Austrian Cochrane Branch

The Cochrane Collaboration
The Cochrane Collaboration is an international network of scientists. The main task of the Cochrane Collaboration is the creation, dissemination and updating of systematic reviews in medicine. These systematic reviews (Cochrane reviews) are published in the database "The Cochrane Library".

Cochrane Reviews are systematic reviews of primary research in human health care and health policy. They investigate the effects of interventions (literally meaning to intervene to modify an outcome) for prevention, treatment and rehabilitation. They also assess the accuracy of a diagnostic test for a given condition in a specific patient group and setting.

Each systematic review addresses a clearly formulated question; for example: Can antibiotics help in alleviating the symptoms of a sore throat? All the existing primary research on a topic that meets certain criteria is searched for and collated, and then assessed using stringent guidelines, to establish whether or not there is conclusive evidence about a specific treatment. The reviews are updated regularly, ensuring that treatment decisions can be based on the most up-to-date and reliable evidence.

Cochrane Reviews are designed to facilitate the choices that practitioners, consumers, policy-makers and others face in health care. No other organisation matches the volume, scope and range of healthcare topics addressed by Cochrane Reviews.

As well as covering hundreds of medical conditions and diverse healthcare topics such as injury prevention and natural treatments, Cochrane Reviews have an international appeal through their global coverage of healthcare issues affecting people in all countries and contexts, including resource-poor settings, where it is vital to ensure that funds are used to maximum benefit.

Without Cochrane Reviews, people making decisions are unlikely to be able to access and make full use of existing healthcare research.

A Cochrane branch in Austria

The Austrian Cochrane Branch is located at the Department of Evidence-based Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology at the Danube University Krems. The goals of the Austrian Cochrane Branch (ACB) are:

1. To support Austrian scientists to create scientifically sound and independent information in the form of Cochrane Reviews.
2. To provide a basis for evidence-based decisions in the Austrian health system.

The Austrian Cochrane Branch was officially opened on the 14.12.2010 at the Danube University Krems.

For detailed information on the Austrian Cochrane Branch please visit the official website of the Austrian Cochrane Branch at www.cochrane.at. 

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