in detail, together with a broader, more general summary of other potential adverse effects.
As adverse effects data are often handled with less rigour than the primary outcomes of a study, the intensity of the monitoring of adverse effects and the clarity of reporting them need careful scrutiny.
Data on adverse effects are often sparse, but the absence of information does not mean that the intervention is safe.
14.2 Scope of a review addressing adverse effects
14.3 Choosing which adverse effects to include
14.5 Search methods for adverse effects
14.6 Assessing risk of bias for adverse effects