Cochrane Library Podcasts

There are many Cochrane reviews about the management of patients in intensive care units, covering a wide range of interventions, and the second update of one of these, in December 2020, brought together the latest evidence on the effects of oral hygiene care. Here’s the lead author, Fang Hua from Wuhan University in China to tell us about the latest findings.

Cochrane has already produced many rapid reviews to help decision makers with their response to the COVID-19 pandemic and we are updating these to try to keep up with the accumulating evidence. In this podcast, lead author, Jake Burns from the University of Munich in Germany describes the latest findings of our review of the effects of control measures for international travel, which was updated in March 2021.

Many millions of people suffer from respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, interstitial lung disease and bronchiectasis; and there are Cochrane Reviews for a wide range of interventions that might help, including drugs, devices and physical therapies. These were added to in January 2021 with a new review of the effects of providing pulmonary rehabilitation remotely and we asked the lead author, Narelle Cox from Monash University in Melbourne Australia, to tell us more in this podcast.

Alongside the hundreds of Cochrane Reviews of treatments for patients with cancer, there are many of ways to reduce the adverse effects of those treatments. In December 2020, we published the third update of one of these, looking at the effects of drugs to prevent venous thromboembolism in patients receiving chemotherapy. Marcello Di Nisio from the University "G. D'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara in Italy tells us about the latest findings in this podcast.

The Cochrane Library contains more than 140 Cochrane Reviews of the accuracy of diagnostic tests, covering a very wide range of conditions. One of these reviews, on a test used to detect tuberculosis in the lungs, was updated for the third time in February 2021 and Karen Steingart from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the UK speaks with first author, Jerry Zifodya from Tulane University in New Orleans, USA about the latest findings in this podcast. This review is also included in the Cochrane Library Special Collection for World Tuberculosis Day on 'Diagnosing tuberculosis'.

Our programme of rapid reviews for COVID-19 covers both the diagnosis and treatment of the disease and the reviews are being updated as new evidence becomes available. Among these is a review on imaging tests for diagnosing the condition, and we asked the lead author of the March 2021 update, Nayaar Islam from The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute in Canada, to describe the latest findings in this podcast.

The Cochrane Neonatal Group has produced more than 400 Cochrane Reviews over the last two decades, updating these periodically as new evidence becomes available. In March 2021, they published the update of their review of opioids for newborn babies requiring mechanical ventilation and we asked two co-authors of the review, Olga Romantsik and Matteo Bruschettini from Skåne University Hospital in Lund, Sweden, to tell us about the latest findings.

Within our growing collection of reviews relevant to COVID-19, we have several relating to its diagnosis. One of these, on the use of rapid point-of-care tests was updated in March 2021. Here's lead author Jacqueline Dinnes from the University of Birmingham in the UK to tell us what they found for antigen tests.

The Cochrane Pain, Palliative and Supportive Care Group has more than 250 active reviews of the effects of a wide range of interventions. These were added to in October 2020 by a new review of the effects of using virtual reality to distract children undergoing painful procedures. We asked lead author, Veronica Lambert from Dublin City University in Ireland to tell us that they found.

Endometriosis is a common problem for hundreds of millions worldwide and Cochrane has produced more than two dozen reviews of a variety of possible treatments. These are kept up to date as new evidence becomes available and, in October 2020, the review of laparoscopic surgery was updated. In this podcast, former fertility patient and patient advocate, Katy Lindemann from Uber Barrens Club, speaks with senior author, James Duffy from King’s Fertility in the UK, about the latest findings.