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The Cochrane Library contains several resources
that can help practitioners and consumers access reliable up-to-date information
about effectiveness. The Library contains lots of information and can be
difficult to use for people unfamiliar with searching databases and reading
health research. The first three resources are likely to be the most useful.
Clinicians
and consumers may be most interested in these databases:
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The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
(Cochrane Reviews)
A rapidly growing list of regularly updated summaries of the best
available evidence prepared by members of the Cochrane Collaboration.
> more
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The Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE)
Other published reviews prepared by people outside of the Cochrane
Collaboration.
> more
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The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled
Trials (CENTRAL)
Where to look if you want to track down the original studies –
the largest single source of controlled trials.
> more
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These databases contain information of particular interest to researchers
and policy-makers:
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The Cochrane Database of Methodology Reviews
(Methodology Reviews)
Where to find research about the best way to conduct a systematic
review.
> more
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The Cochrane Methodology Register (CMR)
As exciting as it sounds! Where to find studies which look at the
science of systematic reviewing.
>more
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About the Cochrane Collaboration (About)
Where to look for information about Cochrane review groups and other
activities of the Cochrane Collaboration.
> more
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The Health Technology Assessment Database (HTA)
An international collection of health technology assessments.
> more
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The NHS Economic Evaluation Database (NHS EED)
International economic evaluations of health care interventions.
> more
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The reviews are presented in two sections:
Complete reviews – over 2000 full-text articles reviewing the
effects of specific health care interventions. The reviews are highly
structured and systematic, with evidence included or excluded on the
basis of explicit quality criteria, to minimise bias. Data are often
combined statistically (in what is called a meta-analysis) to increase
the power of the findings of numerous studies, each too small to produce
reliable results individually.
Protocols – information about reviews in preparation,
including the background, rationale and methods.
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DARE includes structured abstracts of nearly
3000 systematic reviews from around the world, which have been evaluated
by reviewers at the Centre for Reviews and
Dissemination in the UK. Only reviews which meet minimum quality criteria
are included in DARE. Many of these reviews cover topics that have yet to
be addressed in Cochrane reviews.
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CENTRAL is the Cochrane Collaboration's register
of controlled trials. The register provides bibliographic information
(i.e. abstracts rather than full-text) on over 415,000 reports of
trials identified by contributors to the Cochrane Collaboration. CENTRAL
provides individual reviewers with easy and reliable access to the
maximum possible number of trials relevant to their review topic.
Trials are identified from multiple sources, including searches of
bibliographic databases, handsearches of many hundreds of journals
and conference proceedings, and searches of other trial registers.
Since the overriding aim is to create an unbiased source of data for
systematic reviews, all known controlled trials are included in CENTRAL
irrespective of language of publication or where and when the studies
were conducted.
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In the same way that decisions about health
care should be based on evidence, so too should the methods that we
use in systematic reviews. Many of the methods used in reviews are
based on logical arguments, but it’s important that these are
tested empirically. The aim of CDMR is to summarise the empirical
basis for decisions about methods for systematic reviews. As with
CDSR, the reviews are presented in two sections – as complete
reviews and protocols.
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Intended for those who want to investigate a
particular area or method relating to the science of systematic reviews.
CMR is a rapidly expanding register of nearly 6000 published reports
of empirical studies of methods used in reviews. Similar to the trials
register, CMR is intended to provide those doing methodology reviews
with easy access to the maximum number of relevant studies.
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This section of the Library gives detailed information
on the many individual entities from around the world that co-ordinate
the work of the Cochrane Collaboration. Here, for example, you’ll
find information about each of the 50 Cochrane review groups, including
the location of their editorial base, the range of topics the group
covers, a list of contributors, sources of funding and how to contact
them.
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Many organisations and government agencies around
the world carry out health technology assessments. These assessments
look at the medical, social, ethical and economic implications of
health technologies (e.g. pharmaceuticals, vaccines, medical and surgical
procedures) with a view to informing policy decisions. The HTA database
contains 4000 records of completed and ongoing assessments from
members of INAHTA – the International Network of Agencies of
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Because health care resources are finite, decision-makers
are becoming increasingly aware that information on costs needs to
be considered alongside information on effectiveness. This database
contains 14,000 published economic evaluations of health care interventions
from around the world, and is maintained by the
Centre for Reviews and Dissemination in the UK. A large proportion
of these economic evaluations have been quality assessed and include
a structured summary that outlines the practical implications.
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Once you’ve logged on to the Cochrane Library, you can find more detailed
information on the different databases by selecting product descriptions on the opening screen, under the Special Features label.
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