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PRO EDI-A Tool to Help Systematic Reviewers Make Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Assessments
Shaun Treweek1,2, Declan Devane3,4, Vivian Welch5,6
1Aberdeen Centre for Evaluation University of Aberdeen Aberdeen UK.
Cochrane Evidence Synthesis and Methods
|May 4, 2026
Summary
Systematic reviews can now improve reporting of participant diversity with PRO EDI. This tool helps authors extract and present key characteristics, ensuring findings are applicable to all populations.
Area of Science:
- Health Research Methodology
- Evidence Synthesis
- Health Equity
Background:
- Systematic reviews are crucial for healthcare decisions, but often lack clarity on participant representation.
- This lack of transparency limits understanding of how review findings apply to diverse populations.
- Existing frameworks like PROGRESS-Plus can be complex to implement for equity assessment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce PRO EDI (Participant Reporting Of Diversity and Equity) as a tool to enhance equity-related reporting in systematic reviews.
- To provide systematic review authors with a standardized method for extracting and presenting participant characteristics.
- To improve the transparency and applicability of systematic review findings across diverse populations.
Main Methods:
- PRO EDI was developed iteratively from August 2022 to March 2024.
- The tool was conceptualized to simplify the use of the PROGRESS-Plus framework.
- It involved collaboration with an international advisory group and feedback from the Cochrane Health Equity Thematic Group.
Main Results:
- PRO EDI consists of a participant characteristics table and guidance for use within reviews.
- It recommends extracting six core characteristics: age, sex, gender, ethnicity/race/ancestry, socioeconomic status, and location.
- The tool is applicable to all systematic reviews and has been piloted, with public availability via Trial Forge.
Conclusions:
- PRO EDI offers a consistent approach for systematic review authors to extract and report participant data.
- This facilitates more informed judgments about the applicability of review findings to different populations.
- The tool supports greater transparency in evidence synthesis, crucial for health equity.
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