Background: As the population with multiple chronic conditions increases, it is essential that systematic reviews consider this group. The Cochrane Collaboration is an international organisation that develops and publishes high-quality systematic reviews on medical and diagnostic procedures. Over the past decade, several thousand health professionals, researchers, and consumers from around 100 countries contribute to the work of the Cochrane Collaboration, promoting up-to-date evidence-based health decision-making and improving global health. Previous studies have shown that randomized controlled trials testing behavioral interventions rarely include individuals with multimorbidity, which raises questions regarding the generalizability of their findings. However, this is still unclear in the area of systematic reviews.
Objectives: The aim of this study is to determine the frequency with which participants with multimorbidity are represented in Cochrane Reviews of intervention.
Methods: Published Cochrane Reviews of intervention will be eligible for inclusion in the cross-sectional study by searching the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and Archie (the Cochrane information management system) in March 2023. We will also identify Cochrane Reviews in preparation (protocols and titles) for future inclusion. A random sampling selection process will be performed to identify 100 eligible Reviews representative of the literature. Two authors will independently extract information on consideration of multimorbidity in eligibility criteria and evaluated the reporting and consideration of multimorbidity in data analyses.
Results: The results will be presented at the Colloquium.
Conclusions: Cochrane exists so that healthcare decisions get better. We anticipate that this work will provide an invaluable basis for Cochrane’s future work in this critical area. Patient, public, and/or healthcare consumer involvement: NA.