Cochrane

Cochrane thanks Catherine Spencer OBE for her leadership as Chief Executive Officer since 2022. Catherine has guided Cochrane through transformational change, strengthening our strategy and impact as a world-leading source of trustworthy evidence. As she steps down, we welcome Dr Karla Soares-Weiser as Acting CEO and look ahead to Cochrane’s next chapter. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eRiepnTu

Do antidepressants help people with non‐specific low‐back pain and spine‐related leg pain? Low back pain is a leading cause of disability around the world. Many people with low back pain also experience pain that radiates into the leg. 💊 Antidepressants are a group of medicines that were originally developed to treat depression. Antidepressants are thought to relieve pain by blocking pain signals in the nervous system. 📊The updated Cochrane review analysed 26 studies involving 2932 people to see if antidepressants are more effective than a placebo, standard care, or no treatment. Key messages: ✔️ SNRIs probably provide small pain relief & slight function improvement for low back pain but may cause side effects. ✔️ TCAs probably improve function slightly but have little to no effect on pain intensity. ✔️ The effects on spine-related leg pain remain uncertain. 🔍 Read more: https://buff.ly/anXbh3j #LowBackPain #ChronicPain #PainRelief #Antidepressants #CochraneEvidence #HealthResearch #SpineHealth #EvidenceBasedMedicine #MedicalResearch #BackPainSolutions

🎉We’re celebrating the third anniversary of the launch of our #SharedCommitment to Public Involvement in Health and Social Care Research 🎉 March 2025 marks three years since Cochrane committed to strengthening Public Involvement in Health and Social Care Research, a pledge to ensure that the voices of patients, carers, and the public shape the evidence that informs healthcare decisions. Public involvement is more than participation—it’s about meaningful engagement that improves the quality, relevance, and impact of our research. As part of this commitment, Cochrane has: ✅ Grown the Consumer Network to over 2,500 members ✅ Ensured all new Cochrane Reviews report consumer involvement ✅ Included consumer representation on our Editorial Board ✅ Supported consumer peer review of Cochrane Reviews ✅ Expanded free learning resources to make health evidence accessible 💡 Want to get involved? Join Cochrane’s Consumer Network and contribute to evidence-based health research. 🔗 Learn more: https://buff.ly/pmfmBn1 #PublicInvolvement #HealthResearch #Cochrane #PatientEngagement #ConsumerInvolvement #PublicInvolvement #SocialCare #ResearchImpact #HealthInitiatives #PatientEngagement #CommunityHealth #HealthAndSocialCare #CollaborativeResearch #InclusiveResearch

🎶 Does music‐based therapy help people with #Dementia? Dementia is a collective term for progressive degenerative brain syndromes that affect memory, thinking, behaviour, and emotion. While some medicines are available, the therapeutic use of music is considered a relatively simple and inexpensive approach that remains accessible even in the later stages of dementia. This #SystematicReview examines evidence from 30 studies involving 1,720 people to find out if music-based therapy works better than usual care or other activities for people with dementia. 📌 Key messages: ✔️ Music-based therapy probably improves depressive symptoms and may improve overall behavioural problems by the end of treatment. ✔️ Compared to other activities, music‐based therapy may improve social behaviour and could decrease anxiety. ✔️ There is no evidence that music‐based therapy makes a difference to the emotional well‐being, agitation or cognition (e.g. thinking and remembering) of people with dementia, although there is uncertainty about this. ✔️ Long-term effects may be smaller but remain uncertain due to the limited number of trials monitoring effects after treatment ends. 💡 Learn more in the full #CochraneReview and #PlainLanguage summary in the #CochraneLibrary. 📖 Read the full review - https://buff.ly/7ylirAP 📄 Check out the review feature on our website - https://buff.ly/wXY6W0E #HealthResearch #Alzheimers #MusicTherapy #MentalHealth #CochraneEvidence #Neuroscience #HealthyAging

🌏 Driving innovation for a healthier planet Cochrane is proud to play a key role in a new £10 million global initiative funded by Wellcome Trust dedicated to advancing evidence synthesis in climate and health. 🌍💡 Powered by AI-driven tools, this initiative will transform how research is analysed, speeding up insight generation and ensuring evidence is continuously updated. Our mission? To lead the way in responsible #AI use—developing standards, best practices, and equitable solutions accessible to all. Together with world-class partners, we’re tackling one of the greatest challenges of our time, equipping policymakers with the rigorous evidence they need to make informed decisions. 🔗 Learn more about this game-changing collaboration bridging innovation and impact: https://buff.ly/SXaFi7y #ClimateHealth #SustainableHealth #EvidenceMatters #AIforgood #GlobalImpact

A new AI & Automation Methods Group is launching on 3rd June! The group is jointly run between the Cochrane Collaboration, The Campbell Collaboration, JBI and the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence (CEE), and will help define and support responsible AI use across these four leading evidence synthesis organizations. 💡 What are the aims? ▪️ Spearhead methods research and development and act as a bridge between evidence synthesis organizations and the wider research community. ▪️Cochrane is launching a new AI & Automation Methods Group on 3rd June! Define best practice and ensure guidance for accepted methods is up to date. ▪️ Support the implementation of new or amended methods by acting as an advisor or through involvement in methods implementation in our respective evidence synthesis organizations. Want to find out more? 👩💻 Join our webinar on 3rd June on ‘Recommendations and guidance on responsible AI in evidence synthesis’ -- https://buff.ly/3FbsYtV 🔗 Visit our AI Methods Group website -- https://buff.ly/4h1uTPe 📚 Read the news item on our website -- https://buff.ly/41zHsfT #AIinResearch #EvidenceSynthesis #ResponsibleAI #Cochrane

🌍 Cochrane is delighted to announce the launch of Cochrane Pakistan — our first new Cochrane Geographic Group in five years! As a low-middle-income country, Pakistan faces unique healthcare challenges, including limited randomized controlled trials and a lack of awareness regarding systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Cochrane Pakistan’s priorities include research on diseases highly prevalent in the country, such as #diabetes and its complications, chronic kidney disease, maternal and infant mortality, thalassemia, and infectious diseases. This milestone strengthens our mission to expand #EvidenceBasedHealthcare worldwide! 🔬 🔗 Read more about Cochrane Pakistan in our news item -- https://buff.ly/4h6FvvX #CochranePakistan #GlobalHealth #Research

What are the best strategies to implement World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations to prevent, detect, and treat postpartum hemorrhage? Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) —excessive bleeding after birth—remains a leading cause of maternal mortality worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends oxytocin after birth to prevent PPH, but access to medications and equipment varies across birth facilities. Effective treatment depends on severity, cause, and available resources. 📊 A new #SystematicReview examined 13 studies covering over 1 million births to evaluate strategies for implementing WHO’s PPH guidelines in facility-based settings. Key findings include: ✔️ Multicomponent strategies may improve adherence to WHO guidelines. ✔️ Single-component strategies had mixed results, with limited evidence on their effectiveness. ✔️ With varying success across different settings, more research is needed to identify the most effective ways to implement PPH prevention and treatment strategies globally. 🔗 Read more: https://buff.ly/4bhqINL #MaternalHealth #PPH #GlobalHealth #HealthEquity #WomensHealth #ReproductiveHealth

🌟 Upholding the highest standards in evidence-based research 🌟 At Cochrane, quality and integrity are non-negotiable. Our Central Editorial Service (CES) plays a pivotal role in ensuring that every protocol, review, and update published in the Cochrane Library meets rigorous standards. From initial screening to peer review, quality assurance, and final sign-off, the CES is key to delivering trusted, evidence-based content 🔍 Learn more about our editorial process and how it safeguards the credibility of Cochrane’s evidence —https://buff.ly/3XCM7uG #ResearchIntegrity #EvidenceBased #QualityAssurance #CochraneImpact #Cochrane

Join the 2025 World Health Organization/Cochrane/Cornell University Summer Institute on Systematic Reviews in Nutrition for Global Policy Making! This training opportunity brings together experts from WHO, Cochrane, and Cornell University to equip participants with the skills to conduct systematic reviews of nutrition interventions—critical for shaping global health policies. 📅 Dates: 🔹 Week 1 (Online, Asynchronous): Week of May 19, 2025 🔹 Week 2 (In-Person at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY): Week of June 15, 2025 This program will allow hand-on training in the development of Cochrane systematic reviews on a topic of immediate global health relevance in nutrition and public health, as well as the opportunity to understand how evidence informs global policy and the challenges in evidence assessment. Applications are open now – https://buff.ly/42XjWe0 #Cochrane #SystematicReviews #GlobalHealth #NutritionPolicy #PublicHealth #EvidenceBasedPolicy #WHO #Cornell