Article type
Year
Abstract
Background: Covidence is "a not-for-profit service dedicated to improving the use of evidence in health-care decision making" (www.covidence.org). It is an on-line platform to perform systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
Objectives: To access the usefulness of Covidence in performing a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis.
Methods: In 2014 to 2015 we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of antidepressants added to antipsychotic drugs for schizophrenia using Covidence. This included comprehensive screening (approximately 6500 abstracts), full text review (approximately 250 full text articles), data extraction and assessment of risk of bias (approximately 100 included studies) and export of data into Review Manager software (RevMan). All steps were performed by two independent reviewers. Based on our own experiences with the software and correspondence with the Covidence support team, we analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of this service.
Results: Although initially plagued with numerous technical issues and missing functionalities, thanks to continuous improvement based on user feedback, Covidence became an invaluable tool in preparing our systematic review and meta-analysis. As of April 2015, some problems of a technical nature still exist, especially when handling big data-sets, but they are typically easy to overcome with the quick help from the Covidence support team. An important advantage of the software is that all data are safely stored and automatically updated as entered and that Covidence enables reviewers to work independently at the same time and in different geographical locations. Moreover, Covidence is currently free of charge and supports exporting data into RevMan.
Conclusions: Covidence can be a very useful tool for systematic reviewers and meta-analysts and their teams. As it is constantly improved, it holds promise for the future.
Objectives: To access the usefulness of Covidence in performing a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis.
Methods: In 2014 to 2015 we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of antidepressants added to antipsychotic drugs for schizophrenia using Covidence. This included comprehensive screening (approximately 6500 abstracts), full text review (approximately 250 full text articles), data extraction and assessment of risk of bias (approximately 100 included studies) and export of data into Review Manager software (RevMan). All steps were performed by two independent reviewers. Based on our own experiences with the software and correspondence with the Covidence support team, we analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of this service.
Results: Although initially plagued with numerous technical issues and missing functionalities, thanks to continuous improvement based on user feedback, Covidence became an invaluable tool in preparing our systematic review and meta-analysis. As of April 2015, some problems of a technical nature still exist, especially when handling big data-sets, but they are typically easy to overcome with the quick help from the Covidence support team. An important advantage of the software is that all data are safely stored and automatically updated as entered and that Covidence enables reviewers to work independently at the same time and in different geographical locations. Moreover, Covidence is currently free of charge and supports exporting data into RevMan.
Conclusions: Covidence can be a very useful tool for systematic reviewers and meta-analysts and their teams. As it is constantly improved, it holds promise for the future.