Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #105170

LInda S. Chan, PhD¹, Michele D. Kipke, PhD², Arlene Schneir, MPH³, Ellen Iverson, MPH², Mary Ann Limbos, MD, MPH⁴, Curren Warf, MD⁵, Sally Morton, PhD⁶, and Paul G. Shekelle, MD, PhD⁶. (1) Department of Pediatrics, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, 1200 North State Street, Room 12-900, Los Angeles, CA 90033, 323-226-6744, lschan@usc.edu, (2) Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, 4650 Sunset Blvd., MS #30, Los Angeles, CA 90027, (3) Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, Division of Adolescent Medicine, 4650 Sunset Boulevard, MS#2, Los Angeles, CA 90027, (4) Division of General Pediatrics, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, 4650 Sunset Blvd., MS # 76, Los Angeles, CA 90027, (5) Childrens Hospital, PO Box 54700, Mailstop #2, Los Angeles, CA 90054-0700, (6) RAND Health, RAND, 1700 Main Street, P.O. Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA 90407

The reliance on the published literature to derive evidence for a specific topic has been increasing. Evidence reports are frequently used to inform and develop coverage decisions, quality measures, educational materials and tools, guidelines, and research agendas. The Evidence-based Practice Center program created by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in 1997 has accelerated advances in evidence-based medicine. However, for behavioral topics, such as youth violence, the use of evidence from systematic reviews has lagged behind. In a recent evidence review on Preventing Violence and Related Health-Risking Social Behaviors in Adolescents we found little agreement in the literature with respect to the definitions used to measure youth violence and ways in which risk/protective factors are conceptualized, operationally defined, measured, analyzed, and reported. Further, in an attempt to evaluate the quality of each study, we found that the published literature on youth violence does not provide consistent and/or adequate information to allow a sound evaluation of the study quality. Information describing the characteristics of the study such as the study questions, conceptual framework, study design, description of study population, randomization procedures, blinding procedures, data collection procedures and instruments, validity of data collection instruments, definition of and rationale for choice of exposure factors and outcomes, analytical approaches, statistical analysis, and findings could not be properly evaluated on a consistent basis, given the information in the articles. In this paper we examine the methodological issues encountered in this evidence review and discuss the challenges for conducting systematic reviews on public health topics.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

• Recognize the methodological issues in conducting systemic reviews for public health topics.
• Learn what are the methodological considerations necessary to increase the scientific integrity of an investigative study.
• Learn what are the methodological considerations necessary for systematic reviews.
• Identify the areas of future research relating to youth violence.

Keywords: Methodology, Evidence Based Practice

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.