This is part of a series of Cochrane case studies about prioritization work by Cochrane Review Groups. You can read more by visiting the priority setting case study page.
In October 2016 we reported on a priority setting exercise undertaken by the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group (CTAG). The group drew on the opinions and experiences of members of the public, health professionals, healthcare commissioners, researchers, guideline developers and funders. You can read about the results here. A clear message emerged – there are still many unanswered research questions in the areas of tobacco use prevention, harm reduction and cessation.
Now the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) in the UK have put out a large funding call, across a number of its funding streams, for research in these areas. The NIHR cite the findings of CTAG taps as a clear driver for this call. The CTAG exercise resulted in eight tobacco related priority research categories, with corresponding questions, and four overarching priority themes.
The NIHR used the output of the CTAG exercise to develop a commissioning brief for researchers with particular focus on the following areas:
- Addressing inequalities resulting from tobacco use
- Delivery of smoking cessation support in the UK National Health Service
- Quitting tobacco during pregnancy
- Electronic cigarettes
- The tobacco control system
- Quit attempt triggers
- Preventing tobacco use in young people
I think one of the most notable things that came out of the process for us that we are currently working on is an overview of behavioural interventions for smoking cessation (‘Behavioural interventions for smoking cessation: an overview and network meta-analysis’). We applied for and were awarded funding for a Cochrane programme grant to carry out the work. The protocol is currently out for peer review before publication and we are in the process of updating the reviews that will feed into the overview.
The Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group are delighted to see the results of their priority setting project used in this way.
Dr Nicola Lindson, Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group Managing Editor