EJPRM systematic continuous Update on Cochrane reviews in rehabilitation: news from April 2011 to July 2011

Abstract

Background: Since the number of publications about rehabilitation has been increasing over the years, there is necessity for reviews to have a more complete overlook of the evidence. The Cochrane Collaboration provides high quality reviews from which we can draw the most reliable clinical indications. Since 2007 EJPRM lists and presents systematically all these reviews.

Aim: The aim of the present paper was to systematically review all the new rehabilitation papers published from April 2011 up to July 2011 by the Cochrane Library in order to provide physicians involved in the field a summary with the best evidence nowadays available.

Methods: The authors systematically searched all the new papers of rehabilitative interest published from February 2, 2011 to April 22, 2011 in the Cochrane Library. The retrieved papers have been then divided in subgroups according to their topic and the Cochrane Groups.

Results: The number of included papers was 8 (7 new reviews and 1 update review). A synthesis of abstracts is presented.

Conclusion: The increased number of publication created a new need, the need of synthesising results to overcome conflicting evidence. The Cochrane Collaboration has been working on this aspect for many years, and its reviews, being systematic, are really relevant for professional update and to improve clinical practice. This article provides an overview of the most recent papers published in the Cochrane Library to help physiatrists and rehabilitation experts to be up to date.