Systematic reviews and meta-analyses course

The aim of this course is to introduce systematic review methodology and critical appraisal skills to enable participants to write and implement systematic reviews.

The course will be held 5 - 12 June 2019 in Bergen. It comprises a 3-day in-class session (5-7 June) followed by 3 days during which the participants work on a protocol for a systematic review (8-10 June). Then the participants convene again for a final 2-day session (11-12 June).

The course is mainly lectures with interactive work in small groups to practice skills, all of which are directly related to the participants’ own research question. All course activities are mandatory and participants will give a presentation at the end of the last teaching block. Participants can opt to take an exam, which is to submit a protocol for a systematic review by 30 June 2019.

The course is in collaboration with the Norwegian Research School of Global Health and the Cochrane EPOC group at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.

The course is fully booked. 
 

Required previous knowledge:

The course is in English and participants are required to read and write English. In addition, the participants must have knowledge of research methods at a Masters level.

Academic content:

The role of systematic reviews, their impact and introduction to different types of systematic reviews:

• Developing a protocol for a systematic review
• Literature searching
• Critical appraisal of primary studies and systematic reviews
• Data extraction
• Synthesis and meta-analysis

Learning outcome:

By the end of the course, the participants have the following learning outcomes:

Knowledge

The student can

• Explain the difference between a narrative and a systematic literature review
• Describe basic elements of a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

Skills

The student is able to:

• Critically appraise different literature search strategies
• Plan and develop inclusion and exclusion criteria for studies
• Develop and critically appraise a sheet for data extraction
• Prepare ”summary of findings” tables
• Appraise risk of bias and quality of evidence of included studies with explicit criteria using the GRADE approach
• Conduct meta-analyses in the Review Manager software
• Explore and appraise statistical, methodological and clinical heterogeneity of studies and evaluate pros and cons of combining outcomes of included studies

General competence

The student is can:

• Discuss the value of a systematic review
• Systematically evaluate and summarize the scientific evidence on a topic
• Conduct a systematic review

Compulsory assignments and attendance:

All course activities are mandatory and participants will give a presentation at the end of the last teaching block. Participants can opt to take an additional exam, which is to submit a protocol for a systematic review by 30 June 2019.

Course credits:

2 ECTS with active participation and passed presentation at the end of the course
5 ECTS with active participation and passed presentation at the end of the course and submission of a protocoll by 30 June 2019

Course material:

Cochrane Interactive Learning: Conducting an Intervention Review, all modules except the one on economic evaluation https://training.cochrane.org/de/interactivelearning

Egger M, Davey Smith G, Altman D (eds). Systematic Reviews in Health Care. BMJ 2001. (Kap 1, 5,9, 15)

Cochrane Handbook for systematic reviews of interventions (Kap. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,10,11,12, 20)

Nettkurs om kunnskapsbasert praksis: www.kunnskapsbasertpraksis.no

Guyatt GH, Oxman AD, Kunz R, Vist GE, Falck-Ytter Y, Schünemann HJ: GRADE Working Group. Rating quality of evidence and strength of recommendations: What is "quality of evidence" and why is it important to clinicians? BMJ. 2008 May 3;336(7651):995-8 For downloading of  GRADEpro and more information about GRADE: www.gradeworkinggroup.org

Cochrane Qualitative and Implementation Methods Group guidance series on qualitative evidence synthesis: Noyes J, Booth A, Cargo M, Flemming K, Garside R, Hannes K, Harden A, Harris J, Lewin S, Pantoja T, Thomas J. Cochrane Qualitative and Implementation Methods Group guidance series—paper 1: introduction. Journal of clinical epidemiology. 2018;97:35-8.