Rapid reviews methods series: Guidance on literature search
This paper is part of a series of methodological guidance from the Cochrane Rapid Reviews Methods Group. Rapid reviews (RR) use modified systematic review methods to accelerate the review process while maintaining systematic, transparent and reproducible methods. In this paper, we address considerations for RR searches. We cover the main areas relevant to the search process: preparation and planning, information sources and search methods, search strategy development, quality assurance, reporting, and record management. Two options exist for abbreviating the search process: (1) reducing time spent on conducting searches an...
Source: Evidence-Based Medicine - November 22, 2023 Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Klerings, I., Robalino, S., Booth, A., Escobar-Liquitay, C. M., Sommer, I., Gartlehner, G., Devane, D., Waffenschmidt, S., On behalf of the Cochrane Rapid Reviews Methods Group, on behalf of the Cochrane Rapid Reviews Methods Group, Devane, Gartlehner, So Tags: Open access Research methods and reporting Source Type: research
Catalogue of bias: novelty bias
Background Novelty bias is the tendency for an intervention to appear better when it is new. It is also known as the ‘novel agent effects’ or ‘fading of reported effectiveness’.1 2 The mechanisms by which interventions appear better when new or new for a specific purpose are unknown and may involve other forms of bias having a more significant effect when an intervention is new. Novelty bias can arise when the internal or external validity is compromised. Regarding internal validity, performance bias3 and detection bias4 may cause novelty bias because unblinded researchers may be particularly enthus...
Source: Evidence-Based Medicine - November 22, 2023 Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Luo, Y., Heneghan, C., Persaud, N. Tags: EBM learning Source Type: research
Bias, quality and reporting in health research: differences and tools for appraisal
Bias is generally defined as a systematic error or deviation from the truth in research results, which leads to underestimating or overestimating the true intervention effect or the true effect of any given exposure factor in a specific outcome.1 There are many sources of bias arising from the different stages in research, like the planning and design of a study, the data collection process, statistical analysis, interpretation of results and the publication of the final report.2 A complete catalogue of biases that may affect research, initially developed by David Sackett and regularly refined by the Catalogue of Bias Coll...
Source: Evidence-Based Medicine - November 22, 2023 Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Garegnani, L. I. Tags: EBM learning Source Type: research
Curcumin and proton pump inhibitors for functional dyspepsia: a randomised, double blind controlled trial
Conclusion
Curcumin and omeprazole had comparable efficacy for functional dyspepsia with no obvious synergistic effect.
Trial registration number
TCTR20221208003. (Source: Evidence-Based Medicine)
Source: Evidence-Based Medicine - November 22, 2023 Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Kongkam, P., Khongkha, W., Lopimpisuth, C., Chumsri, C., Kosarussawadee, P., Phutrakool, P., Khamsai, S., Sawanyawisuth, K., Sura, T., Phisalprapa, P., Buamahakul, T., Siwamogsatham, S., Angsusing, J., Poonniam, P., Wanaratna, K., Teerachaisakul, M., Pong Tags: Press releases Original research Source Type: research
Piloting a new method to estimate action thresholds in medicine through intuitive weighing
Conclusions
The aNGT gives sensible results in our pilot and has the potential to estimate action thresholds, in an efficient manner, while involving all relevant stakeholders. Further research is needed to study the value of the method in clinical decision-making and its ability to generate acceptable thresholds that stakeholders can agree on. (Source: Evidence-Based Medicine)
Source: Evidence-Based Medicine - November 22, 2023 Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Jacobs, B. K. M., Keter, A. K., Henriquez-Trujillo, A. R., Trinchan, P., de Rooij, M. L., Decroo, T., Lynen, L. Tags: Open access, COVID-19 Original research Source Type: research
Re-evaluating the role of pilot trials in informing effect and sample size estimates for full-scale trials: a meta-epidemiological study
Conclusion
Pilot trials can provide strong signals on intervention efficacy. When determining the sample size for full-scale trials, using the CI bounds from the pilot trials instead of the point estimate may improve power estimation. (Source: Evidence-Based Medicine)
Source: Evidence-Based Medicine - November 22, 2023 Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Ying, X., Robinson, K. A., Ehrhardt, S. Tags: Original research Source Type: research
Detection bias in open-label trials of anticancer drugs: a meta-epidemiological study
Conclusions
This meta-epidemiological study found that overestimation of local investigators has a small impact on evaluating PFS and ORR in oncological open-label trials. However, a limitation of this study is that it did not include data from all trials; hence, the results may not fully evaluate detection bias. The necessity of central reviewers in oncological open-label trials needs to be assessed by further studies that overcome this limitation.
Trial registration number
CTR-UMIN000044623. (Source: Evidence-Based Medicine)
Source: Evidence-Based Medicine - November 22, 2023 Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Funada, S., Luo, Y., Kataoka, Y., Yoshioka, T., Fujita, Y., Yoshida, S., Katsura, M., Tada, M., Nishioka, N., Nakamura, Y., Ueno, K., Uozumi, R., Furukawa, T. A. Tags: Open access Original research Source Type: research
Living health technology assessments: how close to living reality?
Introduction Healthcare decision-makers are exploring more responsive, innovative processes in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, including a ‘living’ approach to health technology assessment (HTA).1 Even before the pandemic, the use of real-world data (RWD) and the advent of mobile and digital health technologies were transforming HTA decision making.2 These developments coincided with a broad recognition that keeping pace with rapid publication of new evidence and variation/inefficiencies in review can lead to HTA decisions based on out-of-date evidence.3 These challenges hinder timely patient access to promi...
Source: Evidence-Based Medicine - November 22, 2023 Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Sarri, G., Forsythe, A., Elvidge, J., Dawoud, D. Tags: Open access EBM opinion and debate Source Type: research
Expanding the measurement of overdiagnosis in the context of disease precursors and risk factors
Introduction Because individual patients weigh benefits and harms differently, it is important to provide quantitative information about the benefits and harms of screening interventions, particularly when benefits and harms are in equipoise.1 The goal of this article is to help clinicians have a more fulsome understanding of the implications of different screening situations. Guideline developers may also find this helpful when estimating the magnitude of overdiagnosis in screeningwhere the outcome is not overt disease. Many clinicians discuss the potential benefits and harms of screening with their patients. But without ...
Source: Evidence-Based Medicine - November 22, 2023 Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Theriault, G., Reynolds, D., Pillay, J. J., Limburg, H., Grad, R., Gates, M., Lafortune, F.-D., Breault, P. Tags: EBM analysis Source Type: research
Is a one-size-fits-all '12-month rule appropriate when it comes to the last search date in systematic reviews?
The problem Searches conducted a year or more before submission of a systematic review (SR) paper can result in journal editors or peer-reviewers rejecting it. Their concerns are that findings from SRs with ‘out-of-date’ searches might provide decision-makers with misleading evidence.1 Although recent technological advances have helped to speed up some review processes,2 other methodological advances have increased the work required such that reviews often require longer than 12 months to produce useful and rigorous findings. This puts many SRs at risk of rejection by journal editors. We argue that a blanket 12...
Source: Evidence-Based Medicine - November 22, 2023 Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Stokes, G., Sutcliffe, K., Thomas, J. Tags: Open access EBM analysis Source Type: research
Time to treat the climate and nature crisis as one indivisible global health emergency
Over 200 health journals call on the United Nations (UN), political leaders and health professionals to recognise that climate change and biodiversity loss are one indivisible crisis and must be tackled together to preserve health and avoid catastrophe. This overall environmental crisis is now so severe as to be a global health emergency. The world is currently responding to the climate crisis and the nature crisis as if they were separate challenges. This is a dangerous mistake. The 28th Conference of the Parties (COP) on climate change is about to be held in Dubai while the 16th COP on biodiversity is due to be held in T...
Source: Evidence-Based Medicine - November 22, 2023 Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Zielinski, C., on behalf of the authorship group listed below Tags: Open access Editorials Source Type: research
Applying the time needed to treat to NICE guidelines on lifestyle interventions
There is a growing emphasis on interventions where clinicians identify and aim to change unhealthy habits in individuals, such as dietary advice for people with obesity.1 2 Although such individually oriented lifestyle interventions (IOLIs) might be effective, it may not be feasible to implement all recommended IOLIs in the care of many eligible individuals, given the finite resources within health systems.3 Time needed to treat (TNT) has been proposed as a measure of guideline feasibility in practice.4 TNT estimates the fraction of the available time that clinicians would need to implement the recommendation. We aimed to ...
Source: Evidence-Based Medicine - September 21, 2023 Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Albarqouni, L., Montori, V., Jorgensen, K. J., Ringsten, M., Bulbeck, H., Johansson, M. Tags: Letters Source Type: research
Best way not to misuse p values is not to draw definitive conclusions about hypotheses
A recent article in BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine asserted the following1, ‘We begin by saying that p values themselves are not flawed. Rather, the use, misuse or abuse of p values in ways antithetical to rigorous scientific pursuits is the flaw’. We show that this assertion is both wrong and misleading. To demonstrate the errors, we start with another wrong assertion on the same page: ‘The only information to be gleaned from p values is whether the observed data are likely where the null hypothesis (that no effect exists) [is] true’. This assertion erroneously assumes that p values are based on null ...
Source: Evidence-Based Medicine - September 21, 2023 Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Trafimow, D., Haley, U., Boje, D. Tags: General Medicine Source Type: research
Proposed triggers for retiring a living systematic review
We describe examples of retired LSRs and apply the proposed approach using one LSR about adjuvant tyrosine kinase inhibitors in high-risk renal cell carcinoma that we retired from a living mode and published its last update. (Source: Evidence-Based Medicine)
Source: Evidence-Based Medicine - September 21, 2023 Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Murad, M. H., Wang, Z., Chu, H., Lin, L., El Mikati, I. K., Khabsa, J., Akl, E. A., Nieuwlaat, R., Schuenemann, H. J., Riaz, I. B. Tags: Open access Research methods and reporting Source Type: research
Mindfulness for academic performance in health professions students: a systematic review
Discussion
Our systematic review highlights a lack of evidence to either support, or refute, the use of mindfulness interventions on the academic performance of undergraduate medical students. We encourage that future randomised controlled trials pay heed to the dosing of mindfulness and include a measurement of mindfulness to enable us to draw a clearer causal relationship. (Source: Evidence-Based Medicine)
Source: Evidence-Based Medicine - September 21, 2023 Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Balasooriya Lekamge, R., Gasevic, D., Karim, M. N., Ilic, D. Tags: General Medicine Evidence synthesis Source Type: research
