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Adaptation of the Systematic Review Framework to the Assessment of Toxicological Test Methods: Challenges and Lessons Learned with the Zebrafish Embryotoxicity Test.

ABSTRACT: Systematic review methodology is a means of addressing specific questions through structured, consistent, and transparent examinations of the relevant scientific evidence. This methodology has been used to advantage in clinical medicine, and is being adapted for use in other disciplines. While some applications to toxicology have been explored, especially for hazard identification, the present preparatory study is, to our knowledge, the first attempt to adapt it to the assessment of toxicological test methods. As our test case, we chose the zebrafish embryotoxicity test (ZET) for developmental toxicity and its mammalian counterpart, the standard mammalian prenatal development toxicity study, focusing the review on how well the ZET predicts the presence or absence of chemical-induced pre-natal developmental toxicity observed in mammalian studies. An interdisciplinary team prepared a systematic review protocol and adjusted it throughout this piloting phase, where needed. The final protocol was registered and will guide the main study (systematic review), which will execute the protocol to comprehensively answer the review question. The goal of this preparatory study was to translate systematic review methodology to the assessment of toxicological test method performance. Consequently, it focused on the methodological issues encountered, whereas the main study will report substantive findings. These relate to numerous systematic review steps, but primarily to searching and selecting the evidence. Applying the lessons learned to these challenges can improve not only our main study, but may also be helpful to others seeking to use systematic review methodology to compare toxicological test methods. We conclude with a series of recommendations that, if adopted, would help improve the quality of the published literature, and make conducting systematic reviews of toxicological studies faster and easier over time.

SUBMITTER: Stephens ML

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6736188 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Adaptation of the Systematic Review Framework to the Assessment of Toxicological Test Methods: Challenges and Lessons Learned With the Zebrafish Embryotoxicity Test.

Stephens Martin L ML Akgün-Ölmez Sevcan Gül SG Hoffmann Sebastian S de Vries Rob R Flick Burkhard B Hartung Thomas T Lalu Manoj M Maertens Alexandra A Witters Hilda H Wright Robert R Tsaioun Katya K

Toxicological sciences : an official journal of the Society of Toxicology 20190901 1

Systematic review methodology is a means of addressing specific questions through structured, consistent, and transparent examinations of the relevant scientific evidence. This methodology has been used to advantage in clinical medicine, and is being adapted for use in other disciplines. Although some applications to toxicology have been explored, especially for hazard identification, the present preparatory study is, to our knowledge, the first attempt to adapt it to the assessment of toxicolog ...[more]

PMID: 31192353

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Historical changes in the nature of sedentary activities have been observed in other countries, but it is not clear if similar trends exist in Canada. It is also unclear how changes in the measurement of sedentary behaviour affects national estimates. Our objective is to document all sources and measures of sedentary behaviour from Canadian, nationally representative surveys, and report on selected estimates of time spent in sedentary activities. Lessons learned can benefit the wider international surveillance community. METHODS:We describe and document all data sources of sedentary behaviour at the national level in Canada, and report on selected prevalence data from repeated cross-sectional surveys. We summarize amounts of total device-assessed sedentary time and self-reported sedentary activities (e.g., passive travel, leisure television, computer, video games, screen, and reading) by age group over time. RESULTS:Nineteen national surveys were identified. Changes in questions and/or response categories precluded direct assessment of trends over time for some measures; however, certain trends were observed. Accelerometer-measured sedentary time, leisure reading (among those <?50?years) and television/video viewing in younger age groups have remained relatively stable (with a possible slight decline in television/video viewing). Time spent in passive travel and leisure computer and electronic device use appears to have increased. Television and video viewing appears to have increased in older adults while their leisure reading appears to have fallen. CONCLUSIONS:Changes in measurement of sedentary behaviour can affect estimates and reduce comparability over time. Total leisure screen use appears to have increased over time, reflecting the ways in which Canadians spend their free time and technological advances. The main public health message is the need for continued efforts to reduce leisure screen use, especially among youth and older adults.

Dataset Information

Adaptation of the Systematic Review Framework to the Assessment of Toxicological Test Methods: Challenges and Lessons Learned with the Zebrafish Embryotoxicity Test.

Publications

Adaptation of the Systematic Review Framework to the Assessment of Toxicological Test Methods: Challenges and Lessons Learned With the Zebrafish Embryotoxicity Test.

Similar Datasets

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