Background: Rapid reviews have emerged as an efficient approach to synthesizing evidence. There is a growing number of rapid review 'methods' nevertheless; there is not an accepted standardised methodology. Consequently, we used systematic review methodology to conduct a rapid review to identify evidence behind the self-reported features in adolescents who are experiencing neglect and/or emotional maltreatment.
Objectives: To identify the methodological challenges related to the conducting a rapid review using streamlined systematic review methods.
Methods: We used a focused search for all types of studies published in the UK from 1990 to 2014. Due to the topic area, we searched a wide range of databases relating to health, medicine, education and psychology. Two reviewers independently screened the papers to determine relevance according to eligibility criteria, followed by full data extraction and critical appraisal by one reviewer, with independent verification by a second reviewer.
Results: The search retrieved 4388 studies and 2568 records were screened after manual de-duplication and removing clearly irrelevant studies. Two reviewers independently evaluated 279 studies for quality and eligibility; subsequently 19 papers were included in the review.
Conclusions: Drawing upon lessons learned from our review, we identify challenges encountered at each stage of the review process and discuss the solutions identified.