Annual evidence updates - November 2008

The National Library for Health (NLH) Specialist Libraries have been developed to identify and meet the information needs of particular communities of practice. They are web-based collections containing clinical and non-clinical information on the major health priority areas. Each NLH Specialist Library identifies and provides access to quality assessed information of relevance to the community that it serves.

An aspect of this involves the production of Annual Evidence Updates, which aim to highlight the best current evidence for selected healthcare topics. Annual Evidence Updates consist of the good quality evidence from a search of research evidence on a particular topic over a 12 month period, plus user-friendly summaries written by relevant experts, and links to guidelines, secondary research and primary research, if applicable. All information included in Annual Evidence Updates has been subject to rigorous selection criteria.

The calendar of currently confirmed Annual Evidence Updates for 2008 and 2009 is now available.

The following Annual Evidence Updates are scheduled for November 2008:

Psoriasis (Skin Disorders Specialist Library) on 3rd November
The results of a search for new national guidance and systematic reviews published since the 2007 Annual Evidence Update. The Library’s usual “what’s new” analysis, discussing the new evidence and its implications for clinical practice, has been written by Professor Chris Griffiths of Manchester University.

Psoriatic arthritis (Musculoskeletal Specialist Library) on 3rd November
Psoriatic arthritis is an inflammatory joint disease associated with psoriasis. As with other forms of arthritis, psoriatic arthritis can cause stiffness, pain and lack of movement in affected areas. This Annual Evidence Update, includes guidelines and systematic reviews produced within the last 12 months which will be of particular interest to all health professionals.

Diabetes (Diabetes Specialist Library) on 10th November
The Diabetes Annual Evidence Update identifies new evidence on diabetes published between August 2007 and September 2008. For ease of reference the new evidence has been classified under the following topic headings: treatments, complications, patients, prevention, delivery of care, pregnancy, pre-diabetes including metabolic syndrome, screening, epidemiology and economics.

Lung cancer (Cancer Specialist Library) on 17th November
The resources included in the update are mostly systematic reviews and some guidance published in the preceding year (2007-2008). The update has been divided into sections which will consider:

• Causes, risks and prevention
• Screening
• Assessment and diagnosis
• Service delivery and standards
• Treatment and disease management - Biological therapy
• Treatment and disease management - Chemotherapy
• Treatment and disease management - Radiotherapy
• Treatment and disease management - Surgery
• Treatment and disease management - Symptomatic therapy
• Other therapies
• Palliative care
• Psychosocial, quality of life and follow-up

COPD (Respiratory Specialist Library) on 17th November
The Annual Evidence Update for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (COPD) will present the evidence published in this area in 2008. Building on the comprehensive review carried out to inform the NSF and presented earlier this year this update will detail the very latest published evidence in COPD.

Oral cancer (Oral Health Specialist Library) on 17th November
The Oral Health Specialist Library will be presenting an Annual Evidence Update on oral cancer to coincide with Mouth Cancer Awareness Week. The update provides a summary of the best available information (systematic reviews, meta-analyses and guidelines) published since last year's update.

Glaucoma (Eyes and Vision Specialist Library) on 24th November
The Glaucoma Annual Evidence Update will present a collection of evidence that has emerged in the 12 months since last year's update, categorised into secondary publications (systematic reviews and meta analyses), interventional studies (randomised control trials and clinical control trials) and observational studies.

The term “glaucoma” for the purposes of the update is used to cover primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) and normal tension glaucoma (NTG). Ocular hypertension will also be included, as it is a strong risk factor for developing glaucoma. Angle closure glaucoma, paediatric glaucoma and the secondary glaucomas will not be included in this update.

HIV/AIDS (Infections Specialist Library) on 24th November
The first annual evidence update in this areas has been timed to coincide with World HIV/AIDS Day on the 1st of December. The National Library for Public Health will be presenting a complementary evidence update on Behaviour change in high-risk populations.

There is a vast amount of literature on HIV/AIDS, so this update is using the UK National Guidelines for HIV testing 2008 published by the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, the British HIV Association and the British Infection Society as the starting document. Experts in the field will be providing summaries on some of these subtopics, and links to other useful websites will also be provided.