Since it was launched in 2009, the Epistemonikos Database has become the world’s largest repository of systematic reviews relevant for health decision-making. The details behind this achievement were recently published in BMC Medical Research Methodology, in an article explaining how this technological tool works and has evolved to become this worldwide used resource.

The article explains the methods used to build the database and also the main results obtained until the time of submission in January 2020. At that moment, over 1.4 million registries had been screened in order to identify more than 300,000 systematic reviews that are now available in the Epistemonikos Database.

The team behind this project is led by the evidence-based medicine expert Dr. Gabriel Rada and the renowned software developer Daniel Pérez, co-founders of Epistemonikos Foundation. Many members of Epistemonikos Foundation are also co-authors of the scientific paper.

“Epistemonikos Database was launched 10 years ago”, starts Dr. Rada, “but the challenge imposed by the avalanche of information that emerged during the last decade demanded the development of different technologies and innovations to identify all of the systematic reviews”.

When it comes to how the database works, Dr Rada explains that “we set a first layer of artificial intelligence that analyses what is recovered from multiple sources of evidence worldwide. Then, this information is passed to a network of more than 1000 collaborators for validation”. This approach, follows Rada, “allows us to identify all the evidence and make it accessible to everyone in a single place, through an easy-to-use search engine”.

The systematic methods applied by Epistemonikos’ team, the use of cutting-edge technology, the continuous innovation in workflows, and the engagement of a vast number of collaborators have allowed Epistemonikos to provide a unique tool to support informed decisions that will contribute to improving people’s health.