Our Network’s Principal Investigator, Dr. Paul Moayyedi, was appointed Co-ordinating Editor of Cochrane Gut back in June 2020. Cochrane Gut aims to use evidence from randomised controlled trials to answer practical questions on the diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of diseases the gastrointestinal system. This includes disorders of the oesophagus, stomach, duodenum, pancreas, and bowel. Cochrane Gut was formed by the merger of Cochrane Upper Gastrointestinal and Pancreatic Diseases and Cochrane IBD. The Gut group has a large portfolio of reviews related to inflammatory bowel disease, both ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. The group also considers reviews pertaining to functional bowel diseases of the gut, as well as reviews that cover both adults and children. Dr. Moayyedi has advocated for strong engagement of patients as lay reviewers in this group. As such, a strong partnership has formed between the Cochrane Gut Group and the IMAGINE Network. Six of IMAGINE’s patient partners (Alysia De Nino, Katherine Mason, Emma Neary, Jeanette Van Roosmalen, Sandra Zelinsky, Kimberlee Daley, and Doug MacKay) have already completed reviews on the following GI related articles.
- Treatments for intractable constipation in childhood (protocol) (Cochrane Gut)
- Probiotics for treatment of chronic constipation in children (protocol) (Cochrane Gut)
- Treatment for gastrointestinal and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours: a network meta-analysis (protocol) (Cochrane Gynaecological, Neuro-oncology and Orphan Cancer Group)
- Open versus laparoscopic pyloromyotomy for pyloric stenosis (review) (Cochrane Gut
- Psychosocial interventions for functional abdominal pain syndromes (FAPS) in children (protocol) (Cochrane Gut) *pre-publication
- Antibiotics for the induction and maintenance of remission in ulcerative colitis (review) (Cochrane Gut) *pre-publication
- Plastic stents versus metal stents for endoscopic ultrasound guided transmural drainage of pancreatic fluid collections (protocol) (Cochrane Gut) *pre-publication
- Interventions or treating iron deficiency anaemia in inflammatory bowel disease (review) (Cochrane Gut)
- Probiotics for induction of remission in Crohn’s disease (review) (Cochrane Gut)
- Patient education interventions for the management of inflammatory bowel disease (protocol) (Cochrane Gut)
- Interventions for the management of abdominal pain in ulcerative colitis (review) (Cochrane Gut)
- Interventions for the management of abdominal pain in Crohn’s disease and inflammatory bowel disease (review) (Cochrane Gut) *pre-publication
The IMAGINE Network has also provided input into Plain Language Summary Template used by Cocharane Gut. This collaboration has ensured there is a stronger patient voice in review articles which have significant potential to influence healthcare practices.
Dr. Moayyedi’s commitment to patient engagement also served to boost his application as Co-Editor-in-Chief of Gastroenterology, the prestigious journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. IMAGINE’s patient partners have agreed to evaluate selected articles being published in Gastroenterology and potentially, in some cases, to contribute commentary in order to promote the patient perspective. Another potential benefit of involving patients is they can be social media promoters of content. The IMAGINE patient partners have approximately 10,000 followers and therefore can act as ambassadors for the research published by Gastroenterology to increase its social media presence among all the GI journals.
These initiatives have significantly raised the importance of patients’ lived experiences and have resulted in a growing movement to engage patients in health care decision-making, quality improvement initiatives, and medical research.