This part describes additional issues and methods specific to the different types of questions: intervention, frequency, diagnostic test accuracy, risk factors and aetiology, prognosis and economic studies. Before reading the subsection of the specific question type you are interested in, we strongly recommend that you Wrst read all of Part 1.

Some important resources for additional reading beyond these subsections are included in the appendixes.

Appendix A covers some general tips from a book by McKibbon et al. (1999), including a search method developed by Boynton et al. (1998) for Wnding current systematic reviews and methods for searching on specific questions.

Appendix B describes some available software for performing the calculations and plots. None of the packages available is comprehensive, and they usually focus on a single question type. Even within a single question, more than one software package may be required to provide all the calculations and plots needed.