Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions: Cochrane Book Series

Content: Chapter 1 Introduction (pages 1–9): Sally Green, Julian PT Higgins, Philip Alderson, Mike Clarke, Cynthia D Mulrow and Andrew D Oxman Chapter 2 Preparing a Cochrane Review (pages 11–30): Sally Green and Julian PT Higgins Chapter 3 Maintaining Reviews: Updates, Amendments and Feedback (pages 31–49): Julian PT Higgins, Sally Green and Rob JPM Scholten Chapter 4 Guide to the Contents of a Cochrane Protocol and Review (pages 51–79): Julian PT Higgins and Sally Green Chapter 5 Defining the Review Question and Developing Criteria for Including Studies (pages 81–94): Denise O'Connor, Sally Green and Julian PT Higgins Chapter 6 Searching for Studies (pages 95–150): Carol Lefebvre, Eric Manheimer and Julie Glanville Chapter 7 Selecting Studies and Collecting Data (pages 151–185): Julian PT Higgins and Jonathan J Deeks Chapter 8 Assessing Risk of Bias in Included Studies (pages 187–241): Julian PT Higgins and Douglas G Altman Chapter 9 Analysing Data and Undertaking Meta?Analyses (pages 243–296): Jonathan J Deeks, Julian PT Higgins and Douglas G Altman Chapter 10 Addressing Reporting Biases (pages 297–333): Jonathan AC Sterne, Matthias Egger and David Moher Chapter 11 Presenting Results and ‘Summary of Findings’ Tables (pages 335–357): Holger J Schunemann, Andrew D Oxman, Julian PT Higgins, Gunn E Vist, Paul Glasziou and Gordon H Guyatt Chapter 12 Interpreting Results and Drawing Conclusions (pages 359–387): Holger J Schunemann, Andrew D Oxman, Gunn E Vist, Julian PT Higgins, Jonathan J Deeks, Paul Glasziou and Gordon H Guyatt Chapter 13 Including Non?Randomized Studies (pages 389–432): Barnaby C Reeves, Jonathan J Deeks, Julian PT Higgins and George A Wells Chapter 14 Adverse Effects (pages 433–448): Yoon K Loke, Deirdre Price and Andrew Herxheimer Chapter 15 Incorporating Economics Evidence (pages 449–479): Ian Shemilt, Miranda Mugford, Sarah Byford, Michael Drummond, Eric Eisenstein, Martin Knapp, Jacqueline Mallender, David McDaid, Luke Vale and Damian Walker Chapter 16 Special Topics in Statistics (pages 481–529): Julian PT Higgins, Jonathan J Deeks and Douglas G Altman Chapter 17 Patient?Reported Outcomes (pages 531–545): Donald L Patrick, Gordon H Guyatt and Catherine Acquadro Chapter 18 Reviews of Individual Patient Data (pages 547–558): Lesley A Stewart, Jayne F Tierney and Mike Clarke Chapter 19 Prospective Meta?Analysis (pages 559–570): Davina Ghersi, Jesse Berlin and Lisa Askie Chapter 20 Qualitative Research and Cochrane Reviews (pages 571–591): Jane Noyes, Jennie Popay, Alan Pearson, Karin Hannes and Andrew Booth Chapter 21 Reviews in Public Health and Health Promotion (pages 593–606): Rebecca Armstrong, Elizabeth Waters and Jodie Doyle Chapter 22 Overviews of Reviews (pages 607–631): Lorne A Becker and Andrew D Oxman

Healthcare providers, consumers, researchers and policy makers are inundated with unmanageable amounts of information, including evidence from healthcare research. It has become impossible for all to have the time and resources to find, appraise and interpret this evidence and incorporate it into healthcare decisions. Cochrane Reviews respond to this challenge by identifying, appraising and synthesizing research-based evidence and presenting it in a standardized format, published in The Cochrane Library (www.thecochranelibrary.com).

The Cochrane Handboook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions contains methodological guidance for the preparation and maintenance of Cochrane intervention reviews. Written in a clear and accessible format, it is the essential manual for all those preparing, maintaining and reading Cochrane reviews. Many of the principles and methods described here are appropriate for systematic reviews applied to other types of research and to systematic reviews of interventions undertaken by others. It is hoped therefore that this book will be invaluable to all those who want to understand the role of systematic reviews, critically appraise published reviews or perform reviews themselves.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:Vijaya Kancherla, MS, PhD(c)(University of Iowa College of Public Health)
Description:This is a concise introduction to reviewing quantitative and qualitative intervention research for those interested in using a systematic methodology for appraising and synthesizing individual and conflicting evidence into a pooled, unbiased, and easily interpretable format. This well laid out book provides a good perspective of the Cochrane Collaboration, its rationale and logistics for conducting systematic reviews. Chapters train readers how to design and conduct systematic reviews with many practical examples. A section on special topics covers some additional areas of significance.
Purpose:The purpose is to provide guidance to authors for the preparation of Cochrane Intervention Reviews, which also include Cochrane Overviews of reviews. An increasing number of studies are published in health research each year with conflicting evidence. Systematic reviews that are based on standard and stringent criteria are needed to synthesize such evidence and reach unbiased and error-free conclusions. As there are many questions reviewers encounter when trying to compile systematic reviews, standard documentation of guidelines is necessary to make reviews comparable and repeatable. This book serves the purpose of developing standard systematic reviews in any relevant field. It not only addresses important criteria for quantitative synthesis of data, but also tries to address some special topics that are relevant to different types of reviews.
Audience:This book is written primarily for authors who contribute to Cochrane Intervention Reviews, but it can be useful to many in the scientific community, including public health researchers, epidemiologists, medical practitioners, clinical study coordinators, and students who are interested in synthesizing evidence from multiple research studies. The book is a product of the Cochrane Collaboration, a world-renowned organization conducting systematic reviews using expert advice from 15,000 contributors from 100 countries.
Features:The first part of the book explains the logistics of conducting reviews and gives an overview of the structure and format of Cochrane Reviews. The second part trains readers on different aspects of a systematic review, starting from the initiation of a research question to reaching a valid conclusion. The authors provide thorough information on assessing bias, identifying potential threats to validity, understanding heterogeneity, and addressing reporting biases (which are of important concern in meta-analysis studies). The last section on special topics describes other types of reviews which include nonrandomized studies, individual patient-reported outcomes, and patient data. Important statistical applications are reviewed in evaluating various study designs. The book is a good resource and reference for readers, regardless of their disciplines. The key points at the beginning of each chapter orient readers to the information to be presented. Chapter subheadings that depict some of the practical questions a reader might have make the book easy to read. Information is thorough, with good examples. References are conveniently placed at the end of each chapter.
Assessment:The book meets its objective of delivering a clear and concise description of design and conduct of systematic reviews along with special topics relevant to the field of pooling evidence from multiple studies. Cochrane Collaboration is a leader in conducting scientific systematic reviews, and the contributors to this book are a group of acclaimed scientists from all over the world, making this is a unique publication in this field.

Preparing A Cochrane Review / Edited By Sally Green And Julian P.t. Higgins -- Maintaining Reviews : Updates, Amendments And Feedback / Julian P.t. Higgins, Sally Green, And Rob J.p.m. Scholten -- Guide To The Contents Of A Cochrane Protocol And Review / Edited By Julian P.t. Higgins And Sally Green -- Defining The Review Question And Developing Criteria For Including Studies / Edited By Denise O'connor, Sally Green, And Julian P.t. Higgins -- Searching For Studies / Carol Lefebvre, Eric Manheimer, And Julie Glanville -- Selecting Studies And Collecting Data / Edited By Julian P.t. Higgins And Jonathan J. Deeks -- Assessing Risk Of Bias In Included Studies / Edited By Julian P.t. Higgins And Douglas G. Altman -- Analysing Data And Undertaking Meta-analyses / Edited By Jonathan J. Deeks, Julian P.t. Higgins, And Douglas G. Altman -- Addressing Reporting Biases / Edied By Jonathan A.c. Sterne, Matthias Egger, And David Moher -- Presenting Results And 'summary Of Findings' Tables / Holger J. Schünemann ... [et Al.] -- Interpreting Results And Drawing Conclusions / Holger J. Schünemann ... [et Al.]. Includes Non-randomized Studies / Barnaby C. Reeves ... [et Al.] -- Adverse Effects / Yoon K. Loke, Deirdre Price, And Andrew Herxheimer -- Incorporating Economics Evidence / Ian Shemilt ... [et Al.] -- Special Topics In Statistics / Edited By Julian P.t. Higgins, Jonathan J. Deeks, And Douglas G. Altman -- Patient-reported Outcomes / Donald L. Patrick, Gordon H. Guyatt, And Catherine Acquadro -- Reviews Of Individual Patient Data / Lesley A. Stewart, Jayne F. Tierney, Mike Clarke -- Prospective Meta-analysis / Davina Ghersi, Jesse Berlin, And Lisa Askie -- Qualitative Research And Cochrane Reviews / Jane Noyes ... [et Al.] -- Reviews In Health Promotion And Public Health / Edited By Rebecca Armstrong, Elizabeth Waters, And Jodie Doyle -- Overviews Of Reviews / Lorne A. Becker And Andrew D. Oxman. Edited By Julian P.t. Higgins And Sally Green. This Work Is A Co-publication Between The Cochrane Collaboration And John Wiley & Sons Ltd--t.p. Verso. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Preparing a Cochrane review / editors, Sally Green and Julian P.T. Higgins Maintaining reviews : updates, amendments, and feedback / authors, Julian P.T. Higgins, Sally Green, and Rob J.P.M. Scholten Guide to the contents of a Cochrane protocol and review / editors, Julian P.T. Higgins and Sally Green Defining the review question and developing criteria for including studies / editors, Denise O'Connor, Sally Green, and Julian P.T. Higgins Searching for studies / authors, Carol Lefebvre, Eric Manheimer, and Julie Glanville Selecting studies and collecting data / editors, Julian P.T. Higgins and Jonathan J. Deeks Assessing risk of bias in included studies / editors, Julian P.T. Higgins and Douglas G. Altman Analysing data and undertaking meta-analyses / editors, Jonathan J. Deeks, Julian P.T. Higgins, and Douglas G. Altman Addressing reporting biases / editors, Jonathan A.C. Sterne, Matthias Egger, and David Moher Presenting results and "summary of findings" tables / authors, Holger J. Schünemann ... [et al.] Interpreting results and drawing conclusions / authors, Holger J. Schünemann ... [et al.] Including non-randomized studies / authors, Barnaby C. Reeves ... [et al.] Adverse effects / authors, Yoon K. Loke, Deirdre Price, and Andrew Herxheimer Incorporating economics evidence / authors, Ian Shemilt ... [et al.] Special topics in statistics / editors, Julian P.T. Higgins, Jonathan J. Deeks, and Douglas G. Altman Patient-reported outcomes / authors, Donald L. Patrick, Gordon H. Guyatt, and Catherine Acquadro Reviews of individual patient data / authors, Lesley A. Stewart, Jayne F. Tierney, Mike Clarke Prospective meta-analysis / authors, Davina Ghersi, Jesse Berlin, and Lisa Askie Qualitative research and Cochrane reviews / authors, Jane Noyes ... [et al.] Reviews in health promotion and public health / editors, Rebecca Armstrong, Elizabeth Waters, and Jodie Doyle Overviews of reviews / authors, Lorne A. Becker and Andrew D. Oxman. Healthcare providers, consumers, researchers and policy makers are inundated with unmanageable amounts of information, including evidence from healthcare research. It has become impossible for all to have the time and resources to find, appraise and interpret this evidence and incorporate it into healthcare decisions. Cochrane Reviews respond to this challenge by identifying, appraising and synthesizing research-based evidence and presenting it in a standardized format, published in The Cochrane Library ((http://www.thecochranelibrary.com) www.thecochranelibrary.com ). The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions contains methodological guidance for the preparation and maintenance of Cochrane intervention reviews. Written in a clear and accessible format, it is the essential manual for all those preparing, maintaining and reading Cochrane reviews. Many of the principles and methods described here are appropriate for systematic reviews applied to other types of research and to systematic reviews of interventions undertaken by others. It is hoped therefore that this book will be invaluable to all those who want to understand the role of systematic reviews, critically appraise published reviews or perform reviews themselves. This title is also available as a mobile App from MedHand Mobile Libraries. Buy it now from Google Play or the MedHand Store. This handbook is the definitive manual for producing a Cochrane systematic review. The editors have drawn from the expertise of the Cochrane methods groups to bring together the breadth and depth of systematic reviewing experience in a step-by-step guide to writing a Cochrane review. Anyone conducting a systematic review will be interested in Cochrane methodology, which represents the gold standard in the science of reviewing. The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions is divided into two sections. Section A deals with the basics, and is compulsory reading for all review a