HMG7110 EPIDEMIOLOGY
ASSESSMENT 2 – SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEWStudents will be given a variety of topics (Nutrition and Physical activity) to choose from to undertake a systematic review. Students will be expected to formulate a research question, develop a search strategy, apply study inclusion and exclusion criteria, data extraction, assessment of risk of bias, and analysis of study results.
A minimum of 10 full-length original articles or current available evidence published in peer-reviewed epidemiologic and other scientific journals in the chosen topic area will identified, summarized, and organised.
The word length for this written assignment is a maximum of 2000 words excluding reference and tables. The quality of review paper is expected to be closer to publication. Once students have completed this course they will have sufficient knowledge to participate in a systematic review.
Further instructions will be covered in the coming lectures and tutorials about systematic review approaches and outputs. In the meantime, additional readings can be found in VU Collaborate the content section entitled: Supporting materials for systematic review: Assignment 2.
Please choose one of the topics below:
Nutrition1. Lifestyle, cultural and social and risk factors for Type 2 Diabetes among South Asians2. Chamomile tea intake for improving glycaemic index in T2D3. Nutrition interventions to improve oral health and chronic disease (AMI, Stroke, Diabetes, Arthritis)4. High protein diet and the risk of type 2 diabetes5. Fat diet in the prevention of diabetes6. Risk factors for gestational diabetes among South Asians
Physical activity1. Walk to school in the prevention of childhood obesity2. 10000 steps to improve CVD/diabetes/mental health3. Prolonged sitting and risk of chronic disease-Intervention4. Physical activity determinants among low SES community5. Physical activity interventions for migrants in Australia6. Barriers to participating in physical activity among migrant women in Australia ASSESSMENT CRITERIA Maximum marks1. Introduction 8 RationaleDescribe the rationale for review in the context of what is already known.
ObjectivesProvide an explicit statement of questions being addressed with reference to Participants, Interventions, Comparisons, Outcomes and Study design (PICOS). 6
22. Methods 10 Eligibility criteriaSpecify study characteristics (such as PICOS, length of follow-up) and report characteristics (such as years considered, language, publication status) used as criteria for eligibility, giving the rationale.
Information sourcesDescribe all information sources (such as databases with dates of coverage) in the search and date last searched.
SearchPresent full electronic search strategy for at least one database including any limits used. 4
2
43. Results 12 Study selectionGive numbers of studies screened, assessed for eligibility and included in the review, with reasons for exclusions at each stage, with a flow diagram.
Study CharacteristicsFor each study, present characteristics for which data were extracted (such as size, PICOS, follow-up period) and provide the citation.
Quality of studies assessmentDescribe the methods used for assessing the quality of individual studies and present the data. 4
5
3
4. Discussion 20 Summary of evidenceSummarise the main findings including the strength of evidence for each main outcome; consider their relevance to key groups (such as health care providers, users and policy makers).
LimitationsDiscuss limitations at study and outcome level (such as risk of bias) and at review level such as incomplete retrieval of identified research, reporting bias.
ConclusionProvide a general interpretation of the results and implications for the future research. 10