A stepped approach to engage stakeholders in literature reviews: A rapid review and a meta-analysis.

Context:Traditional knowledge synthesis approaches can prove difficult to undertake due to their complexity and could shift away from the reality of the problem they want to address.Objective:Present a methodological approach to conduct a stepped knowledge synthesis in a very short timeline, while ensuring stakeholder engagement.Study design:A stepped approach combined the methods, engaging stakeholders at every stage: 1) rapid review of systematic reviews; 2) discussion workshop; 3) Delphi method; 4) secondary meta-analysis of data from primary studies.Dataset:We searched Medline, Embase, Cochrane, CINAHL and Web of Science for systematic reviews in 2010 or later.Intervention:Digital health interventions aiming to manage mental health problems in people with a pre-existing chronic disease.Outcome measures:Any reports on mental health outcomes in the rapid review and anxiety and depression outcomes in the meta-analysis.Results:1) We identified 35 systematic reviews leading to broad recommendations on use and safety of digital mental health in the adult population only. 2) The stakeholders were presented the results of the first step and indicated specific area of interest. 3) Nine research questions were used in an electronic Delphi and one question was prioritized and deemed relevant, important and feasible by the expert panel (n=16). 4) A meta-analysis of the primary studies included in the systematic reviews (84 of 708) identified that digital mental health interventions using online messaging and administration by a health professional were the most effective, but that all types of interventions were at least as effective as a face-to-face interventions.Conclusions:A stepped approach to knowledge synthesis makes it possible to answer quickly to the needs of knowledge users while ensuring the quality and relevance of findings to support decision-making.