Review Of Evidence FINSIH Flashcards
1
Q
Define systematic review
A
An overview of primary studies that used explicit + reproducible methods
2
Q
Define meta-analysis
A
A quantitative synthesis of the results of two or more primary studies that addressed the same hypothesis in the same way
3
Q
Purpose of meta-analysis
A
- to facilitate the synthesis of a large number of study results
- to systematically collate study results
- to reduce problems of interpretation due to variation in sampling
- to quantify effect sizes + their uncertainty as a pooled estimate
4
Q
Problems of meta-analysis
A
- heterogeneity between studies
- variable quality of these studies
- publication bias in selection of studies
5
Q
What is heterogeneity between studies?
A
Observed effects in studies are more different than we would expect by chance
6
Q
Interpretation of forests plots
A
- *squares**: odds ratio
- lines: 95% confidence interval
- size of square proportionate to weight given to study
- diamond: pooled estimate
- dotted line: poled odds ratio
- solid line: null value
7
Q
What should you use if you’ve got heterogeneity?
A
Random effect model
8
Q
Use of funnel plot
A
To test for publication bias
- symmetrical if none
