February 2009


Welcome to the first Cochrane AusInfo of 2009.

After several years gestation (and lots of methodological and logistical activity) the first diagnostic test accuracy reviews are now being published alongside intervention reviews in the Cochrane Library. Much of the development work around these new reviews has been spearheaded by Jon Deeks, and we’re pleased that Jon will be in Melbourne in March to lead a one-day workshop on the scientific methods of diagnostic reviews. Those interested in the methods of doing these reviews are encouraged to register early for this event.

We can look forward to other developments with the Cochrane Library in the months ahead as the first Editor in Chief, David Tovey, takes up his post. David has an impressive record in clinical publishing and will be visiting Australia this month to meet with Cochrane contributors and discuss ideas for improving the Library.

Looking ahead to October, we hope many of you will support our Singapore Branch colleagues and take advantage of a close-to-home Cochrane Colloquium. The meeting runs from 11-14 October and takes the place this year of our annual Australasian Symposium. Full details will be available on the Singapore Colloquium website in the next few weeks.

Finally, our schedule of training workshops is now available on the ACC website. Those looking for some training and support will find there are many opportunities to attend workshops in cities across the country.

Steve McDonald
Co-Director   
Australasian Cochrane Centre


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Training Program for Cochrane Review Authors 2009

If your New Year’s resolution is to undertake or update a Cochrane review then we can help! Our training and support program caters to the needs of all review authors, whether you are just starting out or have several reviews to your name already.

Our introductory workshops ‘Developing a Protocol for a Systematic Review’ and ‘Introduction to Analysis’ are held around the country throughout the year and are ideal to get you started on your registered title:

• March 2-3 Melbourne
• May 25-26 Brisbane
• June 25-26 Sydney
• July 20-21 Perth
• August 25-26 Adelaide
• December 3-4 Sydney

If you are currently working on a review or an update and are struggling to make headway, we recommend our ‘Cochrane Review Completion and Update Program’ to help move things along. This program combines dedicated time with on-hand help and support, including implementation of new methods, such as risk of bias and summary of findings tables. Review completion programs vary in length from 1-5 days – come along for as much time as you can spare:

• March 16-20 Melbourne (program now full)
• April 3 Darwin
• July 22-24 Perth
• August 27 Adelaide
• November 16-20 Melbourne

For the complete timetable and further information on how to register for these workshops, please visit www.cochrane.org.au/training/timetable.php or contact our training administrator Donna Duyvestyn.

Whatever your individual needs are, we look forward to helping you achieve your goals with your review in 2009.

Veronica Pitt
(on behalf of the ACC training team)


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Workshop on Cochrane Diagnostic Test Accuracy reviews - Melbourne, 23 March

In October 2008, the Cochrane Collaboration began publishing reviews of diagnostic test accuracy in The Cochrane Library. This one-day workshop gives an overview of the methods used in Cochrane DTA reviews and is the only Cochrane training currently on offer to potential authors in Australia and New Zealand.

The Australasian Cochrane Centre, in collaboration with the Cochrane DTA Working Group and Support Teams based in the UK and Continental Europe, is hosting this event in Melbourne at the Novotel St Kilda on Monday 23 March. The workshop will be led by Prof Jon Deeks from the University of Birmingham and is open to anyone with an interest in doing DTA reviews or finding out more about the Cochrane methods.

Further details and to register, please see: www.cochrane.org.au/training/dta.php.

Registration costs: before 1 March $175; from 1 March $250.


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Cochrane DTA review methods featured in Annals

An article summarising the Cochrane approach to systematically reviewing diagnostic test accuracy was published in Annals of Internal Medicine in December 2008. The article summarises the key methodological developments in defining the objectives for the review, identification and selection of studies, assessment of methodological quality, analysing data and presenting and interpreting results. (Reference Leeflang MMG, Deeks JJ, Gatsonis C, Bossuyt PMM. Systematic reviews of diagnostic test accuracy. Annals of Internal Medicine 2008; 149 (12): 889-897).

The same issue of Annals included an editorial concerning test evaluation, profiling the Collaboration's decision to include test accuracy reviews.

PDFs on www.annals.org are freely available after six months, but available only to subscribers initially. If your institution subscribes you can access the article at: http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/abstract/149/12/889.


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Highlights from Issue 1 2009 of The Cochrane Library

Issue 1 2009 was released on 21 January and contains 112 new Cochrane reviews covering many different populations, a wide range of illnesses and a great variety of interventions. There are new reviews of radiotherapy for women with ductal carcinoma in situ breast cancer, school-based exercise programmes for children and adolescents, and rehabilitation for elderly people in long-term care. A pair of reviews looks into ways to improve the quality of laparoscopic surgery, and another pair investigate the effects of acupuncture on different types of headache. There is a new review of the effects of street lighting on road traffic crashes and an updated review comparing the effects of continued in-patient care with a policy of early discharge to ‘hospital at home’. The fourteenth Cochrane methodology review also appears, bringing together the existing research on publication bias.

Among the many updated Cochrane reviews, one highlights the benefits of giving magnesium sulphate to protect very premature babies from cerebral palsy, another covers more than 60 trials with over 5000 participants testing interventions for obesity in children, and a third has more than 50 trials of ways to prevent relapse among smokers who have quit. Smoking cessation is also dealt with in another new review from the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group, providing knowledge for those worried about the weight gain that can follow the giving up of cigarettes.

Several of these new and updated Cochrane reviews have been highlighted in Evidence Pods. These podcasts are available free from www.cochrane.org/podcasts. This site also contains dozens of Evidence Pods from 2008 and a new collection prepared by authors of some of the most accessed Cochrane reviews of all time.

Highlights from Issue 1 are also available in pdf from the Library homepage: www.thecochranelibrary.com.


[Acknowledgement: Mike Clarke]


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Round-up of Cochrane news

Editor in Chief of The Cochrane Library Dr David Tovey took up his appointment as the Library’s first Editor in Chief in January. David was previously Editorial Director of the BMJ Group’s Knowledge division, responsible for BMJ Clinical Evidence and its sister product BestTreatments, and practicised as a family doctor in South London. David’s first few months in the role will be spent meeting and greeting many people in the Collaboration, including a brief visit to Australia and New Zealand this week.

Cochrane News
Issue 44 (December 2008) is available from cochrane.org and contains highlights from the Freiburg Colloquium plus what’s happening with the Cochrane Collaboration Strategic Review.

Cochrane featured in the New York Times
An interesting op-ed piece appeared in the NYT in October written by former presidential aspirants John Kerry and Newt Gingrich. They contrast healthcare decision making with the sophisticated statistical evaluation of baseball performances.  Who would have thought that Starbucks spends more on health care than coffee. The article highlights the Cochrane Collaboration as a success story and refers to the corticosteroid review - the logo review - as a case in point. Read the article here.

Cochrane Consumers and Communication Review Group Newsletter
The latest edition of the newsletter contains an update of the Group’s most recent published protocols and reviews, and making better use of Cochrane reviews – an item about what can be found in a review if we delve beneath the surface. Access the pdf version here.

Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions The book version of the Cochrane Handbook (edited by Julian Higgins and Sally Green) was launched at the Cochrane Colloquium in Freiburg last October. Cochrane review authors are entitled to a 25% discount on all Wiley books. To claim your discount, authors first need to sign up for the Author Discount Club by filling in the registration form. You will then be sent a Discount Club Card with a special promotion code to use when ordering online.

Australia Fellowship for Paul Glasziou Congratulations to Professor Paul Glasziou, currently Director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine at the University of Oxford, for his Australia Fellowship award – one of twelve awarded this year. Paul will be taking up a position at Bond University in 2010 and will use his fellowship to undertake research to contribute new knowledge about the process and implementation of evidence-based medicine.

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