CRITICAL APPRAISAL IS AN IMPORTANT STEP

IN THE SYSTEMATIC REVIEW METHODOLOGY

. IT ASSESSES THE QUALITY AND VALIDITY OF THE STUDIES
TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE RESEARCH,
HELPING ENSURE THAT THE REVIEW RESULTS IN
ACCURATE,
BALANCED
QUALITY FINDINGS.
WHAT IS A CRITICAL APPRAISAL?
CRITICAL APPRAISAL INVOLVES THE EVALUATION
OF THE QUALITY, RELIABILITY, AND RELEVANCE OF
STUDIES,
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF A CRITICAL
APPRAISAL?

A CRITICAL APPRAISAL IS AN INTEGRAL

PART OF A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW
BECAUSE IT HELPS DETERMINE WHICH
STUDIES CAN SUPPORT THE RESEARCH.
WHAT TO CONSIDER IN A CRITICAL
APPRAISAL
CRITICAL APPRAISALS VARY AS THEY
ARE SPECIFIC

TO THE TOPIC, NATURE

METHODOLOGY

OF
EACH SYSTEMATIC REVIEW.
EVEN IF THE CONTENTS RELIABLE, IT IS
SOMETIMES DIFFICULT TO FIND THE
SPECIFIC INFORMATION YOU ARE LOOKING
FOR AND INTERPRET IT ACCURATELY.

CRITICAL APPRAISAL ALLOWS US

TO:
REDUCE INFORMATION OVERLOAD BY

ELIMINATING IRRELEVANT OR WEAK

STUDIES. IDENTIFY THE MOST RELEVANT
PAPERS
THEY GENERALLY HAVE THE SAME GOAL,
TRYING TO
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS ABOUT THE
STUDIES BEING CONSIDERED

Is the study relevant to the research

question?
Did the study use appropriate
methods to address the research
question?
 Is the study valid?

Does the study support the findings and

evidence claims of the review?

Are the valid results of the study important?

Are the valid results of the study applicable to
the research?
CRITICAL APPRAISAL
TOOLS

THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF

TOOLS AND WORKSHEETS THAT
CAN SERVE AS A GUIDE
THROUGH THE CRITICAL
APPRAISAL PROCESS. HERE ARE
JUST SOME OF THE MOST
COMMON ONES TO CONSIDER:
AMSTAR – TO EXAMINE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF
INTERVENTIONS

CASP – TO APPRAISE
RANDOMIZED CONTROL TRIALS
, SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS,
COHORT STUDIES,
CASE-CONTROL STUDIES..

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH, ECONOMIC EVALUATIONS,

DIAGNOSTIC TESTS, AND CLINICAL PREDICTION
RULES.
NOS – TO ASSESS THE QUALITY OF
NON-RANDOMIZED STUDIES IN META-
ANALYSES

ROBIS – TO ASSESS THE RISK OF BIAS IN

INTERVENTIONS, DIAGNOSIS, PROGNOSIS, AND
ETIOLOGY.
COCHRANE RISK OF BIAS TOOL – TO
ASSESS THE RISK OF BIAS OF RANDOMIZED
CONTROL TRIALS (RCTS).
GRADE – TO GRADE THE QUALITY OF
EVIDENCE IN HEALTHCARE RESEARCH AND
POLICY.
STROBE –
TOADDRESS
COHORT,
CASE-CONTROL,
STUDIES.
PLANNING A CRITICAL APPRAISAL STARTS
WITH IDENTIFYING OR DEVELOPING
CHECKLISTS

IT IS IMPORTANT TO PILOT TEST THESE

CHECKLISTS AND ENSURE THAT THEY ARE
COMPREHENSIVE ENOUGH TO TACKLE ALL
ASPECTS OF YOUR SYSTEMATIC REVIEW.
CHECK
LISTS
A tool aid the authors in
presenting their work

In conducting the
observational study
THE STROBE CHECKLIST IS COMPRISED OF 22 ITEMS
RELATED TO

THE TITLE AND ABSTRACT (ITEM 1),

INTRODUCTION (ITEMS 2 AND 3)

METHODS (ITEMS 4–12)

RESULTS (ITEMS 13–17)

DISCUSSION(ITEMS (18–21)

AND INFORMATION ON FUNDING (ITEM 22)

CASE-CONTROL STUDIES ASSESS
WHETHER EXPOSURE IS

DISPROPORTIONATELY DISTRIBUTED
BETWEEN THE
CASES AND CONTROLS
INDICATE THAT

THE EXPOSURE IS

RISK FACTOR
FOR THE HEALTH
OUTCOME
UNDER STUDY
COHORT STUDY
IDENTIFIES A GROUP
OF PEOPLE AND
FOLLOWS THEM OVER
A PERIOD OF TIME. THE
AIM IS TO LOOK AT
HOW A GROUP OF
PEOPLE ARE EXPOSED
TO DIFFERENT RISK
FACTORS WHICH MAY
AFFECT THEIR LIVES.