In mid-March 2020, leaders in Cochrane put out a call for help to provide evidence to assist decision-making during the emerging pandemic. On 26th March 2020 we formed the Cochrane Covid Diagnostic Test Accuracy Group – an international group of methodologists, test accuracy specialists, statisticians, epidemiologists and clinicians committed to deliver a portfolio of reviews to provide and maintain a reliable evidence base on which test policies could be based.

In the following days, Cochrane published two Cochrane DTA Protocols (on days 29 and 68), and five Cochrane DTA systematic reviews (on days 91, 103, 153, 189 and 239) reporting on the accuracy of antibody tests, signs and symptoms, rapid antigen and molecular tests, imaging tests, and routine laboratory tests. Since, Cochrane has published 8 updates of these reviews, and a further 4 reviews are close to being completed. To date, these 5 reviews have been cited 3375 times, and used in 22 international guidelines.

Completing these reviews has involved: recruiting over 100 researchers on a voluntary basis from more than 14 countries across six continents; developing new methods to deal with the magnitude of papers, use of pre-prints and new data sources; adapting protocols as knowledge and understanding developed; identifying and engaging with stakeholders (including WHO, FIND and the Cochrane Infectious Diseases group) to ensure the reviews were informative and addressed relevant questions; developing working arrangements across Cochrane to enable timely publication, including rapid peer review, editorial support and fixing software challenges. Our approach exemplifies Cochrane's principles of collaboration, enthusiasm, avoiding duplication of effort, and minimizing bias whilst striving for clinical relevance, quality, open access and avoiding all conflicts of interest.

This session will introduce the story of the team's approach and work. We will highlight the findings of the reviews, discuss the challenges and solutions we found in working in a new and moving area of health and technology, and discuss how we tried to make sure our findings had impact. We are keen to discuss our experience with the audience and the lessons we have learned.

Target audience: Reviewers, methodologists, policymakers, funders, media, the public: all who are interested in seeing how an international team

Format: Multiple short presentations followed with a panel discussion