Background and Scope

 ***The Cochrane PaPaS Group closes on 31 March 2023 and this website will be archived; please contact support@cochrane.org with any questions***

Background

The PaPaS Review Group was registered with Cochrane on the 28th January 1998. Exploratory meetings for the PaPaS Review Group were held on the 3rd of June 1996 (Oxford) and the 22nd of June 1997 (Boston). Mr Phil Wiffen was involved in the set-up of the PaPaS Review Group and held the post as Co-ordinating Editor until March 2008 when he stepped down to become an Editor for PaPaS. Professor Christopher Eccleston, a long-standing PaPaS Editor, then took up the post as Co-ordinating Editor in April 2008. Dr Neil O'Connell joined Professor Eccleston as Joint Co-ordinating Editor in January 2020, and he became sole Co-ordinating Editor in October 2020 when Professor Eccleston stepped down.

Scope

We are interested in studies of interventions for:

  • acute pain arising accidentally or through deliberate injury;
  • chronic pain (lasting 3 months or longer);
  • headache and migraine;
  • palliative care for those with life-limiting disease or illness;
  • supportive care of patients and significant others living with serious illness.

Notes

  1. We defined ‘supportive care’ as: "… the multi-disciplinary holistic care of patients with malignant and non-malignant chronic diseases and serious illness, and those that matter to them, to ensure the best possible quality of life. It extends as a right and necessity for all patients, is available throughout the course of the condition, concurrent to condition management and is given equal priority alongside diagnosis and treatment. It should be individualised, taking into account the patient’s past life experiences, their current situation and personal goals", Cramp & Bennett 2012.

  2. We recognize that pain is a common symptom that is associated with many disease or illness states. Typically we will manage titles for which the primary focus of the treatment is pain. However, we can offer advice and support to other review groups in which pain is an outcome of interest but not the primary target.

Related Cochrane groups

Cochrane has created eight Networks of Cochrane Review Groups (CRGs) responsible for the efficient and timely production of high-quality systematic reviews that address the most important research questions for decision makers. The PaPaS review group is part of the Musculoskeletal, Oral, Skin and Sensory (MOSS) Network (MOSS), along with seven other review groups (see https://moss.cochrane.org/).

The PaPaS review group's main editorial base is in the UK and our supporting centre is Cochrane UK, also based in Oxford. There are several Cochrane Centres worldwide to support review groups and the authors, for example by providing training; for a full list of all the Centres, see here. Cochrane has 11 thematic Fields which focus on dimensions of health care other than a condition or topic - including the setting of care (primary care), the type of consumer (children, older people), or the type of provider (nursing). Cochrane has 17 Methods Groups which provide policy advice and space for discussion on the development and implementation of methods used in the preparation of Cochrane Reviews.

For more information about Cochrane's organisational structure, including information about the Governing Board and Council, please visit the main Cochrane website.

We actively collaborate with several review groups (CRGs) where our scope overlaps, for example: Cochrane Gynaecological, Neuro-oncology and Orphan Cancers (CGNOC), Cochrane Anaesthesia, Critical, and Emergency Care (ACE), Cochrane Musculoskeletal Group, Neuromuscular Diseases Group, Cochrane Common Mental Disorders Group, Cochrane Airways, and Cochrane Oral Health Group.