Objectives:
To facilitate understanding of methodological issues specific to EPOC reviews, and to highlight particularly challenging areas.
Summary:
This workshop will first give a brief overview of EPOC reviews and will then quickly move into an interactive session on issues particularly relevant and/or unique to EPOC reviews, including:
- dealing with multi-faceted interventions;
- the handling of multiple outcomes;
- assessing baseline differences;
- visual analysis and meta-regression analysis to explain heterogeneity and variation in effect size;
- incorporating aspects of contextual heterogeneity;
- search strategy tips and locating the grey literature;
- writing for policy makers as well as clinicians.
Participants will be provided with real examples and involved in working through specific exercises in some areas, while other issues will be addressed through group discussion.