Systematic Reviews In Health Care: Meta-Analysis In Context

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Tutors: Prof Jonathan Sterne, Dr Penny Whiting and Dr Jelena Savovic (course organisers), Prof George Davey Smith, Mr Roger Harbord, Mr Ross Harris, Ms Margaret Burke, Ms Deborah Caldwell, Mrs Becky Hodges and others.

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Duration: Three days.

Dates: 15 - 17 June 2011.

Course fee: £600.

Course aims and objectives:

By the end of the course participants should be able to:

Explain the need for systematic reviews and meta-analyses;
List the important aspects of systematic reviews;
Perform a search for relevant literature;
Conduct meta-analyses using Stata or Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software;
Critically appraise randomised controlled trials and systematic reviews of RCTs;
Use computer software to perform meta-analysis

Who the course is intended for: This course is designed for clinicians, researchers, public health specialists and other health care professionals who want to critically appraise and/or perform systematic reviews and meta-analyses. It is based on the book with the same title (BMJ Books, 2001). Participants should have knowledge of statistical methods to the level of the Introduction to Statistics course. A basic appreciation of research designs (to the level of the Basic Epidemiology course) would be helpful, as would basic knowledge of Stata.

Course outline:

Introduction to Stata/Introduction to Comprehensive Meta-Analysis
Why do we need systematic reviews?
Basic statistical methods: fixed and random effects models;
Identifying relevant studies;
Quality and validity of controlled trials.
Group work: Assessing the quality of controlled trials;
Group work: Critical appraisal of a published systematic review;
Publication bias and other reporting biases;
Systematic reviews of observational studies;
Advanced statistical methods: Explaining heterogeneity and detecting bias.

Optional sessions:

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of diagnostic test accuracy studies;
Methods for meta-analysis of observational studies;
Mixed treatment comparisons - combining direct and indirect comparisons in meta-analysis;
Methods for meta-analysis of trials with numerical outcomes.

There will be a choice of computer practicals on basic and advanced meta-analysis in Stata or Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software packages.

Teaching Time: Teaching is approximately eighteen hours. Methods include formal lectures, group work and computer practicals.