Recently I have been chatting to Dr Bridget Davis, a NESSIE systematic reviewer who is part of a team working on a new review titled: Mandatory drug and alcohol treatment orders for improving health outcomes for people involved with the justice system. This review is funded by the NIHR Evidence Synthesis Programme. If you would like to know more about this review, which incorporates both quantitative and qualitative evidence, then why not have a read of our previous blog, or review protocol.

What progress has been made with the review?

Following a thorough search for relevant literature in thirteen electronic databases, searching reference lists of included studies and using citation chaser software, 4368 studies have been identified. The review team have completed the title and abstract screening before moving onto looking at the full texts of studies to see if they meet the review’s inclusion criteria. This process is completed by two members of the review team with a third member being involved in consensus decision making when there is a difference of opinion about whether a study meets the inclusion criteria. This process is almost complete and so far, the review has included 20 quantitative studies and 98 qualitative studies. We will be delivering two reviews to present the quantitative and qualitative results. If you would like to know about the different types of research, then have a look at this site which provides more information on quantitative and qualitative study design.

What have you found so far?

Most of the research identified has included qualitative data, these studies will help the review team to explore the views, perceptions and experiences of those who have received drug and alcohol treatment orders. In addition, studies have also focused on the experiences and views of family members and court staff. Most of the research has been conducted in the United States so the review team have spent time increasing their awareness of the different terminology used by the US judicial system.

What happens next?

We have now started the data extraction phase. In this phase, two review team members extract data from each included study in preparation for data analysis.

How can I keep up to date with the review’s progress?

We aim to provide regular updates through our blog posts and social media channels – why not subscribe so you don’t miss any future editions or follow us on social media.

Blog by Dr Katie Thomson

Update on our Mandatory drug and alcohol treatment orders project / NESSIE - NIHR Evidence Synthesis Scotland InitiativE by blogadmin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0