At Cochrane Response, we have had the opportunity of working with a number of international health care organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), Wellcome, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), American Heart Association, and the European Academy of Neurology (EAN). Our work spans a diverse range of topics and disciplines, with a focus on evidence synthesis that supports evidence-informed healthcare decision-making.

Our portfolio of past projects highlights the depth and value of our work. Due to the nature of our work, some reports are not published in peer reviewed journals. We have collected a few examples of systematic review and clinical guideline work that has been published below.

Some examples of our work:

Systematic reviews of interventions (Cochrane and non-Cochrane reviews) 

• Primary-level worker interventions for the care of mental disorders and distress in LMIC. As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, this review was marked as a high priority for updating. Cochrane Response was involved in methodological guidance, data analysis, and GRADE ratings.
  • Primary‐level worker interventions for the care of people living with mental disorders and distress in low‐ and middle‐income countries.
• Suicidal behaviour in refugees, asylum seekers and people affected by conflict: a systematic review. This review was an update of a review on prevalence of suicidal behaviour in displaced people for the World Health Organization.
  • Peer-reviewed publication 2022: Suicide rates and suicidal behaviour in displaced people: A systematic review
  • Global News story, October 2022: ‘This is really the end’: Asylum seekers in Canada struggle with suicidal thoughts

Diagnostic test accuracy (DTA) reviews

• Contributing towards updates of the following Cochrane reviews on diagnostic testing for COVID-19:
  • Antibody tests for identification of current and past infection with SARS-CoV-2
  • Signs and symptoms to determine if a patient presenting in primary care or hospital outpatient settings has COVID‐19 disease
• Contributing towards a Cochrane review on using adherence as a diagnostic test: 
  • Accuracy of measures for antiretroviral adherence in people living with HIV

Clinical practice guidelines

Many of our review projects contribute to clinical guidelines developed by international organisations (e.g. WHO, EAN). We systematically review the evidence for each guideline recommendation and provide methodological support on the guideline development process.  Here are some published examples: 

•  Post-COVID-19-condition guideline
  • In Collaboration with McMaster University and Cochrane Canada
  • Our reports are contributing to the Canadian Guidelines for Post COVID-19 Condition
• WHO Guidelines for Malaria
  • Reports to commissioner (unpublished) contributed to the 2023 Clinical guideline
  • Version updated in MAGIC app 
• WHO living guideline on COVID infection prevention and control
  • In collaboration with Cochrane Nigeria 
  • Infection prevention and control in the context of COVID-19: a guideline (December 2023)
• Human African Trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) guideline
  • 2024 Clinical guideline update: Guidelines for the treatment of human African trypanosomiasis
  • Our report: Evidence summary: systematic review of oral fexinidazole as first line treatment for rhodesiense Human African Trypanosomiasis
  • 2019 Clinical guideline: WHO interim guidelines for the treatment of gambiense human African trypanosomiasis
  • Systematic review (report to commissioner): Systematic review of oral fexinidazole as first line treatment for gambiense Human African Trypanosomiasis
  • Publication: New WHO guidelines for treatment of gambiense human African trypanosomiasis including fexinidazole: Substantial changes for clinical practice
  • Cochrane review update: Chemotherapy for second‐stage human African trypanosomiasis: drugs in use
• WHO low back pain guideline
  • Our reports (unpublished) contributed to the WHO guideline for non-surgical management of chronic primary low back pain in adults in primary and community care settings (2023)
• Guideline on the management of chronic pain in children
  • In collaboration with Cochrane Pain, Palliative and Supportive Care (PaPas), Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professions (NMAHP) Research Unit, University of Stirling, Cochrane Qualitative & Implementation Methods Group (CQIMG)
  • WHO guideline (2020): Guidelines on the management of chronic pain in children
  • Journal publication: Efficacy and safety of pharmacological, physical, and psychological interventions for the management of chronic pain in children a WHO systematic review and meta-analysis
• Treatment of visceral leishmaniasis in HIV-Leishmania coinfected persons
  • 2022 Clinical guideline: WHO guideline for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis in HIV co-infected patients in East Africa and South-East Asia
  • Systematic review (report to commissioner): A systematic review on the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis in HIV-Leishmania co-infected persons in East Africa and South-East Asia
• Safety and efficacy of rotavirus vaccines schedules in children
  • Our report to the WHO: Update of a systematic review and meta-analysis of the safety, effectiveness and efficacy of childhood schedules using Rotavirus vaccines
  • Vaccine safety information sheet: WHO Global Vaccine Safety sheet
  • Updated 2019 Cochrane review: Vaccines for preventing rotavirus diarrhoea: vaccines in use
• Safety and efficacy of Hepatitis B vaccines
  • Our report to the WHO Safety and efficacy from randomized controlled trials and observational studies of childhood schedules using hepatitis B vaccines informed the WHO position paper Hepatitis B vaccines: WHO position paper – July 2017
• Efficacy and immunogenicity of human papillomavirus vaccines
  • Our report to the WHO Randomized controlled trials of human papillomavirus vaccines: Systematic reviews prepared by Cochrane Response, London, UK informed the WHO position paper Human papillomavirus vaccines: WHO position paper, May 2017
  • Cochrane review: Comparison of different human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine types and dose schedules for prevention of HPV-related disease in females and males- 2017
• Digital health tools in reproductive, sexual, maternal, neonatal, and child health
  • Cochrane Response contributed to the evidence summaries that informed the WHO guideline recommendations on digital interventions for health system strengthening 2017-2018. The reviews were also published as Cochrane reviews:
  • Mobile technologies to support healthcare provider to healthcare provider communication and management of care
  • Targeted client communication via mobile devices for improving maternal, neonatal, and child health
  • Targeted client communication via mobile devices for improving sexual and reproductive health
  • Tracking health commodity inventory and notifying stock levels via mobile devices: a mixed methods systematic review 
  • Decision‐support tools via mobile devices to improve quality of care in primary healthcare settings
  • Birth and death notification via mobile devices: a mixed methods systematic review

Living systematic reviews 

• A 'Living' Rapid Research Needs Appraisal for Priority Diseases Platform
  • In collaboration with  Pandemic Sciences Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK and Cochrane South Africa 
  • Living protocol registerest on Open Science Framework
  • Publication from the first pilot on Lassa fever
• COVID-19 living systematic review and network meta-analysis in collaboration with Cochrane France
  • COVID-NMA living systematic review website: https://covid-nma.com/
  • Cochrane review: Efficacy and safety of COVID‐19 vaccines
  • Cochrane review: Interleukin‐1 blocking agents for treating COVID‐19
  • Cochrane review: Interleukin‐6 blocking agents for treating COVID‐19: a living systematic review

We also perform evidence maps and landscapes, rapid reviews, targeted updates, scoping reviews and much more.