EUnetHTA Adaptation Glossary (beta)

The process of deciding whether a piece of research can help you in answering your clinical question. There are three questions you need to ask about any kind of research:
- Is it valid?
- Is it important?
- Is it applicable to the patient?
Source: Centre for Evidence Based Medicine, Oxford

Relevance

In the context of the WP5 adaptation toolkit, relevance is about similarities between the HTA report for adaptation and the needs of the user i.e. is the policy and/or research question posed sufficiently similar to warrant adaptation of this report? And do parts of this report address areas that the user wishes to address in their report? i.e. technology use and development, safety, effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and/or organisational aspects.

Original research conducted to collect new data to answer a question. HTA primary research aims to test the real life impact of an intervention by comparing it with another intervention. This is most often, but not always, in the form of a randomised controlled trial.

A policy is a course or principle of action adopted or proposed by an organisation or individual.
A policymaker is a person responsible for or involved in formulating policies.
(Source: Oxford English Dictionary)

The aim of HTA is to ensure that high quality information about the costs, effectiveness and broader impact of health technologies is produced in the most efficient way for those who use, provide care in, make policy for and manage the NHS.

Guidance in the UK context is the generic term for advice given to health services. It may have the force of law or it may be more optional; it may be produced by NICE or by other national bodies, or it may be produced locally.

NICE guidance aims to ensure that the promotion of good health and patient care in local health communities is in line with the best available evidence of effectiveness and cost effectiveness. NICE produces guidance in 3 main areas:

Guidelines

Using scientific methods to summarise knowledge in an area. HTA evidence synthesis usually includes a systematic review (based on a clearly formulated question, using systematic and explicit methods to identify, select and critically appraise relevant research, and to collect and analyse data from the studies included in the review). It may also include meta-analysis (statistical methods to combine research) and economic evaluations based e.g. on decision modeling.

The BMJ Editors and the International Committee of Medical Journal
Editors define competing interests as including: financial relationships with industry (for example through employment, consultancies, stock, ownership, honoraria, and expert testimony), either directly or through immediate family; personal relationships; academic competition; and intellectual passion.

Source: BMJ Editors (http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/advice/editorial_policies.shtml#competing) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (http://www.icmje.org/index.html#conflict).