PHVIT9550 Systematic reviews and metaanalyses Course description

Healthcare decisions for individual patients and for public health policies should be informed by the best available research evidence. The evidence comes from good reviews which is a state-of-the-art synthesis of current evidence on a given research question.Systematic reviews and meta-analyses play an important role in clinical guidelines, patient information, in clinical and political decision-making and in an evidence-based practice. A systematic review can also play an important role in a PhD Thesis by providing an overview of the thesis topic.

This course offers an overview of the use of systematic reviews, the method of systematic reviews, qualitative evidence synthesis (QES) and meta-analysis and how to critically appraise a systematic review or QES. The course will focus on systematic reviews of qualitative and quantitative studies, and will be partly organized as parallel sessions. The course will be run as a five day course over a period of three months.

None

On completion of the course, the PhD candidate has achieved the following learning outcomes, defined in terms of knowledge, skills, and general competence:

Knowledge

The PhD candidate:

• is at the forefront of knowledge in how to write a protocol of a systematic review or qualitative evidence synthesis
• understands the role of best evidence research in clinical and political decision-making

Skills

The PhD candidate can:

• plan and write a protocol of a systematic review or qualitative evidence synthesis
• formulate a focused research question
• plan a literature search
• conduct a systematic and explicit selection process of the available articles
• assess the methodological quality of included articles
• extract data from included studies and plan analyses
• critically assess a systematic review

General competence

The PhD candidate can:

• the principles of how to search for research literature
• the principles of how to run a meta-analysis or a synthesis of qualitative studies
• the principles of how to assess the quality of evidence by Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) or GRADE CERQual
• the principles of how to conduct a systematic review

Work and teaching methods consist of lectures, small group work and discussions, self-study, and practical exercises. The outcomes of the small group sessions are presented and discussed in plenary. Parallel sessions offer, teaching and small group work in critical assessment of included studies, analysis, and the quality of evidence within systematic reviews of qualitative or quantitative studies.

None

On completion of the course, the PhD candidate has achieved the following learning outcomes, defined in terms of knowledge, skills, and general competence:

Knowledge

The PhD candidate

• can critically assess different scientific theories in the health sciences
• can assess the usefulness of using qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methodologies in research processes in the health sciences
• has a command of the key principles of qualitative and quantitative methods of analysis

Skills

The PhD candidate can

• articulate research problems, and plan and make methodological decisions in his or her own doctoral work
• identify ethical issues and address them on the basis of established principles of ethical research
• critically assess the strengths and weaknesses of health science research projects
• address requirements in the Health Research Act and the Personal Data Act governing research activities

General competence

The PhD candidate can

• participate in debates on theoretical, ethical and methodological issues in the health sciences
• assess different research practices in the health sciences from theoretical and methodological perspectives

Work and teaching methods consist of lectures, seminars, and self-study. The outcomes of the seminars are presented and discussed in plenary sessions.

None

Individual home examination based on specific questions. To be submitted no more than 2 weeks after the end of the course. Answer papers must consist of up to 5,000 words.

All