How to critically appraise a Systematic Review: an aide for the reader and reviewer (original) (raw)
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The Growth of Clinical Trials and Systematic Reviews in Informing Dermatological Patient Care
Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 2012
Randomized controlled clinical trials remain the best method for minimizing bias when evaluating dermatological treatments. Many dermatologic clinical trials have suffered from small sample sizes, selective reporting of outcomes, publication bias, poor reporting, and heterogeneous outcomes that have hampered comparability-deficiencies that can be overcome by adopting good trial planning and reporting practice encouraged by this journal. Although a profusion of explanatory placebo-controlled studies have contributed little to decision making in the clinical setting, some comparative effectiveness trials such as the use of topical corticosteroids for pemphigoid may have played a pivotal role in improving the well-being of dermatological patients. Systematic reviews (SRs) of clinical trials strive to organize the entire body of evidence while minimizing bias so that policy makers and guideline developers can base their recommendations on the appropriate strength and level of evidence. In dermatology, SRs, such as those undertaken by the Cochrane Collaboration, have produced clear clinical messages despite conflicting individual studies, and also play a key role in identifying research gaps. Future challenges include optimizing the use of research resources, adopting methodological developments in health technology assessment, and prospective registration and complete reporting of all study results.
The Cochrane Skin Group: a vanguard for developing and promoting evidence‐based dermatology
Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine, 2013
Aim: The Cochrane Skin Group (CSG) is part of the international Cochrane Collaboration (http://www.cochrane.org/). The CSG prepares, maintains and disseminates high quality evidence-based summaries on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of skin diseases. We present a synopsis of the history, scope and priorities of the CSG. In addition, we report outcomes of CSG reviews and critically assess clinical value. Methods: Descriptive analysis of systematic reviews published by the CSG since its inception including output, impact factor, associated methodological studies, and influence in clinical guidelines, promoting patient and public engagement and in triggering new primary research. Results: The CSG started in 1997, and has published 61 reviews, 34 protocols and 31 registered titles by August 2013. The CSG scope includes 1000 skin diseases; 80% of reviews cover the top ten diagnoses and 40% of reviews provide clear guidance for clinical practice. CSG reviews had an impact factor of 6.1 in 2011 which places it alongside top dermatology journals. CSG reviews are typically broad in focus and have been shown to be of better quality than non-Cochrane reviews. They are highly cited in clinical guidelines. Several reviews have identified evidence gaps that have led to better primary research. Conclusions: The CSG has emerged as a vanguard of evidence-based dermatology by growing a community interested in applying best external evidence to the care of skin patients and by identifying topics for research. CSG reviews are high impact, clinically relevant and have tangibly influenced international dermatology clinical practice guidelines and new research.
Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, 2020
is involved in performing clinical trials with many pharmaceutical industries including Novartis, Abbvie, Lilly, Regeneron, Sanofi, Boehringer, Leopharma, UCB, Pfizer, Amgen, Celgene that manufacture drugs used for the treatment of Accepted Article This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved e.g. psoriasis and atopic dermatitis for which we get financial compensation paid to the department/hospital. The other authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Interpreting systematic reviews: Looking beyond the all too familiar conclusion
Journal of Hand Therapy, 2014
Interpreting systematic reviews: Looking beyond the all too familiar conclusion Interventions In our review, various treatment modalities were studied, including immobilization, dressings, exercise, cryotherapy, multimodal hand therapy programs, laser therapy, scar desensitization, and arnica. A number of interventions that are commonly prescribed Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Global burden of skin disease as reflected in Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
JAMA dermatology, 2014
Research prioritization should be guided by impact of disease. To determine whether systematic reviews and protocol topics in Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) reflect disease burden, measured by disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2010 project. Two investigators independently assessed 15 skin conditions in the CDSR for systematic review and protocol representation from November 1, 2013, to December 6, 2013. The 15 skin diseases were matched to their respective DALYs from GBD 2010. An official publication report of all reviews and protocols published by the Cochrane Skin Group (CSG) was also obtained to ensure that no titles were missed. There were no study participants other than the researchers, who worked with databases evaluating CDSR and GBD 2010 skin condition disability data. Relationship of CDSR topic coverage (systematic reviews and protocols) with percentage of total 2010 DALYs, 2010 DALY rank, and DALY percentage cha...
The Open Dentistry Journal, 2010
Research synthesis seeks to gather, examine and evaluate systematically research reports that converge toward answering a carefully crafted research question, which states the problem patient population, the intervention under consideration, and the clinical outcome of interest. The product of the process of systematically reviewing the research literature pertinent to the research question thusly stated is the "systematic review".The objective and transparent approach of the systematic review aims to minimize bias. Most systematic reviews yield quantitative analyses of measurable data (e.g., acceptable sampling analysis, meta-analysis). Systematic reviews may also be qualitative, while adhering to accepted standards for gathering, evaluating, and reporting evidence. Systematic reviews provide highly rated recommendations for evidence-based health care; but, systematic reviews are not equally reliable and successful in minimizing bias.Several instruments are available to evaluate the quality of systematic reviews. The 'assessment of multiple systematic reviews' (AMSTAR) was derived from factor analysis of the most relevant items among them. AMSTAR consists of eleven items with good face and content validity for measuring the methodological quality of systematic reviews, has been widely accepted and utilized, and has gained in reliability, reproducibility. AMSTAR does not produce quantifiable assessments of systematic review quality and clinical relevance. In this study, we have revised the AMSTAR instrument, detracting nothing from its content and construct validity, and utilizing the very criteria employed in the development of the original tool, with the aim of yielding an instrument that can quantify the quality of systematic reviews. We present validation data of the revised AMSTAR (R-AMSTAR), and discuss its implications and application in evidence-based health care.
2021
Background: Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) play a critical role in standardizing and improving treatment outcomes based on the available evidence. It is unclear how many CPGs are available globally to assist clinicians in the management of patients with skin disease. Objectives: To search for and identify CPGs for dermatological conditions with the highest burden globally. Methods: We adapted a list of 12 dermatological conditions with the highest burden from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study 2019. A systematic literature search was done to identify CPGs published between October 2014 to October 2019. The scoping review was conducted and reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework. Results: A total of 226 CPGs were included. Melanoma had the greatest representation in the CPGs, followed by dermatitis and psoriasis. Skin cancers had a relatively high CPG representation but with lower GBD disease burden ranking. There was an uneven distribution by geographical region, with resource-poor settings being under-represented. The skin disease categories of the CPGs correlated weakly with the GBD disability-adjusted life-years metrics. Eighty-nine CPGs did not have funding disclosures and 34 CPGs were behind a paywall. Conclusions: The global production of dermatology CPGs showed wide variation in geographical representation, article accessibility and reporting of funding. The number of skin disease CPGs were not commensurate with its disease burden. Future work will critically appraise the methodology and quality of dermatology CPGs and lead to the production of an accessible online resource summarizing these findings.