TY - JOUR
T1 - The refinement of topics for systematic reviews
T2 - Lessons and recommendations from the Effective Health Care Program
AU - Buckley, David I.
AU - Ansari, Mohammed T.
AU - Butler, Mary
AU - Soh, Clara
AU - Chang, Christine S.
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: This project was funded under Contract No. HHSA 290-2007-10057-I from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality , US Department of Health and Human Services. The authors of this article are responsible for its content, including any clinical treatment recommendations. No statement in this article should be construed as an official position of AHRQ or of the US Department of Health and Human Services.
PY - 2014/4
Y1 - 2014/4
N2 - Objectives: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Effective Health Care Program conducts systematic reviews of health-care topics nominated by stakeholders. Topics undergo refinement to ensure relevant questions of appropriate scope and useful reviews. Input from key informants, experts, and a literature scan informs changes in the nominated topic. AHRQ convened a work group to assess approaches and develop recommendations for topic refinement. Study Design and Setting: Work group members experienced in topic refinement generated a list of questions and guiding principles relevant to the refinement process. They discussed each issue and reached agreement on recommendations. Results: Topics should address important health-care questions or dilemmas, consider stakeholder priorities and values, reflect the state of the science, and be consistent with systematic review research methods. Guiding principles of topic refinement are fidelity to the nomination, relevance, research feasibility, responsiveness to stakeholder inputs, reduced investigator bias, transparency, and suitable scope. Suggestions for stakeholder engagement, synthesis of input, and reporting are discussed. Refinement decisions require judgment and balancing guiding principles. Variability in topics precludes a prescriptive approach. Conclusion: Accurate, rigorous, and useful systematic reviews require well-refined topics. These guiding principles and methodological recommendations may help investigators refine topics for reviews.
AB - Objectives: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Effective Health Care Program conducts systematic reviews of health-care topics nominated by stakeholders. Topics undergo refinement to ensure relevant questions of appropriate scope and useful reviews. Input from key informants, experts, and a literature scan informs changes in the nominated topic. AHRQ convened a work group to assess approaches and develop recommendations for topic refinement. Study Design and Setting: Work group members experienced in topic refinement generated a list of questions and guiding principles relevant to the refinement process. They discussed each issue and reached agreement on recommendations. Results: Topics should address important health-care questions or dilemmas, consider stakeholder priorities and values, reflect the state of the science, and be consistent with systematic review research methods. Guiding principles of topic refinement are fidelity to the nomination, relevance, research feasibility, responsiveness to stakeholder inputs, reduced investigator bias, transparency, and suitable scope. Suggestions for stakeholder engagement, synthesis of input, and reporting are discussed. Refinement decisions require judgment and balancing guiding principles. Variability in topics precludes a prescriptive approach. Conclusion: Accurate, rigorous, and useful systematic reviews require well-refined topics. These guiding principles and methodological recommendations may help investigators refine topics for reviews.
KW - Decision making
KW - Evidence-based practice
KW - Methods
KW - Patient-centered care
KW - Research design
KW - Stakeholder engagement
KW - Systematic review
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2013.10.023
DO - 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2013.10.023
M3 - Article
C2 - 24581296
AN - SCOPUS:84896807128
SN - 0895-4356
VL - 67
SP - 425
EP - 432
JO - Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
JF - Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
IS - 4
ER -