Mayhew Alain D, Kabir Monisha, Ansari Mohammed T
Knowledge Synthesis Group, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Centre for Practice-Changing Research (CPCR), Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.
Biology Programme, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
Syst Rev. 2015 Oct 6;4:136. doi: 10.1186/s13643-015-0122-3.
Authors of Cochrane reviews are expected to update their reviews every 2 years. The updating process helps to ensure that reviews are current and include recent evidence. However, the updating process is time-consuming for authors, particularly when Cochrane methods evolve and authors are required to revisit some of the originally included studies.The Cochrane Collaboration's 'Risk of bias' tool is a mandatory component of Cochrane reviews, providing an assessment of the potential biases of included studies. The tool has been modified most recently in 2011, and the expectation is that new versions will continue to be produced and utilised in all Cochrane reviews. In this commentary we discuss, in the context of updating scenarios that are likely to be encountered, the potential options systematic review authors may have recourse to when the Cochrane Collaboration's 'Risk of bias' tool has been modified between the original review and its update. We recommend that authors who are updating reviews should revise their original assessments of included studies using the most recent version of the risk of bias tool. Despite the increased workload, use of the most recent version of the tool facilitates consistency of methods and reporting both across and within reviews, and ensures currency to the methodological rigour.
Cochrane系统评价的作者预计每两年更新一次他们的系统评价。更新过程有助于确保系统评价是最新的，并纳入最新证据。然而，更新过程对作者来说很耗时，尤其是当Cochrane方法发生演变且要求作者重新审视一些最初纳入的研究时。Cochrane协作网的“偏倚风险”工具是Cochrane系统评价的一个强制性组成部分，用于评估纳入研究的潜在偏倚。该工具最近一次修改是在2011年，预计新版本将继续在所有Cochrane系统评价中产生和使用。在本评论中，我们在可能遇到的更新场景背景下，讨论当原始系统评价及其更新之间Cochrane协作网的“偏倚风险”工具发生修改时，系统评价作者可能采取的潜在选择。我们建议正在更新系统评价的作者应使用最新版本的偏倚风险工具来修订他们对纳入研究的原始评估。尽管工作量增加，但使用该工具的最新版本有助于在不同系统评价之间以及单个系统评价内部实现方法和报告的一致性，并确保方法学严谨性的时效性。
