ALOIS, ScreenToGo and the Cochrane Register of Studies: using mobile technology to engage and involve consumers in the work of the Cochrane Collaboration

Tags: Oral
Noel-Storr A1, Struthers C2, Huckvale C3, Dooley G4, McShane R1
1Cochrane Dementia and Cognitive Improvement Group, Oxford University, UK, 2Cochrane Training, UK, 3Imperial College London, UK, 4Metaxis, UK

Background: There is a strong ‘tribal’ interest in improving healthcare for dementia sufferers amongst carers and former carers. The ALOIS Community project has been successful in recruiting and training lay volunteers to code papers to help maintain the Cochrane Dementia Group’s online study register. Our aim is to harness the power of larger numbers of interested laypeople to help Cochrane in the task of systematically examining, classifying and cataloguing records of research in other disease constituencies.

Objectives: A pilot study using volunteers to assess the sensitivity and specificity of identifying studies for inclusion within Cochrane Reviews using ScreenToGo and the CRS.

Methods: Three Cochrane groups contributed data regarding search results retrieved for a recently published review update. Each search had identified new studies for inclusion. Volunteers were then recruited: Group A with experience of coding; Group B with minimal knowledge of randomised trials or systematic review. Each volunteer screened a batch of citations, assigning each to one of the following screening categories: Retain; Exclude; Unsure.

Results: The following results will be presented: • The sensitivity for each group (were all citations that related to studies that were included within the Cochrane Reviews retained?) • The specificity for each group (how many of the non-relevant citations were miss-classified as Retain or Unsure?). Results will also be presented on time taken, ease of use, overall understanding and engagement with the task.

Conclusions: The CRS is designed to store information invaluable to the medical research community in one place. ScreenToGo has the potential to enable large numbers of people to contribute to this unique resource. We believe the findings of this project afford an unprecedented opportunity for The Cochrane Collaboration to reach out to the wider public and create a new community of engaged and empowered Cochrane Citizens.