Resources: Searching and Finding Evidence

Searching and finding Evidence 

Cochrane Library https://www.cochranelibrary.com/ 

The Cochrane Library is a collection of databases that contain different types of high-quality, independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making. It is the place where you can find all the Cochrane Reviews created (currently 8400+ in 2020). Cochrane systematic reviews bring together all relevant studies to a health-related question you might have, quality checks the included studies, summarizes the results and presents a synthesized version which includes a judgement about how confident we can be in the results.  

The Cochrane Systematic reviews have free access to lengthy abstracts describing the review and the results, as well as plain language summaries explaining the topic and the results in a way that is easy to understand for all of us without a medical research background. You are also able to search for reviews based on different treatments or for different conditions.  

If you are a practitioner or a researcher – the conclusions usually includes sections on “implication for practice” and “implication for research”. It is also possible to subscribe when new reviews are published in different areas to keep up to date with the latest evidence.  

If you need any guidance in searching for content within Cochrane Library you can find user guides here. At the moment you need an institutional access to gain access to the full articles, which is usually the case if you work within Regions or Universities.  

Cochrane Evidence Search https://www.cochrane.org/evidence 

The Cochrane Evidence Search is the fastest and easiest way to find and access health information about conditions or treatments which are based on Cochrane systematic reviews. The information is presented in easy-to-understand language which makes it a great resource to use for everyone not comfortable with medical research-language who is interested in finding and using the best quality evidence to inform decisions about health.

Cochrane Clinical Answers https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cca  

Cochrane Clinical Answers are articles (currently 2600+ in 2020) aimed at practitioners and clinicians within healthcare to help guide the clinical decision making. It presents and explains the results of Cochrane Reviews in a way that makes in comprehensible and relevant to practitioners when they have to make health decisions for actual patients. At the moment you need an institutional access to gain access to the full articles, which is usually the case if you work within Regions or Universities.

Evidently Cochrane https://www.evidentlycochrane.net/ 

Evidently Cochrane is a free resource which aims to make Cochrane evidence really accessible, and to encourage discussion about it, through blogs which usually feature new or updated Cochrane reviews on a health topic. It is for everyone who is interested in finding and using the best quality evidence to inform decisions about health and many of the blogs are written for people making choices about their own health or supporting friends and family in doing so. Apart from blogs about different treatments there is an ongoing series of blogs to help you make everyday health choices.

SBU Reviews https://www.sbu.se/sv/publikationer/ 

SBU is an independent Swedish national authority, tasked by the government with assessing health care and social service interventions. SBU assessments are based on ‘systematic literature reviews’ of published research. SBU has a large database of reviews and publications (1900+ in 2020) in Swedish for different conditions and treatments which are free to access for everyone.

EUnetHTA Reviews https://eunethta.eu/ 

EUnetHTA is the the european HTA-network which has a database with reviews and assessments. You can find assessments and reviews from 2006-2015 here and from 2016-2021 here.

SBU Upplysningstjänst https://www.sbu.se/sv/publikationer/sbus-upplysningstjanst/  

SBU Upplysningstjänst is a service for leaders, decision- and policymakers within Swedish healthcare or government that. If you have a question regarding a healthcare intervention and need to know what evidence there is to be able to make a better decision - you can contact SBU Upplysningstjänst. They can provide support to find and understand medical research, with a focus on systematic reviews, related to the question you might have.