APPLY Flashcards
what is critical appraisal?
assessing and interpreting evidence by systematically considering its validity, results, and relevance
what is an abstract?
a condensed version of the full test, useful for getting the gist of the full test, but not for truly assessing the study quality
what is found in the background and rationale?
what is known and not known about the topic and the context and rationale for doing the study
poses questions and hypothesis
what is found in the methods section?
- study design
- should answer each PICO component
- statistical methods used to analyze the data and randomization and masking procedures
- should contain IRB and ethical approval
- should address informed consent
what is found in the results?
- actual data tables
- averages/means/medials
- percentages
- estimates of association between intervention and outcome (risk difference)
what is a confidence interval?
measure of the precision of an estimate
what is the p-value?
probability that we could have obtained the observed results if there was no association between the intervention and outcome
P=0.05 means that there is only a 5% chance of the effect happening due to chance
what is the null hypothesis?
no association between the intervention and outcome
results are statistically significant when ___
P <0.05
what is a confounding variable?
factors related to both the intervention and an outcome
“healthy woman effect” - SES and better access to health care probably made them healthier
what is seen in the Discussion section?
- context of study
- implications of results
- study limitations
- references
strong associations are more likely to indicate ___
causation
what is the consistency of an observed association?
there must be a repeated observation of association in various populations
what is the specificity of an association?
linking one cause to one effect is not always true
smoking can cause several negative effects
what is temporal sequence of events?
causality must precede effect
what is dose-response relationship?
as dose increases, risk of disease increases
what is biologic plausibility?
not understood at the time a relationship is identified
what is experimental evidence?
removal of a factor should lead to a decrease in condition
what is an analogy?
are there other examples of similar causal associations that can lend validity to ours
what is an alpha level?
the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when the null hypothesis is true
what is a power?
the probability that it will reject the null hypothesis when the null is in fact false
what is internal validity?
the extent to which the design and conduct of a study are likely to have prevented bias
what is external validity?
inferences drawn from the study population are unbiased when applied to target populations
what is a Type 1 error?
saying the treatment works, when it DOES NOT.
rejecting the null when it is actually true
What is a Type 2 error?
saying the treatment doesnt work when IT DOES
not rejecting the null when you should
what is the primary outcome?
the one the authors intended to find - the most important
what is the secondary outcome?
outcome used to evaluate additional effects of the intervention deemed as a priority but as less important that the primary
what is a surrogate endpoint?
In clinical trials, an indicator or sign used in place of another to tell if a treatment works. Surrogate endpoints include a shrinking tumor or lower biomarker levels.
what is the purpose of a CONSORT?
a method for reporting uniform consent and standards in research studies
