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III. How Did the Authors Synthesize the Data and Make Their Conclusions?

David Moher, MSc; Alejandro R. Jadad, MD, DPhil; Terry P. Klassen, MD, MSc

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1998;152:915-920.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

INTRODUCTION

In the first 2 articles in this series, we highlighted the following issues that we as readers consider when interpreting a systematic review: a well-formulated, clinically relevant question; a comprehensive search to identify relevant trials; and an assessment of the quality of the included trials. Another crucial issue in the interpretation of a systematic review is how the authors synthesized the evidence. As discussed in the first article in this series, data can be synthesized using qualitative and quantitative methods. As with any other aspect of a systematic review, readers are in a better position if they can understand and, if desired, can replicate how the authors synthesized the evidence and made their conclusions.

INTEROBSERVER RELIABILITY

At every stage in performing a systematic review, the reviewer must guard against potential bias or errors, and this is most critical at . . . [Full Text of this Article]

QUALITATIVE DATA SYNTHESIS

QUANTITATIVE DATA SYNTHESIS

METHODS OF PROVIDING RESULTS FROM DATA SYNTHESIS

EXAMINING BETWEEN-TRIAL DIFFERENCES

SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS

SUBGROUP ANALYSIS

PUBLICATION BIAS

GRAPHIC DISPLAY OF THE RESULTS OF SYSTEMATIC QUANTITATIVE REVIEWS

ESTABLISHING CLINICAL MEANING FROM THE RESULTS

From the Thomas C. Chalmers Center for Systematic Reviews, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute (Mr Moher and Dr Klassen), and the Departments of Pediatrics and Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Ottawa (Mr Moher and Dr Klassen), Ottawa, Ontario; and the Health Information Research Unit, Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario (Dr Jadad).

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