Speaker
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Authors: Stefanie Maria Helmer (Working Group Evidence-Based Public Health, Institute of Public Health and Nursing Research,), Katja Matthias (Faculty of Health Service, Catholic University of Applied Sciences, Cologne, Germany), Knarik Nikoyan (Working Group Evidence-Based Public Health, Institute of Public Health and Nursing Research, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany), Karina Karolina De Santis (Department of Prevention and Evaluation, Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology – BIPS, Bremen, Germany)
Background: Physical inactivity and poor dietary habits are important preventable risk factors for non-communicable diseases. There are many intervention studies in this thematic field and digital interventions in particular have great potential to reduce the burden of disease caused by these risk factors. However, it is not always clear which interventions and strategies are evidence-based and whether this knowledge is communicated to relevant stakeholders. This study aims to map interventions or strategies targeting nutrition and physical activity (NaPA) in Cochrane reviews and to determine whether stakeholders were involved in review production.
Methods: We conducted a scoping review in Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews for Cochrane reviews published until May 2024. Any primary prevention involving healthy or at-risk populations of any modality (digital, non-digital, or both) that focused on NaPA was included. Studies were selected after title/abstract/full-text screening by two authors. Stakeholder involvement in review production was assessed according to information provided in the study (e.g. in review acknowledgements).
Results: Out of 1912 Cochrane reviews, 249 records, were included. The reviews focused mainly on nutrition (188/249), included 0-195 studies (median=13), and the majority conducted a meta-analysis (202/249). Plain language summaries were available in 2-17 languages (predominantly in English: 249, Spanish: 248 and Arabic: 203). Overall, 8 % (n=19) of interventions in Cochrane reviews involved digital technologies, such as smartphones (e.g. to deliver the interventions). Stakeholders were involved in review production in 26% (n=65) of reviews. Among 65 reviews, 64% (n=42) reported patient or public involvement and 23% (n=15) involvement of an advisory board.
Discussion: Many Cochrane reviews reported NaPA interventions and therefore support evidence-informed decision making. Only a small fraction used digital approaches. Participation of stakeholders during review production was reported in only a quarter of studies. It is important to increase knowledge translation of Cochrane reviews to support evidence use.
| Conflict of interest | Conflict of interest: None |
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