User and producer-friendly formatting of Cochrane Reviews

Session: 

Oral session: Knowledge translation and communicating evidence (1)

Date: 

Sunday 16 September 2018 - 12:00 to 12:20

Location: 

Sidlaw Auditorium

All authors in correct order:

Rosenbaum S1, Oxman AD2, Lewin S2, Glenton C3, Opiyo N4, Sheppard S5
1 Cochrane Norway, Centre for Informed Health Choices, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway
2 EPOC, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway
3 Cochrane Norway, EPOC, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway
4 Editorial and Methods Department, Cochrane, UK
5 Effective Care and Practice Group (EPOC), University of Oxford, UK
Presenting author and contact person

Presenting author:

Sarah Rosenbaum

Contact person:

Sarah Rosenbaum
Abstract text
Background: Cochrane Reviews are long and complex, and also difficult to read, write and edit. Key information may be difficult to find, there is much repetition, and results are often reported and interpreted inconsistently. Cochrane Public Health and Health Systems, a Cochrane Review Group Network, has taken the initiative to address these problems, in collaboration with the Central Executive Team.

Objectives: We have created and are piloting a new digital format for Cochrane Reviews of interventions, with the aim of being more responsive to user needs, and taking less time to write, edit and peer review.

Methods: We have built on previous work developing evidence formats for different audiences (e.g. summaries of findings, plain language summaries, summaries for policy makers), examined other formats, and searched the literature for relevant studies. We are employing a human-centred design approach, with cycles of prototyping informed by stakeholder feedback (international advisory board and user-testing). Stakeholders will include review users (patients and the public, clinicians, policy makers, researchers) with varying degrees of familiarity with research evidence, people who support these groups (guideline developers, knowledge translators, journalists, librarians), and review producers (authors, editors). We have created a prototype and will create additional prototypes by redesigning existing reviews. For each, we will collect stakeholder feedback, rate the importance of findings for the user experience - with input from participants - and use findings to inform the next prototype. We will test the applicability of solutions with different review examples. We will also consider aspects related to Cochrane IT, knowledge translation and language translation.

Results and Conclusions: We will propose a more user- and producer-friendly format for Cochrane Reviews of interventions compatible with key MECIR standards, including guidance for authors. A new format for Cochrane Reviews has the potential to address concerns regarding the complexity involved in producing and editing them, and also to make Cochrane evidence more easily accessible when making decisions.

Patient and public involvement: Patients and members of the public are included in the advisory group and user-testing. providing feedback, ideas, and judgments about findings.

Relevance to patients and consumers: 

Patients, the public, clinicians, policymakers, and others should be able to easily access evidence from systematic reviews when making decisions. A well-written plain language summary can provide access to main messages, but is limited in scope. Many decision makers need more detail. Content should be useful and not unnecessarily complex. This work is a step towards improving the organisation and formatting of Cochrane Reviews for all types of users, who have varying information needs and levels of research-literacy. This work will, in turn, facilitate the use of reviews in multiple decision-making contexts to improve patient outcomes.