Research Concepts

Question 1

What is the highest level evidence of EBM?

Answer 1

Meta-analysis

Question 2

What is the second highest level of EBM?

Answer 2

Systematic review

Question 3

What is the third highest level of EBM?

Answer 3

RCT

Question 4

What is meant by meta-analysis?

Answer 4

Research process allowing the merging/collating of independent studies to evaluate the overall effect

Question 5

What is a systematic review?

Answer 5

Summary of medical literature using explicit and reproducible methods to search, critically appraise and synthesise

Question 6

What is meant by a ‘cohort study’?

Answer 6

Follows a cohort of people (usually sharing a similar characteristic) over time to observe the effect of a certain factor

Question 7

What kind of study may cohort studies be useful for?

Answer 7

Epidemiological

Question 8

What are case-control studies?

Answer 8

Takes one group (case) compared to control group and compare frequency of a certain factor in retrospect

Question 9

What are case reports?

Answer 9

Provide a detailed report about one patient’s symptoms, investigation, management etc - usually a rare or new occurrence

Question 10

What are the two main types of study?

Answer 10

Experimental and observational

Question 11

What is the purpose of a Phase I clinical trial?

Answer 11

Establish safety and safe dose

Question 12

What is the purpose of a Phase II clinical trial?

Answer 12

investigate efficacy and continue to monitor safety and adverse effects

Question 13

What is the purpose of a Phase III clinical trial?

Answer 13

compare effectiveness compared to other treatments and monitor side effects

Question 14

What is the purpose of a Phase IV trial?

Answer 14

to provide additional info after approval

Question 15

What is the Helsinki protocol?

Answer 15

Outlines ethical principles for medical research on human subjects

Question 16

Give examples of principles within the Helsinki protocol

Answer 16

Doing what is in your patient’s best interests
Protection for particularly vulnerable groups
Requirement for research ethics committees
Consent, Confidentiality etc

Question 17

What is the difference between research and audit?

Answer 17

Audit is to determine how you are doing against standards whereas research aims to add info to the body of evidence

Question 18

What is meant by ‘closing the loop’?

Answer 18

setting recommendations for improvement and also plans for follow-up

Question 19

What is involved in the QI cycle?

Answer 19

Plan, Do, Check, Act

Question 20

What is meant by p < 0.05?

Answer 20

the result is statistically significant, and unlikely to have occurred by chance

Question 21

What is a t-test used for?

Answer 21

to test a null hypothesis by comparing the means of two independent groups

Question 22

What is meant by a confidence interval?

Answer 22

range of values that you expect your results to fall within x% of the time if the experiment was repeated, for example 95% CI

Question 23

What is meant by incidence?

Answer 23

number of new cases/period in time

Question 24

What is meant by prevalence?

Answer 24

total number of cases/total no of people

Question 25

What is meant by absolute risk?

Answer 25

chance of something happening ie. 1 in 8 chance of a women in the UK developing cancer

Question 26

What is meant by relative risk?

Answer 26

risk compared to another group, for example, relative risk of breast cancer would be increased in those with BRCA mutations

Question 27

Which test is used to compare survival between two groups?

Answer 27

Log rank test

Question 28

What are type 1 statistical errors?

Answer 28

False positive

Question 29

What are type 2 statistical errors?

Answer 29

False negative

Question 30

How are large research projects funded?

Answer 30

Can come from a range of sources including charities, private companies, government, trusts, research councils (eg. MRC)

Question 31

Can the company funding the trial conduct it?

Answer 31

No - they must be run independently - protocol agreed by all parties and ethics review board

Question 32

How would you go about critically appraising a paper?

Answer 32

Journal PICO: Population, Intervention, Control, Outcome Bias Strengths & weaknesses Validity Clinical implications

Question 33

What are the main types of bias to consider?

Answer 33

SPIES Selection Performance Information/detection Exclusion Selective