Interested in a standardized process to appraise and synthesize research evidence? Are you engaged in utilizing sources of high quality literature to support your decision-making process? Are you interested in learning about critical appraisal of interventions studies? The Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies can help! The process for systematically reviewing the literature and associated tool were developed by the Effective Public Health Practice Project (EPHPP) at McMaster University. How can the Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies help you? The Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies can be applied to articles of any public health topic area, such as the promotion of family and sexual health and the prevention of chronic disease, injuries and substance misuse. It can help you to assess study quality and develop recommendations for study findings. The critical appraisal method and associated tool are suitable for use by public health researchers, practitioners and policymakers. The Policy Readiness Tool: Understanding a Municipality’s Readiness for Policy Change and Strategies for Taking Action can help you determine a municipalities, communities or organizations level of readiness for policy change. The tool is appropriate for anyone interested in encouraging health public policy development, including policy developers, advocates, community organizations, community members, and municipalities. The Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies includes: •A seven-step method to guide knowledge synthesis; •A multi-criteria tool for conducting knowledge synthesis; •A reviewer’s dictionary to assist reviewers and maintain standardized results. To see the summary statement of this tool developed by NCCMT, click here: http://www.nccmt.ca/resources/search/14 The National Collaborating Centre for Methods and Tools is funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada and affiliated with McMaster University. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of the Public Health Agency of Canada. NCCMT is one of six National Collaborating Centres (NCCs) for Public Health. The Centres promote and improve the use of scientific research and other knowledge to strengthen public health practices and policies in Canada.

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Funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada | Affiliated with McMaster University
The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Public Health Agency of Canada.
EPHPP: Quality Assessment Tool for
Quantitative Studies
Presenters:
Maureen Dobbins, RN, PhD
Megan Racey, MSc
October 18, 2016
1:00 – 2:30 PM ET

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Housekeeping
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After Today
The PowerPoint presentation (in English and French)
and English audio recording will be made available.
These resources are available at:
PowerPoint: http://www.slideshare.net/NCCMT/
Audio Recording:
https://www.youtube.com/user/nccmt/videos

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Poll Question #1
How many people are watching today’s
session with you?
A. Just me
B. 1-3
C. 4-5
D. 6-10
E. >10

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hygenist, etc.)
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Quality Assessment Tool for
Quantitative Studies
http://www.nccmt.ca/resources/search/14
Episode 28
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Poll Question #2
How familiar are you with the method or
tool we are discussing today?
A. I am not familiar with the method or tool
B. I have heard of the method or tool
C. I have used the method or tool

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Presenter
Maureen Dobbins, RN, PhD
Scientific Director, Health
Evidence and the National
Collaborating Centre for
Methods and Tools
McMaster University

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Presenter
Megan Racey, MSc
PhD Candidate,
Department of Human Health
and Nutritional Sciences
University of Guelph
11

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Effective Public Health Practice Project
• Conducted 35 systematic reviews since 1999
• Creates knowledge dissemination materials
• Expedited reviews, methods and tools for quality
assessment, critical appraisal, and knowledge
synthesis
• Establishment of McMaster Evidence Review
and Synthesis Centre (MERSC)
13

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Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies
• Developed for use in public health
• Can be applied to articles in any public health area
• Suitable for public health researchers,
practitioners and policymakers
• Two independent reviewers
14

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Tool Development
15

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Components
• Tool for overall methodological rating
• 8 component ratings synthesized to one global
rating
• Guide to generating interrater agreement
• Dictionary of terms
• Definitions relevant to each component
• Ensures standardized results
16

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Global Rating
25
• Strong, Moderate or Weak
• Based on individual component ratings A-F
• Dictionary provides guide to completing this
section based on individual component ratings
• Example dictionary section:

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Interrater Agreement
27

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Presenter
Megan Racey, MSc
PhD Candidate,
Department of Human Health
and Nutritional Sciences
University of Guelph
28

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Overview of my research
• Improving the success of nutrition education intervention relies on careful
planning of their design and feasibility of their evaluation
• There is little to guide researchers on how to best develop interventions
• We’ve conducted systematic reviews to identify characteristics of effective
interventions related to our target audience, food group focus and study
setting
• From this, we’ve developed a school-based intervention, Why Dairy and
Alternatives
29

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My use of EPHPP
• Used for quality assessment of dairy-specific
interventions in adolescents for systematic
review
30

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Excerpt of
table with
quality rating
31
Marquez et al. ICAN 2015.

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Why I choose EPHPP
• Experience/familiarity
• Ease of use
• Clarity
• Accessibility
• Applicability
• Practicality
32

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My experience
• Was easy to use
• Tool dictionary was a well-utilized resource
• Reliant on information provided by the
researcher/author of the study
• Required research judgement
33

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Your Comments/Questions
• Use Q&A to post comments
and/or questions
• ‘Send’ questions to All (not
privately to ‘Host’)
Participant Side
Panel in WebEx
Q&A

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Poll Question #3
Could this method or tool be useful
in practice?
A. Very useful
B. Somewhat useful
C. Not at all useful
D. Don’t know

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Your Feedback is Important
Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts
on today’s webinar.
Your comments and suggestions help to improve
the resources we offer and plan future webinars.
The short survey is available at:
https://nccmt.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_7ZJ
HPbeSunMTH7L

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Poll Question #4
What are your next steps? (Check all
that apply)
A. Access the method/tool referenced in the
presentation
B. Read the NCCMT summary about the
method/tool described today
C. Consider using the method/tool in practice
D. Tell a colleague about the method/tool

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Join us for our next webinar
NCCMT Spotlight on Methods & Tools: NCCMT
Resources Mapped to the Core Competencies for
Public Health
DATE: Wednesday, November 23, 2016
TIME: 1:00-2:30pm EST
We have created a new tool on our website to help busy
practitioners find the many resources available from the NCCMT
that can support PHAC’s Core Competencies for Public Health in
Canada. This tool helps individuals and organizations find NCCMT
resources related to each competency so you can plan professional
development activities tailored to your own needs or those of your
team. Join us to learn more!
Register at: https://health-evidence.webex.com/health-
evidence/onstage/g.php?MTID=e3b12586dc598976035989f2f4e6152d3

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Funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada | Affiliated with McMaster University
The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Public Health Agency of Canada.
For more information about the
National Collaborating Centre
for Methods and Tools:
NCCMT website www.nccmt.ca
Contact: nccmt@mcmaster.ca