Articles

Exploring why quality circles work in primary health care: a realist review protocol

Quality circles (QCs) are commonly used in primary health care in Europe to consider and improve standard practice over time. They represent a complex social intervention that occurs within the fast-changing s...

Authors: Adrian Rohrbasser, Sharon Mickan and Janet Harris

Insufficient evidence for the use of a physical examination to detect maltreatment in children without prior suspicion: a systematic review

Although it is often performed in clinical practice, the diagnostic value of a screening physical examination to detect maltreatment in children without prior suspicion has not been reviewed. This article aims...

Authors: Eva MM Hoytema van Konijnenburg, Arianne H Teeuw, Tessa Sieswerda-Hoogendoorn, Arnold G E Leenders and Johanna H van der Lee

The effects of sign language on spoken language acquisition in children with hearing loss: a systematic review protocol

Permanent childhood hearing loss affects 1 to 3 per 1000 children and frequently disrupts typical spoken language acquisition. Early identification of hearing loss through universal newborn hearing screening a...

Authors: Elizabeth M Fitzpatrick, Adrienne Stevens, Chantelle Garritty and David Moher

Risk of bias: a simulation study of power to detect study-level moderator effects in meta-analysis

There are both theoretical and empirical reasons to believe that design and execution factors are associated with bias in controlled trials. Statistically significant moderator effects, such as the effect of t...

Authors: Susanne Hempel, Jeremy NV Miles, Marika J Booth, Zhen Wang, Sally C Morton and Paul G Shekelle

Meta-analysis and The Cochrane Collaboration: 20 years of the Cochrane Statistical Methods Group

The Statistical Methods Group has played a pivotal role in The Cochrane Collaboration over the past 20 years. The Statistical Methods Group has determined the direction of statistical methods used within Cochr...

Authors: Joanne E McKenzie, Georgia Salanti, Steff C Lewis and Douglas G Altman

Understanding interventions for improving routine immunization coverage in children in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review protocol

Virtually all low- and middle-income countries are dependent on the World Health Organization’s Expanded Program on Immunization for delivery of vaccines to children. The Expanded Program on Immunization deliv...

Authors: Shingai Machingaidze, Eva Rehfuess, Rüdiger von Kries, Gregory D Hussey and Charles S Wiysonge

Behavioural activation interventions for depressed individuals with a chronic physical illness: a systematic review protocol

Depression is common in people with chronic physical illness and is associated with worse medical outcomes. Cognitive behavioural therapy and problem-solving improve depression, although usually have small to ...

Authors: Sarah Harris, Paul Farrand and Chris Dickens

A surveillance system to assess the need for updating systematic reviews

Systematic reviews (SRs) can become outdated as new evidence emerges over time. Organizations that produce SRs need a surveillance method to determine when reviews are likely to require updating. This report d...

Authors: Nadera Ahmadzai, Sydne J Newberry, Margaret A Maglione, Alexander Tsertsvadze, Mohammed T Ansari, Susanne Hempel, Aneesa Motala, Sophia Tsouros, Jennifer J Schneider Chafen, Roberta Shanman, David Moher and Paul G Shekelle

The efficacy of dapagliflozin combined with hypoglycemic drugs in treating type 2 diabetes: protocol for meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Dapagliflozin is a first-in-class oral sodium glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor. It is often used in combination with conventional anti-diabetic drugs such as metformin, glimepiride, and insulin in tr...

Authors: Yu-nan Sun, Yi Zhou, Xi Chen, Wen-si Che and Siu-wai Leung

Defining traumatic brain injury in children and youth using International Classification of Diseases version 10 codes: a systematic review protocol

Although healthcare administrative data are commonly used for traumatic brain injury research, there is currently no consensus or consistency on using the International Classification of Diseases version 10 co...

Authors: Vincy Chan, Pravheen Thurairajah and Angela Colantonio

Hand hygiene monitoring technology: protocol for a systematic review

Healthcare worker hand hygiene is thought to be one of the most important strategies to prevent healthcare-associated infections, but compliance is generally poor. Hand hygiene improvement interventions must i...

Authors: Jocelyn A Srigley, David Lightfoot, Geoff Fernie, Michael Gardam and Matthew P Muller

Ancillary testing for diagnosis of brain death: a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

The essential clinical diagnostic components of brain death must include evidence for an established etiology capable of causing brain death, two independent clinical confirmations of the absence of all brains...

Authors: Michaël Chassé, Peter Glen, Mary-Anne Doyle, Lauralyn McIntyre, Shane W English, Greg Knoll, Jean-François Lizé, Sam D Shemie, Claudio Martin, Alexis F Turgeon, François Lauzier and Dean A Fergusson

Barriers to the diagnosis of somatoform disorders in primary care: protocol for a systematic review of the current status

Somatoform-type disorders and functional medically unexplained symptoms are extremely common in primary care settings. These disorders, however, are consistently underdiagnosed and under-recognised which precl...

Authors: Alexandra M Murray, Anne Toussaint, Astrid Althaus and Bernd Löwe

A realist synthesis of the effect of social accountability interventions on health service providers’ and policymakers’ responsiveness

Accountability has center stage in the current post-Millennium Development Goals (MDG) debate. One of the effective strategies for building equitable health systems and providing quality health services is the...

Authors: Elsbet Lodenstein, Marjolein Dieleman, Barend Gerretsen and Jacqueline EW Broerse

Data extraction from machine-translated versus original language randomized trial reports: a comparative study

Google Translate offers free Web-based translation, but it is unknown whether its translation accuracy is sufficient to use in systematic reviews to mitigate concerns about language bias.

Authors: Ethan M Balk, Mei Chung, Minghua L Chen, Lina Kong Win Chang and Thomas A Trikalinos

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy as a prognostic marker in neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy: a study protocol for an individual patient data meta-analysis

The prognostic accuracy of ¹H (proton) magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy has been assessed by a criticized study-based meta-analysis. An individual patient data met...

Authors: Pieter LJ Degraeuwe, Gerald J Jaspers, Nicola J Robertson and Alfons GH Kessels

Factors explaining the heterogeneity of effects of patient decision aids on knowledge of outcome probabilities: a systematic review sub-analysis

There is considerable unexplained heterogeneity in previous meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the effects of patient decision aids on the accuracy of knowledge of outcome probabil...

Authors: Stephen J Gentles, Dawn Stacey, Carol Bennett, Mohamad Alshurafa and Stephen D Walter

Celebrating methodological challenges and changes: reflecting on the emergence and importance of the role of qualitative evidence in Cochrane reviews

Cochrane systematic reviews have proven to be beneficial for decision making processes, both on a practitioner and a policy level, and there are current initiatives to extend the types of evidence used by them...

Authors: Karin Hannes, Andrew Booth, Janet Harris and Jane Noyes

Post-marketing surveillance in the published medical and grey literature for percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty catheters: a systematic review

Post-marketing surveillance (PMS) may identify rare serious incidents or adverse events due to the long-term use of a medical device, which was not captured in the pre-market process. Percutaneous transluminal...

Authors: Julie Polisena, Alan J Forster, Karen Cimon and Danielle Rabb

Self-collected versus clinician-collected sampling for sexually transmitted infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis protocol

Three meta-analyses and one systematic review have been conducted on the question of whether self-collected specimens are as accurate as clinician-collected specimens for STI screening. However, these reviews ...

Authors: Darlene Taylor, Carole Lunny, Tom Wong, Mark Gilbert, Neville Li, Richard Lester, Mel Krajden, Linda Hoang and Gina Ogilvie

Parenteral and oral antibiotic duration for treatment of pediatric osteomyelitis: a systematic review protocol

Pediatric osteomyelitis is a bacterial infection of bones requiring prolonged antibiotic treatment using parenteral followed by enteral agents. Major complications of pediatric osteomyelitis include transition...

Authors: Chelsey Grimbly, Jeff Odenbach, Ben Vandermeer, Sarah Forgie and Sarah Curtis

Cochrane diagnostic test accuracy reviews

In 1996, shortly after the founding of The Cochrane Collaboration, leading figures in test evaluation research established a Methods Group to focus on the relatively new and rapidly evolving methods for the sy...

Authors: Mariska MG Leeflang, Jonathan J Deeks, Yemisi Takwoingi and Petra Macaskill

Protocol for a systematic review of prognostic models for the recurrence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) following treatment for a first unprovoked VTE

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a chronic disease, with fatal recurrences occurring in 5% to 9% of patients, yet it is also one of the best examples of preventable disease. Prognostic models that utilise multi...

Authors: Joie Ensor, Richard D Riley, David Moore, Susan Bayliss, Sue Jowett and David A Fitzmaurice

Early changes in somatosensory function in spinal pain: protocol for a systematic review

Back and neck pain are common conditions that have a high burden of disease. Changes in somatosensory function in the periphery, the spinal cord and the brain have been well documented at the time when these c...

Authors: Anna Marcuzzi, Catherine M Dean and Julia M Hush

Structured sedation programs in the emergency department, hospital and other acute settings: protocol for systematic review of effects and events

The use of procedural sedation outside the operating theatre has increased in hospital settings and has gained popularity among non-anesthesiologists. Sedative agents used for procedural pain, although effecti...

Authors: Siobhán McCoy, Abel Wakai, Carol Blackburn, Michael Barrett, Adrian Murphy, Maria Brenner, Philip Larkin, Gloria Crispino-O’Connell, Savithiri Ratnapalan and Ronan O’Sullivan

How should we evaluate the risk of bias of physical therapy trials?: a psychometric and meta-epidemiological approach towards developing guidelines for the design, conduct, and reporting of RCTs in Physical Therapy (PT) area: a study protocol

Numerous tools and items have been developed in all health areas to assess the risk of bias of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The Cochrane Collaboration (CC) released a new tool to assess bias in RCTs, b...

Authors: Susan Armijo-Olivo, Jorge Fuentes, Todd Rogers, Lisa Hartling, Humam Saltaji and Greta G Cummings

Understanding success and failure in multimorbidity: protocol for using realist synthesis to identify how social learning and workplace practices can be optimised

Multimorbidity is increasingly prevalent but, aside from epidemiological work, the impact on associated provision of healthcare and/or education is little understood. For example, it is unclear how or why heal...

Authors: Sarah Yardley, Elizabeth Cottrell and Joanne Protheroe

Vibration response imaging: protocol for a systematic review

The concept of lung sounds conveying information regarding lung physiology has been used extensively in clinical practice, particularly with physical auscultation using a stethoscope. Advances in computer tech...

Authors: Marc P Berry, Luigi Camporota and George Ntoumenopoulos

Methodological developments in searching for studies for systematic reviews: past, present and future?

The Cochrane Collaboration was established in 1993, following the opening of the UK Cochrane Centre in 1992, at a time when searching for studies for inclusion in systematic reviews was not well-developed. Rev...

Authors: Carol Lefebvre, Julie Glanville, L Susan Wieland, Bernadette Coles and Alison L Weightman

Racism as a determinant of health: a protocol for conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis

Racism is increasingly recognized as a key determinant of health. A growing body of epidemiological evidence shows strong associations between self-reported racism and poor health outcomes across diverse minor...

Authors: Yin Paradies, Naomi Priest, Jehonathan Ben, Mandy Truong, Arpana Gupta, Alex Pieterse, Margaret Kelaher and Gilbert Gee

Assessing and presenting summaries of evidence in Cochrane Reviews

Cochrane Reviews are intended to help providers, practitioners and patients make informed decisions about health care. The goal of the Cochrane Applicability and Recommendation Methods Group (ARMG) is to devel...

Authors: Miranda W Langendam, Elie A Akl, Philipp Dahm, Paul Glasziou, Gordon Guyatt and Holger J Schünemann

The evolution of assessing bias in Cochrane systematic reviews of interventions: celebrating methodological contributions of the Cochrane Collaboration

Authors: Lucy Turner, Isabelle Boutron, Asbjørn Hróbjartsson, Douglas G Altman and David Moher

Issues in the incorporation of economic perspectives and evidence into Cochrane reviews

Methods for systematic reviews of the effects of health interventions have focused mainly on addressing the question of 'What works?’ or 'Is this intervention effective in achieving one or more specific outcom...

Authors: Ian Shemilt, David McDaid, Kevin Marsh, Catherine Henderson, Evelina Bertranou, Jacqueline Mallander, Mike Drummond, Miranda Mugford and Luke Vale

Helping people make well-informed decisions about health care: old and new challenges to achieving the aim of the Cochrane Collaboration

The aim of the Cochrane Collaboration is to help people make well-informed decisions about health care by preparing, maintaining and promoting the accessibility of systematic reviews of the effects of health c...

Authors: Andrew D Oxman

Cochrane methods - twenty years experience in developing systematic review methods

This year, The Cochrane Collaboration reached its 20th anniversary. It has played a pivotal role in the scientific development of systematic reviewing and in the development of review methods to synthesize res...

Authors: Jackie Chandler and Sally Hopewell

Predicting OptimaL cAncer RehabIlitation and Supportive care (POLARIS): rationale and design for meta-analyses of individual patient data of randomized controlled trials that evaluate the effect of physical activity and psychosocial interventions on health-related quality of life in cancer survivors

Effective interventions to improve quality of life of cancer survivors are essential. Numerous randomized controlled trials have evaluated the effects of physical activity or psychosocial interventions on heal...

Authors: Laurien M Buffart, Joeri Kalter, Mai JM Chinapaw, Martijn W Heymans, Neil K Aaronson, Kerry S Courneya, Paul B Jacobsen, Robert U Newton, Irma M Verdonck-de Leeuw and Johannes Brug

Bibliometrics of systematic reviews: analysis of citation rates and journal impact factors

Systematic reviews are important for informing clinical practice and health policy. The aim of this study was to examine the bibliometrics of systematic reviews and to determine the amount of variance in citat...

Authors: Pamela Royle, Ngianga-Bakwin Kandala, Katharine Barnard and Norman Waugh

Safety, effectiveness, and cost of long-acting versus intermediate-acting insulin for type 1 diabetes: Protocol for a systematic review and network meta-analysis

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) causes progressive destruction of pancreatic beta cells leading to absolute insulin deficiency. Treatment of T1DM requires insulin, and some evidence suggests that longer acting...

Authors: Andrea C Tricco, Huda M Ashoor, Charlene Soobiah, Brenda Hemmelgarn, David Moher, Brian Hutton, Catherine H Yu, Sumit R Majumdar and Sharon E Straus

A systematic review investigating fatigue, psychological and cognitive impairment following TIA and minor stroke: protocol paper

Approximately 20,000 people have a transient ischemic attack (TIA) and 23,375 have a minor stroke in England each year. Fatigue, psychological and cognitive impairments are well documented post-stroke. Evidenc...

Authors: Grace M Moran, Benjamin Fletcher, Melanie Calvert, Max G Feltham, Catherine Sackley and Tom Marshall

Judging the quality of evidence in reviews of prognostic factor research: adapting the GRADE framework

Prognosis research aims to identify factors associated with the course of health conditions. It is often challenging to judge the overall quality of research evidence in systematic reviews about prognosis due ...

Authors: Anna Huguet, Jill A Hayden, Jennifer Stinson, Patrick J McGrath, Christine T Chambers, Michelle E Tougas and Lori Wozney

A protocol for a systematic review of research on managing behavioural and psychological symptoms in dementia for community-dwelling older people: evidence mapping and syntheses

Non-cognitive behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia affect up to 90% of people with dementia during the disease course and result in distress, increased carer burden, high service utilization and ...

Authors: Daksha Trivedi, Claire Goodman, Angela Dickinson, Heather Gage, Jennifer McLaughlin, Jill Manthorpe, Kunle Ashaye and Steve Iliffe

Challenges in implementing The Institute of Medicine systematic review standards

In 2011, The Institute of Medicine (IOM) identified a set of methodological standards to improve the validity, trustworthiness, and usefulness of systematic reviews. These standards, based on a mix of theoreti...

Authors: Stephanie M Chang, Eric B Bass, Nancy Berkman, Timothy S Carey, Robert L Kane, Joseph Lau and Sara Ratichek

Incidence, prevalence, and occurrence rate of infection among adults hospitalized after traumatic brain injury: study protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

Infection occurs commonly among patients hospitalized after traumatic brain injury (TBI) and has been associated with increased intensive care unit and hospital lengths of stay and an elevated risk of poor neu...

Authors: Brittney NV Scott, Derek J Roberts, Helen Lee Robertson, Andreas H Kramer, Kevin B Laupland, Shalina S Ousman, Paul Kubes and David A Zygun

Micronutrient fortification of food and its impact on woman and child health: a systematic review

Vitamins and minerals are essential for growth and metabolism. The World Health Organization estimates that more than 2 billion people are deficient in key vitamins and minerals. Groups most vulnerable to thes...

Authors: Jai K Das, Rehana A Salam, Rohail Kumar and Zulfiqar A Bhutta

Opioids for chronic non-cancer pain: a protocol for a systematic review of randomized controlled trials

Opioids are prescribed frequently and increasingly for the management of chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP). Current systematic reviews have a number of limitations, leaving uncertainty with regard to the benefits...

Authors: Jason W Busse, Stefan Schandelmaier, Mostafa Kamaleldin, Sandy Hsu, John J Riva, Per Olav Vandvik, Ludwig Tsoi, Tommy Lam, Shanil Ebrahim, Bradley Johnston, Lori Oliveri, Luis Montoya, Regina Kunz, Anna Malandrino, Neera Bhatnagar, Sohail M Mulla…

Immigrant women’s experiences of postpartum depression in Canada: a protocol for systematic review using a narrative synthesis

Literature documents that immigrant women in Canada have a higher prevalence of postpartum depression symptomatology than Canadian-born women. There exists a need to synthesize information on the contextual fa...

Authors: Gina MA Higginbottom, Myfanwy Morgan, Joyce O’Mahony, Yvonne Chiu, Deb Kocay, Mirande Alexandre, Joan Forgeron and Marilyn Young

Efficacy of vitamin D supplementation in depression in adults: a systematic review protocol

The role of vitamin D in management of depression is unclear. Results from observational and emerging randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the efficacy of vitamin D in depression lack consistency ...

Authors: Guowei Li, Lawrence Mbuagbaw, Zainab Samaan, Shiyuan Zhang, Jonathan D Adachi, Alexandra Papaioannou and Lehana Thabane

Interventions provided in the acute phase for mild traumatic brain injury: a systematic review

Most patients who sustain mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) have persistent symptoms at 1 week and 1 month after injury. This systematic review investigated the effectiveness of interventions initiated in acu...

Authors: Jocelyn Gravel, Antonio D’Angelo, Benoit Carrière, Louis Crevier, Miriam H Beauchamp, Jean-Marc Chauny, Maggy Wassef and Nils Chaillet

Individual patient data systematic review and meta-analysis of optic nerve sheath diameter ultrasonography for detecting raised intracranial pressure: protocol of the ONSD research group

The purpose of the optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) research group project is to establish an individual patient-level database from high quality studies of ONSD ultrasonography for the detection of raised i...

Authors: Julie Dubourg, Mahmoud Messerer, Dimitrios Karakitsos, Venkatakrishna Rajajee, Erik Antonsen, Etienne Javouhey, Alessandro Cammarata, Michael Cotton, Roy Thomas Daniel, Carmelo Denaro, Emmanuel Douzinas, Clément Dubost, Moncef Berhouma, Behrouz Kassai, Muriel Rabilloud, Antonino Gullo…

Happy birthday: we are one year old

Authors: David Moher, Lesley Stewart and Paul Shekelle