SECTION A: Systematic Review Study
Chewning, B; C. Bylund, B. Shah, N.K Arora, J.A. Gueguen, G. Makoul. 2011. Patient preferences for shared decisions: A systematic Review. Patient Education and Counseling.
1. Was the size of the sample (studies and subjects) sufficiently large to draw robust conclusions? Provide critical rationales for your answer.
2. Did the researchers draw reasonable conclusions about the quality, quantity and consistency of evidence? Provide critical commentary to support your discussion.
3. How would you assess the overall rigor of the systematic review? What would you recommend to improve its quality? Provide critical rationales for your answer.
4. Critically compare, contrast and evaluate the use of systematic reviews and primary research in healthcare.
SECTION B: Randomised Controlled Trial
Detering, K.M; A.D Hancock, M.C. Reade, W. Silvester. 2010. The impact of advance care planning on end of life care in elderly patients: randomized controlled trial. BMJ
1. Critically comment on the adequacy of the researchers’ sampling plan and recruitment strategy. What types of sampling biases might be of special concern?
2. Critically discuss ways in which this study achieved or failed to achieve the criteria for making causal inferences.
3. What are the threats to the external validity of this study. Critically appraise these elements.
4. Did the authors present a sufficient amount of information about their statistical tests? What additional information would have been helpful and why. Your answer should discuss the effectiveness of the presentation of information in the tables.
SECTION C: Qualitative Study
Smith, S.K; A. Dixon; L. Trevena, D. Nutbeam, K.J. McCaffery. 2010. Exploring patient involvement in healthcare decision making across different education and functional health literacy groups. Social Science and Medicine.
1. Critically comment on the explanation and justification of design decisions.
2. Critically discuss the thoroughness of the researchers’ description of their data coding and analysis efforts.
3. Critically evaluate the thoroughness with which the researchers described their efforts to enhance and evaluate the quality and integrity of their study.