2. Appraising the relevance of results

2.2 Overall description of the approach

This method of critical appraisal relies on the use of a single standard evaluation grid. Its systematic approach, which has the advantage of being applicable to all types of published material, is adapted from the "Critical Appraisal Worksheet" developed by the Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (Prof. R. F. Heller) of the University of Newcastle (New South Wales, Australia).

This grid has 8 lines corresponding to 8 evaluation criteria.

Each of the 8 criteria is subject to the same 3 questions, described in the 3 columns of the grid:

  • 1- Is there any information regarding the corresponding criterion contained in the article?
  • 2- Is the criterion stated correctly?
  • 3- If the criterion is not stated correctly, does this fact jeopardize the validity of the study?

The 8 lines correspond to the main steps in setting up a protocol. All published articles are the result of a study with a defined protocol. Validation can be achieved by analyzing the protocol with the use grid. By answering the eight questions, the reviewer can then discard what is not valid, and can objectively judge the quality of the mentioned results.

Annex 1: Grid