A research study Writing a Systematic Review in Clinical Research – Pubrica
                     A Research Study  
Writing a  
Systematic Review 
 in Clinical 
Research
An Academic presentation by
Dr. Nancy Agnes, Head, Technical 
Operations, Pubrica  Group:
www.pubrica.com
Email: [email protected]
TODAY'S 
DISCUSSION
In Brief
Introduction
A systematic review involves a series of distinct steps 
 About Pubrica
IN 
BRIEF
A systematic review summarises the findings of  
precisely organized healthcare research (controlled  
trials) and gives a high degree of evidence on the  
efficacy of healthcare interventions.
The evidence may be used to make decisions and  
guide healthcare recommendations.
These analyses are complex and rely heavily on the  
available clinical trials, how they were conducted  
(trial quality), and the assessed health outcomes.
Contd...
Meta-analyses are a standard method used by review authors to pool numerical data regarding  
treatment outcomes.
Next,theauthorsevaluatetheevidenceforanyadvantagesorrisksassociatedwithsuch  therapies.
Systematic Review Writing might summarise the existing clinical research on a topic in this way.
INTRODUC
TION
The most dependable source of evidence to guide  
clinical practice is a high-quality systematic review.
A systematic review aims to provide a detailed overview 
 of all available primary research in answer to a  
specific research issue.
Asystematicreview,often  knownassecondary  
research, usesallavailable  research(researchon
research).
Contd.
..
They are commonly used in guideline creation  
and are typically needed by research funders to  
establish the status of current knowledge.
The results of systematic reviews are frequently  
employed in the healthcare field, but they can  
also be used elsewhere.
The process used in C onducting a Systematic
 Review is detailed and precise to reduce bias and 
 increase the reliability of the results reached.
A systematic review has the following  
characteristics
Contd...
explicit objectives with predetermined study eligibility and relevance criteria;
transparent, repeatable methodology; thorough search to 
find all suitable studies;  a systematic performance 
and synthesis of the included research,
as well as an assessment of the validity of the conclusions of the included 
studies
A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW 
INVOLVES A  SERIES OF 
DISTINCT STEPS
Establish a research question: A well-defined 
 review question is the backbone of the 
Clinical  T rial Systematic Review Services 
systematic
review, similar to a precise specific goal in a 
 clinical study.
A good review question is clinically relevant, not 
 too broad but targeted, and usually identifies the 
 population, the intervention or exposure, and the 
 desired outcome(s).
Contd...

Clearly define the criteria for inclusion and exclusion:  
Eligibility requirements are derived mainly from the study  q
uestion.
PICO 
(population, intervention, comparator, outcomes) is  an abbr
eviation that helps identify which patient population, 
 treatments or exposures 
in the treatment and control  groups and outcome(s) researc
h must report being eligible  for
 inclusion.
Other criteria, such as research design, 
publication date,  or language, might be used to include or e
xclude Contd.
 people. ..
Conductathoroughliteraturesearch:BibliographicdatabaseslikePubMed,  
WebofKnowledge,Scopus,andEMBASEarecommonlyusedto conduct
 literature searches.
Thestudyselectioncriteriamustbemappedontosensiblesearchphrases,  which 
must then be combined coherently using Boolean operators.
Extra search strategies, such as reviewing reference lists, conference  
proceedings, or trial registries, might help you find unpublished research or  
additional references.
Contd...
Selectstudies:Titlesandabstractsarefirst  evaluated 
for inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Full-texts of possibly suitable references are  
retrieved to determine which publications to add  
further depth.
Two or more researchers should independently  
pick studies, extract data, and assess quality, with  
the search and selection approach outcomes  
shown in a flow diagram.
Contd.
..
Extractdata:Thekindandamountofdata
extracted depends on the review’s goal and scope,  
but typically these data include study design  
type(s), patient characteristics, and outcome data.
A well-designed d ata extraction procedure and 
form  facilitates consistent and thorough data 
extraction.
Assess the quality of the studies included:  
There is a range of quality evaluation techniques for 
 different research types (e.g., Cochrane risk of bias 
 tool; Grading of Recommendations Assessment,  
Development, and Evaluation [GRADE]; Newcastle- 
 Ottawa scale).
Contd...
The quality evaluation findings are critical for readers to determine if the research provided  
trustworthy and generalizable information.
To prevent a “garbage in, garbage out” impact, authors occasionally remove low-quality  
papers altogether.
Analyze the data, display it, and analyze it: A meta-analysis is frequently employed to  c 
ombine quantitative data, although not always.
However, a meta-analysis should not be undertaken if the included studies are not sufficiently 
 comparable to allow for significant data synthesis.
For example, here found a lot of clinical and methodological variability (e.g., different chronic  
pain conditions, treatment and follow-up durations, and magnesium formulations). Therefore  
they did a qualitative analysis and presented the findings descriptively.
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Pubrica m edical writers help you write and edit 
the  introduction by introducing the reader to the  
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Our experts know the structure that follows the  
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