Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions (Wiley Cochrane SeriesA A )

Healthcare providers, consumers, researchers and policy makers are inundated with unmanageable amounts of information, including evidence from healthcare research. It has become impossible for all to have the time and resources to find, appraise and interpret this evidence and incorporate it into healthcare decisions. Cochrane Reviews respond to this challenge by identifying, appraising and synthesizing research-based evidence and presenting it in a standardized format, published in The Cochrane Library (www.thecochranelibrary.com). The Cochrane Handboook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions contains methodological guidance for the preparation and maintenance of Cochrane intervention reviews. Written in a clear and accessible format, it is the essential manual for all those preparing, maintaining and reading Cochrane reviews. Many of the principles and methods described here are appropriate for systematic reviews applied to other types of research and to systematic reviews of interventions undertaken by others. It is hoped therefore that this book will be invaluable to all those who want to understand the role of systematic reviews, critically appraise published reviews or perform reviews themselves. Doody Review Services Reviewer: Vijaya Kancherla, MS, PhD(c)(University of Iowa College of Public Health) Description: This is a concise introduction to reviewing quantitative and qualitative intervention research for those interested in using a systematic methodology for appraising and synthesizing individual and conflicting evidence into a pooled, unbiased, and easily interpretable format. This well laid out book provides a good perspective of the Cochrane Collaboration, its rationale and logistics for conducting systematic reviews. Chapters train readers how to design and conduct systematic reviews with many practical examples. A section on special topics covers some additional areas of significance. Purpose: The purpose is to provide guidance to authors for the preparation of Cochrane Intervention Reviews, which also include Cochrane Overviews of reviews. An increasing number of studies are published in health research each year with conflicting evidence. Systematic reviews that are based on standard and stringent criteria are needed to synthesize such evidence and reach unbiased and error-free conclusions. As there are many questions reviewers encounter when trying to compile systematic reviews, standard documentation of guidelines is necessary to make reviews comparable and repeatable. This book serves the purpose of developing standard systematic reviews in any relevant field. It not only addresses important criteria for quantitative synthesis of data, but also tries to address some special topics that are relevant to different types of reviews. Audience: This book is written primarily for authors who contribute to Cochrane Intervention Reviews, but it can be useful to many in the scientific community, including public health researchers, epidemiologists, medical practitioners, clinical study coordinators, and students who are interested in synthesizing evidence from multiple research studies. The book is a product of the Cochrane Collaboration, a world-renowned organization conducting systematic reviews using expert advice from 15,000 contributors from 100 countries. Features: The first part of the book explains the logistics of conducting reviews and gives an overview of the structure and format of Cochrane Reviews. The second part trains readers on different aspects of a systematic review, starting from the initiation of a research question to reaching a valid conclusion. The authors provide thorough information on assessing bias, identifying potential threats to validity, understanding heterogeneity, and addressing reporting biases (which are of important concern in meta-analysis studies). The last section on special topics describes other types of reviews which include nonrandomized studies, individual patient-reported outcomes, and patient data. Important statistical applications are reviewed in evaluating various study designs. The book is a good resource and reference for readers, regardless of their disciplines. The key points at the beginning of each chapter orient readers to the information to be presented. Chapter subheadings that depict some of the practical questions a reader might have make the book easy to read. Information is thorough, with good examples. References are conveniently placed at the end of each chapter. Assessment: The book meets its objective of delivering a clear and concise description of design and conduct of systematic reviews along with special topics relevant to the field of pooling evidence from multiple studies. Cochrane Collaboration is a leader in conducting scientific systematic reviews, and the contributors to this book are a group of acclaimed scientists from all over the world, making this is a unique publication in this field. Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions......Page 3 Contents......Page 7 Preface......Page 15 Acknowledgements......Page 17 The Handbook editors......Page 19 Major contributors......Page 21 Part 1 COCHRANE REVIEWS......Page 25 1.1 The Cochrane Collaboration......Page 27 1.2 Systematic reviews......Page 30 1.3 About this Handbook......Page 31 1.4 Contributors to the Handbook......Page 32 1.6 References......Page 33 2.1 Rationale for protocols......Page 35 2.2 Format of a Cochrane review......Page 36 2.3 Logistics of doing a review......Page 37 2.4 Publication of Cochrane reviews in print journals and books......Page 48 2.6 Declaration of interest and commercial sponsorship......Page 50 2.8 References......Page 53 3.1 Introduction......Page 55 3.2 Some important definitions......Page 56 3.3 Important dates associated with Cochrane reviews......Page 63 3.4 Considerations when updating a Cochrane review......Page 66 3.5 ‘What’s new’ and History tables......Page 70 3.7 Chapter information......Page 72 3.8 References......Page 73 4 Guide to the contents of a Cochrane protocol and review......Page 75 4.2 Title and review information (or protocol information)......Page 76 4.5 Main text......Page 79 4.6 Tables......Page 94 4.7 Studies and references......Page 96 4.8 Data and analyses......Page 98 4.9 Figures......Page 100 4.11 Feedback......Page 101 4.14 References......Page 102 Part 2 GENERAL METHODS FOR COCHRANE REVIEWS......Page 105 5 Defining the review question and developing criteria for including studies......Page 107 5.1 Questions and eligibility criteria......Page 108 5.2 Defining types of participants: which people and populations?......Page 109 5.3 Defining types of interventions: which comparisons to make?......Page 110 5.4 Defining types of outcomes: which outcome measures are most important?......Page 111 5.5 Defining types of study......Page 114 5.6 Defining the scope of a review question (broad versus narrow)......Page 115 5.8 Chapter information......Page 117 5.9 References......Page 118 6 Searching for studies......Page 119 6.1 Introduction......Page 120 6.2 Sources to search......Page 122 6.3 Planning the search process......Page 142 6.4 Designing search strategies......Page 152 6.5 Managing references......Page 166 6.6 Documenting and reporting the search process......Page 168 6.7 Chapter information......Page 170 6.8 References......Page 171 7.1 Introduction......Page 175 7.2 Selecting studies......Page 176 7.3 What data to collect......Page 180 7.4 Sources of data......Page 187 7.5 Data collection forms......Page 188 7.6 Extracting data from reports......Page 191 7.7 Extracting study results and converting to the desired format......Page 194 7.8 Managing data......Page 206 7.10 References......Page 207 8 Assessing risk of bias in included studies......Page 211 8.2 What is bias?......Page 212 8.3 Tools for assessing quality and risk of bias......Page 214 8.4 Introduction to sources of bias in clinical trials......Page 217 8.5 The Cochrane Collaboration’s tool for assessing risk of bias......Page 218 8.7 Summary assessments of risk of bias......Page 226 8.8 Incorporating assessments into analyses......Page 230 8.9 Sequence generation......Page 234 8.10 Allocation sequence concealment......Page 238 8.11 Blinding of participants, personnel and outcome assessors......Page 241 8.12 Incomplete outcome data......Page 243 8.13 Selective outcome reporting......Page 250 8.14 Other potential threats to validity......Page 254 8.15 Chapter information......Page 258 8.16 References......Page 259 9 Analysing data and undertaking meta-analyses......Page 267 9.1 Introduction......Page 268 9.2 Types of data and effect measures......Page 273 9.3 Study designs and identifying the unit of analysis......Page 284 9.4 Summarizing effects across studies......Page 287 9.5 Heterogeneity......Page 300 9.6 Investigating heterogeneity......Page 306 9.7 Sensitivity analyses......Page 313 9.8 Chapter information......Page 316 9.9 References......Page 317 10 Addressing reporting biases......Page 321 10.1 Introduction......Page 322 10.2 Types of reporting biases and the supporting evidence......Page 323 10.3 Avoiding reporting biases......Page 332 10.4 Detecting reporting biases......Page 334 10.5 Chapter information......Page 348 10.6 References......Page 349 11.1 Introduction......Page 359 11.2 ‘Characteristics of included studies’ tables......Page 360 11.3 Data and analyses......Page 361 11.4 Figures......Page 365 11.5 ‘Summary of findings’ tables......Page 366 11.6 Additional tables......Page 374 11.7 Presenting results in the text......Page 375 11.8 Writing an abstract......Page 376 11.9 Writing a plain language summary......Page 379 11.10 Chapter information......Page 380 11.11 References......Page 381 12 Interpreting results and drawing conclusions......Page 383 12.1 Introduction......Page 384 12.2 Assessing the quality of a body of evidence......Page 385 12.3 Issues in applicability......Page 391 12.4 Interpreting results of statistical analyses......Page 393 12.5 Interpreting results from dichotomous outcomes (including numbers needed to treat)......Page 396 12.6 Interpreting results from continuous outcomes (including standardized mean differences)......Page 401 12.7 Drawing conclusions......Page 404 12.8 Chapter information......Page 406 12.9 References......Page 407 Part 3 SPECIAL TOPICS......Page 413 13 Including non-randomized studies......Page 415 13.1 Introduction......Page 416 13.2 Developing criteria for including non-randomized studies......Page 420 13.3 Searching for non-randomized studies......Page 428 13.4 Selecting studies and collecting data......Page 431 13.5 Assessing risk of bias in non-randomized studies......Page 436 13.6 Synthesis of data from non-randomized studies......Page 443 13.7 Interpretation and discussion......Page 448 13.8 Chapter information......Page 452 13.9 References......Page 453 14.1 Introduction......Page 457 14.2 Scope of a review addressing adverse effects......Page 458 14.3 Choosing which adverse effects to include......Page 461 14.4 Types of studies......Page 462 14.5 Search methods for adverse effects......Page 463 14.6 Assessing risk of bias for adverse effects......Page 466 14.7 Chapter information......Page 469 14.8 References......Page 470 15.1 The role and relevance of economics evidence in Cochrane reviews......Page 473 15.2 Planning the economics component of a Cochrane review......Page 478 15.3 Locating studies......Page 483 15.4 Selecting studies and collecting data......Page 486 15.5 Addressing risk of bias......Page 487 15.6 Analysing and presenting results......Page 492 15.7 Addressing reporting biases......Page 496 15.9 Conclusions......Page 498 15.11 References......Page 500 16 Special topics in statistics......Page 505 16.1 Missing data......Page 506 16.2 Intention-to-treat issues......Page 512 16.3 Cluster-randomized trials......Page 517 16.4 Cross-over trials......Page 522 16.5 Studies with more than two intervention groups......Page 532 16.6 Indirect comparisons and multiple-treatments meta-analysis......Page 537 16.7 Multiplicity and the play of chance......Page 540 16.8 Bayesian and hierarchical approaches to meta-analysis......Page 542 16.9 Rare events (including zero frequencies)......Page 544 16.11 References......Page 548 17 Patient-reported outcomes......Page 555 17.1 What are patient-reported outcomes?......Page 556 17.2 Patient-reported outcomes and Cochrane reviews......Page 557 17.3 Health status and quality of life as PRO outcomes......Page 558 17.4 Issues in the measurement of patient-reported outcomes......Page 561 17.5 Locating and selecting studies with patient-reported outcomes......Page 562 17.6 Assessing and describing patient-reported outcomes......Page 563 17.7 Comparability of different patient-reported outcome measures......Page 564 17.8 Interpreting results......Page 565 17.9 Chapter information......Page 567 17.10 References......Page 568 18 Reviews of individual patient data......Page 571 18.1 Introduction......Page 572 18.2 The collaborative nature of IPD meta-analyses......Page 574 18.3 Dealing with data......Page 575 18.4 Analysis......Page 577 18.5 Limitations and caveats......Page 579 18.6 Chapter information......Page 580 18.7 References......Page 581 19.1 Introduction......Page 583 19.2 The collaborative nature of prospective meta-analyses......Page 586 19.3 The prospective meta-analysis protocol......Page 587 19.4 Data collection in prospective meta-analysis......Page 590 19.5 Analysis issues in prospective meta-analysis......Page 591 19.7 References......Page 593 20 Qualitative research and Cochrane reviews......Page 595 20.2 Incorporating evidence from qualitative research in Cochrane Intervention reviews: concepts and issues......Page 596 20.3 Qualitative evidence synthesis......Page 600 20.4 Chapter information......Page 607 20.5 References......Page 608 20.6 Further selected reading......Page 611 21.1 Introduction......Page 617 21.3 Searching......Page 618 21.4 Assessment of study quality and risk of bias......Page 619 21.5 Ethics and inequalities......Page 621 21.6 Context......Page 623 21.7 Sustainability......Page 624 21.8 Applicability and transferability......Page 625 21.10 References......Page 627 22.1 Introduction......Page 631 22.2 Preparing a Cochrane Overview of reviews......Page 632 22.3 Format of a Cochrane Overview......Page 637 22.5 References......Page 655 Index......Page 657 Preparing a Cochrane review / editors, Sally Green and Julian P.T. Higgins Maintaining reviews : updates, amendments, and feedback / authors, Julian P.T. Higgins, Sally Green, and Rob J.P.M. Scholten Guide to the contents of a Cochrane protocol and review / editors, Julian P.T. Higgins and Sally Green Defining the review question and developing criteria for including studies / editors, Denise O'Connor, Sally Green, and Julian P.T. Higgins Searching for studies / authors, Carol Lefebvre, Eric Manheimer, and Julie Glanville Selecting studies and collecting data / editors, Julian P.T. Higgins and Jonathan J. Deeks Assessing risk of bias in included studies / editors, Julian P.T. Higgins and Douglas G. Altman Analysing data and undertaking meta-analyses / editors, Jonathan J. Deeks, Julian P.T. Higgins, and Douglas G. Altman Addressing reporting biases / editors, Jonathan A.C. Sterne, Matthias Egger, and David Moher Presenting results and "summary of findings" tables / authors, Holger J. Schünemann ... [et al.] Interpreting results and drawing conclusions / authors, Holger J. Schünemann ... [et al.] Including non-randomized studies / authors, Barnaby C. Reeves ... [et al.] Adverse effects / authors, Yoon K. Loke, Deirdre Price, and Andrew Herxheimer Incorporating economics evidence / authors, Ian Shemilt ... [et al.] Special topics in statistics / editors, Julian P.T. Higgins, Jonathan J. Deeks, and Douglas G. Altman Patient-reported outcomes / authors, Donald L. Patrick, Gordon H. Guyatt, and Catherine Acquadro Reviews of individual patient data / authors, Lesley A. Stewart, Jayne F. Tierney, Mike Clarke Prospective meta-analysis / authors, Davina Ghersi, Jesse Berlin, and Lisa Askie Qualitative research and Cochrane reviews / authors, Jane Noyes ... [et al.] Reviews in health promotion and public health / editors, Rebecca Armstrong, Elizabeth Waters, and Jodie Doyle Overviews of reviews / authors, Lorne A. Becker and Andrew D. Oxman. Healthcare providers, consumers, researchers and policy makers are inundated with unmanageable amounts of information, including evidence from healthcare research. It has become impossible for all to have the time and resources to find, appraise and interpret this evidence and incorporate it into healthcare decisions. Cochrane Reviews respond to this challenge by identifying, appraising and synthesizing research-based evidence and presenting it in a standardized format, published in The Cochrane Library ((http://www.thecochranelibrary.com) www.thecochranelibrary.com ). The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions contains methodological guidance for the preparation and maintenance of Cochrane intervention reviews. Written in a clear and accessible format, it is the essential manual for all those preparing, maintaining and reading Cochrane reviews. Many of the principles and methods described here are appropriate for systematic reviews applied to other types of research and to systematic reviews of interventions undertaken by others. It is hoped therefore that this book will be invaluable to all those who want to understand the role of systematic reviews, critically appraise published reviews or perform reviews themselves. This title is also available as a mobile App from MedHand Mobile Libraries. Buy it now from Google Play or the MedHand Store. « Healthcare providers, consumers, researchers and policy makers are inundated with unmanageable amounts of information, including evidence from healthcare research. It has become impossible for all to have the time and resources to find, appraise and interpret this evidence and incorporate it into healthcare decisions. Cochrane Reviews respond to this challenge by identifying, appraising and synthesizing research-based evidence and presenting it in a standardized format, published in The Cochrane Library (www.thecochranelibrary.com). The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions contains methodological guidance for the preparation and maintenance of Cochrane intervention reviews. Written in a clear and accessible format, it is the essential manual for all those preparing, maintaining and reading Cochrane reviews. Many of the principles and methods described here are appropriate for systematic reviews applied to other types of research and to systematic reviews of interventions undertaken by others. It is hoped therefore that this book will be invaluable to all those who want to understand the role of systematic reviews, critically appraise published reviews or perform reviews themselves. This title is also available as a mobile App from MedHand Mobile Libraries. Buy it now from Google Play or the MedHand Store. »-- Résumé de l'éditeur This handbook is the definitive manual for producing a Cochrane systematic review. The editors have drawn from the expertise of the Cochrane methods groups to bring together the breadth and depth of systematic reviewing experience in a step-by-step guide to writing a Cochrane review. Anyone conducting a systematic review will be interested in Cochrane methodology, which represents the gold standard in the science of reviewing. The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions is divided into two sections. Section A deals with the basics, and is compulsory reading for all review a