Establishing a database of RCT, CCT and diagnostic tests in China

Article type
Authors
He L, Liu M, Li Y, Deng K, Zhang M, Li J, Liu R, Wei M
Abstract
Background: To provide evidence for health care and data for people who conduct systematic reviews (SR), we are establishing a database of clinical researches.by searching and collecting clinical trials and diagnostic tests published in China according to the criteria of the Cochrane Collaboration and Clinical Epidemiology.

Methods: 1. Handseaching: establishing handseaching guideline according to the Cochrane Collaboration and Clinical Epidemiology. Training doctors, medical students, nurses and technicians nationwide by stages. Each handsearcher is responsible for at last 1 - 2 kinds of journals and doing retrospective and prospective retrieval. Translating the citation of RCT, CCT and the diagnostic tests, putting them to Procite database. 2. Electronic searching: the Chinese Biomedical Retrieval System indexed 900 journals from 1980 to 2000, is being systematically searched for all reports of controlled trials by information specialist.

Results: * 13 handsearching groups have been set up. Each group includes 3-5 people. * 187journals published in China have been registered for handsearch in Chinese Cochrane Center. * 1097 RCTs and CCTs, 54 diagnostic tests have been collected by the collaborators. The distribution of specialty is as following: Specialty RCT CCT Diagnostic tests Traditional Chinese Medical Science 128 Acupuncture and moxibustion 176 2 Neurology 80 12 Gerontology 60 22 Digestion 187 78 Hematology 2 Ophthalmology 1 1 Stomatology 1 2 Nursing 111 67 Infectious Diseases 56 57 Radiology 54 Others 14 2 Total 816 281 54 * 450 RCT have been identified by electronic searching. Conclusion: A database of RCT,CCT and diagnostic test is being established in ChiCC. We are going to finish the main retrieval work of internal major medical journals in the end of 2000, and plan to provide information service both at home and abroad.