We are funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s Evidence Synthesis Programme as their Specialised Living Evidence Synthesis Group.
What is a living evidence synthesis?
Evidence syntheses combine research findings from different studies to summarize what we know. They might, for example, look at how well treatments work for a particular health condition, or how common a disease is. They are usually based on a systematic process to find and look at reports of all the studies, driven by a clearly defined question we are trying to answer. A living evidence synthesis is an evidence synthesis that is continually updated as new studies are completed. Evidence syntheses may include a statistical analysis that combines the results of the studies, which is called a meta-analysis. Whatever kind of evidence synthesis is conducted, appropriate and transparent methods must be used so that the conclusions can be trusted.
- Doing a living evidence synthesis involves:
- working out the question we want to answer
- searching for studies that answer the question
- deciding how well the studies were done
- summarizing the findings from different studies to get an overall picture of what they tell us, e.g. about how well the treatments work
- exploring the differences between the studies
- setting up systems to find new studies as they are published and bring them into the synthesis.
Who we are and how we work
Our team across the University of Bristol, University College London and King’s College London has the skills and experience in all these areas to carry out high quality living evidence syntheses. Our teams developed many of the methods of evidence synthesis used around the world. We work closely with Cochrane (a large international collaboration that does a lot of evidence synthesis), and with NICE (who make recommendations about NHS care, social care and public health). Our team and colleagues wrote much of the guidance these organizations provide on how to do evidence syntheses.
We understand how important it is to involve members of the public in research and have an excellent track record of working with patients, carers and public contributors from diverse backgrounds. This means our research reflects the experiences and views of people who use health and care services. Our team includes an experienced involvement/engagement coordinator who helps us identify patient and public groups to support our work. We will also work with other groups who may be directly affected by the research, such as NHS and social care staff, teachers and local government.
