Research Utilization and Evidence-Based Practice | specialized databases
Specialized databases of evaluated abstracts, commentary, and systematic reviews are another source of collected best studies: Systematic Reviews / Meta-Analyses
Authors of a systematic review ask a specific clinical question, perform a comprehensive literature search, eliminate the poorly done studies and attempt to make practice recommendations based on the well-done studies. A meta-analysis is a systematic review that combines all the results of all the studies into a single statistical analysis of results.
Cochrane Library [nyu.edu only]
The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
Consists of detailed, structured topic reviews of hundreds of articles. Teams of experts complete comprehensive literature reviews, evaluate the literature, and present summaries of the findings of the best studies. Published by the International Cochrane Collaboration.
The Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE)
Full-text database containing structured abstracts of systematic reviews from a variety of medical journals. DARE is produced by the National Health Services' Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (NHS CRD) at the University of York. DARE records cover topics such as diagnosis, prevention, rehabilitation, screening, and treatment.
Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses are also searchable in MEDLINE and CINAHL:
- MEDLINE via Ovid : Enter your search query. Click on the "Limits" icon; select "Systematic Reviews" under "Subject Subsets." OR limit your search to publication type: meta-analysis
- MEDLINE via PubMed : Click on "Clinical Queries" on the left side of the screen; select "Find Systematic Reviews" and enter your search query.
- CINAHL Plus via Ebsco: Use Search Options to limit by Publication type: Systematic Review.
Link to the Evidence Pyramid and databases for locating evidence: http://library.nyu.edu/health/pyramid.html
[nyu.edu users only]
