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Elsevier, Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 12(67), p. 1353-1357

DOI: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2014.06.011

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Dual computer monitors to increase efficiency of conducting systematic reviews

This paper was not found in any repository, but could be made available legally by the author.
This paper was not found in any repository, but could be made available legally by the author.

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Abstract

Objective: Systematic reviews (SRs) are the cornerstone of evidence-based medicine. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of using two computer screens on the efficiency of conducting SRs. Study Design and Setting: A cohort of reviewers before and after using dual monitors were compared with a control group that did not use dual monitors. The outcomes were time spent for abstract screening, full-text screening and data extraction, and inter-rater agreement. We adopted multivariate difference-in-differences linear regression models. Results: A total of 60 SRs conducted by 54 reviewers were included in this analysis. We found a significant reduction of 23.81 minutes per article in data extraction in the intervention group relative to the control group (95% confidence interval: 46.03, 1.58, P 5 0.04), which was a 36.85% reduction in time. There was no significant difference in time spent on abstract screening, full-text screening, or interrater agreement between the two groups. Conclusion: Using dual monitors when conducting SRs is associated with significant reduction of time spent on data extraction. No significant difference was observed on time spent on abstract screening or full-text screening. Using dual monitors is one strategy that may improve the efficiency of conducting SRs.