Critical Appraisal Flashcards
What is a critical appraisal?
Process of systematically examining research evidence to assess its validity, results and relevance before using it to inform a decision
What factors should you consider when doing a critical appraisal?
The question, design, population, methods, analysis, confounders, bias, ethics and interpretation of evidence
What is the hierarchy of study designs?
Systematic reviews and meta analyses, RCT, cohort studies, case-control studies, ecological studies, descriptive/ cross sectional studies, case report/ series
What should you consider when looking at the population?
sample size, inclusion and exclusion criteria
What should you consider when looking at methods?
What outcome was measured and how, what was intervention compared with, was there a follow up, was appropriate analysis done, were there any confounders?
What is the ideal study design for therapeutic methods?
RCT
What is the ideal study design for diagnostic methods?
Cross-sectional study
What is the ideal study design for screening?
Cross-sectional study
What is the ideal study design when looking at prognosis?
Longitudinal cohort study
What is the ideal study design when looking at causation?
Cohort or case-control
What checklist is used for RCTs?
CONSORT
What checklist is used for infection control/ intervention studies?
ORION
What checklist is used for observational studies?
STROBE
What checklist is used for genetic association studies?
STREGA
What checklist is used for anecdotes of suspected drug adverse reactions?
PHARMA
