19/10/2022

Developing Review Questions

Questions we will explore:

- What is a systematic review and where does a review question t in this?

- What are my interests?
- What relevant literature or material have I found regarding this topic?
- Is this topic feasible?
• Where would I go to start compiling a reading list/ annotated bibliography?
• Geographically where am I looking?
- How can I apply the PICO (T) framework to this process?

What is a systematic review and where does a review question t in this?

A systematic review is essentially a methodical review of existing literature. Simply put a

systematic review is a study of studies. (Please see the extract from the Cochrane systematic
review handbook handout). A review question is essentially the basis for our systematic review.

What are my interests?

- Using bullet points write three to four ideas (or as many that come to mind).

- Turn the card around, put this idea in the centre the write themes, topics and aspects to
consider along with this topic. Draw this in the shape of a mind map or any way which feels
most natural and comfortable to you.

What relevant literature or material have I found regarding this topic?

- Think about any literature, lms, videos, photos, podcasts or conversations that inspired your
interest in this topic and jot this down.

- Can I think of any creative ways to help this form my question?

- Have I come across any academic literature on this topic?

Is this topic feasible?

- Have a look through a few of these search engines, is there enough literature on your chosen
topic? (if there are too many or too few don’t panic, that just means we need to have another
look at our interests and nd another question).

- You’ll ideally need anywhere between 12-20 papers.

- Have a look at the quality of the papers, are they written for reputable publications? Is there
hard evidence?

*Pay attention to search engines (what and where, geographically, they specialise, the search
engine you use has to be mentioned in your methods section.

- BASE (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine)

- Google Scholar

- PubMed

- Research Gate

- Semantic Scholar

- Dynamed

- Cochrane Library

- Natural Medicines

This list isn’t exhaustive, I have included a link below which is much more comprehensive:

https://psychology.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_academic_databases_and_search_engines

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 19/10/2022
How can I apply the PICO (T) framework to this process?

PICO (T) Is a popular framework used for devising review questions, in pairs, we’ll work through
each letter. Not every letter will apply to your intended question, but this will be useful to help us
to begin to understand how to structure our question and unpack di erent aspects of the
question that we might be thinking of.

• P - Patient or Population or Problem/Disease

Who or what is the question about? This may include the primary problem, disease, or
circumstances. Sometimes the sex, age, or race of a patient might be relevant to the diagnosis or
treatment of a disease.

• I - Intervention, Exposure or Prognostic Factor

What main intervention/treatment are you considering? What factors may in uence the prognosis
of the patient, such as age or comorbidities? What was the patient exposed to?

• C - Comparison(s) or Control
What alternative intervention are you considering, if any? For example, you might be comparing
the e cacy of two medications or the accuracy of two diagnostic tests. Your clinical question
does not have to always have a speci c comparison.

• O - Outcome(s)
What are you trying to accomplish or measure? What are you trying to do for the patient or
problem? Examples might include managing a disease, alleviating symptoms, preventing a
disease, etc.

• T - Timeframe (optional)
What's the amount of time that you'll be observing the patient or problem? For example,
improving rates of hospital-acquired infections over the course of a year.

* Anticipate your question changing, this should happen; you will have a clearer idea of your
review question as you engage with more literature.

* Remember to talk to each other about your topics! Have a look at faculty members who
might specialise in your interest, shoot them an email, and look for talks, events and
seminars at di erent universities, organisations and institutions.
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