A real-world evaluation of the implementation of NLP technology in abstract screening of a systematic review

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creativework.keywords - en
COVID-19*
Humans
Natural Language Processing*
SARS-CoV-2
Seroepidemiologic Studies
Systematic Reviews as Topic
dc.contributor.author
Perlman-Arrow, Sara
Loo, Noel
Bobrovitz, Niklas
Yan, Tingting
Arora, Rahul K.
dc.date.accessioned
2024-03-15T18:55:39Z
dc.date.available
2024-03-15T18:55:39Z
dc.date.issued
2023-05-25
dc.description.abstract - en
The laborious and time-consuming nature of systematic review production hinders the dissemination of up-to-date evidence synthesis. Well-performing natural language processing (NLP) tools for systematic reviews have been developed, showing promise to improve efficiency. However, the feasibility and value of these technologies have not been comprehensively demonstrated in a real-world review. We developed an NLP-assisted abstract screening tool that provides text inclusion recommendations, keyword highlights, and visual context cues. We evaluated this tool in a living systematic review on SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence, conducting a quality improvement assessment of screening with and without the tool. We evaluated changes to abstract screening speed, screening accuracy, characteristics of included texts, and user satisfaction. The tool improved efficiency, reducing screening time per abstract by 45.9% and decreasing inter-reviewer conflict rates. The tool conserved precision of article inclusion (positive predictive value; 0.92 with tool vs. 0.88 without) and recall (sensitivity; 0.90 vs. 0.81). The summary statistics of included studies were similar with and without the tool. Users were satisfied with the tool (mean satisfaction score of 4.2/5). We evaluated an abstract screening process where one human reviewer was replaced with the tool's votes, finding that this maintained recall (0.92 one-person, one-tool vs. 0.90 two tool-assisted humans) and precision (0.91 vs. 0.92) while reducing screening time by 70%. Implementing an NLP tool in this living systematic review improved efficiency, maintained accuracy, and was well-received by researchers, demonstrating the real-world effectiveness of NLP in expediting evidence synthesis.
dc.description.sponsorship
Canadian Medical Association Joule Innovation Fund; Public Health Agency of Canada, Grant/Award Number: 2021-HQ-000056; Rhodes Scholarships; Robert Koch Institute; World Health Organization
dc.identifier.doi
https://doi.org/10.1002/jrsm.1636
dc.identifier.issn
1759-2879
dc.identifier.pubmedID
37230483
dc.identifier.uri
https://open-science.canada.ca/handle/123456789/2148
dc.language.iso
en
dc.publisher
John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
dc.rights - en
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
dc.rights - fr
Creative Commons Attribution-Pas d’Utilisation Commerciale 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
dc.rights.openaccesslevel - en
Gold
dc.rights.openaccesslevel - fr
Or
dc.rights.uri - en
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
dc.rights.uri - fr
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/deed.fr
dc.subject - en
Health
dc.subject - fr
Santé
dc.subject.en - en
Health
dc.subject.fr - fr
Santé
dc.title - en
A real-world evaluation of the implementation of NLP technology in abstract screening of a systematic review
dc.type - en
Article
dc.type - fr
Article
local.article.journalissue
4
local.article.journaltitle
Research Synthesis Methods
local.article.journalvolume
14
local.pagination
608-621
local.peerreview - en
Yes
local.peerreview - fr
Oui
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