National Collaborating Centre for Methods and Tools

I find it hard to find the time to search for research evidence. If I’ve done a quick search of health-evidence.ca to answer my question, do I need to take the time to use other parts of the 6S pyramid for searching the evidence? Or is it okay to use the first relevant synthesis (systematic review) or synopsis of a synthesis (summary statement) that is relevant to my question?

That is a great question that we often get asked at our workshops. Time is one of the biggest challenges to getting research evidence into decision making. It is great when you have clearly defined your question and then you do a search on health-evidence.ca and locate a high quality and relevant systematic review (systhesis) and possibly a 1-4 page summary statement (synopsis of a synthesis). The site was designed to save users time and resources.

The reason it is important to check a higher level of the 6S pyramid first and then work your way down the pyramid in your search is that it could save you time, and will ensure you don't miss any high quality, relevant and more synthesized research evidence. There are not any sources of evidence that are ‘Systems’ for public health currently available however you should start by looking first for any clinical practice guidelines at the next level in the 6S pyramid called ‘Summaries’ (Refer back to the online module: Introduction to evidence-informed decision making for a review of searching). If you have found a relevant and high quality 'summary' it will save you the time and energy needed to: critically appraise any relevant systematic reviews or primary studies relevant to the issue, look at key findings across all sources, and summarize the evidence from these sources. Remeber that you need to critically appraise the research evidence at any level of the 6S pyramid.

It is great if you are able to find a quick answer to your question on health-evidence.ca, especially since they have already done the critical appraisal step for you. Although some public health questions may not have a relevant clinical practice guideline or other 'summary' level research evidence it is good practice to check if a guideline exists that is relevant to your focused question. In addition, you need to make sure that your search of health-evidence.ca is thorough enough to ensure that there isn’t more than one systematic review (synthesis) that is relevant to your question. If you’ve clearly defined your question these steps should not take long.