Cochrane Collaboration
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Motto | The reliable source of evidence in health care |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1993 |
| Type | International NPO |
| Purpose/focus | Health care information |
| Headquarters | Oxford, England |
| Region served | Worldwide |
| Official languages | English |
| Steering Group Co-Chairs | Lorne Becker, Adrian Grant[1] |
| Volunteers | Over 11 500[2] |
| Website | www.cochrane.org |
The Cochrane Collaboration is a group of over 15,000 volunteers in more than 90 countries who review the effects of health care interventions tested in biomedical randomized controlled trials.[3] A few more recent reviews have also studied the results of non-randomized, observational studies. The results of these systematic reviews are published as "Cochrane Reviews" in the Cochrane Library.
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[edit] History
The Cochrane Collaboration was founded in 1993 under the leadership of Iain Chalmers. It was developed in response to Archie Cochrane's call for up-to-date, systematic reviews of all relevant randomized controlled trials of health care. Cochrane's suggestion that the methods used to prepare and maintain reviews of controlled trials in pregnancy and childbirth should be applied more widely was taken up by the Research and Development Programme, initiated to support the United Kingdom's National Health Service. Funds were provided to establish a 'Cochrane Centre', to collaborate with others, in the UK and elsewhere, to facilitate systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials across all areas of health care.[4]
[edit] Goal and principles
The goal of the collaboration is to help people make well informed decisions about health care by preparing, maintaining and ensuring the accessibility of systematic reviews of the effects of health care interventions. The principles of the Cochrane Collaboration are:
- collaboration
- building on the enthusiasm of individuals
- avoiding duplication
- minimizing bias
- keeping up to date
- striving for relevance
- promoting access
- ensuring quality
- continuity
- enabling wide participation
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ The Cochrane Collaboration - Cochrane entities. Accessed 2009-05-19.
- ^ The Cochrane Collaboration - Newcomers' Guide. Accessed 2009-05-19.
- ^ The Cochrane Collaboration - About The Cochrane Collaboration
- ^ http://www.cochrane.org/docs/cchronol.htm Chronology of the Cochrane Collaboration
