6 Questions
What is the purpose of focused KEY questions in a systematic review?
To guide the literature search and identify relevant studies
Which component of the PICO(TS) framework is used to specify the intervention or exposure being evaluated?
Intervention
When considering the Intervention component of the PICO(TS) framework, what should be taken into account?
The dose, duration, frequency, and intensity (DDFI)
What is the purpose of reviewing the reference lists and grey literature during the literature search process?
To identify additional relevant studies that may have been missed by the initial search
What does the 'C' in the PICO(TS) framework represent?
Comparator
Which of the following is NOT a component of the PICO(TS) framework?
Study design
Study Notes
Defining Key Questions
- Key questions should be important, specific, and reflect an area of uncertainty in clinical knowledge or literature.
- A well-defined key question should provide the following information:
- Type of population being studied
- Type of exposure or intervention
- Comparator
- Outcomes that will be addressed
Framework for Key Questions: PICOTs
- PICOTs stands for Population, Intervention, Comparator, Outcomes, and Timing
- Population:
- Includes both nature of the condition being studied and underlying characteristics of the population (age, sex, etc.)
- Intervention:
- Drug
- Medical procedure
- Other healthcare intervention being assessed
- Must consider DDFI (dose, duration, frequency, intensity)
- Comparator:
- Placebo
- Active comparator
- Added to an existing treatment
- Must consider DDFI
- Outcomes:
- Endpoint measurements
- Clinical endpoints preferred over surrogate ones
- Timing:
- When the outcome will be measured
- How long the measurement will continue
- Setting:
- Provides information on how the healthcare was delivered (e.g., at clinic, teaching hospital, pharmacy, etc.)
Searching the Literature
- Review titles and abstracts to assess whether articles may be useful to the systematic review
- Review full-text articles to determine if they meet the eligibility criteria
- Hand search reference lists and grey literature
- Grey literature: any literature that isn’t published in journals (e.g., white papers, posters, clinicaltrials.gov, etc.)
Learn about the importance of focused key questions in clinical research and how they help address areas of uncertainty in knowledge and literature. Understand how key questions specify the population, exposure/intervention, comparator, and outcomes to be studied, following the PICOTs framework.
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