REG, in collaboration with the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI), have created a new tool (RELEVANT) to aid the appraisal of real life observational research. In April 2019, two papers detailing the methodology and use of RELEVANT were published in Clinical and Translational Allergy.
The RELEVANT tool was developed through literature review and synthesis and then iterative refinement of the tool. Multiple pilots were conducted, followed by validation using selected asthma research questions for which randomised controlled trials provided limited evidence.
The RELEVANT tool enables quality appraisal of published comparative effectiveness literature. RELEVANT has two tiers of criteria; primary criteria, all of which must be met to be considered suitable for use in guideline development; and secondary criteria, which allow further evaluation of the quality of a publication. The tool will therefore be useful for guideline developers, clinicians and researchers for assessing published literature or as a publication checklist. REG is proud to advance the acceptance of real life observational research in guideline development.
RELEVANT tool: https://www.regresearchnetwork.org/relevant-tool-2/
RELEVANT publications:
https://ctajournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13601-019-0256-9
https://ctajournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13601-019-0255-x