Annual evidence updates - September 2009

On 30th April the "Specialist libraries" which had been provided by the National Library for Health became "Specialist collections" under the new NHS Evidence service provided by NICE. The specialist collections 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 specialist collection 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 until March 2010 is available here. The following updates are scheduled scheduled for September:

Hepatitis B/C (gastroenterology and liver diseases specialist collection) - w/b 7th September
The Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases Project Team has carried out a systematic literature search on Hepatitis B and C to identify all high level evidence published since the date of the last AEU in 2008, including guidelines, systematic reviews, health technology assessments and economic evaluations. This year we have also begun to identify uncertainties in research to contribute to the DUETs project.

The update coincides with the British Association for the Study of the Liver Annual Meeting.

Gastrointestinal symptoms in supportive and palliative care (Supportive and palliative care specialist collection) - w/b 7th September
The second supportive and palliative care Annual Evidence Update on symptom management in gastroenterology collects together the latest high quality evidence on 3 topics:

• Mouth care
• Diarrhoea
• Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) feeding

Alzheimer's disease and dementia (Later life specialist collection) - w/b 14th September
The Annual Evidence Update aims to provide healthcare professionals with a clear path to the most important recent evidence surrounding the 5 types of dementia:

• Alzheimer's
• Vascular dementia
• Dementia with Lewy bodies
• Frontotemporal dementia
• Mixed dementia

Eczema (Skin disorders specialist collection) - w/b 14th September
This third Annual Evidence Update on atopic eczema presents the results of a search for new national guidance and systematic reviews published since the 2008 update. There will be the collection’s usual “what’s new” analysis, discussing the new evidence and its implications for clinical practice—this year written by Professor Hywel Williams and Dr Jonathan Batchelor.

Osteoarthritis (Musculoskeletal and Trauma and orthopaedics specialist collections) - w/b 21st September
As in the past, this publication will consist of all of the relevant systematic reviews that have been published in the last 12 months along with any other important material such as national guidelines.

Surgical aspects of faecal incontinence (Surgery, anaesthesia, perioperative and critical care specialist collection) - w/b 21st September
This update will coincide with National Continence Awareness Week 2009. NICE guidance on faecal incontinence was published in June 2007 based on literature published prior to October 2006. Having published the first update in September 2008, this AEU will highlight relevant, good quality evidence published between July 2008 and July 2009, focusing specifically on surgical management (including biofeedback and implants).

Antenatal and pregnancy care (Women's health specialist collection) - w/b 28th September
The update brings together the results of a comprehensive literature search for new research published since July 2008. The 2009 AEU builds on the AEU from last year and adds to this any new evidence identified from the up-to-date literature search. Topics include:

• information needs
• common pregnancy problems
• provision of antenatal care
• antenatal ultrasound
• fetal heart rate monitoring

Hyperthyroidism (ENT and audiology specialist collection) - w/b 28th September
Research on thyroid disorders continues to proliferate and this evidence update will present a concise summary of the latest guidelines, systematic reviews and randomised controlled trials on hyperthyroidism, combined with a list of current therapeutic uncertainties to prioritise future research. Multiple databases have been searched to capture all emerging evidence for the period September 2008 to August 2009.