Cochrane Interactive Learning

Module 7: Interpreting the findings

About this module

Part of the Cochrane Interactive Learning course on Conducting an Intervention Review, this module explains how to interpret the findings of your review. In this module you will learn how to interpret the results of your statistical analysis, reporting bias, and use the GRADE approach to judging and reporting on the certainty of evidence.

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Duration 90-120 minutes

What you can expect to learn (learning outcomes)

This module will teach you to:

  • Understand confidence intervals in the interpretation of results of meta-analysis
  • Identify ways of re-expressing the standardized mean difference
  • Interpret a funnel plot asymmetry
  • Determine the certainty of the evidence
  • Decide on rating up a body of evidence

Authors, contributors, and how to cite this module

Module 7 has been written and compiled by:

Dario Sambunjak, Miranda Cumpston and Chris Watts, Cochrane Central Executive Team..

Matthew J. Page, School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, UK, and School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Australia.

Nancy Santesso, Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.

This module should be cited as: Sambunjak D, Cumpston M, Watts C, Page MJ, Santesso N. Module 7: Interpreting the findings. In: Cochrane Interactive Learning: Conducting an intervention review. Cochrane, 2017. Available from https://training.cochrane.org/interactivelearning/module-7-interpreting-findings.

Update and feedback

The module was last updated on September 2022.

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