Medical Research Methodology UPDATE
Conducting a meta-ethnography of qualitative literature: Lessons learnt
Background:
Qualitative synthesis has become more commonplace in recent years. Meta-ethnography is one of several methods for synthesising qualitative research and is being used increasingly within health care research. However, many aspects of the steps in the process remain ill-defined.DiscussionWe utilized the seven stages of the synthesis process to synthesise qualitative research on adherence to [...]
Recommendations by Cochrane Review Groups for assessment of the risk of bias in studies
Background:
Assessing the risk of bias in individual studies in a systematic review can be done using individual components or by summarizing the study quality in an overall score.
Methods:
We examined the instructions to authors of the 50 Cochrane Review Groups that focus on clinical interventions for recommendations on methodological quality assessment of studies.
Results:
Forty-one of the review [...]
Bayes rules for optimally using Bayesian hierarchical regression models in provider profiling to identify high-mortality hospitals
Background:
There is a growing trend towards the production of hospital report-cards in which hospitals with higher than acceptable mortality rates are identified. Several commentators have advocated for the use of Bayesian hierarchical models in provider profiling. Several researchers have shown that some degree of misclassification will result when hospital report cards are produced. [...]
Examining intra-rater and inter-rater response agreement: A medical chart abstraction study of a community-based asthma care program
Background:
To assess the intra- and inter-rater agreement of chart abstractors from multiple sites involved in the evaluation of an Asthma Care Program (ACP).
Methods:
For intra-rater agreement, 110 charts randomly selected from 1,433 patients enrolled in the ACP across eight Ontario communities were re-abstracted by 10 abstractors. For inter-rater agreement, data abstractors reviewed a set of eight [...]