Assessing the Quality and Applicability of Systematic Reviews (AQASR)

About the Webcast

This webcast provides a brief introduction to KTDRR’S tool, Assessing the Quality and Applicability of Systematic Reviews (AQASR). AQASR is an online document and checklist designed to help busy clinicians, administrators, and researchers to better understand systematic reviews. AQASR describes a series of critical questions, with a rationale and items to look for, that can be asked of a systematic review. The checklist is a tool for readers to make notes that help reveal the strengths and weaknesses of a systematic review in general and as relevant to a particular clinical question or other concerns of the reader.

Presenters Joann Starks and Devin Dedrick describe the background of AQASR and how to use it and demonstrate creating a checklist for a disability-oriented systematic review.

AQASR was developed in 2011 as a downloadable document. KTDRR launched an updated online version of the AQASR document and checklist in 2023 that is housed at https://ktdrr.org/aqasr

How to Participate

  1. This webcast aired on August 8, 2024. The archive is available on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2T9d-QC5Hg. You do not need a YouTube account to view the webcast. Closed captioning is available.

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  3. Presentation Materials:

    • Download a 508-compliant PDF file of the presentation slides used during the session (PDF - 3.5 MB)

    • Download a transcript of the video (PDF - 114 KB)

  4. Accessibility: American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Real-time Translation (CART) will be available.

  5. Evaluation: Please fill out the brief evaluation after viewing the webcast. Once the webcast is completed, you will receive an email with a link to the evaluation. Note: There are no pre-approved CRC-CEUs for this webcast.

About the Presenters

Joann Starks

Joann Starks, BS, MEd has been a senior technical assistance (TA) consultant at American Institutes for Research (AIR) since 2015. She has led training and TA activities for the Center on Knowledge Translation (KT) for Disability and Rehabilitation Research (KTDRR, 2012-present). She also worked with the Center on Knowledge Translation for Employment Research (KTER) from 2010-2020. Both KT Centers were funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR). Starks also serves as co-chair of the Disability Coordinating Group of the international Campbell Collaboration (2017-present). She worked with various NIDILRR-funded projects for SEDL from 1995-2015, when SEDL merged with AIR. Starks supported the Task Force of disability researchers that developed AQASR in 2011 and worked with the update team.

Devin Dedrick

Devin Dedrick, MS, PhD is a researcher at AIR and supports activities for several projects, including the NIDILRR-funded Center on KTDRR and the Model Systems KT Center (MSKTC). Dedrick has experience in systematic reviews and participated in updating AQASR. His PhD in Quantitative Methods is from The University of Texas at Austin.