ScHARR ONLINE Course - Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis

The aim of this popular and intensive course is to provide participants with an introduction to methods for conducting systematic reviews and meta-analysis in health care.

Sessions will be delivered by ScHARR staff experienced in systematic review methods and health technology assessment. The course will be interactive and practical, with delivery of sessions based on lectures and individual and small group practical exercises.

When?

Monday 1st, Tuesday 2nd, Monday 8th and Tuesday 9th November 2021

The course comprises live online sessions, plus a series of short, self-directed exercises to be undertaken in addition to the live sessions.

Who will benefit from the course?

The course is suitable for researchers who require an introduction to methods for conducting systematic reviews in health care, and professionals who need to develop the ability to interpret and asses the quality of systematic reviews. The course is also suitable for:

• Clinicians wanting to undertake their own systematic review
• PhD students with a significant review component to their thesis
• Members of academic systematic review teams
• Pharmaceutical companies and consultancies requiring an understanding of review methods

No previous knowledge of systematic reviews or meta-analysis is assumed.

This course is relevant to anyone involved in systematic reviews. If you are specifically interested in qualitative evidence synthesis only, please see our ESQUIRE course.

Learning outcomes:

By the end of this course participants should be able to:

• identify the key stages of the systematic review process
• define a review question and understand how to develop a review protocol
• describe methods for identifying sources of evidence for systematic reviews
• develop a search strategy to identify relevant studies for a specific review question and understand how to conduct a literature search
• apply inclusion criteria to identify relevant studies
• undertake critical appraisal of evidence using standardised quality checklists
• develop a data extraction form and extract relevant outcomes from reported studies
• select appropriate methods of evidence synthesis and be able to describe and summarise key results
• be familiar with statistical methods for analysis of quantitative data
• explore the use of meta-analysis in data synthesis using computer software (RevMan)
• understand potential sources of heterogeneity between included studies
• be familiar with good practice in reporting of systematic reviews
• critically appraise a systematic review.

Faculty

Dr Marrissa Martyn-St James, is the course leader for this popular short course

Dr Andrew Booth

Other members of ScHARR staff to be confirmed

For more details and to book your place visit this page

Dr Marrissa Martyn-St James wins Best Oral Presentation Award at HTAi 2019

Congratulations to our own Dr Marrissa Martyn-St James who won the Best Oral Presentation Award at HTAi 2019 with her talk on Developing a Decision Tool for Selecting Approaches for Rapid Reviews. The details of the talk are below and you can contact Marrissa at m.martyn-stjames@sheffield.ac.uk

Authors: Abdullah Pandor, Eva Kaltenthaler, Marrissa Martyn-St James (presenter), Ruth Wong, Katy Cooper, Munya Dimairo, Alicia O’Cathain, Fiona Campbell, Andrew Booth

HTAi 2019 Best Oral Presentation

Abstract summary:

A modified online Delphi survey was conducted to reach consensus on items in the STARR (SelecTing Approaches for Rapid Reviews) decision tool for adapting review processes. Following pilot testing of the tool, a panel of 30 experts was recruited. Delphi consensus of ≥70% agreement of 20 items in the final STARR decision tool was reached at Round 2.

Introduction:

Dr Marrissa Martyn-St-James

Rapid reviews are of increasing importance within evidence synthesis and health technology assessment (HTA) due to the need for timely evidence to underpin the assessment of new technologies. Financial constraints have also contributed to the increase in rapid reviews. There are many rapid review methods available. However, there is little definitive guidance as to which methods are most appropriate. We developed the STARR (SelecTing Approaches for Rapid Reviews), decision tool for adapting review processes through a modified Delphi approach. The STARR tool was initially developed around our work in rapid reviews.

Method:

A modified online Delphi survey was conducted in May 2018. The STARR tool covers four themes: interaction with commissioners/policy-makers, scoping and searching the evidence base, data extraction and synthesis methods, and reporting of rapid review methods. The Delphi included 8 questions on theme headers and descriptors plus 11 questions on items in the tool. Following independent pilot testing, a panel of 30 experts who had published rapid reviews or been involved in development of their methods were invited to complete an online questionnaire through an iterative process including suggestions for changes. Importance of each item was rated on a scale of 1 (not important) to 9 (critically important). Consensus was ≥70% agreement across each item rated ≥7. All responses were collected in Delphi Manager® software.

Results:

Consensus was reached at Round 1 (30 respondents). However, following Round 1, one additional item on quality assessment that was suggested was added, and suggestions to improve clarity and understanding of the decision tool were made. Final consensus of 20 STARR items was reached after Round 2 (24 respondents).

Conclusions:

Delphi consensus of the final STARR decision tool was reached after two rounds. Roll-out of the STARR decision tool is now planned to assist in helping plan rapid reviews.