Review and Assessment of Network Meta-analyses for Knowledge Uptake Study (RANK)

Unity Health Toronto

Status: Withdrawn

Conditions: Clinical Decision-making

Treatments: Other: Rank-Heat Plot; Other: SUCRA Plot

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03283592

17-0107

Details and patient eligibility

About

This randomized controlled trial will assess the interpretability of the rank-heat plot for presenting the results of network meta-analysis in comparison to SUCRA (surface under the cumulative ranking) plots which are suggested to present one of the best ranking statistics.

Full description

Clinicians are responsible for making decisions to improve health outcomes. When available, clinicians should use the results of a knowledge synthesis, such as systematic reviews and meta-analyses, to inform decision-making. Pairwise meta-analyses are limited, however, by the availability of RCTs that directly compare interventions. This is troublesome for knowledge users who require results from comparisons of multiple interventions to inform decision-making. To address this concern, the use of network meta-analyses (NMAs) is increasing in healthcare the literature. NMAs are a useful tool because they can summarize results from numerous studies and interventions. It is unclear how NMA results should be presented to increase the likelihood of clinicians understanding and using the results to improve health outcomes. Thus, a randomized controlled trial of NMA plots will be conducted. Participants will be randomized to either the rank-heat plot (intervention) or SUCRA plots (control) that present the same NMA results of a study that explored the effectiveness of quality improvement interventions for falls prevention. Outcomes will be ascertained via an online survey. The RCT will take place in an online environment and will require each participant to partake in a single session. This study will help guide best practices for the presentation of reviews to improve the uptake and use of NMA.

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Clinicians must be accredited to practice in Canada and working (full- or part-time) as a family physician or general internist.

Exclusion criteria

• Unable to read and understand English;
• No access to the internet;
• Read, co-authored or peer-reviewed the study: "Quality Improvement strategies to Prevent Falls in the Elderly: A systematic review and network meta-analysis" (manuscript in preparation).

Trial design

Primary purpose: Health Services Research

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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0 participants in 2 patient groups

Rank-Heat Plot

Experimental group

Description:

The intervention group will receive an online survey to evaluate their interpretation of the results from the NMA with a rank-heat plot including results from 2 outcomes that were selected by our knowledge users (#injurious falls, #fractures).

Treatment:

Other: Rank-Heat Plot

SUCRA (surface under the cumulative ranking) Plot

Active Comparator group

Description:

The control group will receive an online survey to evaluate their interpretation of the results from the NMA with the SUCRA plots including results from the same 2 outcomes that will be presented to the intervention group (i.e., #injurious falls, #fractures).

Treatment:

Other: SUCRA Plot