Identifying the 'incredible'! Part 1: assessing the risk of bias in outcomes included in systematic reviews

Fionn Büttner; Marinus Winters; Eamonn Delahunt; Roy Elbers; Carolina B Lura; Karim M Khan; Adam Weir; Clare L Ardern

doi:10.1136/bjsports-2019-100806

Identifying the 'incredible'! Part 1: assessing the risk of bias in outcomes included in systematic reviews

Fionn Büttner^*, Marinus Winters, Eamonn Delahunt, Roy Elbers, Carolina B Lura, Karim M Khan, Adam Weir, Clare L Ardern

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Systematic reviews fulfil a vital role in modern medicine.1 However, the results of systematic reviews are only as valid as the studies they include.2 Pooling flawed, or biased, results from different studies can compromise the credibility of systematic review findings. Bias is a systematic deviation from the truth in the results of a research study that can manifest due to limitations in study design, conduct, or analysis.3
The results of sport and exercise medicine research, like results in other fields, are vulnerable to bias.4 It is important that systematic review authors assess for bias in a way that enables a judgement about whether a review outcome is at risk of bias due to methodological limitations in included studies. This two-part education primer focuses on how systematic review authors can perform and interpret risk of bias assessments to avoid misleading systematic review conclusions. In this editorial, we introduce the concept of risk of bias, and the principles of assessing risk of bias.

Original language	English
Journal	British Journal of Sports Medicine
Early online date	23 Dec 2019
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2019-100806
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 23 Dec 2019

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Identifying the 'incredible'! Part 2: Spot the difference - a rigorous risk of bias assessment can alter the main findings of a systematic review
Büttner, F., Winters, M., Delahunt, E., Elbers, R., Lura, C. B., Khan, K. M., Weir, A. & Ardern, C. L., 23 Dec 2019, (E-pub ahead of print) In: British Journal of Sports Medicine.
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title = "Identifying the 'incredible'! Part 1: assessing the risk of bias in outcomes included in systematic reviews",

abstract = "Systematic reviews fulfil a vital role in modern medicine.1 However, the results of systematic reviews are only as valid as the studies they include.2 Pooling flawed, or biased, results from different studies can compromise the credibility of systematic review findings. Bias is a systematic deviation from the truth in the results of a research study that can manifest due to limitations in study design, conduct, or analysis.3The results of sport and exercise medicine research, like results in other fields, are vulnerable to bias.4 It is important that systematic review authors assess for bias in a way that enables a judgement about whether a review outcome is at risk of bias due to methodological limitations in included studies. This two-part education primer focuses on how systematic review authors can perform and interpret risk of bias assessments to avoid misleading systematic review conclusions. In this editorial, we introduce the concept of risk of bias, and the principles of assessing risk of bias.",

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AU - Büttner, Fionn

AU - Winters, Marinus

AU - Delahunt, Eamonn

AU - Elbers, Roy

AU - Lura, Carolina B

AU - Khan, Karim M

AU - Weir, Adam

AU - Ardern, Clare L

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AB - Systematic reviews fulfil a vital role in modern medicine.1 However, the results of systematic reviews are only as valid as the studies they include.2 Pooling flawed, or biased, results from different studies can compromise the credibility of systematic review findings. Bias is a systematic deviation from the truth in the results of a research study that can manifest due to limitations in study design, conduct, or analysis.3The results of sport and exercise medicine research, like results in other fields, are vulnerable to bias.4 It is important that systematic review authors assess for bias in a way that enables a judgement about whether a review outcome is at risk of bias due to methodological limitations in included studies. This two-part education primer focuses on how systematic review authors can perform and interpret risk of bias assessments to avoid misleading systematic review conclusions. In this editorial, we introduce the concept of risk of bias, and the principles of assessing risk of bias.

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JO - British Journal of Sports Medicine

JF - British Journal of Sports Medicine

ER -

Identifying the 'incredible'! Part 1: assessing the risk of bias in outcomes included in systematic reviews

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Identifying the 'incredible'! Part 2: Spot the difference - a rigorous risk of bias assessment can alter the main findings of a systematic review

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