RT Book, Section
A1 Greenberg, Raymond S.
A1 Daniels, Stephen R.
A1 Flanders, W. Dana
A1 Eley, John William
A1 Boring, John R.
SR Print(0)
ID 546399
T1 Chapter 13. Interpretation of Epidemiologic Literature
T2 Medical Epidemiology, 4e
YR 2005
FD 2005
PB The McGraw-Hill Companies
PP New York, NY
SN 9780071416375
LK accesspharmacy.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=546399
RD 2024/04/19
AB The  literature  on  a  topic  of  clinical  interest  often  includes  conflicting  or  inconclusive  studies,  thereby  requiring  the  development  of  critical  skills  for  interpreting  the  results.  A  systematic  approach  to  evaluating  the  features  of  individual  studies  can  provide  thoroughness  and  consistency  to  a  review  of  the  literature.  The  evaluation  of  an  individual  study  should  include  the  research  hypothesis,  the  study  design,  the  predictor  and  outcome  variables,  the  methods  of  analysis,  possible  sources  of  bias,  and  interpretation  of  results.  In  considering  whether  a  statistical  association  is  likely  to  represent  a  causal  relationship,  one  should  consider  the  strength  of  the  association,  the  presence  of  a  dose-response  trend,  correct  timing  of  events,  consistency  across  studies,  and  biological  plausibility.  A  meta-analysis  is  a  quantitative  systematic  review  in  which  the  results  of  multiple  studies  are  combined  to  obtain  a  precise,  and  hopefully  unbiased,  estimate  of  the  association  under  study.