Literature Evaluation and Review I Flashcards
Dr. Amaeze
What is literature review?
Literature evaluation refers to the process of critically assessing and analyzing published scientific and academic materials to determine their validity, relevance, quality, and applicability to a particular field of study or problem.
It involves examining a study’s methodology, data, results, and conclusions to ensure they are accurate, reliable, and aligned with the intended purpose.
Why is literature review essential?
Literature review is important for identifying issues such as:
- inappropriate study design
- flawed methodologies
- misinterpretation of findings
- selective or inaccurate referencing
- erroneous conclusions
- scientific misconduct
- insufficient expertise in study design or statistical analysis by peer reviewers
because these factors can significantly impact the quality, reliability and applicability of published research.
Why must a pharmacist develop literature review skills?
To determine which information to incorporate into their clinical practice.
Tertiary references are often the starting point for identifying information. Why is this?
This is because they typically provide a fairly complete overview of information on a specific topic.
They references are convenient, easy to use, and familiar to most pharmacists.
What is the most significant limitation of tertiary references?
Lag time for publication.
Limitations of tertiary references include:
- Lag time for publication
- Author bias
- Inaccurate information
- Lack of author expertise
Mention the essential considerations in evaluating tertiary literature.
- Expertise of the author
- Purpose of the book (textbook)
- Content
- Edition and year of publication
- References cited
- Ease of use
- Format – textbook, digital or ebook
- Potential bias
For tertiary references that provide a DI focus, the user should consider the type of drugs included in the reference, the drug’s country of origin, the types of
information reported, and organisation of content.
Users will often prefer one reference over another based on information organisation, such as:
Tables, appendices, or special sections.
____ is the foundation for clinical practice by providing data that enables evidence-based decision-making
Primary literature
Why are clinical trials conducted?
Clinical trials are conducted to test hypotheses and establish evidence regarding the safety, efficacy, or effectiveness of interventions.
____ are considered the gold standard of clinical trials due to their ____.
Randomised clinical trials (RCTs)
Robust methodology
Classify study designs
I. Obsevational
a) Descriptive (no control)
i. case reports
ii. case series
iii. cross-sectional
b) Analytical (control)
i. case-control
ii. cohort
- retrospective
- prospective
II. Experimental/Intereventional
a) Randomised controlled trials
b) Non-randomised controlled trials
c) Cluster randomised trials
III. Reviews
a) Narrative
b) Qualitatic systematic
c) Quantitative systematic
Explain the following study design types:
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Case Report
- Case series
- Cross-Sectional Study
- Case-Control Study
- Cohort Study
- Narrative review
- Health outcomes research
- Bioequivalence study
- Longitudinal Study
- Post-marketing study
- Randomized Controlled Trial: Participants are randomly assigned to groups to compare interventions, minimizing bias.
- Case Report: Detailed report on a single case, providing insights into rare or unique conditions.
- Case series: Descriptive study of a series of cases. Reports observations in a series of patients, useful for identifying patterns or generating hypotheses.
- Cross-Sectional Study: Describes the prevalence of a condition in a population at a specific point in time.
- Case-Control Study: Compares individuals with a condition (cases) to those without it (controls) to identify risk factors. Determine association between disease states and previous exposure to risk factors.
- Cohort Study: Observes a group (cohort) over time to study the relationship between exposure and outcomes. Determine association between risk factors and subsequent development of disease states
- Narrative review (nonsystematic
review): Summarize data from multiple studies using nonsystematic, qualitative, and subjective methods - Health outcomes research: Compares outcomes and costs of drug therapies or services
- Bioequivalence study: Assess whether products are similar in rate and extent of absorption
- Longitudinal Study: Follows participants over an extended period to assess changes and long-term effects.
- Post-marketing study
Examine efficacy and/or safety following approval of the drug by a regulatory authority
What is a bias?
Bias refers to a systematic error that affects the study results, leading to inaccurate or misleading conclusions.
Briefly discuss 8 types of bias commonly encountered in literature.
- One-side reference bias: occurs when authors limit references to only those works which support their conclusions
- Positive result bias: occurs when authors are likely to submit and publish positive results
- Sample size bias: occurs when samples are too small to prove nothing or too large to prove anything
- Withdrawal bias: occurs when patients who withdraw from a study may differ systematically from those who remain
- Attention bias: occurs when study participants alter their behavior if they know they are being observed
- Instrument bias: occurs due to defects in the calibration or maintenance of measurement instruments leading to systematic deviations in results
- Recall bias: occurs when patients are asked to recall events in the past
- Selection bias: occurs when inclusion and exclusion criteria limit the population to a degree that affects the extrapolation of the data
- Procedure bias: occurs when all the treatment groups do not receive the same diagnostic procedures, leading to increased disease detection in one group
