Cochrane Dementia and Cognitive Improvement Review Group

There are more than 100 groups in The Cochrane Collaboration, including 52 Review Groups, responsible for preparing and updating Cochrane Reviews in different areas of health care: breast cancer, tobacco addiction, depression, and so on.

Cochrane Review Groups each have an editorial base from where the Group’s activities are co-ordinated. These editorial bases are situated in academic, research and medical institutions across the world, and in addition, each Group has contributors (Cochrane Review authors, patient advocates and so on) located worldwide. Editorial bases are funded in a variety of ways, but a common model is for them to receive funding from their ‘host’ organisation and from a national governmental or non-governmental organisation. Each Group comprises a mix of full or part-time paid staff at the editorial base, employed by the Group’s host organisation, but working for the common goals of The Cochrane Collaboration.

The Cochrane Dementia and Cognitive Improvement Review Group

The Cochrane Dementia and Cognitive Improvement (DCI) Review Group was registered in 1995. Originally registered as Dementia and Cognitive Impairment, the Group changed to its current name in 2000. The DCI focuses on research relevant to the prevention, treatment and management of acute or chronic acquired cognitive impairments, their manifestations and complications, and the care of people affected. The DCI editorial team, based in Oxford, works with teams of Cochrane Review authors in more than 20 countries, providing support and editorial input throughout the review development process.

With aging populations increasing across the world, and related conditions becoming public health concerns, the

focus of much of the DCI’s work is of growing interest to the both the healthcare community and the general public. In the June 2012 issue of The Cochrane Library, the DCI Group publishes a newly updated Cochrane Review examining whether intake of omega-3 fatty acids affects the progression of dementia and cognitive decline.

To support the work of Cochrane Review authors and facilitate broader research into the Group’s topic areas, the DCI Group has developed the ALOIS database (named after Alois Alzheimer). This unique resource is an online version of the Group’s Trials Register, including reference information for more than 4000 trials relevant to the DCI scope of research. The register has grown and developed as a result of the DCI Group’s innovative plan to recruit carers, former carers, and others with an interest in dementia to volunteer to participate in updating and maintaining its content. Volunteers read reports of dementia trials and extract key pieces of information from the reports such as the number of participants, the treatment being tested, the outcomes being measured, and to populate the database directly online. This form of online volunteering is flexible and engaging, offering participants the opportunity to make a real contribution to the work of The Cochrane Collaboration, and to dementia research, virtually instantly. In June 2012 the ALOIS website is being updated and re-launched as the ALOIS Community project, available here.

To learn more about the DCI Group’s activities, visit their website here.

Read about the Cochrane Reviews from the Cochrane DCI Group currently featured on cochrane.org or access all Cochrane Reviews produced by the group, published on The Cochrane Library, here.