The two review groups of Amsterdam UMC are: Cochrane Gynaecology and Fertility satellite (Center for Reproductive Medicine) and Cochrane Work (Department of Public and Occupational Health). We provide specific support when you conduct (or planning to conduct) a Cochrane review in the field of gynaecology and fertility or workers’ health. We help authors of this type of reviews by providing individual advice on, for example:
Preparation of a Cochrane protocol
- Updating a Cochrane review
- Searching and selecting literature
- Risk of bias assessments
- Meta-analysis
- Synthesis using other methods
- Summary of findings tables
- GRADE methodology: how to rate the certainty of the evidence?
- Knowledge translation and dissemination
- Writing a plain language summary
What is Cochrane?
Cochrane is an international network of researchers. Cochrane produces high-quality, relevant, up-to-date systematic reviews and other synthesized research evidence to inform health decision making. You can contact the review groups for specific questions related to their fields of expertise, which are illustrated below. Contact them by sending an e-mail to: e.b.kostova@amsterdamumc.nl (Cochrane Gynaecology and Fertility) or cochranework@amsterdamumc.nl (Cochrane Work).
Cochrane Gynaecology and Fertility
The Cochrane Gynaecology and Fertility Group (CGF) develops and disseminates systematic reviews on the management and treatment of menstrual disorders and subfertility. In January 2018, CGF established a new satellite at the Center for Reproductive Medicine in Amsterdam UMC, location AMC. As a satellite, they are responsible for developing and disseminating reviews on the effectiveness and safety of interventions in subfertile women undergoing intrauterine insemination and in vitro fertilisation. Furthermore the satellite oversees all reviews on polycystic ovary syndrome and endometriosis. They are also managing all knowledge translation (KT) initiatives for the group and they are part of Cochrane's KT Evaluation Support Working Group. Since March 2020, they are maintaining a database with published studies on perinatal and neonatal outcomes related to COVID-19.
Follow us on Twitter: @CochraneCGF
Madelon van Wely: m.vanwely@amsterdamumc.nl
Elena Kostova: e.b.kostova@amsterdamumc.nl
Cochrane Work
The main focus of the Cochrane Work Review Group is the effectiveness of occupational health interventions, but they also address etiological and prognostic questions. For example, they address questions about the best ways to protect ourselves against health risks and dangers that exist in the workplace. What helps to reduce stress in health care? How to prevent deafness when there is loud noise at work? Furthermore, they focus on work participation interventions and work participation outcomes and their implementation in practice.
A good example in current circumstances, is the review “Personal protective equipment for preventing highly infectious diseases due to exposure to contaminated body fluids in healthcare staff”. Which has proven to play a pivotal role in the ongoing pandemic as it gave direction to international policies and guidelines about how to protect front-line healthcare workers from exposure to the new coronavirus. In April 2021 we started our COVID-19 priority program. This systematic review program consists of four Cochrane reviews about the prevention of exposure to the new coronavirus at the workplace and return to work for patients after COVID-19. An international taskforce of over 30 authors work the upcoming months on these reviews.
We are always looking for interesting, new review topics as well as new authors, either experienced Cochrane authors or newbies. So feel free to get in touch and explore the options.
Follow us on Twitter: @CochraneWork
Staff members: Jan Hoving, Jos Verbeek, Joost Daams and Julitta Boschman
Jan Hoving: j.l.hoving@amsterdamumc.nl
Julitta Boschman: j.s.boschman@amsterdamumc.nl
Webinars
All webinars are scheduled from 12:00 untill 13:00 CEST.
| Date | Title | Host | More information |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 30, 2021 | Guidance for systematic review authors on how to consider the individual and the population perspective | Cochrane Work - Jan Hoving, Julitta Boschman | View webinar |
| November 25, 2021 | Knowledge translation and Research integrity | Cochrane Gynaecology and Fertility - Madelon van Wely, Elena Kostova | Follows |
| January 27, 2022 | What’s new in GRADE? | Cochrane GRADEing Methods - Miranda Langendam, Dutch GRADE Network | Follows |
| March 31, 2022 | To be announced | Cochrane Screening and Diagnostic Tests Methods Group - Mariska Leeflang | Follows |
Online information sources
Conducting a systematic review is rewarding, but not easy and it can become an intense and demanding task. From protocol development to publication will typically take about one to two years. We know from our experience that authors of systematic review usually spend many inefficient hours on their review just because they do not know where to find the right information or they are not up to date with latest developments or methods.