How Quickly Do Systematic Reviews Go Out of Date? A Survival Analysis

Figure 2. The immediate decrease in survival at time zero reflects the 7 systematic reviews for which signals for updating had already occurred at the time of publication. The low number of reviews at risk after 10 years reflects the fact that the sample spanned 1995 to 2005 and censoring occurred on 1 September 2006. Thus, only reviews published before September 1996 and having no signals for updating could have more than 10 years of observation.
Figure 2. The immediate decrease in survival at time zero reflects the 7 systematic reviews for which signals for updating had already occurred at the time of publication. The low number of reviews at risk after 10 years reflects the fact that the sample spanned 1995 to 2005 and censoring occurred on 1 September 2006. Thus, only reviews published before September 1996 and having no signals for updating could have more than 10 years of observation. Overall survival time (95% CI) free of signals for updating.

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  1. Published online before print July 16, 2007, Ann Intern Med August 21, 2007 vol. 147 no. 4 224-233
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