NICE requires research to help it decide which treatments and diagnostic methods should be funded by the NHS. NICE has highlighted the need for research into the methods for reviewing evidence from research. Identifying research studies underpins most NICE reviewing. Methodological search filters are widely used to identify specific research designs such as randomized controlled trials or economic evaluations. Search filters are carefully selected collections of words and phrases used to search databases to identify research. Little is known about how well search filters work in finding research. This means that their use as a standard tool for NICE researchers may not be informed by adequate information to indicate how search filters perform across different subjects, questions and databases. Our proposal is to investigate how search filter performance can be measured and what measures are most useful to researchers. We also plan to investigate systems and approaches to provide better access to relevant and useful performance data on methodological search filters. The benefits of this research would be to enhance the tools and knowledge of the tools available to find research evidence to inform NICE appraisals, guidelines and other guidance. The research findings would also benefit other national technology assessment agencies, guidelines groups and related bodies.

Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.

For older adults, exercise improves fitness and health, maximises participation, increases functional independence and enhances quality of life. Higher fitness-levels are linked to lower levels of emotional distress and depression, improved mobility, functionality and independence encouraging a higher level of behavioural activation and social inclusion Adherence and compliance with recommended exercise guidelines remains poor amongst ageing adults who frequently avoid participation for fear of falling, exacerbating symptoms or provoking pain or fatigue. The shortage of appropriately qualified trainers means some institutionalised elderly are sedentary for over 12 hours a day, their only energy expenditure being when getting in and out of bed. We have created a series of bed and chair-based programs for older adults, some of whom may be resistant to exercise, providing a graduated course of physical activity suitable for everyone, from the very frail to the healthy agile. We will engage older adults who may be isolated, bedbound, frail, have multiple health conditions, physical disabilities, learning difficulties or mental health issues, and lead them through specialised bed and chair-based exercises given remotely, linked by a live-stream platform such as Webinar or Zoom, presented on large-screen TV, through their own smartphone, tablet or laptop enabling everyone to work in a group. The sessions will be supplemented by videos and an App. During the next 12 months we will complete the filming, select the live-stream platform and test the system in community settings with the aim of producing a solution ready to roll out to the Care Home sector.

Every year scientific journals publish tens of thousands of articles describing findings from health research studies. However, readers and users of these articles, who include scientists, clinicians, systematic reviewers, and increasingly also patients, find many of these articles very difficult or impossible to use: many articles do not present enough information, present only selected information, or present information in a very unclear and misleading way. All this makes many papers unusable. The effort and money devoted to the research described in such an unsatisfactory manner is wasted. A simple solution to improve the completeness, accuracy and clarity of research papers is to follow reporting guidelines. Many guidelines exist that provide step by step guidance of what should be addressed in a paper reporting on a particular type of health research. These guidelines have been developed from the users' perspective and guide authors to provide minimum information a user needs to assess how well was the study done, to decide if the findings are relevant to his/her own work, and if needed to reproduce the study (ie. what was actually done and to whom, what was assessed and how, how were these findings analysed, and what they actually mean in the context of other similar studies). Although many good guidelines exist they are still not widely known and used by health scientists. Recent reviews of publications consistently show that essential information is missing from a large proportion of research articles. In this time of massive information overload it is important to have a single good quality resource where you can easily find all relevant information you need. In 2008, we launched the EQUATOR programme that aims to enhance the quality and transparency of health research. One of the most important outputs of this programme is a free online Library for Health Research Reporting that brings together all published reporting guidelines and other helpful tools that aid the writing and publication of research reports and thus improve the information provided to readers. The EQUATOR team educates scientist and journal editors, who play a key role in safeguarding the quality of published papers, to increase their knowledge of what should be included in research papers and how best to achieve it. EQUATOR also helps scientists to develop high quality reporting guidelines and conducts research investigating problems in research reporting. Our proposal outlines specific deliverables and activities for the next three years that will further advance the programme. The main outputs include: improved structure and content of our Library; development of unique EQUATOR 'signature' courses supporting rigorous research reporting; compilation of a manual for the development of robust reporting guidelines; a research report summarising the use of reporting guidelines by selected priority journals; and a database of evaluations of reporting quality of scientific papers across health research specialties. Medical journals publish large numbers of research reports that are of limited value because of crucial omissions. This waste is avoidable. The EQUATOR website and training can be compared to a well stocked and well promoted supermarket where you can get everything you need to write and publish first class research papers. The knowledge of what needs to be included in research papers that are clear and easy to use also improves the design of future research studies. Our work helps to improve usability and usefulness of published medical research and helps scientists to become outstanding research communicators.

Randomized trials provide the best evidence of the effectiveness (and harms) of health care interventions; they are a crucially important part of the practice of evidence-based medicine. Proper reporting of trials is thus essential to ensure maximum benefit accrues from the trials conducted at great effort and expense. Yet a wealth of evidence shows that reporting of randomized trials is well short of ideal. The CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) Statement was developed in 1996 to try to improve the reporting of randomized trials. If randomized trials are not well reported it is difficult for clinicians to use best evidence to inform best practice; patients may not get the best care. The main product of CONSORT Group is the CONSORT Statement, an evidence-based, minimum set of recommendations for reporting randomized trials. In the form of a checklist and flow diagram, CONSORT offers a standard way for authors to prepare reports of trial findings, facilitating their complete and transparent reporting, and aiding their critical appraisal and interpretation. Originally published in 1996, the CONSORT Statement was updated in 2001 and mostly recently in 2010. In addition, several extensions have been developed for specific types of randomized trials. There is now a large and increasing body of evidence that CONSORT has had a beneficial impact on the quality of published articles. CONSORT is used and endorsed of by hundreds of medical journals worldwide. The CONSORT website is viewed nearly a quarter of a million times, annually. It is important that CONSORT is kept up to date to reflect new evidence and changing opinion. In 2005, the CONSORT Group successfully received five year funding from the Health Technology Assessment Research Methodology Programme to support its activities and develop a major update of the recommendations. That funding is coming to the end and we now seek a renewal to enable us to continue to support and enhance the work of the CONSORT Group. We outline four broad, interlinked areas of planned activity relating to the CONSORT Statement and its extensions: to continue to refine and update the guidelines; to continue efforts to improve the implementation of and adherence to CONSORT; to conduct relevant research relating to how randomized trials are reported; and to provide vital infrastructure to support the activities of the CONSORT Group.