Nursing Midwifery and Allied Health Professions (NMAHP) Research Unit, Glasgow Caledonian University, Research Unit, 6th Floor Govan Mbeki Building, Cowcaddens Road, Glasgow, G4 0BA, UK.
UCL Institute of Education, University College London, 20 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AL, UK.
Syst Rev. 2017 Jul 18;6(1):145. doi: 10.1186/s13643-017-0534-3.
Overviews of systematic reviews are an increasingly popular method of evidence synthesis; there is a lack of clear guidance for completing overviews and a number of methodological challenges. At the UK Cochrane Symposium 2016, methodological challenges of five overviews were explored. Using data from these five overviews, practical implications to support methodological decision making of authors writing protocols for future overviews are proposed.
Methods, and their justification, from the five exemplar overviews were tabulated and compared with areas of debate identified within current literature. Key methodological challenges and implications for development of overview protocols were generated and synthesised into a list, discussed and refined until there was consensus.
Methodological features of three Cochrane overviews, one overview of diagnostic test accuracy and one mixed methods overview have been summarised. Methods of selection of reviews and data extraction were similar. Either the AMSTAR or ROBIS tool was used to assess quality of included reviews. The GRADE approach was most commonly used to assess quality of evidence within the reviews. Eight key methodological challenges were identified from the exemplar overviews. There was good agreement between our findings and emerging areas of debate within a recent published synthesis. Implications for development of protocols for future overviews were identified.
Overviews are a relatively new methodological innovation, and there are currently substantial variations in the methodological approaches used within different overviews. There are considerable methodological challenges for which optimal solutions are not necessarily yet known. Lessons learnt from five exemplar overviews highlight a number of methodological decisions which may be beneficial to consider during the development of an overview protocol.
系统评价概述是一种越来越受欢迎的证据综合方法；在完成概述方面缺乏明确的指导，并且存在许多方法学挑战。在 2016 年英国 Cochrane 研讨会上，探讨了五项概述的方法学挑战。使用来自这五项概述的数据，提出了支持作者为未来的概述编写方案时进行方法学决策的实用建议。
从这五个示例概述中列出并比较了方法及其依据，并与当前文献中确定的有争议领域进行了比较。生成并综合了关键的方法学挑战和对概述方案发展的影响，并将其列表化，进行讨论和完善，直到达成共识。
总结了三篇 Cochrane 综述、一篇诊断准确性综述和一篇混合方法综述的方法学特征。综述选择和数据提取的方法相似。使用 AMSTAR 或 ROBIS 工具评估纳入综述的质量。最常使用 GRADE 方法评估综述内证据的质量。从示例概述中确定了八项关键的方法学挑战。我们的研究结果与最近发表的综合研究中出现的有争议领域之间存在良好的一致性。确定了未来概述方案发展的建议。
概述是一种相对较新的方法学创新，目前在不同的概述中使用的方法学方法存在很大差异。存在许多方法学挑战，目前还没有最佳解决方案。从五个示例概述中吸取的经验教训强调了在概述方案制定过程中可能需要考虑的一些方法学决策。
