Literature searching and evidence interpretation

Purpose of Assessment

This guide is primarily concerned with identifying, retrieving, and interpreting evidence for the assessment of health care interventions, including technologies and other practices. It deals mainly with evidence about the effects of health care interventions on patient outcomes (treatment effects), but this does not mean that the evidence or rationale for the other assessment concerns and impacts should not be subject to careful scrutiny. The procedures for literature searching and retrieval and the principles of critical appraisal of available evidence that are covered in this guide should apply to all aspects of assessment.

Methods

Narrative review

Review process for the publication

Internal review by project group, SBU Board and SBU Expert Group. Additional external review by experts in the field.

Content of Report

This guide outlines a systematic approach to identify relevant studies and derive credible findings. It involves seven major steps, each of them is described in more detail in the report: Specify the assessment problem. Specify inclusion (and exclusion) criteria for studies. Formulate a plan for searching the literature. Conduct a literature search and retrieve studies that meet inclusion criteria. Interpret the evidence from the individual studies. Integrate the evidence. Formulate recommendations based upon the quality of the evidence. This guide also offers a list of selected readings and a glossary of terminology.

This guide is primarily concerned with identifying, retrieving, and interpreting evidence for the assessment of healthcare interventions, including technologies and other practices. It deals primarily with evidence about the effects of healthcare interventions on patient outcomes (treatment effects), but this does not mean that the evidence or rationale for the other assessment concerns and impacts should not be subject to careful scrutiny. The procedures for literature searching and retrieval and the principles of critical appraisal of available evidence that are covered in this guide should apply to all aspects of assessment.