Week 3 Flashcards
What are the basic principles of effective searching?
- Carefully define your clinical question
- Choose your key search terms
- Broaden your search if necessary , with synonyms , truncation and / or wildcards.
- Used Boolean operators.
How do you choose your key search terms
Start with the terms that represent P and I.
If these give you too many results then add O and then C if still too many.
How to broaden your search
Using synonyms, truncation and wildcards.
6 S Components of evidence based information services.
Systems
Summaries
Synopses of syntheses
Syntheses
Synopsis of studies
Original studies.
Start your search as higher up in the pyramid to get better evidence with your work already done for you.
MESH
is an index of terms within the database. it will provide us with the best terms to use within he database. Each search will also give subheading which you can select to narrow your search further.
Cochrane Library
collection of six databases that contain different types of high quality , independent evidence to inform healthcare decision making.
largest electronic registry of RCTs
PRISMA
Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta Analyses.
Aim of PRISMA
- help authors improve the reporting of systematic reviews and meta analyses.
- improve quality of reporting of health research.
types of variables
numerical / quantitative
categorical
Types of numerical variables
continuous
discrete (whole numbers)
categorical variables types
nominal (no order)
dichotomous
ordinal
descriptive statistics / summary statistics
describe data in the form of tables and present it.
- cannot establish a cause or relationship.
can develop hypotheses from it.
Frequency
a descriptive statistic.
- Incidence
- Prevalence
incidence
new cases of a disease
prevalence
proportion of a population affected by the condition of interest.
