These videos, from a webinar in the Cochrane Learning Live programme, are presented by Dr Yoon Loke of the Cochrane Adverse Effects Methods Group and provide guidance for review authors on the challenges of reviewing adverse effects. They cover:
- What are the differences between adverse effects and intended, beneficial effects?
- How to choose what adverse effects to review?
- How to synthesize data and evaluate bias when the data are so diverse?
Obtaining reliable information on the adverse effects of health care interventions is important when choosing treatment. However, serious or important adverse effects may occur rarely and they are often not-prespecified or well-reported in the primary studies. This creates major additional challenges for systematic reviewers when compared to review outcomes that evaluate ‘intended or beneficial effects’.
These videos are presented by Dr Yoon K Loke of the Cochrane Adverse Effects Methods Group. Yoon is a clinical pharmacologist with 20 years' experience of conducting systematic reviews of adverse effects. He is one of the founder members of the Adverse Effects Methods Group, and author of Chapter 14:Adverse Effects in the Cochrane Handbook.
Below you will find slides from the webinar [PDF] as well as edited videos covering:
- Adverse effects vs. intended outcomes: differences and challenges
- Formulating review question for adverse effects
- Constructing a PICO and deciding on eligible study designs
- Interpreting zero events
- Risk of bias assessment, selective non-reporting, and bias in review process
