Background:
• The Problem and Gap: Critical appraisal of qualitative systematic reviews continues to be an underdeveloped field in medical education. There is great confusion regarding the choice of the most suitable tool for appraising such reviews.
• The Hook: In-depth understanding of the existing critical appraisal tools (CATs) is expected to help the development of a new and more comprehensive tool that would better guide the process of qualitative systematic reviews appraisal.
Methods: A systematic search strategy was employed and a meticulous literature search was undertaken. The following search engines were used: PubMed, Google Scholar and ERIC. A thematic analysis of the finally included articles was performed to determine common themes and subthemes about critical appraisal of qualitative systematic reviews. The available CATs were critically assessed.
Results: The common themes identified included quality of the study, its design, standards of reporting, rigor of the review and trustworthiness. An extended new tool was developed in an attempt to address the needs of a robust qualitative review, keeping in mind the essential standards of scientific rigor, trustworthiness and completeness of the evidence.
Conclusion: The new tool that resulted from the current research includes a comprehensive range of criteria necessary for thoroughly reviewing qualitative systematic reviews. The tool will help future researchers to achieve their objective of appraising the reviews in a more thorough and structured fashion.