Cochrane and related training for June 2012

The following training courses are available for June 2012, follow the links for more information and details of how to register:

GRADE workshop at the South African Cochrane Centre
Where: Cape Town, South Africa
When: 4-6 June 2012

The workshop is open to Cochrane review authors from the South Africa Cochrane Centre reference countries. Preference will be given to those who have successfully completed a Cochrane Review. The course will facilitate a maximum of 20 participants. The workshop will discuss the rationale for using the GRADE approach for rating the quality of evidence and strength of recommendations, help participants to assess the quality of evidence using the GRADE approach and generate Summary of Findings Tables using GRADEpro software.

Critical Evaluation of Medical Studies
Where: Krems, Austria
When: 5-6 June 2012

The aim of this workshop is twofold, firstly to impart the theoretical and methodological background that is necessary for critical evaluation of studies and secondly to give you practical experience.

Need help/dedicated time to update your Cochrane Review?
Where: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
When: 18-22 June 2012

The course is aimed at review authors who are currently updating a Cochrane Review. Five days of protected time away from the office to work on your update with the support of Cochrane methodologists and experienced review authors is on offer. Participants will benefit from a combination of independent work time, one-on-one consultations, and presentations. The course is limited to Canadian authors who are updating a Cochrane Review as the lead author or a major contributor.

 Seventh Putting Evidence into Practice Workshop
Where: Edmonton, Canada
When: 20-22 June 2012

Evidence-based practice involves applying evidence to clinical and policy decision making. Critical appraisal provides the tools to assess the quality of evidence in the medical literature and to determine the risks and benefits of different management strategies. Through this trans-disciplinary workshop, participants will work through relevant examples in order to develop skills in searching for and identifying appropriate evidence, critically appraising the evidence, and applying the evidence to their areas of expertise.

Advanced Search Techniques for Systematic Reviews, Heath Technology Assessment and Guideline Development
Where: York, UK
When: 20 June 2012

This new workshop will provide opportunities to learn new techniques, to discuss best approaches, to share insights and to assess variations in current best practice in literature searching for systematic reviews, HTAs and Guidelines. The workshop will be facilitated by information specialists experienced in literature searching to inform systematic reviews and HTAs and in conducting research into the evidence base for information retrieval. Participants are encouraged to suggest topics / issues in advance for discussion during the workshop.

Developing a Cochrane Systematic Review
Where : Baltimore, Maryland, USA
When : 20-22 June 2012

This workshop guides participants through the steps of developing a systematic review and includes presentations about Cochrane Collaboration methodology, hands-on practice using the Cochrane Collaboration’s Getting the Best Out of Search Filters
Where: York, UK
When: 21 June 2012

As the volume of published research grows it is becoming more challenging to identify efficiently studies performed according to specific methods. Many search filters to find specific study designs such as randomised controlled trials (RCTs) or diagnostic test accuracy studies, or research issues such as adverse events, are being designed and published. Increasingly, these filters are being incorporated into database search interfaces, such as the PubMed Clinical Queries. As the number of filters grows, the challenge of choosing between them is becoming more apparent. Information professionals and others wishing to use search filters need to be aware of issues of filter design, quality and suitability to be able to make informed choices about which filters to select and apply. This training event will explore how to identify, critically appraise and test out search filters, focusing on health and social care.

Workshop on Evidence-Based practice
Where: Oxford, UK
When: 22 June 2012

The workshop is intended to serve as an introduction to evidence-based medicine. It is aimed at clinicians and other health care professionals who wish to gain knowledge of critical appraisal and experience in the practice of evidence-based health care.

Introduction to writing a Cochrane review
Where: Adelaide, Australia
When: 26-28 June 2012

This three-day workshop is designed for new authors starting a Cochrane systematic review. A mixture of presentations and hands-on sessions will give you an overview of all the methods required to write your protocol and get started on the review.

Screening studies for elibility for a Cochrane review: what authors need to know

After the searches have taken place, the next step is for authors to screen the results for eligibility for inclusion in the review.

The Oral Health Group strongly advises using a reference management software package to manage and keep track of results. For example, EndNote is a useful tool which allows import of references directly into RevMan. Many of these software packages (including EndNote) require a subscription but may be available at authors’ institutions. There are some free packages available (eg Zotero, designed to work with the Firefox browser) but these have more limited functionality than subscription versions.

References should be imported in the reference management software and merged to remove duplicates; Anne will screen for duplicates but it is possible that some might be missed.

According to the Cochrane Handbook (Section 7.2.3), the process should then be as follows:

• Examine titles and abstracts to remove obviously irrelevant reports (authors should generally be over-inclusive at this stage).
• Retrieve full text of the potentially relevant reports.
• Link together multiple reports of the same study.
• Examine full-text reports for compliance of studies with inclusion criteria of the review (please note however, that for most reviews, the absence of one or more relevant outcomes, or outcome data not in the desired format, is NOT a valid reason for excluding a study)
• Correspond with investigators, where appropriate, to clarify study eligibility (it may be appropriate to request further information, such as missing results, at the same time).
• Make final decisions on study inclusion and proceed to data collection.

It is most important that the final selection of studies into the review is undertaken by more than one author (Cochrane Handbook, Section 7.2.4).

(From the Cochrane Handbook, Section 7.2.4) Disagreements about whether a study should be included can generally be resolved by discussion. Often the cause of disagreement is a simple oversight on the part of one of the review authors. When the disagreement is due to a difference in interpretation, this may require arbitration by another person. Occasionally, it will not be possible to resolve disagreements about whether to include a study without additional information. In these cases, authors may choose to categorize the study in their review as one that is awaiting assessment until the additional information is obtained from the study authors.

(From the Cochrane Handbook, Section 7.2.4). The methods section of both the protocol and the review should detail:

• which author(s) examine each title and abstract to discard obviously irrelevant reports;
• whether those who examine each full-text report to determine eligibility will do so independently (this should be done by at least two people);
• whether the decisions on the above are made by content area experts, methodologists, or both;
• whether the people assessing the relevance of studies know the names of the authors, institutions, journal of publication and results when they apply the eligibility criteria; and
• how disagreements are handled.

Jo Leese at the Editorial Base can be contacted to obtain full text papers, but only if the particular journal is not already available to the authors.

PRISMA Flowchart

All new Cochrane Reviews (not updated reviews) are required to have a PRISMA Flowchart. This can be generated by the RevMan software. It is a diagram to demonstrate how many studies have been assessed for eligibility at each stage of the screening process. Sections include:

• Number of records found through database searching
• Number of additional records found through other means
• Number of records after duplicates removed
• Number of records screened
• Number of records discarded after assessment of title and abstract
• Number of full text articles assessed for eligibility
• Number of studies included
• Number of studies excluded (listed in Excluded studies)

ONLY studies which, based on assessment of the full text report, do not meet the inclusion criteria for the review, should be listed in the Excluded Studies section.

(Cochrane Handbook, Section 7.2.5): “The list of excluded studies should be as brief as possible. It should not list all of the reports that were identified by a comprehensive search. It should not list studies that obviously do not fulfil the entry criteria for the review as listed under ‘Types of studies’, ‘Types of participants’, and ‘Types of interventions’, and in particular should not list studies that are obviously not randomized if the review includes only randomized trials.”

The list of excluded studies should not include in vitro studies, CCTs or any other study designs

Authors should therefore document the screening process carefully, and take note of the number of references and studies that they are dealing with at each stage.

If you have any questions about searching, or screening for eligibility, contact the Editorial Base.

Searching for studies for a Cochrane Oral Health Group systematic review: information for authors

The Cochrane Oral Health Group has been reviewing it’s policies and procedures for searching for studies for a systematic review. Here’s what authors need to know…

Searches: how and when

One of the first stages of undertaking a systematic review is to develop a comprehensive search strategy.

A search strategy will be developed for MEDLINE by the Oral Health Group’s Trials Search Co-ordinator, Anne Littlewood, in consultation with the authors at the very beginning of the review process. In order to do this, she will need some background information on the population, interventions, comparisons and outcomes. A relevant RCT or systematic review is also helpful at this stage for testing the search. The agreed search strategy will be presented in the protocol as an appendix.

A full set of searches will normally take place after the publication of the protocol, once the search strategy and databases to be searched have been subject to peer review. The search strategy is NOT considered to be final until the protocol has been published.

All electronic searches will take place at the editorial base. Results can be provided either in a text file, or in a file for import into reference management software (eg EndNote, Reference Manager, RefWorks).

Anne can also advise on:

• Databases to search. The Oral Health Group policy is to search the Oral Health Group Trials Register, CENTRAL, MEDLINE and EMBASE as a minimum. Additional databases may also be required depending on topic (for example, PsycINFO if the topic was dental anxiety). Other databases can be searched on request, providing the access required is available at the Editorial Base (for example, AMED, LILACS, Web of Science Conference Proceedings, ClinicalTrials.gov).
• RCT filters. An RCT filter may be required if the yield from the search is large (>500). An RCT filter is a search strategy which is added to the main search strategy so that the majority of the studies retrieved are randomized controlled trials or controlled clinical trials. A filter has been developed for MEDLINE, and this is published in the Cochrane Handbook, Section 6.4.11.1). RCT filters have been developed at the Editorial Base for other databases, such as EMBASE and AMED. The Brazilian Cochrane Center has developed a filter for LILACS.

Searches must be no more than 12 months old when the review is published, so it is likely that the searches will have to be updated before publication.

Handsearching

(A definition from the Cochrane Handbook, Section 6.2.2.1) “Handsearching involves a manual page-by-page examination of the entire contents of a journal issue or conference proceedings to identify all eligible reports of trials”

The Cochrane Collaboration has been undertaking a worldwide handsearching programme to identify randomized and controlled clinical trials from the literature. The process has been managed by the US Cochrane Center, who maintain files of all handsearching activity in a Master List of Journals. Over 3,000 journals have been, or are being, searched within the Collaboration.

Authors are NOT routinely expected to handsearch journals for their reviews but they should contact Anne to see whether in their particular case handsearching of any journals or conference proceedings might be beneficial. She can advise on whether the journal of interest has already been handsearched and to which dates.

Search methods section of the review

Anne can help authors to complete the search methods section of the review. We have standard copy to add to this section. All search dates, search platforms and databases searched should be documented in the abstract and full text, so that the searches are replicable and the methodology is transparent. The search strategies for all databases should be presented as appendices. If the Cochrane Collaboration’s RCT filter has been used, this should be correctly referenced.

More on screening for eligibility soon…

New titles registered at the Cochrane Oral Health Group

The Cochrane Oral Health Group Editorial Team met on Monday afternoon and agreed to register two new titles:

Orthodontic treatment for bimaxillary proclination

This topic has been registered by a team based in London, Greece and at the Bahrain Branch of the UK Cochrane Centre. It will compare headgear, transpalatal arches and temporary anchorage devices and look at the evidence of the effectiveness of each.

Assisted design / Computer assisted manufacture (CAD/CAM) in anterior and posterior teeth

This clinically important topic has been registered by a team based at the College of Dentistry, New York University. It will consider whether restorations manufactured using computer-assisted images are more successful than those made conventionally.

The Oral Health Group looks forward to publishing both protocols and working with these teams.

New Cochrane Oral Health Group Reviews and Protocols for May 2012

Issue 5, 2012 of the Cochrane Library has just been published! The Cochrane Oral Health Group has published 2 new reviews and 2 new protocols:

New review: Single crowns versus conventional fillings for the restoration of root filled teeth
Zbys Fedorowicz, Ben Carter^, Raphael Freitas de Souza, Carolina de Andrade Lima Chaves, Mona Nasser, Patrick Sequeira-Byron

This new review features one trial with 117 participants, and concludes that there is currently insufficient reliable evidence on the effectiveness of these two treatments.

New review: Treatments for adults with prominent lower front teeth
Hideko Minami-Sugaya, Débora A Lentini-Oliveira, Fernando R Carvalho, Marco Antonio C Machado, Clóvis Marzola, Humberto Saconato, Gilmar F Prado

Several treatments have been proposed for this condition, including orthopedics, functional appliances, interceptive and corrective orthodontics and surgery. However, only two small trials matched the inclusion criteria for this review, and more evidence is needed to judge effectiveness.

 

New protocol: Interdental brushing for the management of periodontal diseases and dental caries in adults
Tina Poklepovic, Dario Sambunjak, Trevor M Johnson, Pauline Imai, Peter Tugwell, Jason W Nickerson, Jan E Clarkson, Helen V Worthington

This is a protocol for a new systematic review, which will consider the effectiveness of interdental brushing to prevent dental caries and periodontal disease, when compared to regular brushing alone.

New protocol: Rubber dam isolation for restorative treatment in dental patients
Yan Wang, Chunjie Li, He Yuan, May CM Wong, Zongdao Shi, Xuedong Zhou

This new review wil consider the effectiveness of rubber dams in isolating the dental treatment area and controlling moisture. It will compare rubber dams with other methods of isolation (for example, cotton rolls).

Other highlights of the Cochrane Library, Issue 5, 2012 include:

• An editorial on Hospital at home in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a viable
  and safe option?
• Bisphosphonates in multiple myeloma: a network meta-analysis
• Physical training for asthma
• Training health professionals in smoking cessation
• Interventions to improve the appropriate use of polypharmacy for older
  people

Nominations are now open for the Chris Silagy Prize

Martin Janczyk and Juliane Ried – recipients of 2011 Chris Silagy Prize

Do you have a colleague whose contribution to The Cochrane Collaboration you would like to honour, and who is not recognised through scientific awards? Every year, a highlight of the Cochrane Colloquium is the awarding of the Chris Silagy Prize. Not only is it a time to celebrate the memory of Chris, but it is an all-too-infrequent opportunity to honour and thank one of the many people who work in support of The Cochrane Collaboration. For those of us who make a scientific contribution, there are many rewards in the form of publication, opportunities to present our work and to build our academic careers. The Collaboration would not function, however, without the wonderful efforts of those who provide support to our work in the form of infrastructure, administration, cohesion and volunteer effort. The Chris Silagy Prize gives us the opportunity to thank these important colleagues.

Call for nominations

The call for nominations for this prize is now open and will be presented at the Auckland Cochrane Colloquium in October. Nominations should be emailed to Jini Hetherington (jhetherington@cochrane.org) by 31 July 2012. Nominations should include the name of the nominator and two seconders, an email acceptance of the nomination by the nominee and a one-page statement outlining the reasons for the nomination.

Requirements

Potential recipients are required to have:

• made an extraordinary contribution to The Cochrane Collaboration;
• made a contribution that exceeds the expectations of their employment;
• made a contribution to The Cochrane Collaboration that would not be recognised outside the scope of this Prize
  (PLEASE NOTE: Publishing a piece of research work or preparing a Cochrane systematic review do not fall within the scope of this Prize, as they qualify for other awards and methods of recognition);
• been identified by their peers as consistently contributing to a spirit of collaboration

More information about the Chris Silagy Prize can be found at http://www.cochrane.org/docs/prizes.htm#csprize .

20th Anniversary of the Cochrane Collaboration

Happy 20th Anniversary! (Creative Commons Image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/suneko/201784987/)

The Cochrane Collaboration celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2013, and the Cochrane Oral Health Group is producing a range of materials to promote the work of the Group and of Cochrane in general.

If you would like to help promote the Cochrane Collaboration in 2013, get in touch with the Editorial Base. We have formatted presentations, pre-approved written copy with supporting quotes, timelines, logos and output graphs. All materials are password protected, to gain access email us at cohg@manchester.ac.uk

New website on systematic reviews launched – YourHealthNet

The Centre for Health Communication and Participation – with support from the Australasian Cochrane Centre – has launched a brand new website: YourHealthNet.

The site contains useful tools for anyone interested or involved in the Cochrane Collaboration. These include:

• Diagrams to explain the concept, contents and process of publishing a Cochrane Systematic Review
• Audio recordings of people’s accounts of using Cochrane reviews to inform healthcare decision making
• Links to consumer-orientated websites

The site will be developed over time to include even more useful content.

Cochrane and related training for May 2012

Creative Commons image, from Public-domain-image.com

The following training courses are available for May 2012, follow the links for more information and details of how to register:

Evidence-based practice  
Where: Robina, QLD, Australia
When: 2 May 2012-4 May 2012

A 3 day training workshop which will train on how to capture and formulate answerable clinical questions, search for primary evidence and guidelines, critically appraise evidence, understand basic measures of efficacy and understand the barriers to using and implemetning practice changes.

Pre-Symposium Workshops at the Cochrane Canada Symposium
Where: Winnipeg, Canada
When: 7 May 2012 – 8 May 2012

The following workshops are available as precursors to the Cochrane Canada Symposium: Cochrane Standard Author Training; Non-randomized studies and methodological issues; Health Systems Evidence (evidence to support policy-making and management); Meta-Bias in Systematic Reviews; using GRADE.

Developing Clinical Guidelines
Where: London, UK
When: 8 May 2012 – 10 May 2012

The aim of the course is to provide participants with an understanding and practical experience of the steps involved in the planning and development of clinical guidelines. The course has been designed for systematic reviewers, guideline developers and health care professionals.

Cochrane Systematic Reviews of Complex Interventions
Where: Melbourne, Australia
When: 9 May 2012 – 10 May 2012

This workshop will provide information and discussion about undertaking Cochrane systematic reviews of complex interventions. Considerations for defining the research question will be outlined, along with considerations for decisions about study design criteria, appropriate data extraction, and challenges with analysis.

Understanding searching techniques to inform HTA, systematic reviews and guideline development
Where: University of York, UK
When: 9 May 2012

This course provides an introduction to search strategy development for project managers, research commissioners, and searchers new to evidence synthesis. The trainers are experienced information specialists, trainers and researchers.

Basic systematic course
Where: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki
When: 10 May 2012-11 May 2012

A two day workshop covering the whole process of conducting a systematic review: from title to published review. Experienced tutors and facilitators will be on hand to give practical and individual advice.

Trials Registers, Trials Results Registers and Other Research Registers: Challenges and Opportunities
Where: University of York, UK
When: 10 May 2012

This one-day training course will highlight the background to the development of trial registers and trial results registers, will discuss the types of registers and their relative coverage, and will offer practical advice on searching registers and managing register records.

Review completion workshop
Where: Melbourne, Australia
When: 14 May 2012 – 18 May 2012

Designed to provide dedicated support and time to review authors who are working to complete or update their Cochrane systematic review. Authors visit the Australasian Cochrane Centre for a week to work on thier review, with expert trainers to provide advice.

How to practice evidence based healthcare
Where: Norwegian Knowledge Centre for Health Services, Holmsbu, Norway
When: 21 May 2012-25 May 2012

Five day workshop focussing on teaching the basics of using current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients or the delivery of health services.

Preparation and completion of a Cochrane review
Where: Copenhagen, Denmark
When: 24 May 2012

The aim of the workshop is to facilitate participants in preparing a protocol, carrying out the review process and writing up the review manuscript. The workshop is open to people who have registered a title with a Cochrane review group.

New publications from the Cochrane Oral Health Group in the Cochrane Library, Issue 4 for 2012

The Cochrane Oral Health Group has one new review and one new protocol now available in the Cochrane Library, Issue 4 for 2012.

New review: Interventions for the management of temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis
by Raphael Freitas de Souza, Claudia H Lovato da Silva, Mona Nasser, Zbys Fedorowicz, Mohammed A Al-Muharraqi

This review investigates the effects of different surgical and non-surgical therapeutic options for patients with osteoathritis in the temporomandibular joint (the joint connecting the jawbone to the face). Three trials were included in the review, finding weak evidence indicating that intra-articular injections of sodium hyaluronate (a natural constituent of cartilage) and betamethasone (an anti-inflammatory steroid) had equivalent effectiveness in reducing pain and discomfort. Occlusal adjustment, food supplements and ibuprofen were among other treatments investigated.

New protocol: Gingival retraction for fixed prosthodontic treatment
by Zhaoyang Ban, Yuanyuan Jia, Chunjie Li, Zhimin Zhu, Yu Ban, Zongdao Shi

This review intends to assess the effects of different gingival retraction methods used with any type of abutment (teeth and implants) in fixed prosthodontic treatment, with regard to the outcomes of gingivitis, periodontitis, aesthetics, and tooth sensitivity.

Other highlights of the Cochrane Library, Issue 4 for 2012:

• Preoperative statin therapy for patients undergoing cardiac surgery
• Trastuzumab containing regimens for early breast cancer (Podcast available)
• Nicotine receptor partial agonists for smoking cessation (Podcast available)
• Interventions for improving outcomes in patients with multimorbidity in primary care and community settings (Podcast available)
• Helminth therapy (worms) for allergic rhinitis (Podcast available)
• Pain management for women in labour: an overview of systematic reviews(Podcast available)
• Disposable surgical face masks for preventing surgical wound infection in clean surgery  (Podcast and Journal Club material available)
• Cervical stitch (cerclage) for preventing preterm birth in singleton pregnancy

See also the Editorial on the COMET (Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials) Initiative and its role in improving Cochrane Reviews