Which guideline is used to report systematic reviews and meta-analyses?

• A. STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology).
• B. QUADAS-2 (Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies).
• C. CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials).
• D. PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses).

Answer: (D)

PRISMA guides reporting for systematic reviews and meta-analyses. It provides a structured approach—including a 27-item checklist and a flow diagram—that helps authors transparently document how studies were identified, screened, included, and synthesized, as well as how bias and heterogeneity were addressed. Following PRISMA makes reviews more reproducible and easier to evaluate for validity. The other guidelines correspond to different study types: STROBE is for observational studies, QUADAS-2 for diagnostic accuracy studies, and CONSORT for randomized trials.