week 14

Question 1

What are the strengths of narrative review?

Answer 1

short time frame, inexpensive

Question 2

What are the limitations of narrative review?

Answer 2

subjective, provide qualitative summary only, selective inclusion of studies

Question 3

what is narrative review?

Answer 3

a broad overview of a topic

Question 4

What are systematic methods for summarizing evidence?

Answer 4

systematic review, meta-analysis of published data, pooled analysis of primary data

Question 5

What is meta-analysis?

Answer 5

a quantitative approach for systematically combining results of previous research to arrive at conclusions about the body of research

Question 6

What are the advantages of meta-analysis?

Answer 6

increase in statistical power, greater objectivity relative to qualitative reviews

Question 7

what are some limitations of meta-analysis?

Answer 7

limited by quality of studies included, heterogeneity across studies, errors in data extraction, difficult to examine population subgroups, influenced by publication bias, errors in original work cannot be checked

Question 8

what is heterogeneity?

Answer 8

studies may not be similar enough to combine

Question 9

what is pooled analysis?

Answer 9

collect raw data from related studies; combine the raw data from several studies

Question 10

what is pooled analysis often used for?

Answer 10

multi-site clinical trials

Question 11

What are the advantages of pooled data?

Answer 11

can do refined analysis of exposure-response, can create comparable dose categories, greater statistical efficiency

Question 12

what are the disadvantages of pooled data?

Answer 12

more expensive, time consuming, lack of cooperation from other investigators