The Cochrane Library is the single most reliable source for evidence on the effects of health care. Health care in the 21 st Century relies not only on individual medical skills, but also on the best information on the effectiveness of each intervention being accessible to practitioners, patients, and policy makers. This approach is sometimes known as “evidence- based medicine”. WHAT IS THE COCHRANE LIBRARY

The Cochrane Library is designed to provide information and evidence to support decisions taken in health care and to inform those receiving care.

THE COCHRANE COLLABORATION Structure - established as an international organisation in 1993, registered as a charity in the U.K. Aim - to help people make well-informed decisions about health care. How - by preparing and maintaining, and promoting access to, systematic reviews of the effects of healthcare interventions. Publishing Output – The Cochrane Library Wiley publishes The Cochrane Library for The Cochrane Collaboration

The Cochrane Library is a collection of 6 main databases and 1 additional database that describes Cochrane as an organization. These are: 1.The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) 2.The Cochrane Database of Reviews of Effects (DARE) 3.The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) 4.The Cochrane Database of Methodology Reviews (CDMR) 5.Health Technology Assessment Database (HTA) 6.NHS Economic Evaluation Database (NHS EED) 7.About The Cochrane Collaboration and the Cochrane Collaborative Review Groups WHAT IS THE COCHRANE LIBRARY?

The authors of a systematic review identify an intervention for a specific disease or other problem in health care, and then ask whether or not this intervention works. In order to do this they locate, appraise and synthesise evidence from as many relevant scientific studies as possible. They summarise conclusions about effectiveness, and provide a unique collation of the known evidence on a given topic, so that others can easily review the primary studies for the intervention. What is a Systematic Review? The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR)

Reviews address clearly formulated questions such as ‘does fluoride help prevent tooth decay in children’ or ‘can antibiotics help in alleviating the symptoms of sore throat’. Comprehensive and explicit methods are used to track down, select and determine the quality of relevant research. This includes searches for unpublished and non-English records to provide as complete a picture as possible of the current evidence. A diagrammatic analysis is also provided in the form of an odds-ratio diagram. These diagrams reveal, at a glance, whether a treatment is beneficial or not. What’s so important about it? The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR)

All sorts! But here are some examples… What is the magnitude of risk reduction when a patient with Coronary Heart Disease stops smoking? Does the use of hydrolysed formulas for infant feeding prevent allergy and food intolerance? Does having a friend for support present during labour and childbirth impact on a woman’s experience? People who quit smoking after a heart attack or cardiac surgery reduce their risk of death by at least one third. When babies are not exclusively breastfed, using hydrolysed infant formulas instead of ordinary cow's and soy milk formulas can reduce allergies in babies and children. Yes. Continuous labour support reduces a woman's likelihood of having pain medication, increases her satisfaction and chances for 'spontaneous' birth, and has no known risks. What sort of health care questions are addressed?

More than 2070 Full Reviews The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) How large is the database? 1485 Protocols (Reviews in progress)

The Cochrane Database of Reviews of Effect (DARE) > 4,100 records Contains critical assessments and and structured abstracts of reviews Must meet minimum quality criteria Covers topics yet to be covered in CDSR For Cochrane reviewers and researchers wanting information on reviews of heathcare effects from sources outside The Cochrane Library The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) > 375,000 records Contains a register of studies which may be relevant for inclusion in Cochrane reviews World’s largest database of randomized controlled trials For Cochrane reviewers needing to identify studies for a Cochrane review and researchers wishing to identify studies in different medical disciplines

The Cochrane Database of Methodology Reviews (CDMR) Contains methodology reviews and protocols. Full-text reviews examine the benefit of methodological studies – e.g. Does editorial peer-review improve the quality of reports of biomedical studies Plus information on The Cochrane Collaboration and its Review Groups. Health Technology Assessment Database (HTA) Contains information on healthcare technology assessments, including details of ongoing projects and completed publications from health technology assessment organisations

The Cochrane Library has many features that make finding the information that you’re after fast and accurate… Finding Information

All text search for the terms: schizo*, drugs, atypical and antipsychotic. Searching across all databases in The Cochrane Library. Searching across all records. An Advanced Search of The Cochrane Library

Returns the following results… Toggle between results listed for the different databases in The Cochrane Library here Use these links to restrict your search results to Reviews only, or Protocols only. Save or edit your search using these links. An Advanced Search of The Cochrane Library

MeSH (Medical Subject Heading) Add search qualifiers. Select the MeSH tree you wish to search. Use the Thesaurus to search for MeSH descriptors

Search History Select Search History. To combine searches, enter their number together with Boolean operator of choice – in this case AND. Your combined search will then come up in your Search History. Click it to run it. The combined search (#1 AND #2) returns results across all the databases.

Who benefits from The Cochrane Library? Health professionals at all levels, health researchers, health policy makers, care givers, the pharmaceutical industry, and patients.

FORMATS Online via Wiley InterScience (Basic Access License and EAL) Online via Wiley InterScience (personal license) Online via Wiley InterScience (National Site Licenses) CD-ROM - institutional CD-ROM - personal

Strengths of The Cochrane Library on Wiley InterScience Browse and searching functionality is customized to the needs of those working with clinical trials. Achieved through deep consultation and testing with Collaborative Review Groups and longstanding users of The Cochrane Library. All of the component databases are loaded in a timely fashion quarterly. The Wiley InterScience interface is structured and easy to read. Wiley InterScience has extensive linking including Crossref linking. Wiley InterScience alerting provides users automatic updates in their chosen area. Wiley InterScience includes a comments and criticism function allowing the user to communicate with the Collaborative Review Groups. The Cochrane Library on Wiley InterScience offers users Cochrane Reviews in a PDF format. Wiley InterScience also offers User Statistics to it’s Enhanced User License holders

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