What is a Cochrane Review?

A Cochrane review is an acknowledged scientific article, which is published in the international database the Cochrane Library.

A Cochrane review assesses the effect of a treatment or prevention.

An example could be an article evaluating the effect of acupuncture for pain relief during childbirth.

A Collected Account of Several Studies
A Cochrane review gathers and assesses the results of all previously published studies on the effectiveness of a specific treatment.

It is required that the results of the studies, on which the Cochrane review is based, have been published in acknowledged scientific periodicals or databases.

All Cochrane reviews are based on a thorough search for relevant studies, a quality assessment of the individual studies and a summary of the results.

Making a joint analysis of several studies ensures conclusions of a high statistical reliability.

Always up to date Knowledge
The Cochrane reviews are published in the electronic database called the Chcohrane Library.

The Cochrane Library is updated four times a year.

The continuous update is to ensure the users the latest knowledge on the effectiveness of different treatments.

Thus the patient can receive the optimal treatment. And researchers are not at risk of initiating trials, of which the outcome is already known.

Inconveniences and Limitations of the Cochrane Reviews
There are a number of inconveniences and limitations associated with the Cochrane reviews:

• The reviews can be difficult to read if your are unfamiliar with the scientific terminology they employ.
• It takes a long time to complete a Cochrane review. This is not compatible with e.g. patients’ and doctors’ immediate need for new knowledge.
• The reviews may contain a predominance of positive results. Studies with positive outcome are more likely to get published by the professional press than studies showing negative results – and the reviews are based solely on studies, which have been published in the acknowledged professional press.
• The reviews contain information on research into effect only. Other types of research, such as e.g. statistical surveys on the percentage of Danes who use alternative medicine, must be sought elsewhere.

How to Find the Reviews
Here you can see what the Cochrane reviews conclude about the effectiveness of alternative medicine and get access to the individual reviews.

Cochrane Reviews on Alternative Medicine

The entire Cochrane Library
You can get assess to the entire Cochrane Library. Most reviews concern conventional medicine.

Cochrane: How to get Access