Using Cochrane Systematic Reviews in everyday healthcare Marta Dyson, Account Manager – Central & Eastern Europe mdyson@wiley.com
Information about healthcare is everywhere… but how do you know if one treatment works better than another, or if it will do more harm than good? What can healthcare professionals use to make sense of all the research going on around the world?
www.thecochranelibrary.com A collection of databases that contain high-quality, independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making Brings together research on the effectiveness of treatments and interventions The single most reliable source for evidence on the effects of healthcare THE COCHRANE LIBRARY A collection of databases that contain high quality independent evidence to inform healthcare decision making Brings together research on the effectiveness of treatments and interventions The single most reliable source of evidence on the effects of healthcare produced by The Cochrane Collaboration - a not for profit organisation whose aim is to improve healthcare everywhere And published online by Wiley-Blackwell at www.thecochranelibrary.com
Scope reviews the best evidence on 1,000’s of topics… The Cochrane Library reviews the best evidence on 1,000’s of topics… and sets the global standard for developing the tools to evaluate and report on research in healthcare and sets the global standard for developing the tools to evaluate and report on research in healthcare
a search is performed every second 1 abstract viewed every 2 seconds 1 Full Text review is downloaded every 3 seconds
Original Source
What is a Systematic Review? A Cochrane Systematic Review: identifies an intervention for a specific disease or other problem in healthcare, and determines whether or not this intervention works summarises the results of research gathered from Randomised Controlled Trials on a specific topic in a single document A Cochrane Systematic Review: identifies an intervention for a specific disease or other problem in healthcare, and determines whether or not this intervention works it summarises the results of research gathered from Randomised Controlled Trials on a specific topic within a single document
Structure Each systematic review addresses a clearly formulated question; for example: Can antibiotics help in alleviating the symptoms of a sore throat? All the existing primary research on a topic that meets certain criteria is searched for and collated, and then assessed using stringent guidelines, to establish whether or not there is conclusive evidence about a specific treatment. The reviews are updated regularly, ensuring that treatment decisions can be based on the most up-to-date and reliable evidence.
Record Format Abstract Plain Language Summary Background Objectives Methods Results Discussion http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/o/cochrane/clsysrev/articles/CD001364/frame.html
Each review comprises of an abstract and plain language summary
the full review in html or pdf format
Diagrams for studies included And Meta-Data Analysis. This is the statistical technique for assembling the results of several studies in a review into a single numerical estimate
It also includes Bibliographic links to online versions of references
Top 10 Reviews of 2010 Interventions for preventing falls in older people living in the community Interventions for preventing obesity in children Interventions for preventing falls in older people in nursing care facilities and hospitals Interventions for treating obesity in children Support surfaces for pressure ulcer prevention Discharge planning from hospital to home Interprofessional collaboration: effects of practice-based interventions on professional practice and healthcare outcomes Midwife-led versus other models of care for childbearing women Interventions for promoting smoking cessation during pregnancy Early skin-to-skin contact for mothers and their healthy newborn infants
The bottom line Without Cochrane Reviews, people making decisions are unlikely to be able to access and make full use of existing healthcare research.
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