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Introduction to umbrella reviews.

Lorne Becker, Jon Deeks and Andy Oxman. Members of the Cochrane Umbrella Reviews Working Group.

LorneBecker doesnotexist@cochrane.org tampabay.rr.com

Objectives:

• To introduce participants to key issues relevant to umbrella reviews including their purpose, structure, and authorship and the selection, analysis, and presentation of data in these reviews.
• To solicit feedback from participants to guide ongoing decisions of the Umbrella Reviews Working Group.

Summary: Umbrella reviews compile evidence from multiple Cochrane reviews into one accessible and usable document. Each umbrella review has as its focus a condition or health problem for which there are two or more potential interventions, and highlights the Cochrane reviews that address these potential interventions and their results. One aim of an umbrella review is to serve as a "friendly front end" to the Cochrane Library, allowing the reader a quick overview (and an exhaustive list) of Cochrane reviews relevant to the clinical decision at hand. The Cochrane Umbrella Reviews Working Group has developed draft specifications for the content of an umbrella review. This workshop will give participants an opportunity to review and comment on these specifications with members of the working group. Issues to be discussed will include the choice of outcomes to be presented, methods of presentation of data and simple statistical techniques for indirect comparisons using data from different meta-analyses.

Level of knowledge required to attend: intermediate.