International Journal of Health Policy and Management

International Journal of Health Policy and Management

The Development of a Critical Appraisal Tool for Use in Systematic Reviews: Addressing Questions of Prevalence

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Zachary Munn
Sandeep Moola
Dagmara Riitano
Karolina Lisy
The Joanna Briggs Institute, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
10.15171/ijhpm.2014.71
Abstract
Background
Recently there has been a significant increase in the number of systematic reviews addressing questions of prevalence. Key features of a systematic review include the creation of an a priori protocol, clear inclusion criteria, a structured and systematic search process, critical appraisal of studies, and a formal process of data extraction followed by methods to synthesize, or combine, this data. Currently there exists no standard method for conducting critical appraisal of studies in systematic reviews of prevalence data.
 
Methods
A working group was created to assess current critical appraisal tools for studies reporting prevalence data and develop a new tool for these studies in systematic reviews of prevalence. Following the development of this tool it was piloted amongst an experienced group of sixteen healthcare researchers.
 
Results
The results of the pilot found that this tool was a valid approach to assessing the methodological quality of studies reporting prevalence data to be included in systematic reviews. Participants found the tool acceptable and easy to use. Some comments were provided which helped refine the criteria.
 
Conclusion
The results of this pilot study found that this tool was well-accepted by users and further refinements have been made to the tool based on their feedback. We now put forward this tool for use by authors conducting prevalence systematic reviews.
Keywords
Prevalence
Survey
Critical Appraisal
Systematic Review
Subjects
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  • Received Date 18 June 2014
  • Revised Date 07 August 2014
  • Accepted Date 11 August 2014
  • First Published Date 11 August 2014
  • Published Date 01 August 2014