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Where do I start?
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Ask the right questions
• Determine the scope of the guidance• Get input from guideline development team and key
stakeholders• Prioritise! • Formulate key questions
– Population
– Intervention
– Comparison (control)
– Outcome
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Write a protocol
• Why? – Background and context
• What?– Aims and objectives– Key questions– Outputs
• How? – Search strategy– Inclusion/exclusion criteria– Screening– Critical appraisal– Recording and organisation
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Searching for literature
• Select resources based on topic• Resources
– Knowledge Network• MEDLINE• Embase• CINAHL
– Cochrane Library – Grey literature databases– Guideline databases...etc
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Searching for literature
• Search terms:– Different terminology – Controlled vocabulary (e.g. MeSH)– Free text terms
• Advanced searching– Combine search terms using Boolean operators– Apply limits
• Adapt your searches for each resource• Save your searches
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Inclusion/exclusion criteria
• Exclusion versus inclusion criteria • Types of study• PICO framework
– Population– Intervention– Comparison (control)– Outcome
• Date • Language
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Screening
• Screen search results against inclusion/exclusion criteria• Time consuming and tedious! • First screen
– Title and abstract• Second screen
– Full text • Remaining items – in the review
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Recording and organisation
• Transparent process • Keep a record of what you do
– Changes to protocol– Search terms– Search dates– Excluded items– Reasons for excluding items
• Systematic review management software (e.g. EPPI-Reviewer; RevMan)
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Critical Appraisal
• Structured process to systematically assess evidence:– Quality – Validity– Generalizability– Applicability– Conclusions etc
• Range of critical appraisal tools available (e.g. SIGN)
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Thank you