THE
DISSEMINATION OF COCHRANE EVIDENCE
An
inventory of resources that use
Cochrane reviews
May 2004
contents
How to contribute to the inventory
1. Clinical guidelines and health technology assessment
5. Summaries and news bulletins
6. Textbooks and training resources
NOTES: The
Cochrane Collaboration does not endorse products available from other
organisations, and cannot guarantee the quality and accuracy of information
available from external sources.
This inventory is not a comprehensive list of all resources that use Cochrane reviews.
If you would like to make a contribution or correction, please see the sections
on What’s in the inventory and How to contribute to the inventory.
Prices and access details are subject to change at any time at the discretion
of the publishers or producers of the resource. For currency conversion, please
visit the OANDA website at www.oanda.com.
Acknowledgments
The Canadian Cochrane Centre has produced this
inventory on behalf of The Cochrane Collaboration. The Centre gratefully
acknowledges the financial support of The Cochrane Collaboration that enabled
the preparation of this inventory.
We also want to acknowledge and thank all those who
have prepared and maintained the Cochrane reviews used in the resources
documented in this inventory as well as the individuals and organizations that
identified the resources and provided much of the information.
Finally, we want to express our sincere appreciation
to Miranda Cumpston, Project Co-ordinator, who produced this important and
helpful inventory within a very limited period of time.
Kathie Clark
Co-Director
Canadian Cochrane Centre
INTRODUCTION
Background
The members of
The Cochrane Collaboration recognize the need to translate and interpret the
contents of The Cochrane Library to
make them more meaningful to various users and appropriate to local needs. The Cochrane Library is used by a broad
range of people interested in evidence-based health care, including consumers,
clinicians, policy makers, researchers, educators, students and others. Each of
these groups uses information in different ways, according to their different
purposes, fields of interest, levels of expertise and preferred level of
detail.
Within The Cochrane
Collaboration, Collaborative Review Groups and other contributors have
developed a wide range of resources that adapt and disseminate evidence from Cochrane
reviews and the other valuable health information in The Cochrane Library. As Cochrane reviews have become known
internationally as a source of high quality, reliable health information, other
groups have also begun to interpret, adapt and disseminate Cochrane reviews and
information derived from them.
This inventory is
the first phase of a broader project aiming to demonstrate the growing
influence of The Cochrane Collaboration on health care. This inventory is designed
to catalogue resources that publish and disseminate evidence derived from The Cochrane Library.
The purpose of
the inventory is to:
·
document how
Cochrane reviews are used in products and tools for dissemination;
·
demonstrate that
Cochrane reviews contribute to the quality and timeliness of other products;
and
·
demonstrate
that Cochrane reviews are used in many different ways to facilitate the
healthcare decision-making of consumers, clinicians and policy makers.
It is intended
that the inventory will provide practical information to demonstrate the value
of The Cochrane Library. The inventory may be used by Cochrane
contributors in a number of ways, such as to develop and extend promotional
strategies; to prevent duplication of resources; to make business cases for the
funding of Cochrane entities; or to support negotiations for national licences
to access The Cochrane Library.
What’s in the inventory?
The inventory has
been collated on the basis of recommendations and information provided by
contributors to The Cochrane Collaboration from around the world. A survey
requesting input to the inventory was sent to Collaborative Review Groups,
Fields, Methods Groups, Centres, contributing consumers, the Cochrane
Collaboration Steering Group, and The
Cochrane Library Users’ Group. The groups were invited to forward this
request to all interested parties, both within and outside the Collaboration,
with a view to obtaining as much information on as many relevant resources as
possible.
Contributors were
asked to provide information on any electronic or print resources that contain
information derived from the Cochrane
Database of Systematic Reviews, whether it be republishing Cochrane reviews
in their entirety, creating summaries, or any other health information derived
from Cochrane reviews. Our focus was on systematic and long-term use of
Cochrane evidence. For reasons of space, we did not include resources such as
individual journal articles, or the many individual clinical guidelines that do
not systematically include Cochrane reviews.
As the results
were collated, some additional research was undertaken to obtain more detailed
information about the resources listed. Where possible, descriptive material has
been taken directly from the web site where the resource is available.
How to contribute to the
inventory
Additional
information and corrections are welcomed and encouraged from anyone interested
in improving this resource. If you would like to contribute to the inventory,
please contact The Canadian Cochrane Network and Centre:
The Canadian Cochrane Network and Centre
Faculty of Health Sciences, HSC 2C1 Area
McMaster University
1200 Main Street West
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
L8N 3Z5
Phone: +1-905-525-9140 Ext. 22738
Fax: +1-905-577-0017
Email:
inventory
1. Clinical guidelines and health technology assessment
This
section includes organisations that produce clinical guidelines and health
technology assessment reports, and that systematically incorporate evidence
from Cochrane reviews where available. There are many other sources of clinical
guidelines that may incorporate Cochrane evidence.
Australian Safety and
Efficacy Register of New Interventional Procedures – Surgical (ASERNIP-S)
Best Practice Information
Sheets
National Co-ordinating
Centre for Health Technology Assessment (NCCHTA)
National Institute of Clinical
Excellence (NICE)
New Zealand Guidelines
Group (NZGG)
Nursing Best Practice
Guidelines
Scottish Intercollegiate
Guidelines Network (SIGN)
Australian Safety and Efficacy Register of New
Interventional Procedures – Surgical (ASERNIP-S)
Produced
by: Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS).
The ASERNIP-S mission is to provide
quality and timely assessments of the safety and efficacy of new and emerging
surgical technologies and techniques. ASERNIP-S provides systematic reviews of
the peer-reviewed literature; the establishment and facilitation of clinical
and research audits or trials, the identification and assessment of new and
emerging techniques and technologies by horizon scanning, and the production of
clinical practice guidelines. Consumer summaries are also produced to accompany
systematic reviews. Their aim is to improve the quality of health care through
the wide dissemination of our evidence-based research to surgeons, healthcare
providers and consumers, both nationally and internationally. ASERNIP‑S
consults The Cochrane Library for
reviews and studies as part of preparing evaluations.
Access:
Free of charge online at http://www.surgeons.org/asernip-s/. All new reviews are forwarded to the
relevant Section/Division of the RACS and/or specialist society. Executive
summaries are forwarded to Credentials Committees at all surgical hospitals in
Australia.
Target audience:
Surgeons, consumers, policy makers in Australia.
Language:
English.
Funding: Australian Government.
Cochrane contribution:
Cochrane evidence is used.
Issued/Updated:
Reviews are assessed within two years of publication and updated if necessary.
Best Practice Information Sheets
Produced by: Joanna
Briggs Institute, Australia
The
Joanna Briggs Institute has as its central focus the effectiveness of nursing
and allied health interventions, concentrating on health outcomes from the
client, community, clinical and economic perspectives. In order to provide
evidence-based practice guidelines for health professionals, the Institute
identifies questions of importance and conducts systematic reviews of the
evidence, unless an existing review is available from either the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
or the Database of Abstracts of Reviews
of Effects (DARE). On the basis of these reviews, the Institute develops
Best Practice Information Sheets, giving a concise summary of recommended
practice.
Access:
All but the most recent Best Practice Information Sheets are available online
free of charge at http://www.joannabriggs.edu.au. Full access and print copies are
available by subscription. Annual individual subscription costs A$185 in
Australia and New Zealand, £95 in the UK, €135 elsewhere in Europe, US$70 in
developing countries, and US$150 elsewhere.
Target audience:
Nurses, midwives allied health professionals, aged care professionals, nutritionists and dieticians,
physiotherapists, occupational therapists, podiatrists, medical radiation
professionals, complementary therapists, rural and remote practitioners, other
health professionals.
Language:
English. A limited number are also available in Italian and Japanese.
Funding:
Membership subscriptions.
Cochrane contribution: Cochrane
evidence is used. Permission is sought from the authors of the original review
before it is used to develop a Best Practice Information Sheet.
Issued/Updated:
Issued on average quarterly. Contents are reviewed at an annual meeting, and the
need for update determined.
EBM Guidelines (EBMG)
Produced
by: Duodecim Medical
Publications Ltd.
EBMG provides physicians with fast and easy
access to practice guidelines linked to the best available research evidence. EBMG provides clinical guidelines
relevant to the diagnosis and treatment of the wide range of diseases and
conditions encountered by the general practitioner. Concise guidelines are
linked to summaries of high‑quality supporting evidence. Cochrane reviews
are one of the primary sources of evidence used to develop EBMG. EBMG currently
includes over 900 guidelines, over 1900 evidence summaries, and more than 700
abstracts and full-text Cochrane reviews.
Access:
By subscription online at http://www.ebm-guidelines.com, on CD, via hand‑held devices or in
print form (Finnish and Russian versions only). Annual individual subscription
costs €99.
Target audience:
General practitioners, other physicians.
Language:
English, Estonian, Finnish, German (in 2004), Hungarian (in 2005), Russian.
Funding: The Duodecim Medical Society, Finland.
Cochrane contribution:
Cochrane evidence is used. Cochrane reviews and abstracts are republished.
Issued/Updated:
Issued twice a year. Updated regularly as contributing evidence, including
Cochrane reviews, is updated.
National Co-ordinating Centre for Health Technology
Assessment (NCCHTA)
NCCHTA
(UK) co-ordinates the Health Technology Assessment programme, a national programme of research
established by the Department of Health's Research and Development programme.
The purpose of the programme is to ensure that high-quality research information
on the costs, effectiveness and broader impact of health technologies is
produced in the most effective way for those who use, manage and provide care
in the NHS. NCCHTA identifies important
gaps in the knowledge base of the NHS about clinical and cost effectiveness of
interventions. Methods used for
identifying gaps include scanning the ‘Implications for research’ section of
new Cochrane reviews. Secondary research (including systematic reviews,
incorporating Cochrane information) are then commissioned to answer the
identified question. Increasingly, primary research including randomised
controlled trials is also commissioned. Assessments are published in the
monograph series, Health Technology
Assessment. NCCHTA works closely with the National Institute of Clinical
Excellence to identify issues for assessment and further research.
Access:
Monographs are available free of charge online at http://www.ncchta.org/ or on CD. Print copies can be ordered at
a cost of £20.
Target audience:
Clinicians, consumers and policy makers in the UK.
Language:
English.
Funding: Department of Health for England Research and
Development Programme.
Cochrane contribution:
Cochrane evidence is used to assess technology and identify gaps in research.
Issued/Updated:
Monographs issued as completed. CD updated 2-3 times per year.
National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE)
NICE
(UK) is a Special Health Authority for England and Wales. It is part of the
National Health Service (NHS), and its role is to provide patients, health
professionals and the public with authoritative, robust and reliable guidance
on current “best practice”. Guidance covers both individual health technologies
(including medicines, medical devices, diagnostic techniques, and procedures)
and the clinical management of specific conditions. NICE initiates the
development of clinical guidelines in response to requests from the Department
of Health and the Welsh Assembly Government. The guidelines are produced in consultation
with all key stakeholders by seven National Collaborating Centres (NCCs):
·
the NCC for
Acute Care, based at the Royal College of Surgeons;
·
the NCC for
Cancer, based at the Velindre NHS Trust;
·
the NCC for
Chronic Conditions, based at the Royal College of Physicians;
·
the NCC for
Mental Health, run jointly by the Royal College of Psychiatrists and British
Psychological Society;
·
the NCC for
Nursing and Supportive Care, based at the Royal College of Nursing;
·
the NCC for
Primary Care, run by the Royal College of General Practitioners; and
·
the NCC for
Women's and Children's Health, based at the Royal College of Obstetricians and
Gynaecologists.
A number of versions of each guideline are produced,
including a short form guideline, a quick reference guide and information for
consumers. The guidelines are produced in accordance with rigorous quality
standards. NICE methodology requires that Cochrane reviews be included at the
first stage of literature review. NICE also conducts health technology
appraisals using a similar methodology.
Access:
Free of charge online at http://www.nice.org.uk/, and print copies are distributed to key
NHS officers and clinicians in relevant fields.
Target audience:
Clinicians and consumers in England and Wales.
Language:
English. Consumer information is also available in Welsh.
Funding:
National Health Service.
Cochrane contribution:
Cochrane evidence is used.
Issued/Updated:
Updates are routinely completed within 5-6 years of publication.
New Zealand Guidelines Group (NZGG)
The
NZGG is an independent, not-for-profit organisation set up to promote effective
delivery of health and disability services, based on evidence. All
stakeholders, including the Ministry of Health, recognise that it is essential
to the sustainability and acceptability of the Group's role that it remains
entirely independent from specific vested interests. NZGG works with a
broad-based collaborative network of clinical leaders, opinion leaders and
consumers, designing tools to promote an evidence-based culture within the New
Zealand health and disability sector. These tools include evidence-based
guidelines, the circulation of the latest evidence-based news from New Zealand
and overseas, links to The Cochrane Collaboration and training. In developing
clinical guidelines, the NZGG incorporates Cochrane reviews where available.
The Cochrane Menstrual Disorders and Subfertility Review Group was directly
involved in the preparation of some recent guidelines: An Evidence-based Guideline for the Management of Uterine Fibroids (2000), Guidelines for the Management of Heavy
Menstrual Bleeding (1998), and Hormone
Replacement Therapy – Guideline Summary (2004). The Cochrane
Musculoskeletal Injuries Review Group was involved in the development of the Prevention of hip fracture amongst people
aged 65 years and over (2003), Acute
management and immediate rehabilitation after hip fracture amongst people aged
65 years and over (2003), and The Diagnosis and Management of Soft Tissue Knee Injuries:
Internal Derangements (2003).
Access:
Free of charge online at http://www.nzgg.org.nz/, with guidelines from other New Zealand
health organisations.
Target audience:
Clinicians.
Language:
English.
Funding:
New Zealand Ministry of Health and other government agencies.
Cochrane contribution:
Cochrane evidence is used. Collaborative Review Groups directly involved in the
production of some guidelines.
Issued/Updated:
Unknown.
Nursing Best Practice Guidelines
Produced by:
The Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, Canada
The purpose of this project is to support
Ontario Nurses by providing them with Best Practice Guidelines for client care.
A broad cross-section of Ontario nurses, organizations, researchers and
associations have committed themselves to project involvement. Five broad
clinical topic areas have been identified for the project to focus on:
gerontology, primary health care, home health care, mental health care, and
emergency care. The Cochrane Library
is included in the search strategy for creating the guidelines, and Cochrane
reviews are incorporated into the Guidelines where available.
Access:
Online free of charge at http://www.rnao.org/bestpractices/, or in print form for between CA$15-$30.
Target audience:
Nurses.
Language:
English.
Funding:
Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, Canada.
Cochrane contribution:
Cochrane evidence is used.
Issued/Updated:
Unknown.
SBU Reports
Produced by:
The Swedish Council on Technology Assessment in Health Care (SBU)
SBU
has the mandate of the Swedish Government to comprehensively assess healthcare
technology from medical, economic, ethical, and social standpoints. The SBU
reports are based on systematic critical reviews of the scientific literature.
Scientific assessment in health care aims to identify interventions that offer
the greatest benefits for patients while utilizing resources in the most
efficient way. Reports by SBU are intended for those who make important choices
regarding which healthcare options to use. Frequently an assessment addresses a
broad subject area – for example, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of
osteoporosis. A comprehensive and thorough assessment is conducted by systematically
searching, selecting, reviewing, and evaluating research findings from around
the globe. One of the information sources used when searching for relevant
studies is The Cochrane Library. Cochrane reviews that meet inclusion
criteria for any aspect of the subject area to be assessed will be reviewed and
considered for inclusion. SBU reports that have incorporated Cochrane reviews
include Prevention, Diagnosis and
Treatment of Osteoporosis, Smoking Cessation Methods, and Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of
Venous Thromboembolism.
Access:
Available online free of charge at http://www.sbu.se and in print form.
Target audience:
Clinicians and other professional caregivers, policy makers, consumers.
Language:
Swedish. Summaries, conclusions and a limited number of full reports are
available in English.
Funding:
Swedish Government.
Cochrane contribution:
Cochrane evidence is used.
Issued/Updated:
When required.
Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN)
The
objective of SIGN is to improve the quality of health care for patients in
Scotland by reducing variation in practice and outcome, through the development
and dissemination of national clinical guidelines containing recommendations
for effective practice based on current evidence. The membership of SIGN
includes all the medical specialties, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, professions
allied to medicine, patients, health service managers, social services, and
researchers. SIGN has a programme of 60 evidence-based clinical guidelines
covering a wide range of topics. Many of the SIGN guidelines relate to the NHS
priority areas of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and mental health. Topics are
selected if there is evidence of variation in practice that affects patient
outcomes and a strong research base providing evidence of effective practice.
In addition, the potential benefit to patients must be sufficient to justify
the resources invested in the development and implementation of a SIGN
guideline. The evidence-based guidelines developed by SIGN are derived from a
systematic review of the scientific evidence. The Cochrane Library is included in the literature search strategy
for SIGN guidelines. SIGN is a member of the AGREE (Appraisal of Guidelines,
Research and Evaluation) collaboration, an international network of guideline
development and appraisal programmes. Members of the AGREE collaboration all
develop guidelines according to the same basic principles of multidisciplinary
involvement in developing recommendations based on a systematic review and
critical appraisal of the evidence base. Examples of guidelines that
incorporate Cochrane reviews include Postnatal
depression and puerperal psychosis (2002), which includes reviews by the
Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Review Group, and Prevention and
management of hip fracture in older people (2002), which draws on the work of the Cochrane
Musculoskeletal Injuries Review Group.
Access:
Free of charge online at http://www.sign.ac.uk/, on CD, and print copies distributed
within the NHS in Scotland via a network of Guideline Co-ordinators in each NHS
Trust and Health Board.
Target audience:
Clinicians in Scotland.
Language:
English.
Funding:
Quality Improvement Scotland.
Cochrane contribution:
Cochrane evidence is used.
Issued/Updated:
CD issued every six months.
Therapeutics Initiative
Produced by: Department
of Pharmacology and Therapeutics and Department of Family Practice, University
of British Columbia, Canada.
The
Therapeutics Initiative conducts systematic reviews to assess new and existing
drug therapies by the standards of the best evidence of clinical effectiveness
in the scientific literature, and to use these assessments to establish cost‑effective
first choice drugs and recommendations for their optimal clinical use. The
Initiative designs and implements a variety of educational strategies to
deliver the evidence and recommendations to physicians and pharmacists, and
evaluates the impact of these strategies on physician prescribing patterns. The
Initiative also acts as an expert resource to Pharmacare, the provincial drug
benefit program. The Cochrane Library
is part of the literature search strategy used by the Initiative in reviewing
each drug therapy. Results are published in a number of formats, including Therapeutics Letter, a newsletter
focusing on problematic therapeutic issues.
Access: Therapeutics Letter and further
information about the Initiative are available free of charge online at http://www.ti.ubc.ca/.
Target audience: Clinicians,
policy makers.
Language:
English, Spanish (http://www.ti.ubc.ca/espanol/TLe.htm).
Funding: None
declared. Members of the committee responsible
for approving completed reviews who have a conflict of interest on a particular
drug, must declare this and absent themselves from the relevant discussion and
vote.
Cochrane contribution:
Cochrane evidence is used.
Issued/Updated: Therapeutics Letter is issued bimonthly.
2. Electronic databases
This section includes electronic databases of health
information that incorporate Cochrane reviews or evidence derived from Cochrane
reviews, including resources such as libraries and point-of-care decision-making
tools.
National
electronic Library for Health (NeLH)
National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Northern
Ontario Virtual Library (NOVL)
Physiotherapy
Evidence Database (PEDro)
Physicians’
Information and Education Resource (PIER)
The
WHO Reproductive Health Library
The
Cancer Library
Produced by: The Cochrane Cancer Network; Update
Software Ltd.
The Cancer Library is an electronic resource designed to
meet the growing need for good evidence-based information on cancer. The
Library includes:
·
full text
cancer reviews, taken from the Cochrane
Database of Systematic Reviews;
·
links to
cancer-related web sites and clinical guidelines;
·
a register
of published controlled trials in cancer; and
·
reports of
non-Cochrane reviews of the effects of cancer treatment.
Access: Free of charge online at http://www.update-software.com/Cancer/.
Target
audience: Clinicians.
Language: English.
Funding: None
declared.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
reviews are republished. Created by the Cochrane Cancer Network.
Issued/Updated: Not updated.
Clinical Information Service
Produced
by: Joanna Briggs
Institute, Australia
The Joanna Briggs Institute has as its central focus
the effectiveness of nursing and allied health interventions, concentrating on
health outcomes from the client, community, clinical and economic perspectives.
The Clinical Information Service is a
database of information including evidence summaries of current research in a
wide range of areas to inform and assist clinical practice. These evidence
summaries are based on a number of databases including the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects
(DARE).
Access: Available online at http://www.joannabriggs.edu.au to
institutional subscribers only. Annual institutional subscription cost varies
according to the nature of the institution.
Target
audience: Nurses,
midwives allied health professionals, aged care professionals, nutritionists and
dieticians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, podiatrists, medical radiation
professionals, complementary therapists, rural and remote practitioners, other
health professionals.
Language: English.
Funding: Membership subscriptions.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane evidence
is used.
Issued/Updated: Updated annually.
La Cochrane Library Plus
Produced
by: The Iberoamerican
Cochrane Centre; Update Software Ltd.
La Cochrane Library Plus contains Spanish translations of over
1000 Cochrane reviews, and all the documents published in The Cochrane Library (with the exception of those Cochrane reviews that
have been translated into Spanish). All Cochrane reviews will ultimately be
translated into Spanish. It
also contains five other sections in Spanish, of particular interest to healthcare
workers in Spain and Latin America.
Access: By subscription, online at
http://www.update-software.com/clibplus/clibplus.htm.
Free of charge to users in Spain and some Latin American countries covered by
national subscriptions. Individual annual subscriptions cost €265 or US $265
plus applicable taxes.
Target
audience: Clinicians.
Language: Spanish.
Funding: Merck,
Sharp & Dohme; el Instituto de Salud Carlos III; el Ministerio de Sanidad y
Consumo, Spain.
Cochrane
contribution: Includes
the entire contents of The Cochrane
Library. Created by the Iberoamerican Cochrane Centre.
Issued/Updated: Quarterly.
DynaMed
Produced
by: Dynamic Medical
Information Systems, LLC, USA.
DynaMed provides the best available evidence on
around 1800 clinical topics in a format designed for rapid browsing by
healthcare professionals. Topics are included with standardised templates and
outline formats so clinicians can directly navigate to information of interest.
Information is synthesised to reduce the need for reading multiple search entry
results. The content is updated daily through systematic literature
surveillance encompassing more than 400 journals directly or indirectly through
journal review services and multiple sources of systematic reviews, including the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
All articles undergoing systematic surveillance are evaluated for clinical
relevance and compared to existing information for relative validity before
summarisation.
Access: By subscription online at http://www.dynamicmedical.com. Free
of charge to authors, reviewers and developing countries (by request).
Individual annual subscription costs US$200, with discounts for students.
Target
audience: Clinicians,
educators.
Language: English.
Funding: National
Science Foundation, USA.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
evidence is used.
Issued/Updated: Daily.
HealthInsite
Produced
by: Australian Department
of Health and Ageing.
HealthInsite was conceived to bridge the gap
between the increasing potential for consumers to access health information via
the Internet, and the absence of quality control of web information. HealthInsite
indexes the web site content of over 70 quality-assessed Information Partners.
In this way, the site acts as a single entry point to quality information from
leading health information providers, including peak health organisations,
government agencies and educational and research institutions. Users are able to
access information ranging from daily health needs, such as nutrition, to
information related to life events, such as having a baby. Specific information
topics, such as diabetes or asthma, are also available. Informed Health Online is a HealthInsite Information Partner, giving access to consumer summaries of Cochrane reviews and
Hot Topics.
Access: Free of charge online at http://www.healthinsite.gov.au.
Target
audience: Consumers,
health professionals.
Language: English.
Funding: None
declared.
Cochrane
contribution: Summaries
of Cochrane reviews are indexed.
Issued/Updated: As Informed
Health Online is updated.
id21 Health Highlights
Produced
by: id21, Effective
Health Care Alliance Programme (EHCAP), UK.
id21 is a fast-track research reporting
service that aims to bring UK-based development research findings and policy
recommendations to policy makers and development practitioners worldwide. id21 aims to be part of the process of
putting policy into practice. id21
provides an online searchable database of recent research on international
development issues, giving one-page research 'highlights' written in plain
English, quick to read and easy to understand. The site also provides contact
details, hyperlinks and information about source materials to ease the flow of
knowledge and advice between researcher and research user. The focus is on
issues relevant to developing countries, including infectious diseases,
non-communicable diseases, maternal and child health, environmental health,
etc. Systematic reviews from the Cochrane Infectious Diseases Review Group are
among the resources included, with summaries written by Cochrane reviewers. All
entries are seen and approved by the original researchers.
Access: Free of charge online at http://www.id21.org/health/index.html.
Target
audience: Development
professionals, policy makers, researchers.
Language: English.
Funding: UK
Department for International Development.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
reviews are summarised. Summaries are written by the Cochrane Infectious
Diseases Review Group.
Issued/Updated: Unknown.
InfoRetriever
Produced
by: InfoPOEMS Inc.
Patient-Oriented Evidence that Matters (POEMS) are
quality-assessed articles that present evidence with the potential to influence
clinical practice. InfoRetriever
allows clinicians simultaneously to search the complete POEMs database,
including over 2300 POEMs sourced from over 100 journals, as well as decision
rules, diagnostic tools, selected guidelines and the abstracts of all Cochrane
reviews. The database allows clinicians to look up and apply information and
tools rapidly while they practice. All results are organized and presented for immediate
application to practise, designed by clinicians for clinicians. Extras include
an ICD9 look-up to find the right codes fast, an E/M coding assistant for
payments, guided searches of MEDLINE and other online bibliographic databases,
and indexed links to patient education materials on the Internet. Subscribers
also receive daily email updates of new POEMS.
Access: By subscription, online at http://www.infopoems.com/ or via PC or
hand-held devices. Individual annual subscription costs US$249.
Target
audience: General
practitioners. Expansion is planned to include paediatrics,
obstetrics/gynaecology, general internal medicine, general surgery and
orthopaedics.
Language: English.
Funding: None
declared.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
abstracts are republished. Physicians involved in producing the resource are
members of the Cochrane Primary Health Care Field.
Issued/Updated: Three times a year.
The Mental Health Library
Produced
by: Participants in the
European Union EU-PSI Project, including:
·
the Cochrane
Dementia and Cognitive Improvement Review Group;
·
the Cochrane
Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis Review Group;
·
the Cochrane
Developmental, Psychosocial and Learning Problems Review Group;
·
the Cochrane
Drugs and Alcohol Review Group;
·
the Cochrane
Schizophrenia Review Group;
·
the Centre
for Reviews and Dissemination, University of York, UK;
·
the
University of Munich, Germany;
·
the
University of Helsinki, Finland;
·
the National
Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health (STAKES) Mental Health
Group, Finland; and
·
Update
Software Ltd.
Published by Wiley Interscience.
Much information on what helps or harms people with
psychiatric, psychological, cognitive, learning or behavioural problems is
conflicting and out of date. The Mental
Health Library is designed to address this by making the best evidence
available in a single resource. The
Mental Health Library comprises the full text of all relevant Cochrane
reviews, a study-based register containing hand-selected and coded trials,
assessments of guidelines and several other collections including an economic
evaluation collection.
Access: Prototype version available free of
charge online at
http://www.update-software.com/mhl/mhlogon.htm.
Future editions will be available by subscription.
Target
audience: Clinicians.
Language: English.
Funding: European Union.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
reviews are republished. Produced by a number of Cochrane Collaborative Review
Groups.
Issued/Updated: Regular updates are intended.
National electronic Library for Health (NeLH)
Produced
by: National Health
Service (NHS), England.
The NeLH Programme is designed to provide rapid
access to electronic information, primarily for NHS staff. Its focus is on the
development of knowledge skills in specific professions with links to national
initiatives including best practice. The NeLH collection focuses on high-quality
electronic resources, and the library provides a link to The Cochrane Library as well as access to Hitting the Headlines health
news summaries.
Access: Free of charge online at http://www.nelh.nhs.uk/. Access to The Cochrane Library is free of charge
in the UK through a national subscription.
Target
audience: Clinicians in
England.
Language: English.
Funding: Department of Health for England.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
information is used. Links to The
Cochrane Library.
Issued/Updated: Links to current edition of The Cochrane Library. Hitting the Headlines issued within 48
hours of publication of a relevant news story.
National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development (NICHD)
The mission of the NICHD (USA) is to ensure that
every person is born healthy and wanted, that women suffer no harmful effects
from the reproductive process, and that all children have the chance to fulfil
their potential for a healthy and productive life, free of disease or
disability. To reach this goal, the NICHD conducts and supports research,
examines the impact of disability and disease, and sponsors training so that
research can continue. The NICHD web site contains a range of key information
and links in the area of child health, including the full text of reviews by
the Cochrane Neonatal Review Group.
Access: Free of charge online at http://www.nichd.nih.gov/cochrane/default.htm.
Target
audience: Clinicians.
Language: English.
Funding: National Institutes of Health, USA.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
reviews are republished.
Issued/Updated: Unknown.
Netting the Evidence
Produced
by: School of Health and
Related Research, University of Sheffield, UK.
Netting
the Evidence is intended
to provide an introduction to evidence-based health care by providing support
and access to helpful organisations and useful learning resources, such as an
evidence-based virtual library, software and journals. Among these resources, Netting the Evidence provides access to
abstracts of Cochrane reviews, with links to The Cochrane Library.
Access: Free of charge online at http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/~scharr/ir/netting/.
Access to The Cochrane Library is
free of charge in the UK through a national subscription.
Target
audience: Clinicians.
Language: English and Spanish (http://www.infodoctor.org/rafabravo/netting.htm).
Funding: None declared.
Cochrane
contribution: Links to The Cochrane Library.
Issued/Updated: Links to current edition of The Cochrane Library.
Northern Ontario Virtual Library (NOVL)
Produced
by: Health Sciences
North, Ontario, Canada.
NOVL is committed to providing health practitioners
in Northern Ontario, who may not have
local access to biomedical information resources, with efficient and
equitable access to quality information at the point of need. NOVL provides
online access to a selected suite of quality, online biomedical databases, full
text journals and books, and other electronic resources including The Cochrane Library.
Access: Free of charge to eligible clinicians at
http://www.novl.ca/.
Target
audience: Clinicians in
Northern Ontario, Canada.
Language: English.
Funding: Northwestern Ontario Medical Program,
Northeastern Ontario Medical Education Corporation.
Cochrane
contribution: Provides
access to The Cochrane Library.
Issued/Updated: Links to current edition of The Cochrane Library.
Physiotherapy
Evidence Database (PEDro)
Produced by: Centre for
Evidence-Based Physiotherapy, University of Sydney, Australia.
PEDro has been developed to give rapid access
to bibliographic details and abstracts of randomised controlled trials,
systematic reviews and evidence-based clinical practice guidelines in
physiotherapy. Most trials on PEDro have been rated for quality to help users
discriminate between trials that are likely to be valid and interpretable and
those that are not. The trials, reviews and guidelines on PEDro are
located by ongoing searches of: the trials database of the Cochrane Rehabilitation
and Related Therapies Field; the Cochrane
Database of Systematic Reviews; the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled
Trials (CENTRAL); the Database of
Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE); MEDLINE; Embase; CINAHL; PsycInfo;
and the National Guideline Clearinghouse. Trials, reviews and guidelines are
also identified by citation tracking and through notifications by PEDro
users.
Access: Free of charge
online at http://www.pedro.fhs.usyd.edu.au/.
Target audience:
Physiotherapists, other health professionals, consumers.
Language: English for static
and dynamic pages. Arabic, French, German, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish
for static pages only.
Funding: Motor Accident
Authority of New South Wales; New South Wales Department of Health;
Physiotherapists’ Registration Boards of New South Wales, Queensland, South
Australia and Western Australia; Australian Physiotherapy Association; National Roads and Motorists' Association
Limited; American Physical Therapy Association.
Cochrane contribution: Cochrane
clinical trials registers are used. Cochrane review abstracts are republished.
Produced in collaboration with the Cochrane Rehabilitation and Related
Therapies Field. The Advisory Panel to the Centre for Evidence-Based
Physiotherapy includes two members from the Cochrane Collaboration.
Issued/Updated: Fortnightly.
Physicians’ Information and Education Resource (PIER)
Produced by: American College of Physicians.
PIER is an online decision-support tool designed for rapid point-of-care
delivery of current, evidence-based guidance for clinicians. PIER consists of
modules focusing on the diagnosis and treatment of hundreds of the most common
diseases, divided into five topic types: diseases, screening and prevention,
complementary and alternative medicine, ethical and legal issues, and
procedures. Information in PIER is presented in a "drill down"
format, in which the user clicks from an opening guidance statement for more
specific information. Clicking on a guidance statement brings up a specific
recommendation and its supporting rationale, evidence, and comments. Recommendation
statements have letter grades that alert physicians to the strength of
supporting evidence, which may be drawn from multiple levels, such as
randomized trials, observational studies, or expert opinion. Cochrane reviews
are among the supporting evidence used to create PIER modules.
Access: Available to ACP members only, either
free of charge online at http://pier.acponline.org
or via hand-held devices by subscription. Individual annual subscription costs
US$99.
Target
audience: Clinicians in
the USA.
Language: English.
Funding: None declared.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
evidence is used.
Issued/Updated: New modules added monthly.
Prodigy
Produced
by: Sowerby Centre for Health Informatics, UK.
Prodigy uses computers to support decision-making
within the GP consultation, to enable easy access to knowledge in an
educational context and to support reflection through personal and practice
benchmarking using computer queries. Prodigy
software integrates into all major clinical computer systems to provide
management advice following a diagnosis of around 131 conditions. The advice
provided includes prescribing and non-drug advice, doctor/patient shared
screens, patient information leaflets, when to investigate and when to refer.
There is also a wealth of clinical background information for use outside the
consultation, as reference or learning material. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews forms part of the standard
literature search protocol used to develop Prodigy
clinical guidance. An education and training programme is also available to
clinicians in England, and a book format is currently under development.
Access: Free of charge online at http://www.prodigy.nhs.uk and to GPs in
England through their clinical system supplier.
Target
audience: General
practitioners in the UK.
Language: English.
Funding: UK Department of Health.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
evidence is used.
Issued/Updated: Unknown.
The Renal Health Library
Produced
by: The Cochrane Renal Review
Group; Update Software Ltd; Wiley Interscience.
The
Renal Health Library is
an electronic library of resources for the nephrology community. It was
developed to assist and support the development of quality evidence-based
practice and research. The Renal Health
Library contains:
·
Cochrane
reviews on kidney disease;
·
references
to over 4000 randomised controlled trials in kidney disease from the Cochrane
Renal Review Group's Renal Trials Register, including 650 abstracts from
conference proceedings;
·
over 50
reports of ongoing randomised controlled trials; and
·
information
about The Cochrane Collaboration, the Cochrane Renal Review Group and the
systematic review process.
Access: Free of charge either online at http://www.update-software.com/renalhealth/
or on CD, ordered from http://www.cochrane-renal.org/publications.php.
Target audience: Renal physicians, nurses, researchers,
policy makers, related health professionals, consumers.
Language: English.
Funding: Amgen Inc.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
reviews are republished. Produced by the Cochrane Renal Review Group.
Issued/Updated: Periodically.
Treatobacco.net
Produced
by: Society for Research
on Nicotine and Tobacco and the World Health Organization, Europe.
Treatobacco.net is a resource for those
working on the treatment of tobacco dependence throughout the world. It
presents evidence-based information about the treatment of tobacco dependence,
including efficacy, safety, demographics and health effects, health economics,
and policy. Key findings,
commentaries and supporting references, including Cochrane reviews, are
collated and reviewed by a panel of international experts.
Access: Free of charge online at http://treatobacco.net.
Target audience: Clinicians, nurses, pharmacists,
dentists, psychologists, researchers, policy makers, regulators, consumers.
Language: Arabic, Chinese, English, French,
German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish.
Funding: None declared.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
evidence is used.
Issued/Updated: Periodically.
UpToDate
Produced by: UpToDate Inc., USA.
UpToDate is a clinical information resource
created by a community of 3,000 expert clinicians designed to give physicians
concise, practical answers to clinical questions at the point of care. UpToDate topics summarise the published
evidence (including Cochrane reviews) and make specific recommendations for
patient care, enabling physicians to:
·
access the
most current information within their specialty;
·
recognize
the clinical manifestations of a wide variety of disorders and describe current
options for diagnosis, management and therapy, including the efficacy, doses,
and interactions of individual drugs; and
·
identify
optimal screening and prevention strategies.
UpToDate is an official educational program of, recommended by, or produced in
cooperation with eight leading medical societies in the USA.
Access: By subscription online at http://www.uptodate.com, on CD and via
hand-held devices. Annual individual subscription costs US$495 with discounts
for trainees and renewed subscriptions.
Target
audience: Clinicians.
Language: English.
Funding: UpToDate
accepts no advertising or sponsorships.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
evidence is used.
Issued/Updated: Every four months, with additional
online updates for breaking news.
Videns-og Forskningscenter for Alternativ Behandling
(ViFAB) (Knowledge and Research Centre for Alternative Medicine)
ViFAB is a non-profit, independent institution
endorsed and organized under the Danish Ministry of Health. The Centre is dedicated
to exploring complementary and alternative therapies and herbal medicine, to
raising knowledge of such therapies and their effects, to furthering and promoting
research in this area, and to assisting the dialogue between healthcare
providers, complementary and alternative therapists and healthcare consumers.
The web site includes information on and links to Cochrane reviews relevant to
alternative medicines.
Access: Free of charge online at http://www.vifab.dk/.
Target
audience: Consumers,
clinicians, alternative therapists.
Language: Danish.
Funding: Danish
Ministry of Health.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
information is used.
Issued/Updated: Unknown.
The WHO Reproductive Health Library
Produced by: Update Software Ltd, The WHO Department
of Reproductive Health and Research, The Cochrane Collaboration, and partner
institutions in low- and middle-income countries, including:
·
in South
Africa, the Effective Care Research Unit (ECRU) at the University of Witwatersrand;
·
in Thailand,
the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Khon Kaen University and the
Thai Cochrane Network (TCN);
·
in Mexico,
The Population Council Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean;
·
in Argentina,
the Centro Rosarino de Estudios Perinatales (CREP);
·
in China, the
International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital (IPMCHH); and
·
in the USA,
Family Health International (FHI).
This is an annual electronic review journal that focuses on
evidence-based solutions to reproductive health problems in low- and middle-income
countries. The Library is the main dissemination tool of the Mapping Best
Reproductive Health Practices Initiative. The Library includes:
·
editorials
relevant to reproductive health and evidence-based decision-making in
developing countries;
·
beneficial
and harmful practices categorised by the level of evidence to help policy makers
and clinicians make sound practical decisions;
·
systematic
reviews (including Cochrane reviews) and expert commentaries on the relevance
of systematic review findings, and practical aspects with management
recommendations;
·
implementation
aids designed to help clinicians use research evidence in practice;
·
scientific
articles on research synthesis methodology, facilitating the interpretation of the
results of systematic reviews and randomized controlled trials; and
·
internet
links to evidence-based medicine web sites and a register of funding agencies,
NGOs and other organisations in the field.
Access: On CD, free of charge to individuals in
low-to-middle income countries, or by subscription. Annual individual
subscription costs US$50. Subscription information is available at
http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/rhl/dissemination.html
and
http://www.update-software.com/RHL/
(English), or
http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/rhl_es/dissemination.html
(Spanish)
Target audience: Clinicians.
Language: English and Spanish.
Funding: None declared.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
reviews are featured and republished.
Issued/Updated: Annually.
3. Indexes
This section includes resources that provide
an index of Cochrane reviews relevant to particular areas of interest.
Enhanced Reference List of Neurological Reviews
Policy Liaison Project web site
Enhanced Reference List of Neurological Reviews
Produced
by:
Cochrane Neurological Network.
This is a list of references of
neurological interest, taken from two databases within The Cochrane Library: the
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and the Database of Abstracts of
Reviews of Effects (DARE). The references are organised by disease area,
and include added subsets of information not found in The Cochrane Library.
Access: Free of charge online at http://www.cochraneneuronet.org/downloads/ottobre%202003-REVIEWS.pdf.
Target
audience:
Neurologists.
Language: English.
Funding: Astra Zeneca.
Cochrane
contribution:
Cochrane reviews are indexed. Produced by the Cochrane Neurological Network.
Issued/Updated: Quarterly.
Evidence from Systematic Reviews of Research Relevant
to Implementing the 'Wider Public Health' Agenda
Produced
by:
Centre for Reviews and Dissemination UK, Cochrane Collaboration, Campbell
Collaboration.
This is a report summarising the findings
of systematic reviews of research evidence relevant to the UK Government White
Paper on Public Health. The White Paper (published in 1999) – Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation –
focuses on “the main killers”, including cancer, coronary heart disease and
stroke, accidents and mental illness. The White Paper also highlights other
determinants and dimensions of health, including material factors such as
poverty, low wages, unemployment, poor education, sub-standard housing, crime
and disorder, and a polluted environment. The report is organised according to
the White Paper’s policy measures in each of the four main areas: cancer,
coronary heart disease and stroke, accidents, and mental health. For each
policy measure, a summary of the evidence as well as references to specific
systematic reviews of evidence are included. As a starting point for informing
the development of relevant strategies in areas of ‘the wider public health’,
sections on education, social care and social welfare, and crime, drugs and
alcohol have been included as additional resources. These sections also include
summaries and references to relevant systematic reviews.
Access: Free of charge online at http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/crd/wph.htm, or in print form, ordered from the web
site for £20.
Target
audience:
National Health Service (NHS) and UK Government staff.
Language: English.
Funding: NHS
Cochrane
contribution:
Cochrane reviews are indexed and summarised. Authors include contributors to
The Cochrane Collaboration in the UK.
Issued/Updated: Unknown.
Policy Liaison Project web site
Produced by: The Australasian Cochrane Centre.
The
web site has been developed as part of a collaborative initiative between the
Australian Department of Health and Ageing and the Australasian Cochrane Centre
to encourage and support evidence-based approaches to policy making underpinned
by Cochrane reviews. The web site includes summaries of Cochrane reviews in the
Australian National Health Priority Areas (NHPAs): arthritis and
musculoskeletal conditions, asthma, cancer, cardiovascular health, diabetes,
injury prevention, and mental health. Conclusions from the reviews are
summarised to produce action-oriented messages and a list of research gaps. The
web site also includes an outline of Cochrane Collaboration activity in each
NHPA. Summaries of reviews from the Cochrane Effective Practice and
Organisation of Care Review Group (EPOC) and the Consumers and Communication Review
Group are also published on the web site.
Access: Currently only available to staff of the
Australian Department of Health and Ageing, although negotiations are underway
to make the site freely available.
Target
audience:
Policy makers.
Language: English.
Funding: Australian
Department of Health and Ageing.
Cochrane
contribution:
Cochrane reviews are indexed and summarised. Web site and summaries produced by
the Australasian Cochrane Centre.
Issued/Updated: Quarterly, as The Cochrane Library is updated.
PubMed
Produced by: National Center for Biotechnology
Information, National Library of Medicine, USA.
PubMed,
a service of the National Library of Medicine, includes over 14 million
citations for biomedical articles back to the 1950s. These citations are from
MEDLINE and additional life science journals. PubMed includes links to many
sites providing full text articles and other related resources. Bibliographic
citations and author abstracts are indexed from more than 4,600 biomedical journals
published in the United States and 70 other countries, including the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
Access: Free of charge online at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed.
Target
audience:
Clinicians, researchers, policy makers, consumers.
Language: English. Content coverage is worldwide,
but most records are from English-language sources or have English abstracts.
Funding: National Institutes of Health, USA.
Cochrane
contribution:
Cochrane information is indexed.
Issued/Updated:
Index is updated as The Cochrane Library
is updated.
4. Journals
This
section includes journals that regularly or systematically publish articles
related to Cochrane reviews, such as complete reviews, summaries or expert
commentaries.
European Journal of
Vascular and Endovascular Surgery: EJVES Extra
Huisarts en Wetenschap
(GP and Science)
The Journal of the
Philippine Dermatological Society (JPDS)
The Journal of
Evidence-Based Dental Practice
ACP Journal Club
Produced
by: American College of Physicians.
ACP
Journal Club's general purpose is to select from the
biomedical literature those articles reporting individual studies and
systematic reviews that warrant immediate attention by physicians attempting to
keep pace with important advances in internal medicine. These articles are
summarized in "value added" abstracts and comments are provided by
clinical experts. More than 150 journals are reviewed to identify articles that
meet ACP Journal Club criteria,
including the Cochrane Database of
Systematic Reviews. The specific purposes of ACP Journal Club are to:
·
detect,
using pre-stated criteria, the best original and review articles on the cause,
course, diagnosis, clinical prediction, prevention, treatment, or economics of
medical disorders managed by internists and related subspecialists, and on
quality improvement and continuing medical education intervention trials in
internal medicine;
·
summarize
this literature in the form of "structured abstracts" that describe
the objectives, methods, results, and evidence-based conclusions of studies in
a reproducible, accurate, and applicable fashion;
·
provide
brief, highly expert commentaries on the context of each article, its methods,
and clinical applications; and
·
disseminate
the summaries in a timely fashion to internists and internists-in-training in
as large numbers as resources permit.
Access:
Available in print form and online at http://www.acpjc.org/. Free to members of the American College
of Physicians, or by subscription. Annual individual subscription costs US$90
per year, with discounts for medical students and recent graduates.
Target audience:
Clinicians.
Language:
English.
Funding:
None declared.
Cochrane contribution:
Cochrane reviews are summarised.
Issued/Updated:
Issued bimonthly. Articles are reviewed every 5 years and either updated or
removed from the web site and archived.
American Family Physician
Produced
by: American Academy of Family Physicians.
American Family Physician
is a peer-reviewed journal whose chief objective is to provide high quality
continuing medical education for family physicians and other primary care
clinicians. In addition to original material, such as evidence-based clinical
reviews to assist family physicians in patient care, the journal includes
summaries of selected articles from other medical journals. The journal
regularly includes a segment entitled “Cochrane for clinicians: putting
evidence into practice”, in which an abstract of a Cochrane review is presented
with an interpretation for putting the evidence into practice, a clinical
scenario and question with the evidence-based answer, and a full critique of
the abstract.
Access:
Free of charge online at http://www.aafp.org, or in print form by subscription. Annual
individual subscription costs US$108 in the USA, US$148 in Canada, or US$180
elsewhere, with discounts for medical students, residents, non-physician
healthcare professionals and medical office management staff.
Target audience:
Family physicians.
Language:
English.
Funding:
None declared.
Cochrane contribution:
Cochrane reviews are summarised. Summary content is, as far as possible,
checked with the authors of the original review.
Issued/Updated:
Issued twice monthly.
Annals of Emergency Medicine
Produced by: American College of Emergency Physicians,
Elsevier Health Sciences.
Annals of Emergency Medicine
is the specialty's leading peer-reviewed journal. In addition to scientific and
clinical articles, Annals presents
case reports, editorials, abstracts, and collective reviews of the literature
on focused clinical topics. The journal covers clinical investigations,
paediatric emergency care, injury prevention, infectious disease, disaster medicine,
toxicology, health policy, and emergency medical services. The journal includes a section on “Evidence-based
Emergency Medicine” that includes Systematic Review Abstracts. Each article
selects a topical abstract of a systematic review from the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, a commentary by an
emergency physician knowledgeable in the subject area, and one or two short
Teaching Points relevant to the review in question.
Access:
Available online or in print form. Free of charge to members of the American
College of Emergency Physicians, or by subscription. Individual annual
subscription costs US$155 in the USA or US$203 elsewhere.
Target audience:
Clinicians, researchers, students.
Language:
English.
Funding:
None declared.
Cochrane contribution:
Cochrane reviews are summarised.
Issued/Updated:
Issued monthly.
Australian Dental Journal
Produced
by: Australian Dental Association.
This is the journal of the Australian
Dental Association, an organisation of dentists that has as its aim the encouragement
of the health of the public and the promotion of the art and science of
dentistry. From June 2004, the journal will publish one or two select abstracts
of reviews from the Cochrane Oral Health Review Group per issue.
Access:
Available in print form only. Free to members of the Australian Dental
Association, or by subscription. Annual individual subscription costs A$115 in
Australia or A$150 elsewhere. Subscription information is available at http://www.ada.org.au/_Australian_Dental_Journal_Public.asp.
Target audience:
Dental practitioners.
Language:
English.
Funding:
None declared.
Cochrane contribution:
Cochrane review abstracts are republished.
Issued/Updated:
Issued quarterly. Updated abstracts are included as they appear in The Cochrane Library.
Bandolier
Produced
by: Pain Research Unit, Oxford University, UK.
Bandolier
is an independent journal about evidence-based healthcare, covering a broad
range of health issues. Bandolier aims to find information about evidence of
effectiveness (or lack of it), and put the results forward as simple bullet
points of those things that worked and those that did not. Information comes
from systematic reviews (including Cochrane reviews), meta-analyses, randomised
trials, and high-quality observational studies.
Access:
Free of charge online at http://www.ebandolier.com or by subscription in print form.
Individual annual subscription costs £36 in the UK or £72 elsewhere. Print form
is distributed free of charge to all GPs in New Zealand.
Target audience:
General practitioners, other clinicians, consumers, policy makers, journalists.
Language:
English and Spanish (http://www.infodoctor.org/bandolera/).
Funding:
Print form funded by subscriptions. Online version funded by sponsorship,
including from Merck, Sharp & Dohme and the BUPA Foundation. A complete
list of sponsors is available at http://www.jr2.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/aboutus.html#sponsor.
Cochrane contribution:
Cochrane evidence is used.
Issued/Updated:
Issued monthly. Print version is issued one month in advance of online
publication.
European Journal of Vascular and Endovascular
Surgery: EJVES Extra
Produced
by: Elsevier Health Sciences. Official journal of the
European Society for Vascular Surgery.
The European
Journal of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery is aimed primarily at vascular
surgeons dealing with patients with arterial, venous and lymphatic diseases. EJVES Extra is an additional electronic
publication including short reports, correspondence, book reviews, forthcoming
events and other additional material, including abstracts of Cochrane reviews.
These abstracts are similar to those published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, but are more technical for
the specialist audience.
Access:
Available online at http://www.harcourt-international.com/journals/ejvx/, free to members of the European Society
for Vascular Surgery and subscribers to the European
Journal of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery. Annual individual
subscription costs €287 in Europe, ¥31,000 in Japan and US$255 elsewhere.
Target audience:
Vascular surgeons.
Language:
English.
Funding:
None declared.
Cochrane contribution:
Cochrane reviews are summarised. Abstracts are provided by the Cochrane
Peripheral Vascular Diseases Review Group.
Issued/Updated:
Issued quarterly.
Evidence-Based Dentistry
Produced
by: Nature Publishing Group.
Evidence-Based
Dentistry alerts clinicians to important advances
in the practice of dentistry and its specialist areas by selecting from the
biomedical literature those original and review articles whose results are most
likely to be true and useful. These articles are summarised in value-added
abstracts and commented on by experts. New reviews by the Cochrane Oral Health Review
Group are regularly included, accompanied by expert commentary.
Access:
By subscription, in print form or online at http://www.nature.com/ebd/. Annual individual subscription costs €64
in Europe (Eurozone), £39 in the UK/Europe (non‑Eurozone), or US$62
elsewhere.
Target audience:
Dental practitioners.
Language:
English.
Funding:
None declared.
Cochrane contribution:
Cochrane review abstracts are republished.
Issued/Updated:
Issued quarterly. Updated abstracts are included as they appear in The Cochrane Library.
Evidence-Based Medicine
Produced
by: BMJ Publishing Group.
Evidence-Based
Medicine surveys a wide range of international
medical journals, including the Cochrane
Database of Systematic Reviews, applying strict criteria for the quality
and validity of research. Practising clinicians assess the clinical relevance
of the best studies. The key details of these essential studies are presented
in a succinct, informative abstract with an expert commentary on its clinical application.
Evidence-Based Medicine offers
comprehensive coverage of primary care medicine. It includes a wide array of
clinical disciplines, including family practice, internal medicine,
paediatrics, obstetrics, gynaecology, psychiatry, and surgery.
Access:
By subscription, online at http://ebm.bmjjournals.com/ or in print form. Print and online
individual annual subscription costs £83 or €/$133. Access is free of charge to
developing countries.
Target audience:
Family practitioners, internal medicine practitioners, paediatricians,
obstetricians, gynaecologists, psychiatrists, surgeons.
Language:
English.
Funding:
None declared.
Cochrane contribution:
Cochrane reviews are summarised.
Issued/Updated:
Issued bimonthly.
Evidence-Based Mental Health
Produced
by: BMJ Publishing Group;
Royal College of Psychiatrists, UK; British Psychological Society.
Evidence-Based
Mental Health alerts clinicians to important advances
in treatment, diagnosis, aetiology, prognosis, continuing education, economic
evaluation and qualitative research in mental health. Evidence-Based Mental
Health is multidisciplinary, covering studies of adults, children, older
adults, people who have developed psychiatric or psychological problems as a result
of trauma and people with learning disabilities, head injuries, drug and
alcohol problems and personality disorders. The journal surveys a wide range of
international medical journals, including the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, applying strict criteria
for the quality and validity of research. Practising clinicians assess the
clinical relevance of the best studies. The key details of these essential
studies are presented in a succinct, informative abstract with an expert
commentary on their clinical application.
Access:
By subscription, online at http://ebmh.bmjjournals.com/ or in print form. Print and online annual
individual subscription costs £79 or €126. Access is free of charge to
developing countries.
Target audience:
Psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, social workers, occupational therapists,
pharmacists and other professionals.
Language:
English.
Funding:
None declared.
Cochrane contribution:
Cochrane reviews are summarised.
Issued/Updated:
Issued quarterly.
Evidence-Based Nursing
Produced
by: BMJ Publishing Group; Royal College of Nursing
Publishing Company, UK.
Evidence-Based
Nursing is a journal designed to alert practising
nurses to important and clinically relevant advances in treatment, diagnosis,
aetiology, and prognosis. Evidence-Based
Nursing selects and examines every aspect of the very best international
nursing research, including over 140 journals and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, identifying and appraising
original articles according to empirically derived criteria. Each issue
publishes structured abstracts of 24 original studies, with commentaries
written by clinical experts, placing each abstract into clinical context.
Original editorials and resource information and guides for users are also
included.
Access:
By subscription, online at http://ebn.bmjjournals.com/ or in print form. Individual annual
subscription costs £48 in the UK and Europe or £80 elsewhere, with discounts
for members of the Royal College of Nursing. Access is free of charge to
developing countries.
Target audience:
Nurses.
Language:
English.
Funding:
None declared.
Cochrane contribution:
Cochrane reviews are summarised.
Issued/Updated:
Issued quarterly.
Huisarts en Wetenschap (GP and Science)
Produced by:
Dutch College of General Practitioners.
Huisarts en Wetenschap
is a peer-reviewed medical scientific journal directed to general
practitioners. With each new issue of The
Cochrane Library, 4-6 Cochrane reviews are chosen to feature in a special
“Cochrane Corner” of the journal. GPs translate and comment on the relevance of
the reviews for GPs.
Access: Free
to members of the Dutch College of General Practitioners, or by subscription.
Available online at http://www.henw.org or in print form. Individual annual
subscription costs €106.55 in the Netherlands, €107.60 in Belgium and €160.05
elsewhere, with discounts for students.
Target audience:
General practitioners in the Netherlands.
Language:
Dutch.
Funding:
Dutch College of General Practitioners.
Cochrane contribution: Cochrane reviews are summarised.
Issued/Updated: Issued 13 times a year.
The Journal of the Philippine
Dermatological Society (JPDS)
Produced
by: Philippine
Dermatological Society (PDS).
The JPDS is
designed to meet the continuing education needs of the PDS members and the
medical community. The JPDS considers original articles related to dermatology
for publication. It also considers studies conducted in the Philippines that
have been published in other scientific journals, in either their original,
modified, or abstract form, with the written permission of the publisher and
principal author. The JPDS features a “Reviews” section that includes overviews
and discussion of original reviews, including Cochrane reviews. The JPDS also has a “Current
Evidence” section that contains summaries of systematically searched and
appraised current evidence regarding focused clinical problems or questions,
presented as Critically-Appraised Topics (CAT) or abstracts.
Access:
Available in print form only, free of charge to members of the Philippine Dermatological Society. Subscriptions are
not available, but complimentary copies may be requested through the
Editor-in-chief.
Target audience:
Dermatologists in the Philippines, policy makers, libraries.
Language:
English.
Funding:
Solicited advertisements.
Cochrane contribution:
Cochrane reviews are summarised.
Issued/Updated: Issued twice a year.
The Journal of Evidence-Based Dental Practice
Produced by:
Mosby; Elsevier Health Sciences.
The Journal of Evidence-Based Dental
Practice presents original articles as well as
reviews of articles on the results and outcomes of clinical procedures and
treatment. The journal advocates the use or rejection of a procedure based on
solid clinical evidence found in the literature. The journal's operating
principles include explicitness in process and objectives, publication of the
highest-quality reviews and original articles, and an emphasis on objectivity.
Each issue includes abstracts of new reviews by the Cochrane Oral Health Review
Group, as well as information on Cochrane Collaboration events.
Access:
By subscription, online at www.mosby.com/jebdp or in print form. Individual annual
subscription costs US$69 in the USA or US$84 elsewhere.
Target audience:
Dental practitioners.
Language:
English.
Funding:
None declared.
Cochrane contribution:
Cochrane abstracts are republished. Abstracts and other information are
provided by the Cochrane Oral Health Review Group.
Issued/Updated:
Issued quarterly. Updated reviews are included as they appear in The Cochrane Library.
Läkartidningen
Produced by:
Swedish Medical Association.
Läkartidningen is
a peer-reviewed scientific journal that is distributed to all members of the
Swedish Medical Association, by far the majority of doctors in Sweden. The
journal regularly includes a segment entitled "Clinic and science".
Each new issue of The Cochrane Library
is scanned and reviews selected that seem interesting, well-written and of
acceptable methodological quality. Commentaries on the selected Cochrane
reviews written by specialists for clinicians are published in this segment.
Access:
Available free of charge online at http://www.lakartidningen.se/. It is also provided in print form to
members of the Swedish Medical Association.
Target
audience: Clinicians.
Language:
Swedish. Some articles include brief summaries in English.
Funding:
Subscriptions and advertisements.
Cochrane contribution: Cochrane reviews are featured.
Issued/Updated: Issued weekly.
New Zealand Family Physician
Produced by:
Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners.
New Zealand Family Physician
is a medical journal for general practitioners in New Zealand. Each issue
includes a ‘Cochrane Corner’ that provides a summary of the recommendations of
a Cochrane review of interest to general practitioners.
Access:
Free of charge online at http://www.rnzcgp.org.nz/nz_family.php. It is also provided in print form to
members of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners.
Target audience:
General practitioners.
Language:
English.
Funding:
Author is an employee of the University of Auckland.
Cochrane contribution:
Cochrane reviews are summarised. Summaries are written by a reviewer and editor
for the Cochrane Acute Respiratory Infections Review Group.
Issued/Updated:
Issued every two months.
Paediatrics and Child Health
Produced by:
Canadian Paediatric Society; Pulsus Group Inc.
Paediatrics and Child Health
aims to advocate for the health of all children and youth in Canada, and to
provide educational material and information to all who provide health care to
children in Canada. The journal includes a regular column entitled ‘Evidence
for Clinicians’, in which a clinical question relevant to paediatricians is
answered with reference to current evidence, including Cochrane reviews, and
published along with an expert clinical commentary.
Access: Selected
articles, including ‘Evidence for Clinicians’ are available free of charge
online at http://www.pulsus.com/Paeds. Full access to the journal is by
subscription, online or in print form. Individual annual subscription costs CA$175
in Canada, US$175 in the USA or US$210 elsewhere. Free of charge to members of
the Canadian Paediatric Society.
Target audience: Paediatricians,
other child health professionals.
Language:
English.
Funding:
None declared.
Cochrane contribution:
Cochrane evidence is used. “Evidence for Clinicians” column provided by the
Cochrane Child Health Field.
Issued/Updated:
Issued ten times a year. “Evidence for Clinicians’ included five times a year.
Spine
Produced by:
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Spine
is an international, peer-reviewed journal that considers for publication
original articles in the field of spine. It is the leading subspecialty journal
for the treatment of spinal disorders, covering diagnostic and therapeutic
advances currently being developed to help reduce human spine dysfunction. The
journal uses a multidisciplinary approach that offers the opportunity to
explore the current views of specialists in every discipline concerned with
spinal disorders. The journal has a co-publication agreement with the Cochrane
Back Review Group and regularly publishes their systematic reviews.
Access:
By subscription, online at http://www.rnzcgp.org.nz/nz_family.php and in print form. Individual annual
subscription costs US$470 in the USA or US$622 elsewhere.
Target audience:
Clinicians.
Language:
English.
Funding:
None declared.
Cochrane contribution:
Cochrane reviews are republished.
Issued/Updated:
Issued every two weeks.
Stroke
Produced
by: American Heart Association; Lippincott Williams
& Wilkins.
Stroke provides reports of
clinical and basic investigation of all aspects of the cerebral circulation and
its diseases from many disciplines including neurology, internal medicine,
radiology, nuclear medicine, neuropathology, neurosurgery, epidemiology,
vascular surgery, rehabilitation, anesthesiology, critical care medicine,
vascular physiology, neuropsychology, speech pathology, and neuro-ophthalmology.
The journal is ranked as one of the top clinical neurology journals in the
world. Each issue of Stroke includes
a ‘Cochrane Corner’ which summarises relevant Cochrane journals.
Access:
‘Cochrane Corner’ abstracts are available free of charge online at http://stroke.ahajournals.org/collected/cochrane.shtml. Full access to the journal is by
subscription, online at http://stroke.ahajournals.org/ or in print form. Individual annual
subscription costs US$273 in the USA or US$368 elsewhere, with discounts for
American Heart Association Council members and online-only subscriptions.
Target audience:
Clinicians.
Language:
English.
Funding:
None declared.
Cochrane contribution:
Cochrane review abstracts are republished with some modification.
Issued/Updated:
Issued monthly.
Ugeskrift for Læger
Produced by:
Danish Medical Association.
Ugeskrift for Læger is
a peer-reviewed scientific journal that is distributed to all members of the
Danish Medical Association. The journal regularly includes a segment entitled
"Evidence-based medicine". Commentaries on Cochrane reviews written
by specialists for clinicians are published in this segment; the full abstract
of the Cochrane review (in English) is usually printed with the commentary.
Reviews are selected for inclusion if they are interesting, well-written and of
acceptable methodological quality.
Access:
By subscription online at http://www.dadlnet.dk or in print form. Free of charge to
members of the Danish Medical Association.
Target audience:
Clinicians.
Language:
Danish.
Funding:
None declared.
Cochrane contribution: Cochrane reviews are featured and
abstracts republished. Reviews are recommended for inclusion by staff at The
Nordic Cochrane Centre and the Iberoamerican Cochrane Centre.
Issued/Updated: Issued weekly.
5. Summaries and news bulletins
This section includes newsletters, web sites and other
resources that disseminate Cochrane review summaries and other evidence-based
news.
The
Arthritis Society/La Société d’arthrite
Health
Evidence Bulletins Wales
New
Zealand Evidence-based Healthcare Bulletin
Revisoni
Scelte dal Database Cochrane
The Arthritis Society/La Société d’arthrite
The Arthritis Society (Canada) web site contains summaries of current
research into arthritis and its treatments. The web site includes a series of
consumer summaries of current Cochrane reviews. The summaries are indexed by
condition, and are available in a basic and a more statistically detailed
version. Consumer summaries are also highlighted in Arthritis Spotlight, the electronic newsletter of the Society, and CAPA Voices, the electronic newsletter
of the Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance.
Access: Free of charge online at
http://www.arthritis.ca/look%20at%20research/default.asp?s=1
(English), or
http://www.arthrite.ca/look%20at%20research/default.asp?s=1
(French)
Target
audience: Consumers.
Language: English and French.
Funding: The Arthritis Society is a registered
charity. The web site is sponsored by Pfizer.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
reviews are summarised. Summaries are provided by the Cochrane Musculoskeletal Review
Group.
Issued/Updated: Updated as Cochrane reviews are
published or updated.
Dr Chris Cates’ EBM Website
Produced
by: Dr Chris Cates.
The web site includes information on critical
appraisal of evidence, discussion of issues common to general practitioners
such as the routine use of antibiotics, and free access to Visual Rx, a program that calculates the Number Needed to Treat
(NNT) from the pooled results of a meta-analysis and produce a graphical
display of the result. The site also publishes a newsletter that occasionally
includes updates on new Cochrane reviews that concern general practice, as well
as updates for Visual Rx, feedback on
using evidence to change practice and other relevant material.
Access: Free of charge online http://www.nntonline.net/. Users can
register on the site to receive the newsletter via email.
Target
audience: General
practitioners.
Language: English.
Funding: None declared.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
evidence is used. The author is the Co-ordinating Editor of the Cochrane
Airways Review Group.
Issued/Updated: Bimonthly.
Effective Health Care
Produced
by: Centre for Reviews
and Dissemination (CRD), UK.
Effective Health Care bulletins are based on a systematic
review and synthesis of research on the clinical effect, cost-effectiveness and
acceptability of health service interventions. Over 60,000 copies of Effective
Health Care are distributed free within the National Health Service (NHS).
Since its inception in 1994, CRD has used the Effective Health Care
bulletin series to promote the findings of Cochrane reviews and the use of The Cochrane Library. The findings of
over 100 Cochrane reviews have been disseminated via the series. Several Collaborative
Review Groups have been involved in the production of bulletins including the Airways,
Back, Effective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC), Heart, Incontinence
and Schizophrenia Review Groups. The Effective
Health Care series will change its format following the release of the
first bulletin for 2004.
Access: Free of charge online at http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/crd/ehcb.htm,
and distributed in print form within the NHS.
Target
audience: Clinicians,
policy makers.
Language: English and Italian (http://www.areas.it/page.asp?IDP=-1942363218).
Funding: Department of Health for England
(1992-1999) National Institute for
Clinical Excellence (2000-2003).
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
evidence is used. Several Cochrane entities are involved in producing the
bulletins.
Issued/Updated: Schedule will change during 2004.
Evidence Notes
Produced
by: NHS Quality
Improvement Scotland, UK.
Evidence
Notes are short, two-page
papers summarising evidence on a topic or clinical area of particular relevance
to NHS Scotland. The papers include the current state of evidence, as well as
highlighting areas for further research and policy development. Evidence
Notes are based on key
reviews, papers and studies relevant to the subject, often including Cochrane
reviews.
Access: Free of charge online at http://www.nhshealthquality.org/,
and distributed in print form to planners in NHS Trusts and Boards in Scotland.
Target
audience: Clinicians,
policy makers.
Language: English.
Funding: None declared.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
evidence is used.
Issued/Updated: Issued approximately ten times a year.
Evidence
Update
Produced
by: Effective Health Care
Alliance Programme (EHCAP).
EHCAP is an international research network whose aim
is to increase the number of healthcare decisions made in low- and
middle-income countries based on the best available evidence. EHCAP funding
includes support for the Cochrane Infectious Diseases Review Group and a range
of related research dissemination and implementation projects related to Cochrane
reviews in all areas of health care relevant to low- and middle-income countries,
and the tropics. Each Evidence Update
is a two-page summary of a Cochrane
review of healthcare interventions relevant to people in low- and
middle income-countries. Evidence Update
is organised into five series:
·
child
health;
·
maternal
health;
·
malaria;
·
trauma; and
·
health
sector development.
Access: Free of charge online at http://www.liv.ac.uk/lstm/ehcap/EU/evidenceupdate.htm.
Also republished in various publications including Africa Health and BMJ West
Africa.
Target
audience: Clinicians in
low- and middle-income countries.
Language: English, Chinese and Thai.
Funding: UK Department for International
Development.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
reviews are summarised. Summaries are written by contributors to The Cochrane Collaboration
and checked with review authors before publication.
Issued/Updated: Issued quarterly. Updated as reviews are
updated in The Cochrane Library.
Global Health Council
The Global Health Council is a membership alliance
dedicated to improving health throughout the world. The Council’s membership includes
healthcare professionals, NGOs, foundations, corporations, government agencies
and academic institutions. The Council focuses on the key issues of women's
health, child health, HIV/AIDS, infectious diseases and emerging health
threats. The Council produces a number of resources that incorporate evidence
from Cochrane reviews. Evidence for Action (EFA) is a monthly
series of articles that summarise findings from systematic reviews, including
Cochrane reviews. The summaries are also published in two bimonthly journals, Global
HealthLink and Global AIDSLink. In addition to EFAs, the
Council produces more detailed technical reports on issues of key interest,
including Reducing Malaria’s Burden: Evidence of Effectiveness for Decision Makers and Making
Childbirth Safer Through Promoting Evidence-Based Care. From March 2004,
the Council will produce Research Briefs, 5‑page summaries of
systematic reviews that Global Health Council staff have co-authored. Research
Briefs are intended to be issued and updated in line with the reviews
themselves. The first will be Preventing tuberculosis in HIV-infected
persons (based on Woldehanna S,
Volmink J. Treatment of latent tuberculosis infection in HIV infected persons
(Cochrane Review). In: The Cochrane Library, Issue 1, 2004. Chichester, UK:
John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.).
Access: Free of charge online at http://www.globalhealth.org/ or in
print form on request.
Target
audience: Clinicians,
policy makers.
Language: English.
Funding: Grants from private foundations and the
US government, membership fees, individual/corporate contributions.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
evidence is used and reviews summarised. Research
Briefs and technical reports are authored or co-authored by Cochrane
reviewers. Evidence for Action
articles are checked with review authors if queries arise.
Issued/Updated: Varies for each resource.
Health Evidence Bulletins Wales
Produced
by: University of Wales
College of Medicine (Division of Information Services); National Public Health
Service for Wales.
These Bulletins are designed as signposts to quality
appraised research evidence in health care. Each Bulletin covers a subject such
as osteoporosis, cancers, healthy environments, maternal and child health, and
coronary heart disease. The Bulletin summarises the current evidence for key
topics within the subject area, providing information on risk factors,
prevention, diagnosis and treatment. The
Cochrane Library is included in the literature search strategy for the
development of the Bulletins. Bulletins on specific subjects are produced
according to priorities and funding availability.
Access: Free of charge online at http://hebw.uwcm.ac.uk,
and distributed in print form within Wales. Print copies can be ordered for
between £5-8.
Target
audience: Policy makers,
clinicians, educators, students in Wales.
Language: English.
Funding: Welsh Assembly Government.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
evidence is used.
Issued/Updated: Periodically.
Hitting the Headlines
Produced
by: Centre for Reviews
and Dissemination, UK.
Hitting
the Headlines provides
summaries of recent news stories about health research from major newspapers in
the UK, and give an assessment of the quality of the research behind the news
story. Links are provided to relevant systematic reviews, including abstracts
of Cochrane reviews and others from the Database
of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE). Other useful references and
consumer health information are also linked. This service was commissioned by
the National Health Service in England for publication in the National electronic Library for
Health (NeLH).
Access: Free of charge online at http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/crd/hth.htm
and http://www.nelh.nhs.uk/.
Target
audience: Clinicians, consumers,
policy makers.
Language: English.
Funding: National Health Service (NHS).
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
evidence is used. Links to The Cochrane
Library.
Issued/Updated: Issued within 48 hours of publication of
relevant news items.
HTA Newsletter
Produced
by: Institut für
Technikfolgen-Abschätzung (Institute of Technology Assessment), Austria.
This is an academic Institute at the Austrian Academy
of Sciences that conducts and communicates the results of health technology
assessments for hospitals and organisations that reimburse healthcare costs.
The HTA newsletter provides information on topics of interest, and each issue
includes four articles on medical interventions covered by other health
technology assessment agencies or Cochrane reviews.
Access: Free of charge online at http://www.oeaw.ac.at/ita/hta/.
Target
audience: Clinicians,
policy makers.
Language: German.
Funding: None declared.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
evidence is used.
Issued/Updated: Issued monthly.
Impakti
Produced
by: Finnish Office for
Health Care Technology Assessment (FinOHTA).
FinOHTA is an independent, public assessment agency
working as a part of STAKES, the Finnish National Research and Development
Centre for Welfare and Health. FinOHTA produces,
supports and co-ordinates health(care) technology assessment in Finland.
FinOHTA disseminates assessment results and experiences, both national and international,
within the healthcare system. FinOHTA aims to promote the use of proper
evidence-based methods in the Finnish healthcare system in order to enhance the
effectiveness and impact of health care. In addition to the established methods
of diagnostics, treatment and rehabilitation, FinOHTA also evaluates new,
emerging methods and especially those of importance in terms of public health
or the national economy. Impakti is
FinOHTA´s newsletter. It consists of articles written by staff, consultants and
other experts, dealing with HTA and new research results, including short
summaries of new Cochrane reviews relevant for the target audience.
Access: Free of charge online at http://www.stakes.fi/finohta/ and in
print form.
Target
audience: Clinicians,
policy makers.
Language: Finnish.
Funding: Finnish Ministry of Social Welfare and
Health.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
reviews are summarised. FinOHTA houses the Finnish Branch of the Nordic
Cochrane Centre.
Issued/Updated: Issued six times a year.
Informed Health Online
Produced
by: Health Education and
Research Foundation, Australia.
The Foundation aims to provide information and
resource tools that enable people to keep up to date with reliable,
evidence-based information. The Foundation promotes research literacy, and
individual and community use of high-quality research. A key goal is to promote
the accessibility of health information from The Cochrane Collaboration, based
on Cochrane reviews and other reliable research on the effects of health care. Informed Health Online provides
accessible summaries of Cochrane reviews specifically written for consumers,
highlighting items of interest. The site also produces Hot Topics, summaries of key health topics that incorporate
Cochrane reviews with other reliable sources of information. The site features
daily “Did you know?” items, a “Review of the week” section and each quarter
provides a full “What’s New Digest” on new issues of The Cochrane Library.
Access: Free of charge online at http://www.informedhealthonline.org.
Regular email news bulletins are also available from the site.
Target
audience: Consumers,
clinicians, journalists, librarians.
Language: English. The Foundation is currently
working with partners to translate the site into other languages.
Funding: Cochrane Complementary Medicine Field
(part of a grant from the National Institutes of Health, USA).
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane evidence
is used and reviews summarised. Summaries are checked with review authors and Collaborative
Review Groups.
Issued/Updated: Updated regularly, schedules vary
between items from daily to quarterly.
Linkages
Produced
by: Institute for Work
& Health, Canada.
Linkages is a publication whose purpose is to
critically review the best available evidence in the literature in the area of
soft-tissue injury and to disseminate these reviews to clinical decision makers
in practice, workplace and policy and compensation settings. Each issue of Linkages describes the published
evidence to date on a particular topic, summarising recent relevant articles
such as Cochrane reviews, and provides expert commentaries on the
methodological quality, relevance and applicability of the article's findings
in either clinical practice or policy making.
Access: Free of charge online at http://www.iwh.on.ca/.
Target
audience: Clinicians,
workplaces, policy makers, funders.
Language: English.
Funding: None
declared.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
evidence is used. The Institute hosts the Cochrane Back Review Group.
Issued/Updated: Issued twice a year.
MDLinx
Produced
by: MDLinx Inc., USA.
MDLinx is a series of web sites for individual
medical specialties and therapeutic categories, providing targeted information to
help healthcare professionals stay current. MDLinx
provides physicians with the most up-to-date medical news in their specialty
and subspecialty, searching the most trusted peer-reviewed medical
publications, including the Cochrane
Database of Systematic Reviews, to locate new articles and reports in each
specialty area. Physicians can browse the latest articles on their specialty
web site, or receive daily update emails. MDLinx
also includes PatientLinx, a free web
site that provides clinical updates for patients.
Access: Free of charge online at http://www.mdlinx.com. Registration required
for full site access.
Target
audience: Clinicians,
consumers.
Language: English.
Funding: Advertising
and commercial sponsorship, including integrated content from pharmaceutical
manufacturers.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
abstracts are republished.
Issued/Updated: Daily.
New Zealand Evidence-based Healthcare Bulletin
Produced
by: The New Zealand
Guidelines Group.
The purpose of the Bulletin is to summarise news and
information about evidence-based healthcare activities in New Zealand and
overseas. The Bulletin includes a regular Cochrane section highlighting new
reviews of interest, as well as new consumer summaries available from Informed
Health Online and forthcoming Cochrane Collaboration events.
Access: Free of charge online at http://www.nzgg.org.nz/index.cfm?fuseaction=fuseaction_17,
or via email to registered members of the NZGG network (free online
registration).
Target
audience: Clinicians,
researchers.
Language: English.
Funding: NZ Ministry of Health.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
reviews are featured. Cochrane information is written by the New Zealand
Cochrane Fellow at the New Zealand Branch of the Australasian Cochrane Centre.
Issued/Updated: Issued seven times a year.
Revisoni Scelte dal Database Cochrane
Produced
by: Cochrane Neurological
Network; Editore Zadig.
This booklet contains structured summaries of twenty
selected Cochrane reviews of neurological interest, covering stroke, epilepsy,
dementia, tumours and other neurological arguments. Each two-page summary
includes charts and bibliographies. There is also an extensive introductory
section focusing on The Cochrane Collaboration, its history, methodology and
current work.
Access: The booklet has been distributed free of
charge to neurologists, neurological university professors and resident
neurology students in Italy. Additional copies can be ordered from the Cochrane
Neurological Network, http://www.cochraneneuronet.org/.
Target
audience: Neurologists,
researchers, students in Italy.
Language: Italian.
Funding: Bayer.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
evidence is used. Produced by the Cochrane Neurological Network.
Issued/Updated: A new edition is planned for 2005.
RyggInfo (BackInfo)
Produced
by: Norwegian Centre for
Health Services Research; Nordic Cochrane Centre, Norwegian branch; Norwegian
Back Pain Association; Norwegian Back Pain Network.
RyggInfo's goal is to develop a quality assured
information service for people with back pain. Central to the development of
this information are requirements of relevance, reliability, and accessibility.
Cochrane reviews are used as a source of information for the site. RyggInfo is currently under development,
but is updated regularly.
Access: Free of charge online at http://www.rygginfo.no.
Target
audience: Consumers in
Norway.
Language: Norwegian and English, except content of
Norwegian local interest only (http://www.rygginfo.no/default.aspx?lid=1).
Funding: Norwegian Back Pain Association;
Norwegian Foundation for Health and Rehabilitation.
Cochrane
contribution:
Collaboration with the Cochrane Back Review Group.
Issued/Updated: Unknown.
6. Textbooks and training resources
This section includes textbooks and training resources available in
printed form that incorporate evidence from Cochrane reviews.
Evidence
Based Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Evidence
Based Pediatrics and Child Health
Guide
to Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth
Clinical
Evidence
Produced by: BMJ Publishing Group, UK.
Clinical
Evidence aims to search, appraise and summarise all the evidence for a range of
health topics, providing a reliable, relevant reference guide to answer common
clinical questions. Clinical
Evidence aims to cover
common or important clinical conditions seen in primary and hospital care.
Topics are selected by examining mortality and morbidity data as well as
consultation rates, national priorities and recommendations from consumers and
clinicians. The questions in Clinical Evidence concern the benefits and
harms of preventative and therapeutic interventions, with emphasis on outcomes
that matter to patients. Clinical Evidence uses systematic reviews, and in particular
Cochrane reviews, as its preferred source of evidence.
Access: Available online at http://www.clinicalevidence.com, on
CD and PDA, and in print form. Annual individual subscription to the full print
edition and online access costs £100 or US$160. Access is free to developing
countries.
Target audience: Clinicians.
Language: English, Spanish (www.evidenciaclinica.com),
Russian (www.mediasphera.ru/clinicalevidence),
Italian (www.areas.it ), Japanese,
German, French (www.DeciderPourTraiter.org).
Funding: None declared.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
evidence is used. Contributors to The Cochrane Collaboration are often a part
of the editorial process.
Issued/Updated: Print edition issued twice a year.
Evidence-based Dermatology
Williams H, Bigby M, Diepgen T, Herxheimer A, Naldi L and Rzany B
(Editors), BMJ Books, London 2003.
This is a book about using the best evidence to inform treatment
decisions for people with skin disease. It is written by dermatologists for
dermatologists, using examples throughout to illustrate key points. The book
starts off with a "toolbox" section, written in a way that will help
those relatively new to the principles of evidence‑based dermatology to
understand the key issues, and equip them with the basics of how to tell a good
study from a bad one. The majority of the book then deals with an
evidence-based summary of the common and important skin diseases in a
structured and easy to read format based on common patient scenarios. Whilst
most of the evidence is based on randomised controlled trials, other studies
are cited where appropriate, for example, when discussing adverse events. The
book incorporates Cochrane evidence, and also includes a chapter on the
Cochrane Skin Review Group.
Access: Available for
purchase in print form for approximately £99
and electronically for £70 from http://www.bmjbookshop.com.
Target
audience: Clinicians.
Language: English.
Funding: None
declared.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
evidence is used. Several of the chapters have been authored or co-authored by
Cochrane Skin Review Group reviewers.
Issued/Updated: Updated and additional chapters are
available free of charge online at http://www.evidbasedderm.com/.
Evidence Based Gastroenterology and Hepatology
McDonald JWD, Feagan BG, and Burroughs A (Editors), 2nd
Edition, BMJ Books, London 2004.
Evidence-based medicine applied in clinical context is the thrust of
this text on gastroenterology and hepatology. It recommends best practice for
treating individual patients based on the randomized controlled trials and
systematic reviews (including Cochrane reviews) conducted in the major
gastrointestinal subspecialties. Note that the second edition will be released
on 30 June 2004. Until then, the first edition (published 1999) remains
available.
Access: Available for
purchase from 30 June 2004, in print
form for approximately £95. First edition
available for approximately £65.
Target
audience: Clinicians.
Language: English. The first edition is also
available in Spanish and Italian.
Funding: None
declared.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
evidence is used. Editors include the Co-ordinating Editor of the Cochrane
Inflammatory Bowel Disease Review Group.
Issued/Updated: This is the second edition. Updated and
additional chapters are available free of charge online at http://www.evidbasedgastro.com/.
Evidence-based Oncology
Williams C, Bramwell V, Bonfill X, Cuzick J, Forbes JF, Grant R, Guthrie
D, Mason M, Simmonds P, Singh AD, Weston R, and Williams H (Editors), BMJ
Books, London 2003.
This is a book about using the best evidence to inform treatment
decisions for people with cancer. It is written by oncologists for oncologists,
using examples throughout to illustrate key points. The book starts off with a
"toolbox" section, written in a way that will help those relatively
new to the principles of evidence-based oncology to understand the key issues,
and equip them with the basics of how to tell a good study from a bad one. The
majority of the book then deals with an evidence-based summary of the common
and important cancers in a structured and easy to read format based on common
patient scenarios and frequently asked questions. Whilst most of the evidence
is based on randomised controlled trials, other studies are cited where
appropriate, for example, when discussing adverse events.
Access: Available for
purchase in print form for approximately £99
and electronically for £70 from http://www.bmjbookshop.com.
Target
audience: Clinicians.
Language: English.
Funding: None
declared.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
evidence is used. Editors include contributors to The Cochrane Collaboration.
Issued/Updated: Updated and additional chapters are
available free of charge online at http://www.evidbasedoncology.com.
Evidence-based Ophthalmology
Wormald R, Smeeth L and Henshaw K (Editors), BMJ Books, London, 2003.
Evidence-based
Ophthalmology discusses
the application of evidence-based principles in ophthalmic practice. The
clinical section provides an overview of the evidence for optimum management in
the key areas. The book draws on the expertise of ophthalmologists working in evidence-based
medicine worldwide. The Association of Vision Science Librarians rates
this book as an essential title for a library supporting a program in
ophthalmology, optometry or vision science.
Access: Available for
purchase in print form for approximately £45
and electronically for £33.75 from http://www.bmjbookshop.com.
Target
audience: Ophthalmologists,
optometrists, other clinicians.
Language: English.
Funding: None
declared.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
evidence is used. Editors include the Co-ordinating Editor and other Editors of
the Cochrane Eyes and Vision Review Group.
Issued/Updated: Updated and additional chapters are
available free of charge online at www.evidbasedophth.com.
Evidence Based Pediatrics and
Child Health
Moyer VA, Williams K and Elliott E (Editors), 2nd Edition,
BMJ Books, London 2004.
Evidence Based Pediatrics
and Child Health uses an
evidence-based approach to paediatrics and child care management. It covers all
the major childhood conditions and contains the features of both a handbook and
a reference text. Each chapter combines both advice on management and how best
to practice evidence-based medicine with reviews of all the available evidence
in a specific area. The goal of the book is to help paediatricians and others
who care for children to provide the best possible care by combining the best,
most current evidence with special circumstances of each individual patient. Evidence Based Pediatrics and Child Health
is edited and written by international experts from all over the world. In
the second edition, new chapters have been added on searching and implementing
the evidence and neonatal conditions. Note that the second edition will be
released in May 2004. Until then, the first edition (published 2000) remains
available.
Access: Available for
purchase in print form for approximately £90. First edition available for
approximately £65.
Target
audience: Paediatricians,
other clinicians.
Language: English.
Funding: None
declared.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
evidence is used.
Issued/Updated: Updated and additional chapters are
available free of charge online at http://www.evidbasedpediatrics.com/.
Evidence-based Rheumatology
Tugwell P, Shea B, Boers M, Brooks P, Simon LS, Strand V and Wells G
(Editors), BMJ Books, London 2003.
Evidence-based Rheumatology discusses the application of evidence-based
principles in rheumatological practice. The clinical section provides an
overview of the evidence for optimum management in the key areas, drawing on
the expertise of rheumatologists working in evidence-based medicine worldwide.
Evidence-based information (including results from Cochrane reviews) has been
translated into a set of handouts for patients in the form of consumer
packages. There are 15 consumer packages that include a short and long summary
of the evidence for the effectiveness and safety of 15 interventions for
treating musculoskeletal diseases. A decision aid to support patients and physicians
in the patient decision-making process is also included in the consumer
package.
Access: Available for
purchase in print form for approximately £99
and electronically for £74.25 from http://www.bmjbookshop.com.
Target
audience: Clinicians.
Language: English.
Funding: None
declared.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
evidence is used. Editors include the Co-ordinating Editor of the Cochrane
Musculoskeletal Review Group and other contributors to The Cochrane Collaboration.
Issued/Updated: Updated and additional chapters are
available free of charge online at http://www.evidbasedrheum.com/.
Evidence in Action
Produced
by: South African
Cochrane Centre.
Evidence
in Action is a board
game, similar to Snakes and Ladders, developed as part of an evidence-based
reproductive healthcare training package. It is an innovative and creative
learning tool that can also be used as a stand-alone product. The game was
developed with a rural setting in mind, highlighting some of the logistical and
health-related problems encountered in under-resourced countries. The game is designed
as a fun way to test the knowledge of participants with respect to searching
effectively for evidence, and interpreting the evidence in the WHO Reproductive Health Library.
Access: Available for purchase from the South
African Cochrane Centre for R 285 plus postage (taxes not applicable outside
South Africa will be deducted). Order form is available at http://www.mrc.ac.za/cochrane/cochrane.htm.
Target
audience: Reproductive
health workers, policy makers.
Language: English.
Funding: None declared.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
evidence is used. Developed by the South African Cochrane Centre.
Guide to Effective Care in
Pregnancy and Childbirth
Enkin M, Keirse M, Neilson J, Crowther C, Duley L, and Hodnett E, 3rd
Edition, Oxford University Press, 2000.
This guide summarizes the most authoritative evidence available,
including Cochrane reviews, on the effects of care practices carried out during
pregnancy, childbirth, and immediately after birth, in a clear and readily
understandable format.
Access: Available for purchase at approximately
£21.95.
Target
audience: Clinicians,
midwives, consumers.
Language: English, Chinese, Czech, German, Russian.
Funding: None
declared.
Cochrane
contribution: Cochrane
evidence is used. Authors include the Co-ordinating Editor and other members of
the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Review Group.
Issued/Updated: Unknown.