[From the perspective of a co-ordinating editor of a Cochrane review group (on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the German Cochrane Centre in Freiburg)].
The German Cochrane Centre in Freiburg contributed substantially to both the initiation of the Cochrane movement in Germany and to the development of evidence-based medicine. Alongside the Cochrane Centres, the Cochrane Review Groups are leading with responsibility for the quality of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. In doing so, Cochrane reviews need to be highly standardised, evaluate patient-oriented outcomes and also report these in the abstract and plain language summaries of the review. Furthermore, data extraction sheets should be a part of every Cochrane review in the appendices section. The new Cochrane software RevMan 5 and the information management system "Archie" stand for a formidable progress in the efficiency of editorial management. Continuous updates of Cochrane reviews will represent a great challenge for the future. Hence, updates should focus on patient-oriented outcomes and longer study duration to provide consumers with important up-to-date information. The future of the Cochrane Collaboration as a hallmark of high-quality health care information will depend on mastering the balancing act between exponentially increasing work loads and evidently unchanging resources.
Richter
Bernd
B
Abteilung für Allgemeinmedizin, Universitätsklinikum Düsseldorf. richterb@uni-duesseldorf.de
D015706:Bibliometrics; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D009938:Organizations / Q000592:standards; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D012196:Review Literature as Topic