The Cochrane Library Tutorial

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The Cochrane Library Tutorial

• UC Davis Health Sciences Library

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Searching for the Best EvidenceRecommended
Databases

• The Cochrane Library
• InfoPOEMs and InfoRetriever
• Bandolier
• Evidence-Based On-Call
• PubMed

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The Cochrane Library

• Gold Standard for evidence based medicine
• Produced by the Cochrane Collaboration
• An international network of individuals and
  institutions that
• review and analyze the best clinical trials
  available on various
• subjects, and synthesize them into regularly
  updated
• systematic reviews

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The Cochrane Library 6 databases

• Database of Systematic Reviews (Cochrane Reviews)
• Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects
  (DARE)
• Central Register of Controlled Trials (Central)
• Database of Methodology Reviews (Methodology
  Reviews)
• Health Technology Assessment Database (HTA)
• NHS Economic Evaluation Database (NHS EED)

The Database of Systematic Reviews contains the
highest quality of EBM, followed by the Database
of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, and then the
Central Register of Controlled Trials.
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What is a Systematic Review (Cochrane Review)?A
review of studies in which evidence has been
systematically searched for, studied, assessed,
and summarized according to predetermined
criteria
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What are Abstracts of Reviews of Effects
(DARE)?Critical assessments and structured
abstracts of good systematic reviews published
elsewhere
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What is the Central Register of Controlled
Trials?Bibliographic information on controlled
trials
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Searching the Cochrane Library3 search types

• Quick Search
• Advanced Search
• MeSH Search

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Quick Search

• Use the quick search box
• Apply fields using the drop-down menu

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Search the Cochrane Library for

• What therapy is effective for premenstrual
  syndrome?

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The Cochrane Librarys new interface

• www.thecochranelibrary.org

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First Screen
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Searching for Reviews
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Viewing a Review
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Looking at Results
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Reviewers Conclusions
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Advanced Search

• Click on Cochrane Advanced Search
• Enter each search term in a separate text box
• View Search Tips for hints on standard search
  methods
• Pulldown boxes in front of the text boxes can be
  used to relate the terms using the AND, OR, or
  NOT operators
• Pulldown boxes following the text box can be used
  to limit the search to specific fields
• The Restrict Search by Product section can be
  used to limit the search to a specific Cochrane
  Library database(s)

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Search the Cochrane Library for

• At what CD4 level should HIV patients begin
  antiretroviral therapy?

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Beginning the Search
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Search Terms Used
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Retrieval of 1 Record
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Looking at the Record
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MeSH Search

• The Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) Search is
  based on the National Library of Medicine's
  controlled vocabulary thesaurus of medical
  subject headings
• MeSH terms are indexed in a hierarchical tree
  structure format that links related terms
• You can select a qualifier restriction to limit
  the search to a specific subject field such as
  diagnosis" or "toxicity"

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Beginning the Search
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Starting a MeSH Search
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Viewing the MeSH Tree
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Choosing Qualifiers
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Click on Go
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Retrieved 5 Reviews
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Looking at 1 Review
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Going to Reviewers Conclusions
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For additional information

• The Cochrane Library
• http//www.thecochranelibrary.org
• Licensed or Free Evidence-Based Medicine
  Resources
• http//www.lib.ucdavis.edu/dept/hsl/instguides/EBM
  -Resources.pdf
• Clinical Resources Center
• https//ucdcrc.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/servlet/CRCsignin
  /

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Questions?