25 Nov 2020 TI Methods Speaker Series: Communicating the results of a systematic review in simple statements
Clear communication of systematic review findings helps readers and decision makers to use evidence. Unfortunately, authors use a variety of ways to convey their findings, which can often lead to confusion. We can find multiple phrases in systematic reviews, such as ‘limited evidence’, ‘insufficient evidence’, ‘no evidence to support’, or ‘the evidence shows, at best, a modest, non-statistically significant trend in favour of intervention A‘. In addition, the interpretation of P values to make conclusions also has pitfalls – often large P values are incorrectly interpreted to mean ‘no difference’ or ‘no effect’ and small P values to mean an ‘important effect‘. We will discuss and present an approach that improves the clarity of statements to convey findings and that draws on the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system or any other system that uses levels of evidence. This approach was tested with producers and users of systematic reviews and is now part of guidance in the Cochrane Handbook and the GRADE Handbook.
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WHEN: Wednesday, November 25th, 2020 from 12:00 to 1:00 PM PDT [click here to convert to your local time]
WHERE: Offered online using Zoom
TITLE: Communicating the results of a systematic review in simple statements
SPEAKER: Nancy Santesso, Assistant Professor, Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
About the speaker: Nancy Santesso is Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact at McMaster University, Canada, and a Registered Dietitian. Nancy has also been a strong supporter of the Cochrane Collaboration since 2002, and is currently the Deputy Director of Cochrane Canada and editor of the Cochrane Consumers and Communication Review Group. She has provided training in Cochrane systematic reviews for over 15 years. Her research interests include the communication of systematic reviews and guidelines. She is also a member of the GRADE Working Group – a group dedicated to the rigorous development of clinical practice guidelines and the use of evidence from systematic reviews in guidelines. She has lead the conduct of systematic reviews and presentation of that evidence in multiple guidelines, and facilitated guideline panel meetings to use evidence when making recommendations.
About the TI Methods Speaker Series: The TI Methods Speaker Series are offered free of charge and everyone is welcome. The event is held at noon on the last Wednesday of each month. During the COVID-19 pandemic, while physical distancing measures are in effect, the TI Methods Speaker Series are offered via videoconference. The presentations are recorded and the video recordings are posted online. Click here to view a list of all talks offered in 2020 as part of the TI Methods Speaker Series.
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