1. Applicability and generalisability of the results of systematic reviews to public health practice and policy: a systematic review
- Author
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Nizar Ahmad, Pierre Durieux, Isabelle Boutron, Philippe Ravaud, Agnès Dechartres, Centre d'épidémiologie Clinique [Hôtel-Dieu], Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) - Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) - Hôpital Hôtel Dieu, Université Paris Descartes - Faculté de Médecine (UPD5 Médecine), Université Paris Descartes - Paris 5 (UPD5), Centre de médecine fondée sur les preuves, École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique [EHESP] (EHESP), Santé Publique et Informatique Médicale, This study was funded by a grant 'Recherche sur la Recherche' of the 'Délégation Interrégionale à la Recherche Clinique (DIRC), Ile de France', France., Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) (AP-HP)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Hôpital Hôtel Dieu, and BMC, Ed.
- Subjects
Male ,Medicine (miscellaneous) ,HIV Infections ,Smoking Prevention ,MESH: Child ,Pharmacology (medical) ,Child ,MESH: Treatment Outcome ,lcsh:R5-920 ,MESH: Middle Aged ,Evidence-Based Medicine ,Health Policy ,Smoking ,Health services research ,MESH: HIV Infections ,Middle Aged ,MESH: Smoking Cessation ,MESH: Review Literature as Topic ,MESH: Reproducibility of Results ,MESH: Health Priorities ,Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care ,Treatment Outcome ,Systematic review ,MESH: Young Adult ,Inclusion and exclusion criteria ,MESH: Health Policy ,Female ,Health Services Research ,lcsh:Medicine (General) ,MESH: Outcome and Process Assessment (Health Care) ,MESH: Health Services Research ,Adult ,MESH: Smoking ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Adolescent ,MEDLINE ,Context (language use) ,Young Adult ,Environmental health ,medicine ,Humans ,Health policy ,MESH: Adolescent ,MESH: Humans ,Health Priorities ,business.industry ,Research ,Public health ,Reproducibility of Results ,MESH: Adult ,Evidence-based medicine ,MESH: Male ,Review Literature as Topic ,MESH: Public Health Practice ,[SDV.SPEE] Life Sciences [q-bio]/Santé publique et épidémiologie ,Family medicine ,Public Health Practice ,[SDV.SPEE]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Santé publique et épidémiologie ,Smoking Cessation ,business ,MESH: Female ,MESH: Evidence-Based Medicine - Abstract
Background The purpose of the study was to evaluate systematic reviews of research into two public health priorities, tobacco consumption and HIV infection, in terms of the reporting of data related to the applicability of trial results (i.e., whether the results of a trial can be reasonably applied or generalized to a definable group of patients in a particular setting in routine practice, also called external validity or generalisability). Methods All systematic reviews of interventions aimed at reducing or stopping tobacco use and treating or preventing HIV infection published in the Cochrane database of systematic reviews and in journals indexed in MEDLINE between January 1997 and December 2007 were selected. We used a standardized data abstraction form to extract data related to applicability in terms of the context of the trial, (country, centres, settings), participants (recruitment, inclusion and exclusion criteria, baseline characteristics of participants such as age, sex, ethnicity, coexisting diseases or co-morbidities, and socioeconomic status), treatment (duration, intensity/dose of treatment, timing and delivery format), and the outcomes assessment from selected reviews. Results A total of 98 systematic reviews were selected (57 Cochrane reviews and 41 non-Cochrane reviews); 49 evaluated interventions aimed at reducing or stopping tobacco use and 49 treating or preventing HIV infection. The setting of the individual studies was reported in 45 (46%) of the systematic reviews, the number of centres in 21 (21%), and the country where the trial took place in 62 (63%). Inclusion and exclusion criteria of the included studies were reported in 16 (16%) and 13 (13%) of the reviews, respectively. Baseline characteristics of participants in the included studies were described in 59 (60%) of the reviews. These characteristics concerned age in about half of the reviews, sex in 46 (47%), and ethnicity in 9 (9%). Applicability of results was discussed in 13 (13%) of the systematic reviews. The reporting was better in systematic reviews by the Cochrane Collaboration than by non-Cochrane groups. Conclusions Our study highlighted the lack of consideration of applicability of results in systematic reviews of research into 2 public health priorities: tobacco consumption and HIV infection.
- Published
- 2010
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