Understanding Systematic Reviews: Can Malaysian Practitioners Draw Their Own Conclusions?
Author Information
Author(s): Lai Nai Ming, Teng Cheong Lieng, Lee Ming Lee
Primary Institution: Monash University Sunway Campus
Hypothesis
How well can Malaysian hospital practitioners and medical students derive their own conclusions from systematic reviews?
Conclusion
Most participants struggled to independently generate appropriate conclusions from systematic reviews without guidance from the authors.
Supporting Evidence
- 60.3% of participants correctly identified the direction of effect.
- 30.1% chose the best conclusions based on the evidence presented.
- More medical students (48.2%) than practitioners (22.2%) identified the best conclusions.
Takeaway
The study found that many doctors and medical students in Malaysia had a hard time figuring out the right conclusions from research papers on their own.
Methodology
Two cross-sectional studies were conducted with hospital practitioners and medical students, assessing their ability to draw conclusions from Cochrane systematic reviews.
Potential Biases
Participants' prior beliefs may have influenced their conclusions.
Limitations
The study did not pilot the questionnaire and had different reading formats for practitioners and students.
Participant Demographics
Participants included 150 hospital practitioners and 35 final-year medical students from Malaysia.
Statistical Information
P-Value
P < 0.001
Confidence Interval
95% CI 1.3 to 2.6
Statistical Significance
p<0.001
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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