How to Improve Communication of Insufficient Evidence Findings from Systematic Reviews

Introduction — The Community Preventive Services Task Force (TF), an independent panel of public health and prevention experts, issues findings based on its systematic review of evidence to protect and improve public health. The TF uses three terms to describe its evidence review findings: Recommended, Recommended Against, or Insufficient Evidence (IE). An IE finding means that available studies do not provide sufficient evidence to determine if the intervention is or is not effective. Given the broad public health audience for TF findings, the TF and the Community Guide Branch (CGB) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sought to enhance communication of IE findings to increase their relevance and use, and improve the translation of public health research-to-practice (Petitti et al, 2009; McCormack et al, 2013). We summarize the first phase of a larger project initiated by the CGB to explore new methods for communicating and facilitating use of IE findings.

Methods —Four data collection efforts were used to identify potential approaches for enhancing communication of IE findings: a literature review on disseminating and implementing evidence-based recommendations and IE findings; an assessment of existing practices by leading public health organizations providing recommendations; in-depth stakeholder interviews; and stakeholder surveys.

Results — We included 28 papers, 15 exemplar organizations, 15 interviews, and 63 survey responses in our analysis to explore how the TF can improve communication and uptake of IE findings. Insights included addressing how terms such as ‘intervention,’ ‘IE,’ and ‘strength of evidence of effectiveness’ are defined and communicated, and clarifying specific gaps in the evidence for a specific topic.

Discussion — Study findings indicate multiple avenues for improving communication and use of IE findings from the TF for community and population health: 1. More systematic engagement of stakeholders in message design related to IE findings; 2. Enhancing definitions of terminology for systematic review findings; 3. Clarifying technical concepts such as strength of evidence of effectiveness for mixed audiences; 4. Identifying explicit gaps in evidence; and 5. Exploring innovative platforms for communication and collaboration.  Implications for more effective communication of IE findings to stakeholders including researchers, funders, and policy makers such as addressing gaps in research will be discussed, as well as their anticipated effect on uptake of The Community Guide.