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.