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Hi Samia – check out the range of new/updated critical appraisal tools at www.epiq.co.nz. There is a set of comprehensive tools (combined GATE CAT and GATE calculator) for most study designs plus one page (now) writeable pdfs (GATE-lites) for intervention studies and diagnostic test accuracy studies. Assessing the validity of critical appraisal tools is extremely difficult because there is no gold standard, so be cautious about tools with claims that they have been validated – read the fine print. Reliability is clearly easier to assess but is unfortunately an insufficient measure of a quality tool. Fortunately most of the available tools cover the same major issues so chose one that you find easy to use and that allows you to document the key issues for each study as you go along. Documenting is important because it can save you a lot of time later if you have to go back over individual studies. Undertaking a systematic review is an iterative process and you don't want to be going back to the original studies too often. Also beware of numerical scores for quality. While it would be great to have a valid quantitative score, unfortunately one significant flaw in a study can completely undermine its validity. regards * * * * * * * * * Rod Jackson Professor of Epidemiology Section of Epidemiology and Biostatistics School of Population Health, Tamaki Campus Faculty of Medical & Health Sciences, University of Auckland Private Bag 92019 Auckland, New Zealand From: s alhabib <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> Reply-To: s alhabib <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> Date: Saturday, 6 April 2013 9:45 AM To: "[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>" <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> Subject: critical appraisal tools? Dear Lists: I am planning to do a systematic review of intervention studies about diabetes medications, but I am not sure which critical appraisal tool is best (in terms of validity and reliability) to use to appraise therapy and/or intervention trials. I am aware of this article: A systematic review of the content of critical appraisal tools, by Katrak et al, which explained the different tools, I guess >120 tools in literature, however, I am still not sure which one to use? I would be grateful for your feedback... Samia Dr. Samia Alhabib, MD, PhD