Systematic Review of Literature

Recognize features of systematic reviews as a research design; recognize the importance of using rigorous methods to conduct a systematic review of literature; identify the elements of a well-defined review question; understand the steps in a systematic review.

Recognize the importance of Cochrane Protocols; identify the information that should be included in the background of a systematic review; review PRISMA-P guidelines; skim through the PROSPERO database and duplication of work; formulate review questions using the PICO framework; recognize the key components of a well written objective; identify the eligibility criteria for studies to be included in a systematic review; data synthesis strategy; recognize the structure of a protocol; template of PROSPERO protocol.

Search strategy development; suggest concepts and terms to be used in a search strategy; selecting databases; designing search strategies for PubMed and training in PubMed; identify the key sources to search when conducting a systematic review; identify the elements of the search process that need to be documented and reported.

Conducting a search and reference management; searching using key terms and search strategy; training in EndNote and Rayyan software for screening of bibliography; the PRISMA flow chart.

Recognize the key features of the study selection process; identify the data required from a study included in a systematic review; recognize the different types and formats of outcome data in the included studies; extract the data from the included studies.

Assess the risk of bias arising from the randomization process in systematic reviews focusing on clinical trials; risk of bias due to deviations from the intended interventions; risk of bias due to missing outcome data; risk of bias in measurement of the outcome; risk of bias due to selective reporting; reach a judgement on the overall risk of bias in the included studies; identify ways of incorporating risk of bias assessment into the analysis.

What is methodological and clinical heterogeneity; data extraction forms; establishing inter-rater reliability; the data extraction process; reporting results.

Define a meta-analysis; decide when it is appropriate to conduct a meta-analysis; forest plots; choice of software — RevMan, CMA or R; reporting quantitative results.

Recognize characteristics of different effect measures; identify ways in which continuous outcomes and their comparisons can be expressed; identify and understand the data presented in forest plots.

Identify ways of ensuring consistency in a systematic review; identify elements of the 'Summary of findings' table; decide how to present an outcome in a 'Summary of findings' table; identify the elements of good reporting of systematic review results; understand the purpose of 'Authors' conclusions' in a systematic review; recognize the features of a Cochrane review abstract.