Therefore, we conducted a systematic review on information needs independent of certain diseases in patients and relatives as well as the general population in Germany.
We looked systematically across all published Cochrane reviews whose preparation was coordinated by the Consumers and Communication Review Group to identify key categories of information needed to provide a context for interpreting review results.
The nearly unlimited space on the internet also allows abolishing paper relics like color figure charges, arbitrary limits on the number of figures, and the relegating of information needed for review to a separate supplement.
We opted to adapt a charting format from Rutten et al. [ 11], a systematic review investigating the information needs of people with cancer.
Providing education and support for family members and carers may be a useful strategy for health services to consider, as systematic reviews suggest that information needs of carers of people with chronic disease are high [ 59, 60].
We systematically reviewed studies examining information needs of post-myocardial infarction patients and their families.
Several systematic reviews exist investigating information needs [ 4– 6].
This paper reports the results of a literature review focused on the information needs of public health professionals.
The template includes 21 information elements (Table 1) based on the CONSORT statement [ 32, 33] and on a task analysis of the information needs of systematic reviewing [ 34].
A deficient understanding of the information needs of the target audience of systematic reviews was also raised as a major barrier.
