Service Group "Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses"

Department of Medical Statistics

The number of scientific publications is increasing rapidly every year. This poses a great challenge for clinicians and scientists who want to obtain comprehensive and up-to-date information on a medical topic. It is therefore necessary to systematically select, critically appraise and, if possible, pool the individual studies on. This can be done using evidence syntheses approaches, such as systematic reviews.

The Service Group "Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses" provides full methodological expertise for evidence syntheses. This includes, in particular, support for systematic literature searches, data extraction, assessment of  methodological study quality and meta-analyses. National (e.g. AWMF) and international quality standards (e.g. Cochrane) for the preparation of evidence syntheses are taken into account.

The financing model and cost accounting of the Service Group are based on the procedure in the scientific core facility "Medical Biometry and Statistical Bioinformatics".

Services offered

The services offered include:

  • Methodological advice for clinicians and scientists on evidence-based medicine (EBM) methods
  • Support in for third-party funding applications for the preparation of systematic reviews/meta-analyses and the preparation of clinical practice guidelines
  • Preparation of evidence reports and methodological support for clinical practice guidelines
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Short consultation

We offer a short or initial consultation to support systematic reviews, meta-analyses, clinical practice guideline development or other forms of quantitative evidence synthesis (e.g. evidence-based patient information, overview).

About 15-30 minutes are available per consultation case. In order to avoid longer waiting times, please make an appointment in advance by e-mail.

Support for evidence syntheses

Support for evidence syntheses

This service offer includes support in systematic literature searches, data extraction as well as assessment methodological study quality and meta-analyses as part of:

  • Doctoral and post-doctoral projects
  • Evidence syntheses as part of research projects (e.g. supplementary systematic reviews to clinical studies, systematic reviews as preliminary work for applications)
  • Ultra rapid reviews (so-called 1-week reviews) for practical decision-making in situations in which no evidence from textbooks and guidelines is available so far and therefore decision-making uncertainty exists
  • Commissions for Health Technology Assessments (HTAs), e.g. by the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWIG) or the Federal Medical Service (MDB)
  • Evidence reports and methodological support for clinical practice guidelines according to AWMF standards
  • Collaboration for preparing Cochrane reviews

To register for this service, please contact us by e-mail. The Service Group may charge fees for this service, depending on the scope of the services. Internal fees are returned in full to the UMG research budget.

Methods and software courses

The following courses on EBM-specific topics can be offered if interested:

  • Systematic literature research
  • Study evaluation
  • Meta-analyses
  • Dealing with relevant software, such as RevMan - Review Manger from Cochrane , Risk of Bias Tools

If you are interested, please contact us by e-mail.

Contact

Gruppenleiter

Prof. Dr. Tim Mathes

Prof. Dr. Tim Mathes

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Publications (selected)

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