Low-back pain is a very common problem, and a variety of treatments have been assessed in Cochrane Reviews. In November 2022, we published an update of the 2017 Cochrane review of the effects of yoga for chronic, non-specific low-back pain. The review was led by Susan Wieland of the Cochrane Complementary Medicine Field in the USA, together with colleagues from Canada, Germany and the UK. Here’s another of the authors on the review, Shireen Harbin from the Institute for Work & Health in Toronto Canada to tell us about the latest findings.

Osteoarthritis is the commonest type of arthritis and there are Cochrane reviews for many interventions that might be used to treat it. These were added to in October 2022 with a new review of the effects of using adjunctive therapies along with land-based exercise therapy for osteoarthritis of the hip or knee. In this podcast, podcast editor Mike Clarke speaks with lead author Helen French from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, about the importance of the review and its findings.

Most Cochrane Reviews look at the effects of interventions on health, but a growing number provide evidence on how to diagnose a disease. In September 2022, one of these diagnostic test accuracy reviews was updated for a test used to detect tuberculosis in children. The lead author, Alex Kay (left), and co-author, Tara Ness, from the Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston in the USA, tell us about the importance of the review and its latest findings in this podcast.

Many people with heart or vascular problems also have high blood pressure, and the latest update of the Cochrane Review of using blood pressure targets in their treatment was published in November 2022. Here's lead author, Luis Carlos Saiz from the Navarre Health Service in Pamplona Spain, to tell us about the review and its latest findings.

Cochrane is named in honour of Archie Cochrane, a British medical researcher who contributed greatly to the development of epidemiology as a science. 

Archie Cochrane is best known for his influential book, Effectiveness and Efficiency: Random Reflections on Health Services, published in 1972. The principles he set out in it so clearly were straightforward: he suggested that, because resources would always be limited, they should be used to provide equitably those forms of health care which had been shown in properly designed evaluations to be effective. In particular, he stressed the importance of using evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) because these were likely to provide much more reliable information than other sources of evidence. Cochrane's simple propositions were soon widely recognised as seminally important - by lay people as well as by health professionals.

How can we have a rational health service if we don’t know which of the things being done in it are useful and which are useless or possibly even harmful? — Archie Cochrane

In 1979 he wrote, "It is surely a great criticism of our profession that we have not organised a critical summary, by specialty or subspecialty, adapted periodically, of all relevant randomised controlled trials." His challenge led to the establishment during the 1980s of an international collaboration to develop the Oxford Database of Perinatal Trials.

In 1987, the year before Cochrane died, he referred to a systematic review of RCTs of care during pregnancy and childbirth as "a real milestone in the history of randomized trials and in the evaluation of care", and suggested that other specialties should copy the methods used. His encouragement, and the endorsement of his views by others, led to the opening of the first Cochrane Centre (in Oxford, UK) in 1992 and the founding of  Cochrane in 1993.

Archie portrait made up of contributors pictures

Today Cochrane members and supporters come from 190 countries . We are researchers, health professionals, patients, carers, and people passionate about improving health outcomes for everyone, everywhere. Our global independent network gathers and summarizes the best evidence from research to help you make informed choices about treatment and we have been doing this for 30 years.

The 12th of January marks Archie Cochrane's birthday and it's a great opportunity to reflect on his contributions.

• Learn more about Archie Cochrane on Wikipedia
• Read BMJ Editorial 'Revisiting the value of Archie Cochrane’s contributions' by Xavier Bonfill
• Learn more about the work of Cochrane

Cochrane is named in honour of Archie Cochrane, a British medical researcher who contributed greatly to the development of epidemiology as a science. 

Archie Cochrane is best known for his influential book, Effectiveness and Efficiency: Random Reflections on Health Services, published in 1972. The principles he set out in it so clearly were straightforward: he suggested that, because resources would always be limited, they should be used to provide equitably those forms of health care which had been shown in properly designed evaluations to be effective. In particular, he stressed the importance of using evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) because these were likely to provide much more reliable information than other sources of evidence. Cochrane's simple propositions were soon widely recognised as seminally important - by lay people as well as by health professionals.

How can we have a rational health service if we don’t know which of the things being done in it are useful and which are useless or possibly even harmful? — Archie Cochrane

In 1979 he wrote, "It is surely a great criticism of our profession that we have not organised a critical summary, by specialty or subspecialty, adapted periodically, of all relevant randomised controlled trials." His challenge led to the establishment during the 1980s of an international collaboration to develop the Oxford Database of Perinatal Trials.

In 1987, the year before Cochrane died, he referred to a systematic review of RCTs of care during pregnancy and childbirth as "a real milestone in the history of randomized trials and in the evaluation of care", and suggested that other specialties should copy the methods used. His encouragement, and the endorsement of his views by others, led to the opening of the first Cochrane Centre (in Oxford, UK) in 1992 and the founding of  Cochrane in 1993.

Archie portrait made up of contributors pictures

Today Cochrane members and supporters come from 190 countries . We are researchers, health professionals, patients, carers, and people passionate about improving health outcomes for everyone, everywhere. Our global independent network gathers and summarizes the best evidence from research to help you make informed choices about treatment and we have been doing this for 30 years.

The 12th of January marks Archie Cochrane's birthday and it's a great opportunity to reflect on his contributions.

• Learn more about Archie Cochrane on Wikipedia
• Read BMJ Editorial 'Revisiting the value of Archie Cochrane’s contributions' by Xavier Bonfill
• Learn more about the work of Cochrane

Some patients who take pharmaceutical opioids to treat pain become dependent on them and might need to switch to medications such as opioid agonists. In September 2022, an updated Cochrane Review brought together the relevant evidence and, in this podcast, Addiction Psychiatrist Shalini Arunogiri from Monash University and Turning Point in Melbourne talks with lead author, Suzanne Nielsen (or Suzi) from the Monash Addiction Research Centre in Australia.

The Cochrane Skin Group has produced some of the largest Cochrane reviews, providing a “one stop shop” for people interested in a wide range of interventions for a particular skin condition. One such example is the review of systemic medicines to treat psoriasis, which was updated for the fourth time in May 2022. We asked two of the authors, Laurence Le Cleach, head of the French satellite of the Cochrane Skin group and dermatologist at Henri Mondor hospital, AP-HP in France and Emilie Sbidian, a dermatologist working at the same hospital, to describe the findings.

Several Cochrane Reviews evaluate treatments for sickle cell disease, which can cause a huge burden for patients and their families. The review on the effects of hydroxyurea was updated in September 2022 by Angela Rankine-Mullings from the Sickle Cell Unit, Caribbean Institute for Health Research at The University of the West Indies in Jamaica and Sarah Nevitt, from the Department of Health Data Science, University of Liverpool in UK. We asked Angela to outline the need for the review and its latest findings in this podcast.

Identifying ways to help people be physically active should help improve their health and well-being, and prevent premature deaths. There are several relevant Cochrane reviews and one published in September 2021 looks at school-based programs. Here's the review's first author, Sarah Neil-Sztramko, from McMaster University in Canada to tell us about the importance of the review and its findings.

Hundreds of Cochrane reviews have been published over the last 25 years relevant to the diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of cancers, including ovarian cancer. In a new review from July 2022, Clare Davenport, from the University of Birmingham in the UK, and colleagues examined the evidence on the use of multiple tests to detect it and she tells us what they found in this podcast.

Healthcare decision making can be complex – learn from Sarah’s personal story and make use of Cochrane resources.

Evidence-based healthcare is the integration of the best research evidence with clinical expertise and patient values. It is often represented with these three elements in a Venn diagram with these three equally important elements. However, decision making in healthcare isn’t always so neat and uncomplicated.  Cochrane systematic reviews contribute to the best available, current, valid, and relevant evidence in this process. Cochrane is also committed to helping others understand evidence-based healthcare and the role of evidence.

Sarah Chapman, a former nurse with a long career in health research, had progressive hearing loss since early adulthood. Recently she was faced with a life changing decision if she would like to go ahead with an optional cochlear implant. In this video with illustrations by Karen Morley, Sarah talks us through her personal story of healthcare decision making and how evidence and other factors fit into her thinking.

Sarah explains, “We are messy creature full of messy emotions, living complex lives, and it's in that space that we make our healthcare decisions. Understanding evidence and learning to spot which health information is trustworthy is important to all patients and caregivers – and Cochrane has the resources that can help with this.” You can learn more about Sarah’s in her personal blog, ‘From Ear to Eternity.’

Cochrane has a long and rich history of collaborating with healthcare consumers (patients, carers, and the public). Presenting our evidence in a way that is useful for people making decisions about healthcare and advocating for evidence in health and care is an important part of our work.

Cochrane’s Evidence Essentials is a free introduction to Evidence Based Medicine, clinical trials, systematic reviews, and how to use evidence when making decisions about your health. It was co-produced with patients and caregivers and it is presented a interactive and accessible manner.

Catherine Spencer, Cochrane CEO, says “For Cochrane to achieve its vision, producing high quality reviews of health evidence isn’t enough. Cochrane aspires to a world where all health decisions are informed by high-quality evidence – which means people need to first understand evidence and how to use it. As Sarah’s story shows, making health decisions can be complex. Cochrane’s Evidence Essentials helps people understand health evidence and how to use it. We hope that anyone new to the world of evidence-based healthcare will find this resource indispensable.”

• View the free online resource ‘Cochrane Evidence Essentials’
• Get involved in Cochrane’s work as a patient or carer

Healthcare decision making can be complex – learn from Sarah’s personal story and make use of Cochrane resources.

Evidence-based healthcare is the integration of the best research evidence with clinical expertise and patient values. It is often represented with these three elements in a Venn diagram with these three equally important elements. However, decision making in healthcare isn’t always so neat and uncomplicated.  Cochrane systematic reviews contribute to the best available, current, valid, and relevant evidence in this process. Cochrane is also committed to helping others understand evidence-based healthcare and the role of evidence.

Sarah Chapman, a former nurse with a long career in health research, had progressive hearing loss since early adulthood. Recently she was faced with a life changing decision if she would like to go ahead with an optional cochlear implant. In this video with illustrations by Karen Morley, Sarah talks us through her personal story of healthcare decision making and how evidence and other factors fit into her thinking.

Sarah explains, “We are messy creature full of messy emotions, living complex lives, and it's in that space that we make our healthcare decisions. Understanding evidence and learning to spot which health information is trustworthy is important to all patients and caregivers – and Cochrane has the resources that can help with this.” You can learn more about Sarah’s in her personal blog, ‘From Ear to Eternity.’

Cochrane has a long and rich history of collaborating with healthcare consumers (patients, carers, and the public). Presenting our evidence in a way that is useful for people making decisions about healthcare and advocating for evidence in health and care is an important part of our work.

Cochrane’s Evidence Essentials is a free introduction to Evidence Based Medicine, clinical trials, systematic reviews, and how to use evidence when making decisions about your health. It was co-produced with patients and caregivers and it is presented a interactive and accessible manner.

Catherine Spencer, Cochrane CEO, says “For Cochrane to achieve its vision, producing high quality reviews of health evidence isn’t enough. Cochrane aspires to a world where all health decisions are informed by high-quality evidence – which means people need to first understand evidence and how to use it. As Sarah’s story shows, making health decisions can be complex. Cochrane’s Evidence Essentials helps people understand health evidence and how to use it. We hope that anyone new to the world of evidence-based healthcare will find this resource indispensable.”

• View the free online resource ‘Cochrane Evidence Essentials’
• Get involved in Cochrane’s work as a patient or carer

Some new-born babies suffer from jaundice and there are several Cochrane reviews of possible ways to treat it, including the use of phototherapy. These reviews were added to in March 2022 with a new review of the effects of changing the baby’s position under the phototherapy. Lead author, Anu Thukral from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences tells us about the findings in this podcast.

The Cochrane Common Mental Disorders Group has published more than 200 reviews and, in May 2022, they added a new review of community‐based interventions for improving the mental health of refugee children and adolescents in high‐income countries. One of the authors, Noortje Uphoff who works with the Group at the University of York in the UK, tells us more in this podcast.

Cochrane has produced several systematic reviews of interventions that might help people suffering from anaemia. In this podcast, Claire Iannizzi talks with lead author Anne Adams, both from the University Hospital Cologne in Germany, about a review of intravenous, oral or no iron in combination with erythropoiesis-stimulating agents for cancer patients with anaemia, which was published for the first time in June 2022.

Several of the Cochrane reviews in our collection for COVID-19 relate to diagnosis and the second update for one of these, on the use of rapid point-of-care antigen tests was published in July 2022. Here's lead author Jacqueline Dinnes from the University of Birmingham in the UK to tell us what they found.

The Cochrane Methodology Review Group produces reviews that examine the methods used in research and, in April 2022, we published a new review of the effects of having different types of control group in trials among people with mental health disorders. Here's lead author, Erlend Faltinsen from Cochrane Denmark, to tell us about the review and its findings

The Cochrane Neonatal Group is one of the largest Cochrane groups, with more than 400 reviews published, many of which relate to the care of babies born before they reach full-term. These reviews were added to in April 2022 with a new review of the use of cyclo-oxygenase inhibitors and, in this podcast, one of the group’s researchers, Abbey MacLellan, talks with lead author Souvik Mitra, a neonatologist and clinical epidemiologist at Dalhousie University and IWK Health in Halifax Canada about this network meta-analysis.

Glaucoma is a common eye condition and a major cause of blindness. There are several Cochrane reviews of ways to treat it and these were added to in June 2022 with a new review of a class of drugs called rho kinase inhibitors. We asked lead author, Josefine Freiberg from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark to tell us about the evidence in this podcast.