Literature review

Question 1

Primary literature

Answer 1

Original materials with unfiltered information

Question 2

Secondary literature

Answer 2

Filtered information with interpretations and evaluations of primary literature (systematic review, critical appraisal, meta analysis)

Question 2

Tertiary literature

Answer 2

Collection of primary and secondary sources

Question 3

Literature database

Answer 3

Repository of published literature

Question 4

Systematic review

Answer 4

Synthesis and critical appraisal of all evidence about a specific topic, to provide a summary and to inform practice
* Focus on reducing bias and increasing validiy (QT)
* Focus on improving rigour and transferability (QL)

Question 5

Meta analysis

Answer 5

Statistical combination of results from 2 or more studies to produce a stronger conclusion (part of a systematic review)

Question 6

PICO question

Answer 6

Framework used to generate research question & to support review

Quantitative
* P: population
* I: intervention (treatment group)
* C: control (comparison)
* O: primary outcome & ?how they will be measures
*Are antiseptic washes (I) more effective than non-antiseptic washes (C) at preventing nosocomial infections (O) in patients undergoing surgery (P)?

Qualitative
* P: population
* I: phenomena of interest
* C: context
* what are caregivers (P) experiences (C) of providing home based care to persons with HIV (I) in Africa (P)?

Question 6

Steps in a systematic review

Answer 6

1. PICO question
2. Protocol (inc/exc criteria)
3. Search & critical appraisal
4. Data extraction
5. Data synthesis
6. Present & interpret

Question 7

Inclusion criteria

Answer 7

• Based on PICO elements
• Study type, language, year of publication

Question 8

Search strategy

Answer 8

• Well described and reproducible
• Must be justified (esp those excluded)
• Exhausted search methodology

Question 9

Search for evidence

Answer 9

• Select appropriate database
• Keywords, synonyms, search filters, boolean/truncation terms, wildcards
• end of word variations, ? different spelling

Question 10

Selecting studies

Answer 10

• Initial assessment: whether it should be retrieved
• Second assessment: whether it should be included in review
• Based off critical appraisal, should use 2 assessors to minimise bias

Question 11

Data extraction

Answer 11

• Use a framework such as JBI extraction form
• researcher name, date, methodology, participants, sample size, intervention description, results

Question 12

Data synthesis and presentation

Answer 12

• Summary of phenomena & effectiveness
• Conflicts, contradictory data, limitations
• Future research