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STANDARD 4.1
Use a prespecified method to evaluate the body of evidence
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| 4.1.1 |
For each outcome, systematically assess the following characteristics of the body of evidence:
- Risk of bias
- Consistency
- Precision
- Directness
- Reporting bias
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| 4.1.2 |
For bodies of evidence that include observational research, also systematically assess the following characteristics for each outcome:
- Dose-response association
- Plausible confounding that would change the observed effect
- Strength of association
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| 4.1.3 |
For each outcome specified in the protocol, use consistent language to characterize the level of confidence in the estimates of the effect of an intervention |
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STANDARD 4.2
Conduct a qualitative synthesis
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| 4.2.1 |
Describe the clinical and methodological characteristics of the included studies, including their size, inclusion or exclusion of important subgroups, timeliness, and other relevant factors |
| 4.2.2 |
Describe the strengths and limitations of individual studies and patterns across studies |
| 4.2.3 |
Describe, in plain terms, how flaws in the design or execution of the study (or groups of studies) could bias the results, explaining the reasoning behind these judgments |
| 4.2.4 |
Describe the relationships between the characteristics of the individual studies and their reported findings and patterns across studies |
| 4.2.5 |
Discuss the relevance of individual studies to the populations, comparisons, cointerventions, settings, and outcomes or measures of interest |
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STANDARD 4.3
Decide if, in addition to a qualitative analysis, the systematic review will include a quantitative analysis (meta-analysis)
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| 4.3.1 |
Explain why a pooled estimate might be useful to decision makers |
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STANDARD 4.4
If conducting a meta-analysis, then do the following:
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| 4.4.1 |
Use expert methodologists to develop, execute, and peer review the meta-analyses |
| 4.4.2 |
Address the heterogeneity among study effects |
| 4.4.3 |
Accompany all estimates with measures of statistical uncertainty |
| 4.4.4 |
Assess the sensitivity of conclusions to changes in the protocol, assumptions, and study selection (sensitivity analysis) |
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