Faculty of Health Sciences & Medicine

Future Research Projects

HOW DO TRIALS REPORT OUTCOMES OF INTERVENTIONS FOR SPONTANEOUSLY REMITTING DISEASE?

Supervisors

Professor Chris Del Mar
Dean of Health Sciences and Medicine 		Sarah Thorning
Trials Search Coordinator

BACKGROUND

For diseases that remit spontaneously, the ‘amount’ of illness can be characterised by duration and severity (the product of each, that is, the ‘area under the curve’ probably the best estimate of ‘amount’). However in terms of trial outcomes, duration is much easier to measure than severity. This means that trials may be reporting just one dimension of the amount, thereby grossly under-reporting the illness quantification.

AIMS OF THE PROJECT

To systematically review the world literature on RCTs of spontaneously remitting diseases to examine the reporting of outcomes.

METHODS

This will be a systematic literature review of the Cochrane library. The honours student will have to master the techniques of 1) systematic review; 2) critical appraisal; and 3) information synthesis. We will generate tables of outcomes reported and sought by systematic review. There is sufficient expertise within the Faculty to deliver this.