How to become a data synthesis expert in IBD: a clinician’s guide to cutting through the noise

Abstract

Research and evidence are evolving daily in the field of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). This represents a significant problem for the IBD clinical team or researchers in the field. Data synthesis is a useful tool to identify, select, appraise and analyse research data to help solve this issue. However, it can seem to be a highly complex and, therefore, challenging form of research to read and apply. In this article, I have identified four key areas of awareness or learning to support IBD clinical and research teams in interpreting and using data synthesis. These include appraisal of clinical trials using structured bias domains, reading between the lines of forest plots, recognising and understanding how certainty of findings is assessed and finally highlighting a key area of misunderstanding in network meta-analysis. While by no means an exhaustive digest, this article should support in key areas and enhance uptake of evidence-based IBD care.