Cochrane Rehabilitation prioritisation exercise based on an external framework reference system

Background. Cochrane did not have a representation of Rehabilitation stakeholders till the launch of Cochrane Rehabilitation at the end of 2016. We found that 1 out of 11 Cochrane Systematic Reviews (CSR) are related to Cochrane Rehabilitation (Levack et al, 2019), and that more than 50% of Review Groups produced CSR relevant to rehabilitation professionals. Nevertheless, there are not data about the coverage of rehabilitation relevant topics and if there are gaps in the current CSR production. Objectives. To present the results of the prioritisation process. Methods. Consensus gathering through Delphi Process via online surveys. Sixty-seven national Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (PRM) Scientific Societies members of the International and European PRM Societies have been asked to participate through one medical delegate. Each delegate was asked to involve at least one other rehabilitation professional from his country. We started from an external reference framework provided by the Cochrane Rehabilitation ebook project: an inclusive index drafted from treatises and educational curricula in rehabilitation. This has been validated by the delegates. Then we have mapped the existing Cochrane evidence to the general index. Delegates have finally been asked to define the priorities for Cochrane Reviews production among these gaps. Results. We recruited 100 rehabilitation practitioners of 9 different professions from 39 countries. The response rate to all surveys was between 50% and 60%. The ebook index has been refined according to the suggestions received and four chapters have been added to the original nine. The gaps have been identified and the list of priorities defined. Discussion. The Delphi Rounds performed allowed Cochrane Rehabilitation to upgrade the original version of the index, providing a validated external reference framework to map the existing Cochrane Evidence. The prioritisation of gaps will be provided to Networks for future Reviews production. Patient or healthcare consumer involvement. Healthcare consumers have not been directly involved. Relevance to diversity. The research addressed to rehabilitation stakeholders. The results of prioritization process are important for all rehabilitation stakeholders to produce better evidence that inform clinical and public health decisions.