Bias

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• Format Texts
• Language/s English
• Target Audience Further education
• EBM Stage 3 - Appraising evidence
• Duration <5 mins
• Difficulty Intermediate

Key Concepts addressed

• 2-2a Reviews of fair comparisons should be systematic
• 1-3a Beware of conflicting interests
• 2-3b Relative measures of effects can be misleading
• 2-1d People should not know which treatment they get

Details

One factor that often leads to interference with the truth in the medical literature is bias. It can be very difficult if not impossible to remove bias from the picture. This is one of the strengths of the systematic review – the detailed criteria that authors of systematic reviews must follow help to eliminate as much bias as possible. But, if you know what types of bias are lurking in the literature, you will be able to better understand how they might affect the results of outcomes data you
are reading. Then, you can use your skills as a manager of knowledge to compensate as best as you can.

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