Library - Information skills online - Evidence-based

Key resources

Cochrane library - has the full text of systematic reviews done by the Cochrane Collaboration and a fairly comprehensive list of all known clinical trials mostly published as articles or presented at conferences or registered.
The More tab in the results screen has systematic reviews from the Epistemonikos database. These are non-Cochrane systematic reviews and are a fairly comprehensive collection of international systematic reviews.
Cochrane also has a searchable Our Evidence site with plain language summaries of reviews.
PubMed - has a fairly comprehensive collection of records of systematic reviews and meta-analyses including Cochrane reviews. It also has clinical trials published as articles (a smaller coverage compared to the Cochrane library), and also levels of evidence lower in the evidence hierarchy or more suited to eg qualitative research.
You might like to try the PubMed PICO search.
View the 30 minute online tutorial Using PubMed in evidence based practice.
If you prefer to use Medline (Ovid) or Embase (Ovid), Ovid have a couple of online resources to step you through searching their databases for EBP results
Part 1, Part 2
For a more complete coverage of systematic reviews search Embase as well as PubMed/Medline, or search Scopus.
BMJ Best Practice and DynaMed Plus databases - evidence based information on conditions and symptoms. Both include guidelines.
CINAHL Plus is a useful database for research from a nursing perspective. Searches can be limited to study type eg systematic review, guideline and there is also an evidence-based limit.
NICE Evidence Search from the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence uses google-like searching and is fast and authoritative.
Trip (Turning Research into Practice). Free database to quickly and easily find high-quality research evidence to support clinical practice and patient care. Uses google like searching.
ClinicalKey has a section of guidelines to browse or search.
Accessss - register for free. ' 'ACCESSSS provides "one-stop" access to pre-appraised evidence to address this key question: What is the current best evidence available to support clinical decisions?' Dual purpose database in that it searches across a number of resources (including BMJ Best Practice and DynaMed) and sets up an email alert service for your choice of specialty and population. Do a very simple search.

Cochrane Library

It is a database of only evidence-based studies ie it only has systematic reviews, clinical trials and clinical answers. It is freely available for everyone in New Zealand to use.

The Systematic Reviews

Be careful.

The majority of systematic reviews in the Cochrane Library are done by the Cochrane Collaboration.
However, Cochrane are not the only people who do systematic reviews.
Click the More tab in the search results screen in the Cochrane Library and then click Epistemonikos. Content is a fairly comprehensive list of non-Cochrane systematic reviews.
OR search a resource such as PubMed, Medline (Ovid), Embase, CINAHL Plus or Scopus to find other systematic reviews.
Cochrane systematic reviews also have records in PubMed, Medline (Ovid), Embase and Scopus.
The full text of Cochrane systematic reviews are always available in the Cochrane Library.

Clinical Trials

These are records for all known published clinical trials
Some, but by no means all, may also have a record in PubMed, Medline (Ovid), Embase and Scopus but the CENTRAL (Trials) component of the Cochrane Library has more clinical trials than PubMed alone.
The full text of the articles are not always available in the Cochrane Library. Each record has information on the author, article title, journal name, date, and there is usually an abstract and some key words.

Clinical Answers

'Cochrane Clinical Answers (CCAs) provide a readable, digestible, clinically-focused entry point to rigorous research from Cochrane Reviews. They are designed to be actionable and to inform point-of-care decision-making. Each CCA contains a clinical question, a short answer, and data for the outcomes from the Cochrane Review deemed most relevant to practising healthcare professionals'

Who and what is the Cochrane Collaboration

'Cochrane is a global independent network of health practitioners, researchers, patient advocates and others, responding to the challenge of making the vast amounts of evidence generated through research useful for informing decisions about health. We are a not-for-profit organisation with collaborators from over 120 countries working together to produce credible, accessible health information that is free from commercial sponsorship and other conflicts of interest.'
The Cochrane Collaboration. About us.

The Cochrane Collaboration was started by Sir Iain Chalmers and named after Archie Cochrane.
For more see The difference we make > Cochrane's name.
Photo source: Cardiff University Library, Cochrane Archive, University Hospital Llandough

Using Cochrane Clinical Answers for Example Scenario 2

Lisa, a 15 year old Asian teenager, presents with severe worries about bad things happening to her and her family and an increasing need to check the light switches and wash her hands.

In the search box in the Cochrane Library start with a search: "obsessive compulsive" adolescents.

Click on the Clinical Answers tab to see the search result. Then click on the title to access the full text.
Within the full text click on Expand all and any > to see more information.

You might also like to look at the Reviews tab, and also definitely click the Trials tab to see if there is very recent research on this topic. The default results display in Cochrane is relevancy. In the Trials results screen use the Years filters on the left side of the screen to show recent studies.

Give it a go: Cochrane Library

PubMed

CINAHL Plus

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