Articles: checklist.
-
Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Sep 2023
ReviewSearch strategies (filters) to identify systematic reviews in MEDLINE and Embase.
Bibliographic databases provide access to an international body of scientific literature in health and medical sciences. Systematic reviews are an important source of evidence for clinicians, researchers, consumers, and policymakers as they address a specific health-related question and use explicit methods to identify, appraise and synthesize evidence from which conclusions can be drawn and decisions made. Methodological search filters help database end-users search the literature effectively with different levels of sensitivity and specificity. These filters have been developed for various study designs and have been found to be particularly useful for intervention studies. Other filters have been developed for finding systematic reviews. Considering the variety and number of available search filters for systematic reviews, there is a need for a review of them in order to provide evidence about their retrieval properties at the time they were developed. ⋯ Studies reporting the development, evaluation, or comparison of search filters to retrieve reports of systematic reviews in MEDLINE showed similar sensitivity and precision, with one filter showing higher levels of specificity. For Embase, filters showed variable sensitivity and precision, with limited information about how the filter was produced, which leaves us uncertain about their performance assessments. Newer filters had limitations in their methods or scope, including very focused subject topics for their gold standards, limiting their applicability across other topics. Our findings highlight that consensus guidance on the conduct of search filters and standardized reporting of search filters are needed, as we found highly heterogeneous development methods, accuracy assessments and outcome selection. New strategies adaptable across interfaces could enhance their usability. Moreover, the performance of existing filters needs to be evaluated in light of the impact of reporting guidelines, including the PRISMA 2009, on how systematic reviews are reported. Finally, future filter developments should also consider comparing the filters against a common reference set to establish comparative performance and assess the quality of systematic reviews retrieved by strategies.
-
Transparent reporting of randomized trials is essential to facilitate critical appraisal and interpretation of results. Factorial trials, in which 2 or more interventions are assessed in the same set of participants, have unique methodological considerations. However, reporting of factorial trials is suboptimal. ⋯ This extension of the CONSORT 2010 Statement provides guidance on the reporting of factorial randomized trials and should facilitate greater understanding of and transparency in their reporting.
-
The surgical safety checklist (SSC) has been credited with improving team situation awareness (SA) in the operating room. Although the SSC may support team SA at the outset of the operative case, intraoperative handoff provides an opportunity for either SA breakdown or, more preferably, SA reinforcement. High-functioning surgical teams demonstrate a high level of continued SA, whereas teams deficient in SA are more likely to be affected by surgical errors and adverse events. To date, no interprofessional intraoperative tools exist to support team SA beyond the SSC. ⋯ Intraoperative handoff occurs frequently, and offers the opportunity for either renewed or fractured team SA beyond the SSC.
-
Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Nov 2023
ReviewReviewer training for improving grant and journal peer review.
Funders and scientific journals use peer review to decide which projects to fund or articles to publish. Reviewer training is an intervention to improve the quality of peer review. However, studies on the effects of such training yield inconsistent results, and there are no up-to-date systematic reviews addressing this question. ⋯ Evidence from 10 RCTs suggests that training peer reviewers may lead to little or no improvement in the quality of peer review. There is a need for studies with more participants and a broader spectrum of valid and reliable outcome measures. Studies evaluating stakeholders' assessments of the quality of peer review should ensure that these instruments have sufficient levels of validity and reliability.
-
Early phase dose-finding (EPDF) trials are crucial for the development of a new intervention and influence whether it should be investigated in further trials. Guidance exists for clinical trial protocols and completed trial reports in the SPIRIT and CONSORT guidelines, respectively. However, both guidelines and their extensions do not adequately address the characteristics of EPDF trials. Building on the SPIRIT and CONSORT checklists, the DEFINE study aims to develop international consensus-driven guidelines for EPDF trial protocols (SPIRIT-DEFINE) and reports (CONSORT-DEFINE). ⋯ By detailing the development journey of the DEFINE study and the decisions undertaken, we envision that this will enhance understanding and help researchers in the development of future guidelines. The SPIRIT-DEFINE and CONSORT-DEFINE guidelines will allow investigators to effectively address essential items that should be present in EPDF trial protocols and reports, thereby promoting transparency, comprehensiveness, and reproducibility.