The involvement of non-researcher contributors (eg, stakeholders, patients and the public, decision and policy makers, experts, lay contributors) has taken a variety of forms within evidence syntheses. Realist reviews are a form of evidence synthesis that involves non-researcher contributors yet this practice has received little attention. In…

Case-mix heterogeneity across studies complicates meta-analyses. As a result of this, treatments that are equally effective on patient subgroups may appear to have different effectiveness on patient populations with different case mix. It is therefore important that meta-analyses be explicit for what patient population they describe the treatment…

The topic of diagnostic error is a relatively new one in the academic arena and lacks an organized research agenda. Participants at "Diagnostic Error in Medicine-2008" formally considered this issue and provided initial suggestions. Recommendations were made to standardize taxonomies and definitions, especially in regard to what constitutes a…

The reporting, analysis, and management of adverse events (AEs) provide an ongoing assessment of risk in the context of a clinical trial and enhance the protection of human research participants and the informed consent process. Effective and efficient review of AEs has been a long-standing challenge for Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) and…

Solutions to methodological problems in medical technologies research synthesis relating to temporal change, persons receiving treatment, research design, analytic procedures, and threats to validity are presented. These solutions should help with the planning and methodogy for research synthesis in other areas. (BS)