Identifying evidence and maintaining a specialised register of studies

1. 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

2. 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?

3. 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”

4. 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be available in the Group’s module: • The inclusion criteria for the register • The search strategy used • Locating unpublished studies • Access arrangements for authors

5. 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)

8. 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

9. What TRoPHI contains • Populated by: • Prospective searches of: • PubMED • EMBASE • Cochrane Controlled Trials Register • Hand searching • EPPI-Centre reviews

10. 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

11. 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!

12. The task

13. 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… Scoping & developing the register

14. What next • Any comments or questions? • Any potential collaborators? Contacts: A.Harden@ioe.ac.uk WeightmanAL@cf.ac.uk