Dundar Yenal, Dodd Susanna, Williamson Paula, Walley Tom, Dickson Rumona
Liverpool Reviews and Implementation Group, Faculty of Medicine, University of Liverpool, UK.
Int J Technol Assess Health Care. 2006 Summer;22(3):283-7. doi: 10.1017/s0266462306051154.
Current policy and practice regarding identification of and extent of use of data from conference abstracts in health technology assessment reviews (TARs) are examined.
The methods used were (i) survey of TAR groups to identify general policy and experience related to use of abstract data, and (ii) audit of TARs commissioned by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and published between January 2000 and October 2004.
Five of seven TAR groups reported a general policy that included searching for and including studies available as conference abstracts and presentations. A total of sixty-three published HTA reports for NICE were identified. Of these reports, thirty-eight identified at least one randomized controlled trial available as an abstract/presentation. Twenty-six (68 percent) of these thirty-eight TARs included studies available as abstracts.
There are variations in policy and practice across TAR groups regarding the searching for and inclusion of studies available as conference abstracts. There is a need for clarity and transparency for review teams regarding how abstract data are managed. If conference abstracts are to be included, reviewers need to allocate additional time for searching and managing data from these sources. Review teams should also be encouraged to state explicitly their search strategies for identifying conference abstracts, their methods for assessing these abstracts for inclusion and, where appropriate, how the data were used and their effect on the results.
考查卫生技术评估评审（TARs）中关于会议摘要数据的识别及使用范围的现行政策与实践。
所采用的方法为：（i）对TAR小组进行调查，以确定与摘要数据使用相关的总体政策和经验；（ii）对英国国家卫生与临床优化研究所（NICE）委托开展并于2000年1月至2004年10月期间发表的TARs进行审核。
七个TAR小组中有五个报告了一项总体政策，该政策包括搜索并纳入以会议摘要和报告形式提供的研究。共识别出63份已发表的NICE卫生技术评估报告。在这些报告中，38份识别出至少一项可作为摘要/报告获取的随机对照试验。这38份TARs中有26份（68%）纳入了以摘要形式提供的研究。
各TAR小组在搜索和纳入以会议摘要形式提供的研究方面，政策和实践存在差异。评审团队在如何管理摘要数据方面需要清晰性和透明度。如果要纳入会议摘要，评审人员需要分配额外时间来搜索和管理这些来源的数据。还应鼓励评审团队明确说明其识别会议摘要的搜索策略、评估这些摘要是否纳入的方法，以及在适当情况下数据的使用方式及其对结果的影响。
