Skip to main content

Currently Skimming:

4 Hazard Identification
Pages 28-39

The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.


From page 28...
... . Figure 4-1 illustrates how systematic reviews and integration of evidence are used to draw hazard conclusions.
From page 29...
... search terms, search strategy, inclusion/exclusion criteria, and procedures for study selection. The protocol is a critical component to a systematic review because it minimizes author bias, allows for feedback at the early stages of the review, facilitates reproducibility, replication, and future updates, and increases transparency and scientific rigor.
From page 30...
... Given the wide range of different bibliographic databases, information sources, and grey literature available, the specialized training and skills of a librarian can navigate these resources by casting a wide net to capture all relevant literature while also maintaining specificity to limit the amount of irrelevant data captured. The DOD literature search relied on a 2011 assessment of the toxicity of TCE conducted by the U.S.
From page 31...
... Several other search strategies commonly implemented in systematic reviews were not a part of the DOD process, such as searching grey literature databases or other sources of unpublished information (IOM Standard 3.2.1) , reviewing citation lists of included studies (IOM Standard 3.1.6)
From page 32...
... Use of a software or database program to track the inclusion/exclusion process aids in resolving conflicts between screeners, documentation of the process, and efficiency of the screening task. A recent review of software tools for literature screening in systematic reviews is available (van der Mierdan et al.
From page 33...
... DOD's scoring tool also integrated the relevance of certain studies to be utilized for doseresponse assessment and derivation of toxicity values, which is not appropriate to include as part of a systematic review for hazard identification. The DOD study applicability tool has nine domains that are evaluated using a point system to achieve a study "score." Detailed criteria for determining the number of points in each domain are described.
From page 34...
... Why this line of evidence was not evaluated for quality, relevance, and risk of bias of individual studies was unclear, particularly since the epidemiological studies are used by DOD to determine potential cancer risks at the proposed occupational exposure level. Synthesis of Evidence All systematic reviews include a qualitative synthesis (IOM Standard 4.2)
From page 35...
... After the systematic reviews are complete, the lines of evidence are integrated to address a particular question about an outcome and its association with a particular chemical. Mechanistic data are considered at this stage to inform the biological plausibility of conclusions.
From page 36...
... and the following specific recommendations: Preparation of a systematic review protocol that details the pre-defined methods and criteria, which is peer-reviewed and publicly posted before the review is undertaken; Documentation of how studies from each evidence stream (human, animal, and mechanistic) are identified, assessed, and synthesized; Use of a trained librarian or information specialist to develop tailored search terms and to design a strategic approach to searching the literature; Use of several approaches to identifying relevant literature, including searching the reference lists of included studies, grey literature and other sources of unpublished information, and hand-searching selected journals and conference abstracts; Pre-specifying the criteria that will be used to include or exclude studies; Documentation of excluded references and their reasons for exclusion; Assessment of risk of bias and quality of individual studies and then, separately, determine certainty in the body of evidence; Statistical significance is not a criterion of study quality; Numeric scores are not used to evaluate studies; Provide details about what studies were selected for assessment and included in synthesis; Conduct separate evidence synthesis and determinations about the certainty of the evidence for each stream of evidence; and Describe how different streams of evidence are integrated.
From page 37...
... 2018. WHO/ILO work-related burden of disease and injury: Protocol for systematic reviews of occupational expo sure to dusts and/or fibres and of the effect of occupational exposure to dusts and/or fibres on pneumoconiosis.
From page 38...
... 2009. Pre ferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: The PRISMA statement.
From page 39...
... 2018. Systematic reviews in toxicology (editorial)


This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More information on Chapter Skim is available.