Yao

Appraisal of: Yao X, Vella E, Brouwers M. How to conduct a high-quality systematic review on diagnostic research topics. Surg Oncol. 2018 Mar;27(1):70-75.

Reviewer(s):

Corinne Holubowich

Full reference:

Yao X, Vella E, Brouwers M. How to conduct a high-quality systematic review on diagnostic research topics. Surg Oncol. 2018 Mar;27(1):70-75.

Short description:

Authors suggest six steps are necessary for conducting high-quality systematic reviews on diagnostic topics around the objective, research question, searching for literature, assessing risk of bias, analyzing, and interpreting data. The review aims to instruct researchers on diagnostic methodology and recent updates in the field.

Rather than designing a study around the elements of PICO, PIRO is recommended in which “I” represents index test, and “R” represents reference standard.

The literature search for diagnostic topics can begin with using an existing systematic review that answers the research question, and is of satisfactory quality. The search date of that study can be used as a starting point to search forward in MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and PROSPERO. A grey literature search is also recommended.

When no appropriate systematic reviews are available, a search of primary studies will need to be conducted. Databases to be used in this case include MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases, as well as related conference proceedings. It is preferred that language limits are not used and that a grey literature search is carried out if deemed appropriate by researchers. The search should include Medical Subject Headings terms and keywords representing the diagnostic test and target condition. Adding terms to capture diagnostic accuracy or study design is not recommended, as indexing of this concept has not been proven to be dependable.

Limitations stated by the study author(s):

Authors noted that in order to keep the article brief, they did not fully explore the concepts of how to design strategies for different databases or peer review.

Limitations stated by the reviewer(s):

Authors made general observations about the quality of diagnostic studies needing improvement without expanding on any evidence to support the claim.

Tags:

Diagnostic Test Accuracy; Systematic Reviews; MEDLINE; EMBASE

Study type:

Review

Supplemental publications to the study:

Second article in a series. First article: Yao X, Vella E. How to conduct a high-quality original study on a diagnostic research topic. Surg Oncol. 2017;26(3):305-9.