Full Week Intensive: Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses

Fall 2024: 28 October – 1 November 2024

Instructor Information

Shelley Facente, PhD, MPH
Principal/owner of Facente Consulting
Adjunct Professor, University of California, Berkeley
sfacente@berkeley.edu

Pre-Readings

Facente SN, Grebe E, Maher AD, Fox D, Scheer S, Mahy M, Dalal S, Lowrance D, Marsh K. Use of HIV Recency Assays for HIV Incidence Estimation and Other Surveillance Use Cases: Systematic Review. JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2022 Mar 11;8(3):e34410. doi: 10.2196/34410. PMID: 35275085; PMCID: PMC8956992. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35275085/

Page MJ, McKenzie JE, Bossuyt PM, Boutron I, Hoffmann TC, Mulrow CD, et al. The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ 2021;372:n71. doi: 10.1136/bmj.n71

Course Outline and Resources

OutlineActivity links and worksheets
Day one: Monday, 28 Oct Slides
-What is a systematic review (SR)?
-Why and how are SRs used?
-What is a meta-analysis (MA)?
-Overview of PROSPERO registration and PRISMA guidelines
-Defining the review question (PICOs)
-Inclusion and exclusion criteria
-Practice defining the research question in small groups
PRISMA Checklist Activity
**PRISMA Checklist
**PRISMA Abstract Checklist
Facente (2022) JMIR Public Health Surveillance

Criteria Practice
**Criteria Worksheet
Marsh (2023) Journal of Pediatric Surgery
Zulfigar (2023) PLOS One
Cieslik (2020) Complementary Therapies in Medicine
Yu (2022) Asian Journal of Surgery

Defining the Research Question Practice
**PICOS Worksheet
Mobile Men Study
Day two: Tuesday, 29 Oct Slides (updated with full Zotero demo)
-Searching for records/studies (PubMed, Embase, PsychINFO, other)
-Practice searching for records/studies in small groups
-Screening records/studies
-Extracting and organizing data
-Developing Figure 1
Searching for Records Practice
MeSH Term Search (MeSH on Demand)
PubMed

Screening Studies Practice
Screening Worksheet Diagram
**Screening Studies Worksheet

Extracting Data
Extracting Data Quick Sheet
Day three: Wednesday, 30 Oct Slides
-Continued practice searching, screening, and extracting data
-Summarizing data & meta-analysis
Zotero Demo
Zotero Plug-In to Bulk Remove Duplicates

Sample Screening and Data Extraction Tools
Appalachian SRMA Screening Tool
Appalachian SRMA Data Extraction Tool
Appalachian SRMA (Publication)
Day four: Thursday, 31 Oct Slides
-Evaluating risk of bias (study quality)
-Evaluating publication bias
-Sensitivity analyses and stratified analyses
-Understanding SRMA limitations
-Interpreting and reporting results
Sample Risk of Bias Evaluation Tool
Appalachian SRMA ROB Evaluation Tool

Practice in Excel
Simple funnel plot EXAMPLES
**Simple funnel plot TEMPLATE
Wartolowska (2014) BMJ
Lorenzetti (2023) Journal of the International AIDS Society
Day five: Friday, 1 Nov Slides
-Review of special types of SRs and MAs
-Review of the key takeaways from the week
-Continued practice and opportunity for questions

Resources:

General SRMA guidelines and information

Templates and tools

Common Systematic Review software

  • RevMan (Review Manager, by Cochrane)
  • EPPI-Reviewer (developed by the Evidence for Policy & Practice Information & Coordinating Centre)

Tutorials and tips

Databases