In 1997, AHRQ launched an initiative
to promote evidence-based practice in everyday care through
establishment of the Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC) Program.
Since then, the EPCs have been reviewing all relevant scientific
literature on a wide spectrum of clinical and health services
topics to produce various types of evidence reports. This program
directly addresses AHRQ’s abovementioned mission to promote health
care quality improvement by conducting synthesis and dissemination
of existing scientific evidence for use by various stakeholders.
Majority of these evidence reports are systematic reviews (SRs),
which are used as evidence bases for clinical practice guidelines,
research agenda, healthcare coverage, and other health related
policies. Performing SRs is costly in time, labor, and money.
Moreover, there is an increasing expectation of quicker turnaround
in producing SRs to accommodate the fast moving pace of innovations
and new scientific discoveries in healthcare. Some SRs overlap or
are replicated; independent teams of SR producers often extract
data from the same studies, resulting in replication of work.
Current methodology makes it difficult to harness and reuse
previous work when updating SRs. An open-access repository of
extracted data from primary studies could improve the efficiency of
conducting SRs by sharing this extracted data for SR updates or new
SRs. A repository of such data would also greatly facilitate
methodological research to improve the conduct of SR and primary
research. It can foster collaboration, transparency, and
reliability among research groups who contribute data. It can also
provide valuable information to patients and stakeholders who view
the deposited data. In an effort to reduce the economic burden of
conducting SRs, the EPC program undertook development of a
collaborative, Web-based repository of systematic review data
called the Systematic Review Data Repository (SRDR). This resource
serves as both an archive and data extraction tool, shared among
organizations and individuals producing SRs worldwide, enabling the
creation of a central database of SR data. This database is
collaboratively vetted, freely accessible, and integrates
seamlessly with reviewers’ existing workflows, with the ultimate
goal of facilitating the efficient generation and update of
evidence reviews, and thus speeding and improving policy-making
with regards to health care. The SRDR project aims to achieve the
following goals: 1) Create online easy-to-use Web-based tools for
conducting systematic reviews to facilitate extraction of data from
primary studies; 2) Develop an open-access searchable archive of
key questions addressed in systematic reviews; 3) Maintain a public
repository of primary study data including provision of technical
support for repository users; and 4) Develop a process for making
summary data from systematic reviews digitally shareable to
end-users.
US Code:
42
USC 299 Name of Law: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Act of 1999
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Form 1 Data Collection Instrument
Supporting Statement Part A SRDR 2_0.v4.doc
Data Collection Instrument