Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects: Navigating the Maze

Start DARE Tutorial

What is the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE)?

DARE is prepared by the National Health Service Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (NHS CDR) at the University of York, England. This database provides information on previously published reviews of the effects of health care that are not included in Cochrane.

DARE includes many types of records:

  • Structured abstracts - Abstracts assessing and summarizing previously published systematic reviews judged to be of good quality.
  • Source records - References to other published systematic reviews. These records in general have not been quality assessed by the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination.

DARE seeks to identify the best quality systematic reviews being published. It complements the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews by offering a selection of quality-assessed reviews in those subjects where there is currently no Cochrane Review. As well as being selected on quality, DARE records form a brief critical appraisal of the review, offering an assessment of its methodology, results, conclusions and commenting on implications for the National Health Service (NHS).

Searching DARE

DARE, along with 2 other CRD databases, is available for searching for FREE from the CDR's Web site. DARE also comes free with a paid subscription to Ovid's Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. For more information about Ovid please visit their Web Page. DARE records are also included in search results from the free TRIP Database.

DARE is full-text, so every word of the document text is searchable, including references, captions, abstracts, and footnotes.

DARE is updated and amended monthly as new evidence becomes available and errors identified. You can easily zero in on both "New Reviews" and "Recently Updated Reviews" in the Ovid search interface through search limits by the same names.

If information relevant to your needs cannot be found in The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, then you will often find relevant material in The Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects.