The Cochrane Library is a collection of databases that provides high-quality, systematic reviews of the effects of healthcare interventions. It contains the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, which summarizes conclusions about the effectiveness of interventions based on empirical evidence. Cochrane Reviews are considered the gold standard for systematic reviews because they are conducted to the highest methodological quality and updated regularly. The Cochrane Library also includes databases of controlled trials, reviews of other systematic reviews, methodology research, and economic evaluations to inform evidence-based healthcare decisions.

1. The Cochrane Library
Finding quality reviews of research evidence
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What is the Cochrane Library?
The Cochrane Library is the single most reliable
source for evidence on the effects of health care.
Health care in the 21st 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 known as “evidence-based
medicine”.

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What is the Cochrane Library?
• The Cochrane Library is a collection of evidence-based medicine databases.
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR)
Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL)
Cochrane Methodology Register (CMR)
Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE)
Health Technology Assessment Database (HTA)
NHS Economic Evaluation Database (EED)
It also contains information about The Cochrane Collaboration and the
Cochrane Collaborative Review Groups.

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Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR)
• What is a Systematic Review
A systematic review attempts to identify, appraise and synthesize all the empirical evidence
that meets pre-specified eligibility criteria to answer a given research question.
Researchers conducting systematic reviews use explicit methods aimed at minimizing
bias, in order to produce more reliable findings that can be used to inform decision
making.
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
intervention.

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Why are Cochrane Systematic Reviews so important?
Cochrane Reviews are conducted to the highest standard of methodological quality.
They have been found to be of comparable or better quality and are updated more frequently
than reviews published in print journals.*
Cochrane reviews address clearly formulated questions.
*Source:
Jadad AR, Cook DJ, Jones A, Klassen TP, Tugwell P, Moher M, Moher D. Methodology and reports of systematic reviews and meta-
analyses: a comparison of Cochrane reviews with articles published in paper-based journals. JAMA 1998;280:278-280.

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Cochrane Reviews are now the
“gold standard” for systematic
reviews in such key publications as
The Lancet, New England Journal
of Medicine, British Medical
Journal, and the Journal of the
American Medical Association and
routinely appear there as well as in
specialised medical journals for
various specialty areas.
Levels of evidence

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Cochrane Central Register of
Controlled Trials (CENTRAL)
 Comprehensive database of RCTs
irrespective of language or date of publication.
publication.
 Majority of records taken from other
bibliographic databases (Medline, Embase
Database of Abstracts of Reviews of
Reviews of Effects (DARE)
 Only database to contain structured
abstracts of systematic reviews which have
have been quality assessed.
 Summary with critical commentary about
about quality.
 DARE complements the CDSR by quality-
quality-assessing and summarising reviews
reviews that have not yet been carried out
out by Cochrane.
 Funding stopped and last updated in April
April 2015.

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Cochrane Methodology Register
Register (CMR)
 A bibliography of publications that
that report on methods used in the
the conduct of controlled trials.
 Includes journal articles, books and
books and conference proceedings.
proceedings. Content sourced from
from Medline and hand searching.
searching.

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Health Technology Assessment
 Details of completed and ongoing health
health technology assessments. (Studies of
(Studies of the medical, social, ethical and
ethical and economic implications of
healthcare interventions).
 Overall aim to improve the quality and
and cost effectiveness of health care.
care.
 Produced by CRD, University of York
York using information from International
International Network of Agencies for Health
for Health Technology Assessment
(INAHTA).
 Last updated October 2016.
Economic Evaluations Database
 Assists decision-makers by systematically
systematically identifying economic
evaluations from around the world,
appraising their quality, and highlighting their
highlighting their relative strengths and
and weaknesses.
 Was produced by the Centre for Reviews
Reviews and Dissemination (CRD) at the

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