Identifying evidence and maintaining a specialised
register of studies
Dr Alison Weightman Director, Support Unit for Research Evidence (SURE), Cardiff
University, UK and Co-Convenor Cochrane Information Methods Retrieval Group
&
Dr Angela Harden Associate Director, EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London, UK and Co-Director
Cochrane Health Promotion and Public Health Field
This talk
• Cochrane requirements for a Group Register of Studies
• History of the HPPH Field register – TRoPHI
• From Field to Review Group register
• The size of the task
• Any potential collaborators if the Group gets go ahead?
Cochrane specific core function 6
“For the editorial bases to develop and maintain a Specialized
Register, containing all relevant studies in their area of interest,
and submit this to CENTRAL on a quarterly basis”
The following details should be available in the Group’s module:
• The inclusion criteria for the register
• The search strategy used
• Locating unpublished studies
• Access arrangements for authors
TRoPHI*The official register of the Cochrane Health Promotion and Public Health
Field
http://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/webdatabases/trophi
*Developed and maintained with funding from the English Department of Health since 1996
(ongoing funding secured until 2010)
EPPI-Centre (http://eppi.ioe.ac.uk)
• Conducts and supports systematic reviews to support policy, practice and personal decisions
• Strong links with Cochrane and Campbell Collaborations
• Cochrane Collaboration: provided coordination and co-direction of the health promotion and public health (HP&PH) field since 1996– Trials register– Trial Search Coordinator (Josephine Kavanagh)– Methodological expertise and development for
conducting HP&PH systematic reviews
What TRoPHI contains
• Populated by: – Prospective searches of:
• PubMED• EMBASE • Cochrane Controlled Trials Register
– Hand searching– EPPI-Centre reviews
What TRoPHI contains
• 3,254 trials (randomised and non-randomised)
• 81 countries around the world
• All trials coded according to: – Topic focus– Population– Intervention site, type and provider– Cost indication
TRoPHI: From field register to review group register
• Upstream and equity focus
• Searching across domains including social science databases
• Expanding hand searching activities
• Expanding range of studies
• The need for collaboration!
The task
Scoping & developing the register• Inclusion criteria
– Upstream and equity focus; Developed & developing countries; What about non-RCTs, EPOC and beyond?
• Search strategy– Huge potential range of databases; Hand-searching;
Search filter development…
• Locating unpublished studies– Grey literature; Expert contacts…
• Access & management- Collaboration structure; Access for authors; Finance…
What next
• Any comments or questions?
• Any potential collaborators?
Contacts:
