Cochrane reviews

A Cochrane review …

… is a systematic review of RCTs

TRUE: RCTs provide the best form of research evidence when a question is about the effect of a treatment. Cochrane reviews primarily synthesise RCTs of treatments although they do include reviews assessing the accuracy of diagnostic tests.

… can be used to answer a question about the prevalence of a condition

FALSE: Cochrane reviews only answer questions about the effects of treatments.

… is carried out by members of the Cochrane Collaboration

TRUE: Processes in place within the Cochrane Collaboration ensure that all Cochrane reviews are of a high quality.

… is the best form of evidence available to answer a question about the effect of a treatment

TRUE: Systematic reviews not carried out by the Cochrane Collaboration may be of a high quality. However the processes in place within the Cochrane Collaboration ensure that all Cochrane reviews are of a high quality.

… is only suitable for synthesising evidence about the effects of a drug or medicine

FALSE: Systematic reviews of RCTs can be used to synthesise evidence about the effects of any treatments, including complex stroke interventions such as stroke units or rehabilitation processes. Systematic reviews of complex stroke interventions will themselves be more complex than systematic reviews of single drug interventions.

… has a detailed protocol published before the review is carried out

TRUE: All Cochrane reviews will have a detailed protocol, which has undergone a rigorous process of expert peer review. This protocol will be written and published prior to the review being carried out. A full Cochrane review should be published within 12 months of a protocol being published.

… is published on the Cochrane Library

TRUE: All Cochrane reviews are freely available on the Cochrane Library.

… might not include any RCTs

TRUE: Sometimes a clinically relevant question is asked but no RCTs are identified which answer this question. Knowing that there is no RCT evidence is useful as it empowers clinicians to made clinicial decisions based on other evidence (including expert opinion), and identifies the gaps in research which future research need to fill.

… is regularly updated ensuring evidence is up-to-date

TRUE: Ideally, all Cochrane reviews should be updated every 2 years.

… undergoes a rigorous process of expert peer review before it is published

TRUE: All Cochrane reviews undergo a rigorous process of expert peer review. This process ensures that Cochrane reviews are of a high methodological quality.