Cochrane Reviews - by sub-topics 'Methodology Review'

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Cochrane Methodology Reviews are an integral part of The Cochrane Collaboration's methodological research output, and help develop methods used in intervention reviews. You can read the completed review abstracts here, as well as citations for titles (planned reviews) and protocols (begun reviews), by clicking on the titles below. For full text, click the 'Full text' button in the top right of the screen. Learn more in the Methods Groups Newsletter.

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osteoarthritis of the knee in the elderly

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COX-2 Inhibitor

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other NSAIDS

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less GI bleeding and pain control

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Methodology Review Group (23)

REVIEW METHODOLOGY (1)

When and how to update systematic reviews

SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS (0)

Comparisons of systematic and non-systematic reviews (0)

PROBLEM FORMULATION (0)

Bias in how problems are formulated and the specification of selection criteria (0)

STUDY IDENTIFICATION (6)

Publication Bias (4)

Full publication of results initially presented in abstracts

Grey literature in meta-analyses of randomized trials of health care interventions

Publication bias in clinical trials due to statistical significance or direction of trial results

Time to publication for results of clinical trials

Language Bias (0)

Duplicate publication (0)

Sensitivity and precision of search strategies for trials (2)

Handsearching versus electronic searching to identify reports of randomized trials

Search strategies to identify reports of randomized trials in MEDLINE (protocol stage)

Sensitivity and precision of search strategies for different study designs, including cohort studies, case control studies, controlled before-after studies and interrupted time series analyses (0)

DATA COLLECTION (2)

Blinding and reproducibility in study selection, assessments of validity and data collection (1)

Masking reviewers at the study inclusion stage in a systematic review of health care interventions (protocol stage)

Individual patient data versus aggregate data from trialists (1)

Individual patient data meta-analyses compared with meta-analyses based on aggregate data (protocol stage)

Individual patient data after extensive data-checking versus individual patient data supplied initially (0)

Published and unpublished data versus only published data (0)

Methods for obtaining unpublished data (0)

ASSESSMENT OF STUDY VALIDITY (Critical appraisal, see \"bias in trials\" below) (0)

Scales and checklists for trials (0)

Scales and checklists for different study designs, including cohort studies, case-control studies, controlled before-after studies and interrupted time series analyses (0)

Methods for incorporating assessments of validity in reviews (0)

Trial quality as assessed using individual patient data versus quality as assessed from published reports (0)

META-ANALYSIS (1)

Quantitative versus qualitative methods of analysis (0)

Tests for heterogeneity (power and bias) (0)

Subgroup analyses versus overall analyses (0)

Random effects versus fixed effect models (0)

Combining trials with dichotomous data (0)

Combining survival (time to event) data (0)

Combining trials with ordinal data (0)

Combining trials with continuous data (0)

Combining trials with mixed dichotomous and continuous data (0)

Combining parallel group and cross-over trials (0)

Combining trials with group allocation (0)

Combining trials with different outcomes (0)

Combining quality of life data (0)

Combining resource utilization (economic) data (0)

Combining studies with observational data (0)

Methods for handling missing data (0)

Methods for handling multiple comparisons (0)

Methods for sensitivity analyses (including funnel plots and cumulative meta-analysis) (0)

Bayesian meta-analysis (0)

Incorporating qualitative data in reviews (0)

Indirect comparisons (1)

Adjusted indirect comparison for estimating relative effects of competing healthcare interventions (protocol stage)

APPLICABILITY AND RECOMMENDATIONS (0)

Examination of effect modification (i.e. interaction between treatment and a predictor), including meta-regression and other methods for subgroup comparisons (0)

(Non) - constancy of relative risk at different levels of baseline risk (0)

Prediction of the individual's risk in order to predict absolute benefits and harms (0)

Levels of evidence and strength of recommendations (0)

Causal inferences (0)

PRESENTATION OF REVIEWS (0)

More informative titles (0)

More informative abstracts (structured abstracts) (0)

Assessments of the quality of reviews (0)

Merits of alternative summary statistics (e.g. odds ratio, relative risk, number needed to treat) for analysing and presenting results (0)

Graphical presentation of meta-analyses (0)

Framing effects (e.g. presentation of results as a positive statement about the proportion of patients who survived or a negative statement about the proportion who died) (0)

Presentation and weighing up of benefits and harms for individual patients (0)

EVALUATION METHODOLOGY (13)

Bias in trials (3)

Random allocation (1)

Randomisation to protect against selection bias in healthcare trials

Blinding (masking) (1)

Blinded versus unblinded assessments of risk-of-bias in studies included in a systematic review (protocol stage)

Comparisons of outcomes in untreated versus placebo groups (1)

New treatments compared to established treatments in randomized trials (protocol stage)

Analysis of the effectiveness of blinding in placebo controlled trials (0)

Blinding - informed consent (0)

Follow-up (0)

Comparisons between different study designs, including randomised controlled trials, cohort studies, case-control studies, controlled before-after studies and interrupted time series analyses (0)

Screening and diagnostic tests (1)

Sensitivity and precision of search strategies for studies of test accuracy (1)

Search strategies to identify diagnostic accuracy studies in MEDLINE and EMBASE (protocol stage)

Methods for meta-analysis of test performance (0)

Assessments of the applicability of studies of test accuracy (0)

Trial methodology (4)

Trial designs (0)

Recruitment of participants (2)

Incentives and disincentives to participation by clinicians in randomised controlled trials

Strategies to improve recruitment to randomised controlled trials

Informed consent (0)

Outcome assessment (0)