Using patient-important outcomes for systematic reviews: a joint Cochrane and COMET (Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials) workshop

Workshop category: 

  • Patient or healthcare consumers involvement and shared decision-making
Date and Location

Date: 

Tuesday 18 September 2018 - 14:00 to 15:30

Location: 

Harris 1
Contact persons and facilitators

Contact person:

Heather Bagley

Facilitators:

Bagley H1, Morley R2, Humphreys R3
1 Patient and Public Involvement, Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials [COMET] Initiative, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom
2 Cochrane UK, United Kingdom
3 COMET/PoPPIE, United Kingdom
Target audience

Target audience: 

This workshop will suit systematic reviewers, Cochrane consumers and all with interests in the use of patient-important outcomes in systematic reviews and effectiveness trials.

Level of difficulty: 

Basic
Type of workshop

Type of workshop : 

Discussion
Abstract

Abstract:

Background:
Ill health and treatments can affect people in many different ways, making it difficult to select the most appropriate outcomes for research. The Cochrane Handbook promotes consumer involvement in decisions about outcomes for reviews and the use of standardised core outcomes sets (COS), which have increasingly included patients in their development (91% of ongoing COS). Descriptive surveys exploring outcomes in over 1200 published Cochrane Reviews, however, indicated that no reviews described using a COS in their methods section or 'Summary of findings' (SoF) table.

In 2017, COMET and Cochrane co-facilitated a workshop about outcomes of importance to patients for systematic reviews, with delegates identifying the benefits and challenges. Questions were raised about what to do if a COS doesn’t exist or if it exists (agreed with patients) but has above the maximum of seven outcomes recommended for the SoF table.

Objectives:
- To explore the challenges of gaining a patient perspective about patient-important outcomes in reviews and possible ways to address this, including areas of advice needed by Cochrane authors.
- To explain COS and how these may help in a review.
- To promote the uptake of COS in Cochrane Reviews.

Description:
The 2018 workshop will comprise brief presentations about outcomes of importance to patients in Cochrane Reviews, core outcome sets (COS, including an animation of what COS are and their importance) and the work of the COMET (Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials) Initiative. A public contributor will briefly outline a COS that she is involved with.

In the small groups we will explore examples of where COS have been developed (with patient input) but Cochrane Reviews have not used them, discussing the possible reasons for this and examining the potential impact of this on evidence synthesis. We will consider ways to raise awareness of COS and the COMET database (which details both existing and developing COS studies internationally). We will also explore examples of where COS do not exist and work has been conducted with patients to agree outcomes for a Cochrane Review, considering some of the challenges of this work and identifying specific advice that Cochrane authors might welcome in this situation.

Relevance to patients and consumers: 

When patients, carers, health professionals and other stakeholders choose between different treatments they need evidence about what works. We get this evidence by carrying out studies to measure the effects, or outcomes that different illnesses, conditions and treatments have on patients. In deciding what outcomes should be used in research and systematic reviews so people who actually live with the effects of conditions and treatments should have a say. This hasn’t always happened and a recent Cochrane review called for greater patient involvement in activities like selecting outcomes to “improve the relevance and uptake of reviews”.