Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35459833›Full record

ArticleBritish dental journal2022

How to appraise the literature: basic principles for the busy clinician - part 2: systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Aslam Alkadhimi, Samuel Reeves, Andrew T DiBiase

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in British dental journal, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. PRISMA 2020 updated guideline.British dental journal · 2022
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Aslam AlkadhimiSenior Registrar in Orthodontics, The Royal London Hospital Barts Health NHS Trust and East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK. aslam.alkadhimi@nhs.net.
Samuel ReevesDental Core Trainee, East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, UK.
Andrew T DiBiaseConsultant Orthodontist, East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

With the increasing numbers of primary research papers being published in dentistry and healthcare in general, it is almost impossible for busy clinicians to keep up with the literature. Reviews summarising the outcomes of trials can therefore be a considerably efficient tool for obtaining the relevant information about what works and what does not. To this end, systematic reviews are critical in summarising the best available evidence and providing an indication of its strength. However, as with clinical trials, they can be difficult to interpret, of varying quality and dependent on the studies they include. This is the second part of a two-part series and will discuss the principles of critically appraising systematic reviews and meta-analyses. It follows on from part one, which focused on appraising randomised controlled trials.

Identifiers

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.