Article type
Year
Abstract
Background: The Cancer Specialist Library (CSL) is an online resource, part of the UK's National Library for Health (NLH). The aim of the CSL is to provide easy access to reliable evidence in cancer for healthcare professionals. Systematic reviews summarise large bodies of evidence, providing the most reliable answers to healthcare questions. Cochrane systematic reviews do not yet cover the whole of cancer so a priority for the CSL is to identify other systematic reviews on a wide range of topics related to cancer and its management.
Aim: To map those areas of cancer where systematic reviews have been performed, and to identify those areas where there are gaps in the evidence base.
Methods: The topic matrix developed by the CSL was used to scope the literature search. A systematic literature search was performed from 1999 - 2004. A range of clinical databases, cancer and evidence-based medicine (EBM) websites were searched. Search strategies for identifying systematic reviews were based on the PubMed Cancer Subset, and the methodological search filter developed by the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN).
Search results were entered into a ProCite database and sifted by an Information Scientist for subject relevance. Additional inclusion and exclusion criteria have been developed to support this. The sifted results will be checked by the Clinical Lead and the results mapped to the topic matrix.
Results: In total 16,909 references were retrieved from the initial searches. As with all sifting this number is likely to reduce significantly. Once the Clinical Lead checks the references against the topic matrix, it will be apparent which areas of cancer have systematic reviews and which have not.
Conclusions: We can predict that there will be some areas of the topic matrix that will have a substantial number of systematic reviews e.g. breast, lung and colorectal cancers. Other areas will have very few e.g. head and neck, musculoskeletal and endocrine cancers. The next challenge for the CSL is to ensure that only good quality systematic reviews are included. The CSL must devise a carefully planned process in order to achieve this.
Aim: To map those areas of cancer where systematic reviews have been performed, and to identify those areas where there are gaps in the evidence base.
Methods: The topic matrix developed by the CSL was used to scope the literature search. A systematic literature search was performed from 1999 - 2004. A range of clinical databases, cancer and evidence-based medicine (EBM) websites were searched. Search strategies for identifying systematic reviews were based on the PubMed Cancer Subset, and the methodological search filter developed by the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN).
Search results were entered into a ProCite database and sifted by an Information Scientist for subject relevance. Additional inclusion and exclusion criteria have been developed to support this. The sifted results will be checked by the Clinical Lead and the results mapped to the topic matrix.
Results: In total 16,909 references were retrieved from the initial searches. As with all sifting this number is likely to reduce significantly. Once the Clinical Lead checks the references against the topic matrix, it will be apparent which areas of cancer have systematic reviews and which have not.
Conclusions: We can predict that there will be some areas of the topic matrix that will have a substantial number of systematic reviews e.g. breast, lung and colorectal cancers. Other areas will have very few e.g. head and neck, musculoskeletal and endocrine cancers. The next challenge for the CSL is to ensure that only good quality systematic reviews are included. The CSL must devise a carefully planned process in order to achieve this.