TY - JOUR
T1 - Quasi-experimental study designs series-paper 8
T2 - identifying quasi-experimental studies to inform systematic reviews
AU - Glanville, Julie
AU - Eyers, John
AU - Jones, Andrew M.
AU - Shemilt, Ian
AU - Wang, Grace
AU - Johansen, Marit
AU - Fiander, Michelle
AU - Rothstein, Hannah
PY - 2017/9
Y1 - 2017/9
N2 - Objective: This article reviews the available evidence and guidance on methods to identify reports of quasi-experimental (QE) studies to inform systematic reviews of health care, public health, international development, education, crime and justice, and social welfare. Study Design and Setting: Research, guidance, and examples of search strategies were identified by searching a range of databases, key guidance documents, selected reviews, conference proceedings, and personal communication. Current practice and research evidence were summarized. Results: Four thousand nine hundred twenty-four records were retrieved by database searches, and additional documents were obtained by other searches. QE studies are challenging to identify efficiently because they have no standardized nomenclature and may be indexed in various ways. Reliable search filters are not available. There is a lack of specific resources devoted to collecting QE studies and little evidence on where best to search. Conclusion: Searches to identify QE studies should search a range of resources and, until indexing improves, use strategies that focus on the topic rather than the study design. Better definitions, better indexing in databases, prospective registers, and reporting guidance are required to improve the retrieval of QE studies and promote systematic reviews of what works based on the evidence from such studies.
AB - Objective: This article reviews the available evidence and guidance on methods to identify reports of quasi-experimental (QE) studies to inform systematic reviews of health care, public health, international development, education, crime and justice, and social welfare. Study Design and Setting: Research, guidance, and examples of search strategies were identified by searching a range of databases, key guidance documents, selected reviews, conference proceedings, and personal communication. Current practice and research evidence were summarized. Results: Four thousand nine hundred twenty-four records were retrieved by database searches, and additional documents were obtained by other searches. QE studies are challenging to identify efficiently because they have no standardized nomenclature and may be indexed in various ways. Reliable search filters are not available. There is a lack of specific resources devoted to collecting QE studies and little evidence on where best to search. Conclusion: Searches to identify QE studies should search a range of resources and, until indexing improves, use strategies that focus on the topic rather than the study design. Better definitions, better indexing in databases, prospective registers, and reporting guidance are required to improve the retrieval of QE studies and promote systematic reviews of what works based on the evidence from such studies.
KW - Databases
KW - Information retrieval
KW - Quasi-experimental studies
KW - Search strategies
KW - Study identification
KW - Systematic reviews
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85019722675&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2017.02.018
DO - 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2017.02.018
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85019722675
VL - 89
SP - 67
EP - 76
JO - Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
JF - Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
SN - 0895-4356
ER -