Appraising Systematic Reviews
Appraising Systematic Reviews
Download the Johns Hopkins Research Evidence Appraisal Tool and the Johns Hopkins Individual Evidence Summary Tool located in Student Resource Center located in “Project & Practicum Resources.”
Select one of the eight practice problems that burden the overall health of the United States. Conduct a library search for one systematic review (without meta-analysis; with meta-analysis; meta-synthesis) addressing this problem. Appraise the systematic review using the Johns Hopkins Research Evidence Appraisal Tool. My Practice Problem is Diabetes Mellitus
After appraising and determining the Level of Evidence and Grade of Quality for your selected systematic review, summarize your findings. Transfer your findings to the Johns Hopkins Individual Evidence Summary Tool. Complete each column including specific details about the systematic review.
Include your completed Johns Hopkins Individual Evidence Summary Tool and your systematic review as an attachment with your initial post. Also, include a permalink for your selected systematic review with your initial discussion post. Confirm the link allows access to the full-text study article. Our faculty team will review both your research study and Johns Hopkins Individual Evidence Summary Tool and provide guidance.
Analyze the evidence summary of the selected systematic review to address the following.
- Does the research design answer the research question? Explain your rationale.
- Were the study sample participants representative? Why or why not?
- Compare and contrast the study limitations in this study.
- Based on this evidence summary, would you consider this systematic review as support for your selected practice problem? Explain your rationale.
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Practice Question:
Date:
Article Number
Author and Date
Evidence Type
Sample, Sample Size, Setting
Findings That Help Answer the EBP Question
Observable Measures
Limitations
Evidence Level, Quality
· N/A
· N/A
· N/A
· N/A
· N/A
· N/A
· N/A
Attach a reference list with full citations of articles reviewed for this Practice question.
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Appendix G: Individual Evidence Summary Tool
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Directions for Use of the Individual Evidence Summary Tool
Purpose
This form is used to document the results of evidence appraisal in preparation for evidence synthesis. The form provides the EBP team with documentation of the sources of evidence used, the year the evidence was published or otherwise communicated, the information gathered from each evidence source that helps the team answer the EBP question, and the level and quality of each source of evidence.
Article Number
Assign a number to each reviewed source of evidence. This organizes the individual evidence summary and provides an easy way to reference articles.
Author and Date
Indicate the last name of the first author or the evidence source and the publication/communication date. List both author/evidence source and date.
Evidence Type
Indicate the type of evidence reviewed (for example: RCT, meta-analysis, mixed methods, qualitative, systematic review, case study, narrative literature review).
Sample, Sample Size, and Setting
Provide a quick view of the population, number of participants, and study location.
Findings That Help Answer the EBP Question
Although the reviewer may find many points of interest, list only findings that directly apply to the EBP question.
Observable Measures
Quantitative measures or variables are used to answer a research question, test a hypothesis, describe characteristics, or determine the effect, impact, or influence. Qualitative evidence uses cases, context, opinions, experiences, and thoughts to represent the phenomenon of study.
Limitations
Include information that may or may not be within the text of the article regarding drawbacks of the piece of evidence. The evidence may list limitations, or it may be evident to you, as you review the evidence, that an important point is missed or the sample does not apply to the population of interest.
Evidence Level and Quality
Using information from the individual appraisal tools, transfer the evidence level and quality rating into this column.