We are pleased to announce the winners – one first place and two runners-up – of this year’s Cochrane-REWARD Prize. The Cochrane-REWARD Prize recognizes successful local or pilot initiatives that have potential to reduce research waste globally if scaled up. Cochrane has funded the prize annually since it began in 2017.

The prize ceremony took place on Wednesday 9 October at the International Clinical Trials Methodology Conference in Brighton, UK. Dr Joan Marsh, Deputy Editor of The Lancet Psychiatry and member of the prize committee, was there to hand out the prizes. During the conference, each recipient also had the opportunity to present about their initiative in a session dedicated to research waste.

First prize: Trial Forge
This year’s first prize went to Trial Forge, an initiative established in 2015 to address evidence gaps in how randomized trials are designed – and, in doing so, improve trial efficiency.

So far, Trial Forge has focused on:

• Raising awareness of the lack of evidence for optimal trial processes,
• Prioritization of unanswered research questions in recruitment and retention,
• Establishing Studies Within A Trial (SWATs) as a central method for generating evidence about more effective trial processes.

Trial Forge is a collaboration coordinated from the Health Services Research Unit at the University of Aberdeen – with Trial Forge Centres in the UK and Switzerland, and plans to expand this network. Outreach to the research community, both face-to-face and via webinars, is at the core of the project.

Key successes to date include working with the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) to introduce a funding stream for SWATs in their health technology assessment programme and being a leading partner in PROMETHEUS, which funds around 30 recruitment and retention SWATS.

With regards prioritization, Trial Forge was a major partner in two James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnerships, on recruitment and retention of participants, resulting in lists of key unanswered research questions for each topic.

Work is also underway on trial site selection – a list of ‘red flags’ for poor trial recruitment has been developed and is being tested. The goal is to help trial teams predict the likelihood of recruitment success and risk manage potential problems.

The prize committee was very impressed with Trial Forge, deeming it to be an initiative with great potential to improve efficiency in trials when scaled up. Professor Shaun Treweek, who is leading Trial Forge at the University of Aberdeen, accepted the prize on behalf of the initiative.

Joint second prize: MASK
The Meta-Analysis of SKewed data (MASK) collaboration received joint second prize. Professor Christopher Weir accepted the prize on behalf of the project team.

MASK aimed to develop effective methods for handling continuous outcome measures in evidence synthesis. While the project case study focused on trials of rehabilitation interventions for stroke, the methods identified by MASK are generic and could be applied to any situation where a mean or standard deviation summary statistic of a continuous outcome is missing.

Continuous outcome measures include those related to quality of life, which are of high importance to patients and carers, but can be difficult to include in meta-analysis due to skewed distributions. This may mean that information is excluded from the evidence synthesis, leaving potential for bias or reduced accuracy.

First, authors of Cochrane Reviews on stroke rehabilitation interventions were surveyed to assess the scale of the issue. The team then did a systematic review of methodology literature to identify potential new methods. The most promising methods were applied to individual patient data from a stroke rehabilitation systematic review to test them for accuracy and ease of use, and results were disseminated to the systematic review community through a variety of channels. Several Cochrane Review author teams have since applied the recommendations in their reviews.

Joint second prize: Preclinicaltrials.eu
Preclinicaltrials.eu received the other joint second prize, and Dr Mira van der Naald of UMC Utrecht accepted the prize on behalf of the project.

Preclinicaltrials.eu is an online database where researchers can register their animal studies, upload protocols and link to publications and data sources. While clinical trials now have multiple registration platforms the preclinical field has had no means to register studies; Preclinicaltrials.eu fills the gap.

To avoid unnecessary duplication of animal studies and optimize design of new trials, the platform can be searched at the start of a new study for an overview of registered trials and to find contact details for researchers working on comparable projects. The registration form also prompts users to consider whether they are minimizing risk of bias.

Currently, most efforts are going towards raising awareness of the database and encouraging more researchers to register and upload their protocols. The team is engaging a wide group of stakeholders on preregistration, including policymakers in the Netherlands, funders, journals, animal welfare bodies, scientific societies and academic institutions.

Cochrane-REWARD prize in 2020
In reviewing this year’s submissions, the Cochrane-REWARD prize committee noted that, now in its third year, nominations continued to be diverse (both geographically and in terms of approach) and innovative. The three prize recipients are just a few examples of the interesting and promising initiatives currently underway to reduce waste in research.

We look forward to continuing the prize next year; and encourage the initiatives not previously at an advanced enough stage to consider submitting a nomination in 2020. A formal call for nominations will be issued early next year.

Friday, October 18, 2019

Specifications: 1 FTE or we will consider applicants who would want to work flexibly up to full-time
Salary: c£43,000
Location: Flexible
Application Closing Date: 11th November 2019

Cochrane is the world’s most respected producer of high-quality health evidence to inform decision-making by healthcare practitioners, patients and carers, researchers and policymakers. Our global independent network of over 11,000 members and 68,000 supporters analyze and summarize the best evidence from research and publish it in the Cochrane Library (www.cochranelibrary.com). Cochrane is passionate about improving health outcomes for everyone, everywhere by helping them to make informed choices about healthcare issues and we have been doing this for 25 years.

The Learning and Support Officer is a new role and will has an important part to play in delivering our overall mission.  The primary focus for the job holder will be to assess how best to meet the induction, training and support needs of Cochrane’s Group Staff community and then deliver against that assessment.  As such, the jobholder will be at the heart of the organisation and will need to establish effective working relationships with our full range of highly intelligent and motivated professionals, winning their confidence.  The Learning and Support Officer will also be responsible for the day-to-day management of the Cochrane Information Specialist (CIS) and Managing Editor (ME) Support Teams, who provide direct support to our wider community of experts.

The role is based within the People Services team which is responsible for all elements of people management in Cochrane, and so the role holder will benefit from working alongside Human Resources and Learning professionals as well as our Community Support Team. 

Key Tasks:

• Producing role specific inductions and ongoing training
  
• Scoping and delivering professional development that builds competence and confidence
  
• Designing and implementing interventions to engage, recognise and motivate our staff community
• Management support to the Group Staff Community

The successful candidate will also have:

• Experience of developing learning materials
  
• Experience in delivering training or support
  
• Experience of organising training events and workshops both virtually and face to face.
  
• Line management experience
  
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills; a courteous, professional manner; and the ability to maintain excellent working relationships with Cochrane’s diverse international contributor groups, including Cochrane Groups, staff, trainers, methodological & content experts and others.
  
• Excellent English-language communication skills (both verbal and written), including experience in communicating technical content, tailoring standard communications to individual requirements, and working with people from a variety of cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
  
• Experience in working collaboratively within complex organisations, including diverse and geographically dispersed staff, collaborator and stakeholder groups.
  
• Self-motivated and results-oriented, with excellent organisation and time management skills, including the ability to work to deadlines as part of an interdependent team.
• Willingness to commit to Cochrane’s mission and values.

Cochrane is a global, independent network of health practitioners, researchers, patient advocates and others, responding to the challenge of making vast amounts of research evidence useful for informing decisions about health. We do this by synthesizing research findings to produce the best available evidence on what can work, what might harm and where more research is needed. Our work is recognised as the international gold standard for high quality, trusted information

If you would like to apply for this position, please send a CV along with a supporting statement to recruitment@cochrane.org with "Learning and Support Officer" in the subject line.  The supporting statement should indicate why you are applying for the post, and how far you meet the requirements for the post outlined in the job description using specific examples.  List your experience, achievements, knowledge, personal qualities, and skills which you feel are relevant to the post.

• For further information, please download the full job description from here
• Deadline for applications: 11 November 2019 (12 midnight GMT)
• Interviews to be held on: 21 November 2019

 

Thursday, October 17, 2019 Category: Jobs

Specifications: Full Time, Permanent
Salary: c£25,000
Location: London
Application Closing Date: 4th November 2019

Cochrane is the world’s most respected producer of high-quality health evidence to inform decision-making by healthcare practitioners, patients and carers, researchers and policymakers. Our global independent network of over 11,000 members and 68,000 supporters analyze and summarize the best evidence from research and publish it in the Cochrane Library (www.cochranelibrary.com). Cochrane is passionate about improving health outcomes for everyone, everywhere by helping them to make informed choices about healthcare issues and we have been doing this for 25 years.

We are looking for someone with excellent administration skills to join our Editorial and Methods department as Administration Assistant. The successful candidate will be a self-motivated and highly organised individual who is able to work effectively and collaboratively with a diverse range of contacts across the world. 

Key Tasks:

• Diary management for senior EMD team members.
  
• Assisting the EMD Project Support Officer in providing administrative support to the EMD including:
  
• Maintaining the Cochrane Priority Review List
  
• Maintaining several excel databases
  
• Providing administrative support to the EMD centralized editorial service
  
• Organising in-person and online meetings or teleconferences, including co-ordinating agendas, circulating papers, organising refreshments and taking minutes
  
• Assisting with the production of power point presentations and other materials for use at meetings
  
• Management of EMD mailing lists and EMD general enquires inbox
  
• Providing support to and cover for other administrative staff as and when required in order to ensure continuity of service
• Undertaking other duties as necessary

The successful candidate will also have:

• Previous experience of providing administrative support to a team
• Experience in complex scheduling and diary management
  
• Intermediate level IT skills, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint
  
• Strong organization and prioritization skills
  
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
  
• Excellent interpersonal skills
  
• Professional telephone manner
  
• Ability to work methodically and accurately
  
• A flexible approach with the ability to respond quickly to issues as they arise
  
• A pro-active approach to problem-solving
• Awareness of handling confidential and sensitive information

Cochrane is a global, independent network of health practitioners, researchers, patient advocates and others, responding to the challenge of making vast amounts of research evidence useful for informing decisions about health. We do this by synthesizing research findings to produce the best available evidence on what can work, what might harm and where more research is needed. Our work is recognised as the international gold standard for high quality, trusted information

If you would like to apply for this position, please send a CV along with a supporting statement to recruitment@cochrane.org with "Administration Assistant" in the subject line.  The supporting statement should indicate why you are applying for the post, and how far you meet the requirements for the post outlined in the job description using specific examples.  List your experience, achievements, knowledge, personal qualities, and skills which you feel are relevant to the post.

• For further information, please download the full job description from here
• Deadline for applications: 4 November 2019 (12 midnight GMT)
• Interviews to be held on: week commencing 11 November 2019
  

 

Thursday, October 17, 2019 Category: Jobs

Fluoxetine is a medicine used for the treatment of depression, which reduces appetite as a side effect. Therefore, it is suspected that fluoxetine could be used as a treatment for overweight or obese people. In this group of people administration of fluoxetine means an off-label treatment which means it is not licensed for treating obesity.

The authors identified 19 randomised controlled trials (clinical studies where people are randomly put into one of two or more treatment groups) evaluating mainly women receiving different doses of fluoxetine. A total of 1280 overweight or obese participants received fluoxetine and 936 participants received mainly placebo or another anti-obesity medication. The participants in the included studies were followed up for periods varying between three weeks and one year.

For our main comparison group — fluoxetine compared with placebo — and for all fluoxetine doses there was a 2.7 kg weight loss in favour of fluoxetine. The authors are uncertain, however, if an additional study would show a benefit for fluoxetine again. A total of 399 out of 627 participants (63.6%) receiving fluoxetine compared with 352 out of 626 participants (56.2%) receiving placebo experienced a side effect. Dizziness, drowsiness, fatigue, insomnia and nausea were observed approximately twice as often after fluoxetine compared to placebo. A total of 15 out of 197 participants (7.6%) receiving fluoxetine compared with 12 out of 196 participants (6.1%) receiving placebo experienced depression.

Lead author Alejandro Gonzalez Garay said, “The overall certainty of the evidence was low or very low, mainly because of the small number of studies per outcome measurement and the small number of participants.  Low certainty evidence suggests that off-label fluoxetine may decrease weight compared with placebo. However, low-certainty evidence also suggests an increase for dizziness, drowsiness, fatigue, insomnia and nausea following fluoxetine treatment and nausea following fluoxetine treatment.”

• Read the full review
• Learn more about the Cochrane Metabolic & Endocrine Disorders Group

Monday, October 21, 2019

We are looking forward to seeing you at the Colloquium in a few days! Here is some practical information to make your arrival easier.

If you are registered for the Colloquium, you should have received the Colloquium Joining Instructions email last week, and another copy is coming.

For information about transportation from the airport, transport in Santiago, currency, plugs, and more useful travel information, visit this page.

The Colloquium venue, CasaPiedra, is located in the Vitacura neighborhood of Santiago. More venue information can be found here. The CasaPiedra floor plan can be found here.

Registration

The registration desk is located at the main entrance to CasaPiedra and will be open at the times indicated below:

Pre-Colloquium workshop, symposia and meeting registration desk:
Monday 21st October – 08:00-18:00

Main Colloquium registration and enquiries desk:
Tuesday 22nd October – 07:00-17:30
Wednesday 23rd October – 07:00-19:00
Thursday 24th October – 07:00-17:30
Friday 25th October – 07:00-14:00

All delegates should collect their badge and conference materials on arrival. Your badge should be worn at all times during the Colloquium and social events.

If you would like to explore Santiago, recommendations for places to visit, see, eat, and drink can be found here.

The Colloquium App has now been launched! To download it, search for “CochraneColloquiumSantiago” in the Apple or Android app stores.

Finally, don’t forget that sign-up is available for Colloquium sessions! Visit here to see the Full schedule and sign up today.

We are looking forward to seeing you in Santiago!

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

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Cochrane is excited to announce the beta release of a powerful and easy-to-use new discovery tool for finding reviews on the Cochrane Library.

Released to coincide with the Santiago Cochrane Colloquium, Cochrane PICO search BETA can help you find the most relevant Cochrane evidence to answer your research or clinical question.

What is the Cochrane PICO search BETA?

With Cochrane PICO search BETA, you can search over 4,500 Cochrane intervention reviews published since 2015 by

• Population (or Patient or Problem) What are the characteristics of the patient or population – for example condition?
•  Intervention What is the intervention under consideration for this patient or population – for example a drug or surgical intervention?
• Comparison What is the alternative to the intervention ­– for example a different drug or a placebo?
• Outcome What are the relevant outcomes – for example quality of life or adverse events?

How does Cochrane PICO search BETA  work?

Cochrane's Information Specialists and other experts have described the “PICO” components in our reviews using controlled vocabulary terms.

PICO search BETA allows you to use these PICO terms to find the reviews most relevant to your healthcare question. In particular, it allows you to find reviews in which a term is used as a Population, Intervention, Comparison, or Outcome specifically. For example, the term "Diabetes Mellitus" is cited in Cochrane Reviews in some cases as a Population term, and in some other cases as an Outcome term. PICO search BETA  allows you to search specifically on the PICO context that's of interest to you.

PICO search BETA in the Cochrane Library

To find the evidence you need with PICO search BETA  on the Cochrane Library, you can:

• View PICO vocabulary terms by selecting to Show PICOs BETA in the Cochrane Library search results.
• Build searches with PICO vocabulary terms in the Cochrane Library Advanced Search by using the new PICO search BETA tab. See https://www.cochranelibrary.com/en/advanced-search/pico
  

Why use PICO search BETA

Use PICO search BETA to:

• Find reviews that answer your questions FAST
• Discover the full range of:
  • Interventions assessed for a population
  • Populations associated with an intervention
  • Outcomes evaluated for an intervention
• Learn about new topic areas by exploring PICO terms
• Develop search skills by building PICO questions
• Release the full potential of Cochrane Reviews

PICO search BETA is a trial initiative

Cochrane PICO search BETA  is made available in the Cochrane Library as a pre-release for large-scale testing. Our aim is to learn from this Beta to prioritize future developments and enhancements of PICO search.

• Learn more
• Try a PICO search

 

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Malignant melanoma, which can be fatal, is increasingly common and there is debate about whether it should join the list of cancers that are screened for. A new Cochrane Review from June 2019 looks at the current evidence and we asked one of the authors, Minna Johansson from Cochrane Sweden, to tell us what they found.

In thinking about screening for cancers such as malignant melanoma, it’s important to remember that the vast majority of screened people cannot benefit from the screening because they will never develop the disease. When healthcare systems invite asymptomatic people to a screening intervention that they have not asked for, it leads to ethical considerations that differ from those in regular health care; we need to know that we do not cause more harm than good - and requirements for the certainty of the evidence are even greater than usual.

At the moment, Germany is the only country in the world with a national screening programme to detect malignant melanoma, but in many other countries, opportunistic screening is widespread. We wanted to find out whether screening is effective at reducing the adverse health impacts of melanoma and whether it has any harms.

Screening has the potential to reduce deaths from melanoma through earlier detection but potential harms could arise if people without symptoms are found to have melanomas and other skin lesions that would never have caused problems if they had remained undetected. They may then receive unnecessary surgery, or experience psychological stress. There is also a risk that financial and human resources used for screening could be better used on other interventions with a stronger evidence base and a better balance between benefits and harms.
We reviewed the evidence for the benefits and harms of organised screening for malignant melanoma compared with no screening. We looked for all types of screening, including skin self‐examination or examination by a health professional, of any person not suspected of having malignant melanoma. We included people thought to have a high risk of developing malignant melanoma but not those known to previously have had melanoma.

We found two randomised trials that met our inclusion criteria, but neither reported data on the important outcomes we wanted to investigate. This leaves us with insufficient evidence to quantify the benefits and harms of screening for malignant melanoma, and means that current screening practices for melanoma do not live up to the required evidence standards of organisations such as the WHO and the UK National Screening Committee, which specifically highlight the importance of solid evidence for both benefits and harms prior to implementation of a screening programme.

In summary, our review shows that adult general population screening for malignant melanoma is not supported or refuted by evidence from randomised trials and therefore does not fulfil well-established screening criteria. Yet screening for malignant melanoma is currently practised in many countries in a more or less organised form. A robust randomised trial is highly desirable to enable people to weigh potential harms against potential benefits, both to make sure that a screening programme will not cause more harm than good and to ensure that, if it does have important potential benefits, it is not dismissed inappropriately.

• Read the Cochrane Review
• Listen to more Cochrane Podcasts
• Get Cochrane Podcasts on iTunes
• Visit the Cochrane Skin Group

Monday, October 21, 2019

Lots of people hit the gym to shed unwanted pounds, but they don’t always see results on the scale.

Obesity expert Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, psychiatrist Dr. Gary Cooney, neuroscientist Prof. Wendy Suzuki, and urologist Dr. Stacey Kenfield tackle the power of exercise and why you should bother. Best quote of the podcast: 'We here at Science Vs we LOVE cochrane reviews…we do Jazzercise to them!!'

Selected references:

• The study which looked at the effect of exercising 5 days a week for a year on weight
• Gary's Cochrane review on the benefits of exercise for depression
• The study which found that exercise is linked to a lower risk of getting dementia
• Stacey's study on exercise and prostate cancer

More information on the podcast:

• Check out the full transcript here
• Listen to the podcast on Spotify
• Listen to the podcast on iTunes

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Thursday, October 24, 2019

Specifications: Full Time, Permanent
Salary: Competitive
Location: London/Flexible
Application Closing Date: 1st November 2019 at midnight (GMT)

This role is an exciting opportunity to use your experience as a Senior Editor to make a difference in the field of health care research. 

The purpose of this role is to support the Editor in Chief of the Cochrane Library and help to deliver the methods-related objectives and targets of the Cochrane Editorial and Methods Department (EMD).

The role’s duties can be divided into the two areas:

Editorial and Methods Leadership

• To play a major role in the development of methods used in Cochrane by assisting in the development, implementation or evaluation of new or existing methods in Cochrane Reviews
  
• To ensure that the methods support from a dedicated unit in the EMD meets the needs of the CRG Networks
  
• To support the Editor in Chief in the development and implementation of Cochrane’s Content Strategy to ensure the Cochrane Library remains a premier international source of healthcare evidence
  
• To ensure that appropriate methodological review has been carried out for high profile reviews and reviews using complex methods prior to publication
• To liaise with the Deputy Editor in Chief to support the efficient production of high-quality and timely Cochrane Reviews

Operational Leadership

• Developing, managing and supporting the delivering of projects that are relevant to the EMD’s mission; to involve managing schedules, supervising less experienced staff, and co-ordination with contributors and publisher
  
• Contributing to the development of methods-related editorial policies and supporting the Deputy Editor in Chief with their implementation
  
• Working closely with the Cochrane Library Product Owner, Deputy Editor in Chief, and SMT to support delivery of publishing strategy for Cochrane
  
• Working with members of the Learning team to help develop training that meets methods learning needs of Cochrane contributors 
  
• Contributing to Cochrane’s budget planning processes, and managing the resources associated with the Methods portfolio
• Identifying continuous improvement opportunities and work with colleagues to ensure that new processes, workflows systems and lessons learned are implemented effectively

We are looking for a self-motivated and highly organised individual who is able to work effectively and collaboratively with a diverse range of contacts across the world.  The successful candidate will also have:

• Degree in relevant field or equivalent; relevant postgraduate qualification is desirable
  
• Knowledge and skills relevant to the systematic review methods, including familiarity with Cochrane guidance and standards on the design, conduct, and reporting of systematic reviews
  
• Experience of developing, implementing, and using different methods in systematic reviews
  
• Proven ability to solve problems and make decisions, think strategically, with awareness of when to use her/his discretion and when to escalate
  
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; and verifiable competence working with people from a variety of cultures and leading geographically dispersed teams
  
• Proficient IT skills, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint
  
• Strong organization and prioritization skills; and an ability to work methodically, accurately, and with attention to detail
  
• Experience of initiating, creating, and commissioning reports
  
• Experience of team and individual line management and supervision, including working remotely
  
• Develop and maintain working relationships with key stakeholders
• Available for occasional travel locally and internationally

Cochrane is a global, independent network of health practitioners, researchers, patient advocates and others, responding to the challenge of making vast amounts of research evidence useful for informing decisions about health. We do this by synthesizing research findings to produce the best available evidence on what can work, what might harm and where more research is needed. Our work is recognised as the international gold standard for high quality, trusted information.

If you would like to apply for this position, please send a CV along with a supporting statement to recruitment@cochrane.org with “Senior Methods Editor” in the subject line.  The supporting statement should indicate why you are applying for the post, and how far you meet the requirements for the post outlined in the job description using specific examples.  List your experience, achievements, knowledge, personal qualities, and skills which you feel are relevant to the post.

• For further information, please download the full job description from here.
• Deadline for applications: 1st November 2019
• Interviews will be held on: Mid november, dates to be confirmed
  
• For more information, contact recruitment@cochrane.org

 

Friday, October 11, 2019

Delayed cord clamping improves health of babies born too early: updated Cochrane Review

This updated Cochrane systematic review  finds that delayed, rather than early, cord clamping may reduce the risk of death before discharge for babies born preterm.

The authors set out to determine if delayed cord clamping or umbilical cord milking improves the health outcomes for babies born before 37 weeks' gestation. These interventions were compared with early cord clamping.

Babies born before 37 weeks, or preterm, have poorer health outcomes than babies born at term, particularly if they are born before 32 weeks. They can experience problems with the functioning of many of their major organs including their lungs, gut and hearts, and have a greater risk of dying or having long-term problems such as cerebral palsy. After birth, the babies may need blood transfusions and drugs to strengthen their heart contractions (inotropes) and to raise their blood pressure. It is important to try to find ways of improving the health of these tiny babies.

Lead author Heike Rabe, Professor of Perinatal Medicine and Honorary Consultant Neonatologist at Brighton and Sussex Medical School said: “Early clamping of the umbilical cord has been standard practice over many years. It allows the baby to be transferred quickly to care from a specialist team of doctors either at the side of the room or in another room. Yet, delayed clamping for half to three or more minutes allows continuing blood flow between the mother and her baby, and this may help the baby to adjust to breathing air. Squeezing blood along the umbilical cord towards the baby (milking the cord) can boost the baby's blood volume, and this may improve the baby's health.”

“Our study found that delayed, rather than early, cord clamping may reduce the risk of death before discharge for babies born preterm. As there have only been a few studies that follow babies for health outcomes in early childhood to date and there is insufficient evidence for reliable conclusions on providing immediate care for the baby beside the mother with the cord intact, immediate neonatal care with the cord intact requires further study.” 

Researchers collected and analysed 40 published studies, which provided data on 4,884 babies and their mothers. These studies had been undertaken across the world, but mostly in high-income countries and the births were in hospitals which practiced early clamping.

• The Cochrane Review, titled ‘Effect of timing of umbilical cord clamping and other strategies to influence placental transfusion at preterm birth on maternal and infant outcomes,’ is published open access here: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD003248.pub4/full
• Learn more about the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group
• Read the press release from the Brighton and Sussex Medical School

Friday, October 11, 2019

Cochrane Chile is hosting Cochrane’s Colloquium in Santiago, October 22-25, 2019. Cochrane’s Colloquium is an annual, global health event based on promoting the most prestigious evidence in the world and where hundreds of international researchers, opinion leaders, health experts and patients join together for open, scientific debate promoting the use of evidence in health. Through talks, workshops and other activities and presentations, we will be exploring this year's theme of “Embracing diversity”.

Meet our content creator volunteers who will be helping to share the work of Cochrane and extend our annual scientific conference materials and discussion beyond #CochraneSantiago attendees to their social media followers.

Alvaro Dendi
Languages: Spanish
Twitter: @alvarodendi
"I am a  Neonatologist, currently teaching Medical Students in Uruguay.  I feel that it is important for  information to be evidence based to ensure quality in our decision making process .I enjoy sharing medical information on Twitter to help increase awareness and better our knowledge in medical science."

Amena El-Harakeh   Languages: English and  ArabicTwitter: @AmenaElHarakehInstagram: amena.elharakeh"I am  a research assistant at the American University of Beirut (AUB), Lebanon. I hold a Master in Public Health with a concentration in Health Management and Policy and Bachelor of Science in Environmental Health from AUB. My research interests are focused on evidence synthesis, priority setting, research methodology and health systems research."
Amena will be attending the Colloquium 
Ammar Suhail    Languages: English
Twitter: @suhailphysio89"I am a movement expert, a physiotherapist in India. In addition to sharing health evidence on Twitter, I have a WhatsApp group named 'Evidence Based Practice' where I share articles and then follow it up with their summaries. I also own a Facebook page where I have been updating evidence in regular basis." 
Ana Beatriz Pizarro    Languages: Spanish, English and Portuguese  Twitter: @anabeatrizpizarInstagram: anabeatrizpizar"I'm a fourth year nursing student at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Colombia, I’ve been interested in evidence-based healthcare since I started my bachelor because it aims to provide the most effective care that is available to help individuals and communities. Since 2016, I have been apart of a research group that works with Cochrane Colombia. I've recently started writing blogs for S4BE. The type of content I share is about EBM and public health."


Andrés Felipe López Lopera    Languages: Spanish  Twitter: @ AndresLMDInstagram: AndresLMDPinterest: AndresLMD
Blog: AndresLMD "I am a resident doctor of internal medicine. I enjoy helping and sharing my experiences with evidence based medicine on social media." 
Anna Permyakova    Languages: RussianBlog:  https://vk.com/snoperm"I am an assistant professor at the Department of Paediatric Infectious Diseases at the Medical University of Perm, Russia. My students and I are proponents of evidence-based medicine and have created a Student Science Society." 
Annemeri Livinalli    Languages: Português and English  Twitter: @Anne_Livi
" I am pharmacist specialized in oncology with experience in pediatric oncology. I live in Brazil and recently joined Cochrane Haematological Malignancies as an author of a systematic review about biosimilars. As director of communication in the Brazilian Society of Oncology Pharmacist, usually I share content about new medicines, new studies, and events in the area. In personal LinkedIn and Facebook, I usually share general health information, including posts from Cochrane."
Annemeri will be attending the Colloquium 
Auxiliadora Fraiz Padin    Languages: English and Spanish
Twitter: @AuxiFpFacebook: TOCA Málaga Turismo Ocio y Cultura Accesible"I have been involved in Cochrane's citizen scientist platform Cochrane Crowd. I also enjoy compling tasks as a consumer on the Cochrane's TaskExchange platform. I am looking forward to sharing my expeiences." 
Carrie Price    Languages: English
Twitter: @carrieprice78"I am a clinical medical librarian at the Welch Medical Library at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. I am also an information specialist for Cochrane Urology. I love to engage with #medtwitter, #meded, and #evidencebasedmedicine communities on Twitter and am consistently amazed at the reach this social media platform allows."
Carrie will be attending the Colloquium 
Casey Quinlan    Languages: English
Twitter: @MightyCasey
Instagram: mightycasey
Blog: Mighty Casey Media: Comedy Health AnalystPodcast: Mighty Casey
"I blend my background in network news and standup comedy to inform my health policy work. I write, speak, and facilitate the Festivus Airing of Grievances in healthcare. My favourite people to work with are those who want to break-fix the system, not serve the status quo."
Casey will be attending the colloquium  
Christopher Jackson    Languages: English
Twitter:  @ChrisDJacksonMD "I am an academic general internist and assistant professor of medicine at UTHSC Memphis. At UT Memphis, I do a lot of teaching on evidence based practice through my clinical work and in large group discussions. I am involved in the Cochrane Clinical Advisor program with Dr. Jane Burch." 
David Alberto Santos Hernández    Languages: Spanish   
Instagram: inmed28Facebook: Inmed
"I am a medical student passionate about research. Since I have become familiar Cochrane, I have participated in its activities: webinars, Cochrane Crowd and Cochrane TaskExchange, where I have been able to support authors of systematic reviews by translating articles and verifying inclusion and exclusion criteria for studies. I like to make infographics to communicate the findings of the studies and thus provide information to the general public."


Denis Islamgulov    Languages: Russian and English   
Twitter: @DenisIslamgulov
Instagram: dr.islamgulov
Facebook: denis.islamgulov.9"I'm from Ufa, Russia. I've been working in IVF more than 10 years. I'm an embryologist. I write short posts about Cochrane's reviews and share on social media." 
Elena Stallings    Languages: Spanish and English 
Twitter: @Bioest_HRC"I'm a pre-doctoral student at the University of Alcala de Henares in Madrid and also working at the Clinical Biostatistics Unit at Hospital Ramón y Cajal, Madrid. Cochrane Madrid is based out of the Clinical Biostatistics Unit and I´m currently involved in a few Cochrane and non-Cochrane reviews. I'm the social media manager at the office and we post regularly on our twitter about news from the Clinical Biostatistics Unit and Cochrane Madrid."Elena is attending the colloquium 

Giordano Pérez-Gaxiola 
Languages: English and Spanish
Twitter: @giordanopgInstagram: giordanopgBlog: https://es.epistemonikos.cl/category/cazamitos/"I'm a Paediatrician, and Cochrane Mexico director.   I also participate in TestingTreatments Interactive, the Informed Health Choices project, and Epistemonikos.  I usually share information and evidence about childcare."
Giordano is attending the colloquium  Jana StojanovaLanguages: English and Spanish  
Twitter: @jana_uvInstagram: jsto7380Blog: IATDMCT.org/blog
"I am a mom, and working at the School of Medicine, University of Valparaiso and for Cochrane Chile.  I am interested in methods to evaluate complex service level interventions, such as Therapeutic Drug Monitoring, and I am interested in quality guidelines for quasi-experimental study designs."
Jana is attending the colloquium

Juan Victor Ariel Franco
Languages: English, French, and Spanish
Twitter: @juan_francomd
Instagram: @jva_franco
"I am a family physician, Associate Professor and Director of the Cochrane Associate Centre - Instituto Universitario Hospital Italiano and Contact Editor for Cochrane Urology. I am interested in compared effectiveness research and patient-centered care, including shared decision making."
Juan will be attending the Santiago Colloquium

Karen Huamán   
Languages: Spanish
Instagram: sakavi15Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karen.wamsanchez
"I am a nurse and a senior student in the Master of Epidemiology at the National University of San Marcos. I work in the Unit of Analysis and Generation of Evidence in Public Health (UNAGESP) of the National Institute of Health of Peru, develop systematic reviews, health technology evaluations and clinical practice guides informed in evidence for the Ministry of Health. UNAGESP is a Cochrane Collaborating Centre and as part of it, we transfer knowledge for the development of guidelines to professional clinical experts in different healthcare institutions, in this way we disseminate the evidence and insert methodologies that allow us to make better decisions at all levels."
Karen is attending the colloquium 

Kate Frazer   
Languages: English    
Twitter: @katef224
"I’m a lecturer at University College Dublin in School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems. I am a Cochrane author of reviews on legislative smoking bans and have expertise in public health and social epidemiology." 

Kate Nyhan   
Languages: English    
Twitter: @KDNyhan
"I'm an academic medical librarian specializing in public health. I think we should teach critical appraisal of published systematic reviews before we teach people how to write new ones. I think journals publishing evidence synthesis should have information specialists review the quality and reporting of searches before publication. I think that automation is going to eat the lunch of everyone using artisanal methods, but I don't know if that's a good thing. I tweet about evidence synthesis, dissemination and implementation, and medical librarianship. I'm not affiliated with Cochrane." 

Kathryn Vela   
Languages: English    
Twitter: @KathrynVela31
Blog: Librarian at Large
"I am a health science specialist and librarian in the Evidence Synthesis Program at the Portland VA Health Care System. I participate in conducting rapid reviews to meet decision-making needs and to improve Veterans' health and healthcare. I participates in Cochrane Crowd and frequently writes about topics related to health information and literacy in my blog 'Librarian at Large'." 
Kieran Shukla    
Languages: English    
Twitter: @psychwithkieran
"Currently, I'm an Assistant Psychologist working in Brain Injury Rehabilitation. I'm supervised by two clinical neuro-psychologists and support the delivery of evidence-based psychological interventions and the development of cognitive strategies with service users. I deliver neuropsychological assessments where appropriate and deliver group therapy sessions - a Psychological adjustment/cognitive skills group session and a mindfulness-based session. I work closely with the MDT to formulate rehabilitation goals and conduct goal attainment scaling analysis. I also analyse behaviours and work with the Support Team to manage/support behaviours. The role is fulfilling and injected with creativity to provide holistic support to people affected by brain injuries! (And encompasses more than the short description!)"


Magda Gabriela Palmero Hinojosa    
Languages: Spanish    
Twitter: @gestiologos
Instagram: gestiologos Facebook Group: gestiologos
Blog: https://blog.gestiologos.com/
Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/
Other: Gestiólogos en Salud
"I am a medical specialist in the quality of clinical care.  my relationship with Cochrane is with one of my professors dr.  Carlos Cuello, who is in Cochrane, in the years of training in the specialty as a resident doctor gave us the subject of evidence-based medicine in which we conducted a systematic review.  I have a podcast called Gestiólogos in which I create and disseminate valuable content on issues of leadership, management, entrepreneurship, quality in Health within a framework of evidence-based medicine.  interviewing experts from health professionals." 
Mario Enrique Díaz Barrera    
Languages: Spanish    
Instagram: _bluemed_Facebook: BlueMed
"We are a page that every week includes flash cards about the four great topics of medicine (Medicine, Surgery, Gynecoobstetrics and pediatrics) that aims to reach students and health personnel in a didactic and easy way, our posts contain quick information about definition, risk factors, aetiology, diagnosis and treatment with updated information from the up to date platform and national guides.  One of our goals is to incorporate levels of evidence  According GRADE in our flash cards that is one of the reasons why one of the administrators of the page will be attending this event."
Mario will be attending the Colloquium 
Move Forward    
Languages: Español    
Instagram: moveforwardeducacionFacebook: Move Forward
"Somos una página que comparte contenido de la mejor calidad en el área de fisioterapia, los mejores tratamientos, pruebas, test, y beneficios de esta en cualquiera que sea el padecimiento a tratar con la finalidad de mantener actualizado a los fisioterapeutas de México y que pueda aplicarlo rápidamente a la clínica"

Natalia Perez    
Languages: Spanish    
Instagram: nata_elisa"I'm physical therapist, working in research area in Teleton, children rehabilitation institute.  I've done a systematic review and I teach about research and evidence based medicine. I follow Cochrane and I read new rehabilitation systematic reviews every week."

Nelly Darbois    
Languages: French    
Twitter: StopTranspi
Facebook: StopTranspiBlog: http://transpi.wordpress.comOther: http://kinedarbois.wordpress.com
"I am a physiotherapist, teacher, and web editor. For several years, I have been teaching evidence-based practice to physiotherapy students, doctoral students of all disciplinary backgrounds, and the general public. I greatly appreciate the work of the Cochrane collaboration and I contribute to the writing of the monthly letter for French-speaking physiotherapists.  Since 2012, I have been blogging about hyperhidrosis. I disseminate all factual information on this pathology to the general public. I also speak on the main French-speaking forum on this pathology and the French-speaking Facebook group.  Since 2014, I have also been blogging for residents of my city on various health topics. I rely as often as possible on Cochrane Reviews.  It would also be a pleasure to continue to collaborate to raise awareness of the Cochrane collaboration among the general public, and more practically, the importance of evidence-based medicine."


Pablo Lopez    
Languages: Spanish    
Twitter: @plopezpsike
Instagram: plopez1979Podcast: https://www.cochrane.org/es/podcasts/10.1002/14651858.CD010840.pub2
"I'm psychologist with a PhD in Medicine.   My main interest is sharing evidence in psychotherapy.  I've published a Cochrane Review about Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Adults with ADHD.  I usually share information about this topic in Spanish through the social media."Pablo will be attending the Colloquium Patricia Aluko    
Languages: English    
Twitter:  Patriciaaluko 
"I have a background in pharmacy with experience in the synthesis of clinical and economic evidence. I am currently a member of the Cochrane and Campbell economics methods group and has been involved in putting together online learning module and handbook for including economic evidence into systematic reviews."


Roberto Altamirano    
Languages: English and Spanish
Twitter: @DrRAltamiranoA
Instagram: dr.roberto_altamirano_a
"I am a Gynaecologic Oncologist - Assistance Professor from Universidad de Chile Hospital Clinico San Borja Arriaran. I am a member of the Board of Directors SOCHOG (Chilean national Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology) which is a Cochrane membership helping with online tasks."Roberto will be attending the Colloquium 
Robin Vernooij    
Languages: English    
Twitter: robinvernooij 
"I am a a post-doctoral fellow, employed at the University Medical Centre Utrecht in the Netherlands, with a special focus on epidemiology and nephrology. Apart from being previously employed by the Iberoamerican Cochrane Centre for almost three years,  I have been involved in the Cochrane community by collaborating with several Cochrane groups. My main interests are: systematic review methodology, guidelines, and population-based (registry) research. The content I share on social media ranges relates almost exclusively to anything academic or professional related, including interesting papers, views on professional matters, and content of conference presentations."Robin will be attending the Colloquium 
Roses Parker    
Languages: English    
Twitter:  @roses_parker 
"I have experience in qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research and currently hold the position of Assistant Editor for Social Media at the Journal of Child Health Care. I joined the Musculoskeletal Oral Skin and Sensory Network as Network Support Fellow in 2019."Roses will be attending the Colloquium 
Roshan Piyarathne    
Languages: Sinhalese    Blog: www.dostharapiya.lk
"I a physician who likes to share evidence based medicine .  love to make a difference."


Sarah Chapman    
Languages: English    
Twitter: @SarahChapman30 
Instagram: sarahchapman30 Blog: https://evidentlycochrane.net
"I am the Knowledge Broker at Cochrane UK, where I create content to share on our social media platforms. I edit and write for our blog, Evidently Cochrane, and work with my colleague Selena and with others in Cochrane on Knowledge Translation activities."Sarah will be attending the Colloquium 
Sonam Kelzang    
Languages: English    
Twitter: @sonkelz 
"I'm General Surgeon. I believe strongly that healthcare should be on the best available evidence. I'm interested in Minimal Invasive, Urology,  and transplants."


Stella O'Brien    
Languages: English    
Twitter:  @EvidenceMatters
"As an active contributor to Cochrane I have many healthcare-related conversations on Twitter ranging from clinical trial design, PPI, the value of patient perspectives in priority setting and the design of healthcare services. My personal experience as a patient and carer, alongside my work with healthcare bodies and Cochrane, underpins my motivation to contribute to more timely reviews of evidence and better communication of research and its findings."Stella will be attending the Colloquium 
Tania Rodriguez Vargas    
Languages: Spanish and English
Twitter: @taniaesme07
Instagram: t._rodriguez
"I am a dentist, I work as a teacher in a health research and studies centre at the public health school. I am not a blogger however I make a lot of use of my social networks as a means to share information with my students and people who work in health and the general public. Is the first time that my country goes and I would like to share this experience. I enjoy to share information of health and education."Tania will be attending the Colloquium 
Tatyana Archakova    
Languages: Russian and English
Twitter:
Facebook: Проектирование и оценка в социальной сфере
"I am a psychologist (practitioner & researcher) with basic medical training and bits and pieces of self-teaching in evidence-based approach in medical field (e.g. I have completed "Clinical Trials" on Coursera). I am also a member of the Russian Association of Specialists in Evaluation of Programs and Policies. Recently I have become a Cochrane volunteer, having participated in the "Rapid" study."


Vanessa Gomes
Languages: Portuguese
Instagram: @medjusrj
"I am a pharmacist working with health judicialization in Brasil, I am finishing my masters in health tecnologybassessment and I work with evidence based medicine.  I share news about evidence based medicine, and results of systematic reviews."


Vinicio Robalino    
Languages: Spanish and English
Instagram: @viniciowashere"I am a medical student, and I like to be up to date with medical evidence, also I like to share this type of information in my social media."


Yhojar Pisfil    
Languages: Español    
Instagram: dr_piamadre"Soy estudiante de Medicina del 6to año de Perú, que creo una cuenta de instagram con el unico fin de repasar los temas de medicina. El principal metodo que usamos para el repaso son las trivias y banqueo semanales para ir preparandonos para los examenes de preinternado, enam y residentado." 

• Follow Cochrane's main social media accounts on your favourite platform
• Check out the #CochraneSantiago hashtag

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Specifications: Full Time, Permanent
Salary: £30,000 - £35,000
Location: London
Application Closing Date: 20th October 2019

This role is an exciting opportunity to use your experience as an Assistant Editor to make a difference in the field of health care research. 

The Assistant Editor will support the editorial publishing team in daily publishing operations, editorial and publishing policy development, and setting the publishing strategy for Cochrane content.

Some of their responsibilities will include:

• Manage editorial workflows for Editorials from submission through to publication on the Cochrane Library, working with authors, editors, peer reviewers, and Cochrane’s publisher, to ensure that content is published on time and to a high standard.
• Monitor comments received on Cochrane content (including Cochrane Reviews), support comment publication processes, and track progress against targets.
• Use content management systems to edit and publish changes to public-facing websites (including the Cochrane Library and the Cochrane Editorial and Publishing Policy Resource).
• Assist with preparing, editing, and updating editorial and publishing policies and related guidance.
• Assist with research into areas of editorial and publishing policy and practice; this will include collating data (e.g. using surveys, querying databases, analysing metrics) and preparing reports related to editorial policies or published content for different audiences.
• Assist with the management and development of the Cochrane Style Manual.

We are looking for a self-motivated and highly organised individual who is able to work effectively and collaboratively with a diverse range of contacts across the world.  The successful candidate will also have:

• Degree in relevant field or equivalent experience.
• An understanding of the importance of systematic reviews to healthcare decision-making.
• Previous experience in a similar editorial or publishing role.
• An ability to develop and maintain working relationships with key stakeholders.
• Strong organization and prioritization skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Proficient level IT skills, including but not limited to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint; and able to quickly adopt to different IT packages being used by the organization such as website content management systems (e.g. Drupal, Confluence).
• Ability to work methodically and accurately with attention to detail.
• A pro-active approach to problem-solving.

Cochrane is a global, independent network of health practitioners, researchers, patient advocates and others, responding to the challenge of making vast amounts of research evidence useful for informing decisions about health. We do this by synthesizing research findings to produce the best available evidence on what can work, what might harm and where more research is needed. Our work is recognised as the international gold standard for high quality, trusted information.

If you would like to apply for this position, please send a CV along with a supporting statement to recruitment@cochrane.org with “Assistant Editor” in the subject line.  The supporting statement should indicate why you are applying for the post, and how far you meet the requirements for the post outlined in the job description using specific examples.  List your experience, achievements, knowledge, personal qualities, and skills which you feel are relevant to the post.

For further information, please download the full job description.

Deadline for applications: 20th October (12 midnight GMT)

Interviews to be held on: 4th November 2019 (TBC)

Monday, October 7, 2019 Category: Jobs

This Cochrane Review looks at whether cutting down before quitting helps people to stop smoking, and the best ways that people can cut down to help them stop completely, the study included 51 studies of over 22,000 people who smoked tobacco.

Nicola Lindson, lead author of this Cochrane review explains, “The standard way people are told to quit smoking is to smoke as normal until a quit day, when they stop using all cigarettes. However, many have tried this before and been unsuccessful, and might like to try something new.”

“Some people prefer to cut down the number of cigarettes they smoke before quitting completely. However, before healthcare services give people a choice of cutting down first or stopping all at once we wanted to find out whether cutting down helps as many people to stop smoking.”

The review authors described the following implications for practice:

• Evidence suggests that neither reducing smoking to quit nor quitting abruptly results in superior quit rates; people could therefore be given a choice of how to quit, and support provided to people who would specifically like to reduce their smoking before quitting.
• There is some evidence that using fast‐acting NRT or varenicline whilst reducing smoking before a quit day may help more people to quit smoking than reducing to quit without these pharmacological aids.
• There is some evidence that providing behavioural support to reduce to quit helps more people to stop smoking than providing people with self‐help resources only.
• There is currently no clear evidence in support of certain reduction methods over others; however, further evidence could change this conclusion.

Read the review here
Learn more about the Cochrane Tobacco and Addiction Group

Thursday, October 3, 2019

Specifications: Permanent, part time (0.4 FTE), flexible work pattern
Salary: £30,000 (pro-rata)
Location: Flexible (anywhere in the world) office-based/remote working
Application Closing Date: 31st October 2019 (12 Midnight GMT)

This role is an exciting opportunity to use your communication and problem-solving skills to make a difference in the field of health care research. 

The Community Support Officer will be joining Cochrane’s Community Support team. The Community Support team is the first point of contact for the international Cochrane community, providing a timely and coordinated support service. We resolve queries covering a broad range of areas including Cochrane Account login, Cochrane review software (e.g. Archie, RevMan), membership, training, websites, sales and research. The Community Support Officers are the day-to-day face of the team, answering the majority of queries and escalating complex enquiries appropriately.

This team sits within the People Services department in Cochrane’s Central Executive. The department provides all people-focused services within Cochrane, including inclusive learning programmes, platforms to enable participation in diverse Cochrane activities, human resources, consumer engagement and a wide range of internal and public-facing support services.

We are looking for a self-motivated and highly organised individual who is able to work effectively and collaboratively with a diverse range of contacts across the world.  The successful candidate will also have:

• Experience in providing excellent customer service, including excellent interpersonal communication skills; a courteous, professional manner; and the ability to manage complaints with diplomacy and resilience.
• Proactive and flexible approach to learning new systems and products in order to provide the best possible customer support.
• Experience with software and systems related to customer service, such as HappyFox, Jira, SugarCRM and MailChimp.
• Excellent English-language communication skills (both verbal and written), including experience in communicating technical content, tailoring standard communications to individual requirements, and working with people from a variety of cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
• Good attention to detail to ensure that community members always receive accurate information.
• Experience in working collaboratively within complex organisations, including diverse and geographically-dispersed staff, collaborator and stakeholder groups across different time zones.
• Self-motivated and results-oriented, with excellent organisation and time management skills, including the ability to work to deadlines as part of an interdependent team working remotely.
• Familiarity with and commitment to Cochrane’s mission and values.
• Openness to continuous professional development and training.

Cochrane is a global, independent network of health practitioners, researchers, patient advocates and others, responding to the challenge of making vast amounts of research evidence useful for informing decisions about health. We do this by synthesizing research findings to produce the best available evidence on what can work, what might harm and where more research is needed. Our work is recognised as the international gold standard for high quality, trusted information.

If you would like to apply for this position, please send a CV along with a supporting statement to recruitment@cochrane.org with “Community Support Officer” in the subject line.  The supporting statement should indicate why you are applying for the post, and how far you meet the requirements for the post outlined in the job description using specific examples.  List your experience, achievements, knowledge, personal qualities, and skills which you feel are relevant to the post.

• For further information, please download the full job description from here
• Deadline for applications: 31st October 2019 (12 midnight GMT)
• Interviews to be held on: 14th November - times to be confirmed.
  
  

Tuesday, October 1, 2019 Category: Jobs

Cochrane is delighted to announce the publication of the new edition of the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions following  extensive revision. Designed for authors and editors of Cochrane Reviews, but equally useful for anyone conducting systematic reviews, it describes the methods and best practices in planning, conducting and interpretation of systematic reviews to inform decision-making around the use of health and healthcare interventions. Revised from cover to cover since the last major update in 2008, the Handbook reflects current best practice based on the latest methods research, and provides the only such comprehensive guide to conducting systematic reviews of interventions for both new and experienced authors. 

The new edition of the Handbook is divided into four parts. The first section (available only online) addresses issues specific to working with Cochrane. The second describes the core methods applicable to systematic reviews of interventions, from framing the question through to interpreting the results. The third and fourth parts address specific perspectives and methodological issues that are relevant to some, though not all, reviews, such as non-randomized studies, qualitative evidence and economics evidence.

The new edition includes: 

• A new chapter addressing issues around intervention complexity, covering interventions with multiple components, interventions in which there are interactions between the intervention and its context, and interventions that are introduced into complex systems, as well as a new chapter addressing how equity can be considered in systematic reviews.
• A major new chapter on network meta-analysis, because decision makers often need to decide among multiple intervention options.
• Substantial developments in the area of risk of bias assessment, including extensively revised guidance on risk of bias assessment in randomized trials and assessing reporting biases, and a new chapter on risk of bias assessment in non-randomized trials.
• New chapters addressing how authors can plan the review’s questions, comparisons and outcomes to ensure effective and meaningful synthesis, as well as how to plan for and execute synthesis using methods other than meta-analysis.

Cochrane’s Editor in Chief, Karla Soares-Weiser warmly welcomed today’s launch: “This Handbook is well respected within the evidence-based community and represents a hugely collaborative effort from numerous methodologists, authors, and editors across Cochrane. Their  collective accomplishment will, undoubtedly, improve the skills and knowledge of systematic reviewers working around the world.”

Professor Julian Higgins, Senior Editor of the Handbook, said, “We encourage those conducting systematic reviews to update their knowledge and skills with the help of this Handbook. It has been completely revised to reflect current good practice, with several new chapters as well as comprehensive updates across the existing content.

“In the eleven years since the previous publication there have been important advances in methods used to conduct systematic reviews, and we have tried to make these accessible to review authors. Substantial amounts of new material reflect developments in our understanding of bias in research, and in how to address complexity.

“We are keen to ensure that Cochrane Reviews are useful to end users, including health professionals, policy decision makers and consumers. As a result, network meta-analysis is now portrayed as a key method. We also recognize that many reviews can’t access data suitable for meta-analysis, so we describe appropriate alternative methods for synthesis that still allow robust conclusions to be drawn.”

The Handbook has been written by a team of over one hundred authors and editors, led by Senior Editors Professor Julian Higgins and Professor James Thomas, alongside Associate Editors Jacqueline Chandler, Miranda Cumpston, Associate Professor Tianjing Li, Dr Matthew Page, and Associate Professor Vivian Welch.  

• For more information visit https://training.cochrane.org/handbook 
• This new edition is available at £49.99/€56.50/$82.50. Purchase your copy from Wiley here.

 

Monday, September 30, 2019

Today, Cochrane publishes an amended version of the Review, 'Exercise therapy for chronic fatigue syndrome.’ In the last nine months, this Cochrane Review has been modified by the review’s authors and evaluated by independent peer reviewers and editors. It now places more emphasis on the limited applicability of the evidence to definitions of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) used in the included studies, the long-term effects of exercise on symptoms of fatigue, and acknowledges the limitations of the evidence about harms that may occur.

Cochrane’s Editor-in-Chief, Dr Karla Soares-Weiser, commented on the publication of the review, “Cochrane recognizes the importance of providing the best available evidence on interventions for ME/CFS to enable patients and clinicians across the world to make well-informed decisions about treatment. This amended review is still based on a research question and a set of methods from 2002, and reflects evidence from studies that applied definitions of ME/CFS from the 1990s. Having heard different views expressed about the evidence base for this condition, we acknowledge that the publication of this amended review will not resolve all the ongoing questions about this globally important health topic.

“We have decided, therefore, that a new approach to the publication of evidence in this area is needed; and, today we are committing to the production of a full update of this Cochrane Review, beginning with a comprehensive review of the protocol, which will be developed in consultation with an independent advisory group that we intend to convene. This group will involve partners from patient-advocacy groups from different parts of the world who will help us to embed a patient-focused, contemporary perspective on the review question, methods and findings.” 

She added, “By forging better relationships with patients, as well as the groups that represent them and the clinicians who seek to treat them, we can improve the way in which future Cochrane Reviews in this area address important questions and meet patients’and clinicians’ needs. I can confirm that work will begin on this new review at the beginning of 2020 and that we will keep patient groups regularly informed of progress during the subsequent months.”

• Read the Review in full
• Find out more about the Cochrane Library
  

Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Couples are classified as having unexplained infertility when they have tried to conceive for at least one year and no abnormality in semen analysis, ovulation, or tubal patency has been identified. Treatment options for unexplained infertility include expectant management, ovarian stimulation (OS), intrauterine insemination (IUI), OS-IUI, and in vitro fertilisation (IVF) with or without intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Cochrane authors conducted network meta-analysis on interventions for unexplained infertility.

Cochrane Gynecology and Fertility sat down with Dr Rui Wang, the lead author of the study, who answered their questions and shared some details about the network meta-analysis they conducted and what was found.

 

Rui Wang is a research fellow at Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Monash University. He has recently completed his PhD on the application of evidence synthesis methods in reproductive medicine at The University of Adelaide. He is a trainee scientific editor for BJOG. His research interests include evidence-based women’s health, RCTs, and evidence synthesis methods.

What was the research question?
There are five commonly used treatment strategies for couples with unexplained infertility, including expectant management, ovarian stimulation (OS), intrauterine insemination (IUI), OS‐IUI, and in vitro fertilisation (IVF) with or without intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Among these five treatment options, which one is the most effective and safe option?

What is network meta‐analysis?
Network meta‐analysis (NMA) synthesises evidence of comparisons that have been compared directly or indirectly for the same clinical condition and therefore allows simultaneous comparison of multiple treatment options.

How is NMA different from regular meta-analysis? What are the advantages of this method?
Pairwise meta-analysis allows the comparison of two interventions at a time while network meta-analysis allows multiple comparisons. If two interventions have not been compared directly, pairwise meta-analysis cannot estimate the difference between these two interventions. However, In a network meta-analyses, if two interventions have both been compared with the same third intervention, the difference between these two interventions can be estimated.

How did you and your team decide on this approach?
There are five interventions of interest: expectant management, ovarian stimulation (OS), intrauterine insemination (IUI), OS‐IUI, and IVF with or without ICSI. Thus doing multiple pairwise meta-analysis between any two interventions does not seem to directly guide clinical decisions. Moreover, in some comparisons, there are either no studios or the number of studies is limited. Therefore, NMA is the best approach in this scenario to account for both direct and indirect comparisons, and to allow the comparisons of multiple interventions simultaneously.

What were your findings?
Evidence of differences in live birth between expectant management and the other four treatments (OS, IUI, OS‐IUI, and IVF/ICSI) was insufficient. Compared to expectant management/IUI, OS may increase the chances of multiple pregnancy, and OS‐IUI probably increases the chances of multiple pregnancy. Evidence showing differences between IVF/ICSI and expectant management for multiple pregnancy was insufficient.

Is there anything else you would like to add?
As unexplained infertility is a broad definition, the treatment effects of these interventions may vary in different couples. We found in our sensitivity analysis that in couples with poor prognosis of natural conception,  OS-IUI and IVF/ICSI increased live birth rate compared to expectant management. However, this should be interpreted with caution and needs to be confirmed in future trials.

• Access  the full review Interventions for unexplained infertility: a systematic review and network meta-analysis on the Cochrane Library
  
• Visit the Cochrane Gynaecology and Fertility website

Friday, September 27, 2019

Cochrane is delighted to share this Request for Proposal for a new project to develop and support the monitoring and evaluation work of Cochrane’s Knowledge Translation (KT) activities.

Knowledge Translation in Cochrane is defined as “the process of supporting the use of health evidence from our high quality, trusted Cochrane Reviews by those who need it to make health decisions.” 

Across Cochrane, KT activities are designed and implemented in a way which we hope is most likely to impact on the usefulness, and the use of, our reviews. We know that understanding how to monitor and evaluate knowledge translation work is a topic that has consistently been identified as a priority. As more Cochrane groups develop their KT work, providing support (which may include training, guidance and examples) to develop mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation is imperative so that we can work towards understanding the impact of Cochrane evidence on affecting change in policy and practice.

This new and exciting opportunity is a commissioned piece of work open to anyone within Cochrane’s Community as well as external organizations working in this area. The successful proposal will help develop formal frameworks and mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating Cochrane’s KT activities and to develop training materials and resources to support Cochrane contributors and members build plans for monitoring and evaluating their KT work programmes.

We are looking for a successful project team with the following skills:

• An in-depth understanding of programme theory (logic models and/or theory of change) and monitoring and evaluation framework; and, with the expertise and experience to apply this understanding into practical implementation;
• Experience of working with at least one of the Cochrane’s KT audiences, (consumers and the public; practitioners; policy-makers and healthcare managers; researchers and research funders) to develop both programme theories (logic models and/or theory of change) and developing monitoring and evaluation frameworks based on these with a focus on implementation;

Further details of objectives and deliverables are available in the Request for Proposal.

All applications should be sent via email to Jo Anthony, Head of Knowledge Translation, janthony@cochrane.org by Thursday 31st October 2019, 17:00 GMT.

If you are interested in finding out more, please contact Jo or Karen Head, Cochrane’s Knowledge Translation Project Manager (khead@cochrane.org)

• Review the Request for Proposal
• Find out more about Knowledge Translation in Cochrane.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Cochrane Reviews cover a wide range of issues relating to good nutrition for children and adults and the collection were added to in June 2019 by a reviews dedicated to issues faced by young children living in urban slums in low- and middle-income countries. We asked the lead author, Sophie Goudet from the Centre for Global Health and Human Development at Loughborough University in the UK, to tell us about the need for the review and what it found.

UN-Habitat estimates that at least one billion people live in urban slums, which are places in cities without adequate access to health care, clean water, and sanitation. More than 90% of these slums are in low- and middle-income nations, with the residents usually living in poverty, with little food security. One consequence of an inadequate diet is that people will have very short stature for their age, called growth stunting. It’s associated with greater susceptibility to infection, cognitive and behavioural problems, and lower adult work performance and earnings.

Nutritional interventions might be one way to prevent this, and our review is the first comprehensive and systematic assessment of the impact of these interventions on the growth of young children who live in urban slums.

We included 15 studies, involving more than 9000 children under five and approaching 4000 pregnant women. A range of interventions were tested, including maternal nutrition education, nutrient supplementation of mothers, infants, and children, such as adding zinc or iron, nutrition systems strengthening, and a combination of these. None of the studies modified the diet by providing additional food to families from locally available sources and allowing them to use it as they best saw fit.

We judged the scientific quality of the studies to be very low to moderate, which was mainly because they had not been designed to cope with problems linked to doing research in urban slum communities. These challenges include the amount of moving around that people do, making it difficult to keep supplying them with supplements or monitoring the height of the children.

On the basis of everything we found, we can conclude that there is no evidence of an effect of giving pregnant mothers zinc supplementation on the size of their newborns, it’s not clear if nutrient supplementation increases the height of children, and the impact of interventions supporting nutrition activities within health services is uncertain. On a more positive note, educating mothers on good nutrition when they were pregnant did help to increase their baby’s birth weight.

In summary, our review highlights the need for a better understanding of urban slum environments and the people who live there, not least because interventions we included have been shown to be successful in other settings. Good quality research is needed into the effects of multi-sectorial interventions, combining nutrition-specific and sensitive methods and programmes, as well as the effects of 'up-stream' practices and policies of governmental, non-governmental organisations, and the business sector to improve low birth weight and stunting in poor urban environments.

• Read the Cochrane Review
• Read the Cochrane news item on this Review
• Listen to more Cochrane Podcasts
• Get Cochrane Podcasts on iTunes
• Visit the Cochrane Public Health Group

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Cochrane is delighted to support the official launch of the Spanish Cochrane Library known as ‘Biblioteca Cochrane’ in Madrid today

‘Biblioteca Cochrane’ is the Spanish portal of the Cochrane Libary, an online platform providing high-quality, independently produced evidence to inform healthcare decision-making and to end-users whose preferred language is not English.

The platform, designed in collaboration with Cochrane’s publisher Wiley and built by the technology platform provider HighWire, includes several features that will improve the experience for Spanish-speaking users and the ability to search health topics in different languages.

Today’s event, organized by Cochrane Iberoamerica takes place at the Ministry of Health in Madrid, followed by a workshop for those interested in improving their understanding and use of ‘Biblioteca Cochrane’.

Only around 6% of the world’s population are native English speakers, while 75% of people don’t speak English at all. This means many people do not have access to high quality health information, because it is not readily available in a language that they understand. ‘Biblioteca Cochrane’ first launched in the summer of 2018 making the Cochrane Library more accessible for Spanish speakers around the world. ‘Biblioteca Cochrane’ currently has almost 5,000 Spanish translations of Cochrane Reviews.

Xavier Bonfill, Director of Cochrane Iberoamerica said: "This event brings together the Spanish Ministry of Health with Cochrane to celebrate the history of the use of the Cochrane Library in Spain since 2003. For sixteen years, millions of Spanish citizens have had access to the Cochrane Library; the difference is that now we are able to offer a multi-language platform for Spanish speakers that integrates the Cochrane Library with a Spanish portal and search facility including Spanish translations of most Cochrane Reviews.”

 

Attending today’s launch in Madrid, Cochrane’s Editor-in-Chief, Dr Karla Soares-Weiser, said: “Breaking down linguistic barriers is at the heart of Cochrane’s diversity ambition, so, today is a wonderful milestone for Cochrane to celebrate the Spanish Cochrane Library with the Spanish Ministry of Health in this way. This is the first time the Cochrane Library has been translated and published in a language other than English, proving the feasibility and potential of it as a multi-lingual resource. This has become a beacon for other countries to follow suit in their own languages.”

Today also sees the launch of two new Cochrane centres in Madrid responsible for promoting Cochrane’s mission within the Faculty of Medicine at Universidad Francisco de Vitoria and the Faculty of Odontology, Complutense, University of Madrid.

More information about today’s launch event is available in Spanish.

Resources in Spanish:

• Biblioteca Cochrane (Spanish Cochrane Library)
• cochrane.org/es
• Cochrane Iberoamerica website
• Spanish Blogshots
• Spanish Podcasts
• Spanish resources for Review authors
• Cochrane Interactive Learning module 1 in Spanish

 

 

Tuesday, October 1, 2019