Systematic Reviews

Question 1

What does rationality require?

Answer 1

Knowledge of all the relevant alternatives, their consequences & probabilities, & a predictable world without surprises

Question 2

What is a heuristic?

Answer 2

• A strategy that ignores part of the information, with the goal of making decisions more quickly, &/or accurately than more complex methods
• › Practical but not guaranteed to be optimal or perfect
• › Rule of thumb

Question 3

What are the costs of bias?

Answer 3

• Wrong treatment
• Wrong research direction
• Patient harm
• Health system costs

Question 4

What is the value of a systematic review?

Answer 4

• Draws together all relevant info on a clinical question
  ›- Lays out the current state of knowledge with interpretation by experts
  -› Efficient for clinician to read

Question 5

What are the steps of writing a systematic review?

Answer 5

• Define question (PICO format)
• Scope (set inclusion/exclusion criteria)
• Search
• Risk of bias assessment
• Data extraction
• Data synthesis
• Interpret results
• Write manuscript
• Submit for publication

Question 6

What is a meta-analysis?

Answer 6

• Statistical technique for combining the results of multiple small studies ›
• Better estimate of “true” result

Question 7

True or false:
Bibliographic databases have overlapping coverage; searching multiple databases decreases the chance of missing relevant studies

Answer 7

True

Question 8

True or false:

Systematic reviews are at the top of the evidence pyramid, as unlike other study types, they are not susceptible to bias

Answer 8

False

Question 9

True or false:
It is necessary to review the full text of every article found in the database search before they are excluded from a systematic review or meta-analysis

Answer 9

False

Question 10

A systematic review that syntheses evidence from cohort studies would most likely be answering what type of question?

Answer 10

Prognosis