Priority setting Process Cochrane Gynaecology and Fertility 2019

Priority setting Process Cochrane Gynaecology and Fertility 2019

Cochrane Gynaecology and Fertility group (CGF) gathers, evaluates, and disseminates reviews on the effectiveness and safety of interventions in subfertility and menstrual disorders. We are responsible for over 300 titles on various topics including ART, IUI, PCOS, endometriosis, fibroids, and menopause. Such an extensive portfolio warrants the need to prioritize our efforts and define our scope according to users’ needs. Importantly, embedding prioritization processes is an essential part of Cochrane review production and doing so ensures the reviews are aligned with users’ needs.

Currently CGF has engaged in a priority setting process to help identify reviews with highest priority and relevance. Here we outline the steps we are taking in the fulfilment of our priority setting process.

Step 1 Governance

We have established a governance team lead by the co-ordinating editors Prof. Cindy Farquhar and Dr Madelon van Wely. The managing editors Helen Nagels and Dr Elena Kostova are managing the day-to day activities of the process. When needed, we consult our information specialist Marian Showell on issue related to data

Step 2 Internal review

First, we wanted to select 10-15 titles for further priority consideration. There were no limitations on the topics to be selected, meaning any review was eligible. The governance team evaluated in detail the status of each update and new review. For the updates we made use of the existing updating classification system framework within Cochrane. We made judgements whether a title should be selected for further priority evaluation not only based on clinical importance, but also based on the current review status and potential need for support. For example, if the review covered a relevant topic but was progressing well, it was excluded from further evaluation. Based on the internal review we identified the following 12 titles for further consideration:

Step 3 Stakeholder engagement

Next, we created two surveys using the program Qualtrics. The first survey asks the participant to rank each title in one of 4 categories (1 lowest priority and 4 highest priority). The second survey asks the participant to rank the 12 reviews among each other from 1 (highest) to 12 (lowest priority). We have invited CGF editorial board to complete the two surveys. Furthermore, we have engaged with our external stakeholder group from the Core Outcome Measures for Infertility Trials.

Do you want to help us identify priority review topics within CGF? Please complete the second survey and rank the 12 reviews from 1 (highest priority) to 12 (lowest priority).

The survey is open until March 15!

Step 4 Identify priority titles

We identified the following 5 priority titles:

1. Laparoscopic surgery for endometriosis (update)

2. Surgical interventions for the management of chronic pelvic pain in women (review)

3. Interventions for 'poor responders' to controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) in in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) (update)

4. Hormone therapy in women with premature ovarian failure (review)

5. Progestagens and antiprogestagens for pain associated with endometriosis (update)

We published the list on Cochrane Priority Reviews List.