Evaluating evidence when synthesising research

When appraising evidence, you may wish to use a critical appraisal checklist such as a checklist from the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP).  For help selecting a checklist, please see the Critical Appraisal Tools Pathway.  More information and resources on critical appraisal can be found in What is critical appraisal.

Another method of appraisal is to examine how well the study in question is reported rather than how well it was undertaken. For example, some records in the Database of Abstracts of Reviews Effects (DARE) include commentary on reporting. 

Once you have appraised the evidence, think about the body of evidence as a whole. What is the balance between the quantity and the quality of the evidence?  To what extent would you be comfortable changing your practice based on what you have found?

Adapted from training entitled Instant evidence based medicine: how to quickly synthesise research, delivered by School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield on 6th September 2018, Glasgow.