The purpose of this Question Verification Form is to enable Priority Setting Partnerships (PSPs) to describe clearly how they checked that their questions were unanswered, before starting the interim prioritisation stage of the process.
The JLA requires PSPs to be transparent and accountable in defining their own scope and evidence checking process. This will enable researchers and other stakeholders to understand how individual PSPs decided that their questions were unanswered, and any limitations of their evidence checking.
Name of the PSP
Obstructive Sleep Apnea Priority Setting Partnership
Please describe the scope of the PSP
The scope of the Obstructive Sleep Apnea PSP is defined as:
- treatment for adult obstructive sleep apnea
- ear, nose and throat (ENT) issues related to OSA
- sleep quality of individuals with diagnosed OSA
- diagnosis by a healthcare provider
- public (patient and carer) responses limited to the province of Saskatchewan
- clinician responses inclusive of all provinces in Canada to ensure diversity of responses and an adequate sample size
Please provide a brief overview of your approach to checking whether the questions were unanswered
Evidence checking consisted of examining systematic reviews and clinical guidelines to determine whether the consolidated questions had been fully, partially or not answered by existing research. Clinician members of the SG took the lead in identifying sources most appropriate for our literature search. Lead and project coordinator reviewed 66 systematic reviews and clinical guidelines to determine whether or not questions remained unanswered.
Please list the type(s) of evidence you used to verify your questions as unanswered
Systematic reviews, clinical guidelines
Please list the sources that you searched in order to identify that evidence
PubMed, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Google Scholar, SCOPUS
What search terms did you use?
“Obstructive sleep apnea,” “OSA,” “OSA/obstructive sleep apnea therapy”
Please describe the parameters of the search (eg time limits, excluded sources, country/language) and the rationale for any limitations
Search was limited to English language guidelines/systematic reviews published no earlier than 2010.
Names of individuals who undertook the evidence checking
Dr.Robert Skomro, Dr. Donna Goodridge, Britney Duncan, Sarah Fang
On what date was the question verification process completed?
September 17, 2020
Any other relevant information
N/A