Critical appraisal of medical evidence Flashcards
what are the criticisms of evidence based practice
Relies to heavily on research (not enough on patients)
Time consuming
Should not ignore patient preferences (or clinician’s judgement)
define critical appraisal
The process of systematically examining research evidence to assess its validity, results and relevance before using it to inform a decision
why is critical appraisal an essential part of evidence-based clinical practice
allowing us to make sense of research evidence and begin to close the gaps between research and practice
what responsibility do all scientists have
to ensure that they conduct their work with honesty and integrity; to ensure that methods and results are reported in an accurate, orderly, timely and open fashion
how to find research evidence
Make sure your question is solid. Structure your search comprehensively. Keep good notes. Have questions that you want to ask of the papers you find
how to approach a critical review
Find models (be guided by others). Problem formulation – which topic is under consideration and what are the constituent issues? Literature search. Evaluation of findings (against your criteria/Q’s). Analysis and interpretation of literature
general appraisal checklist
Question Design Population Methods Analysis Confounders Bias Ethics Interpretation
critical appraisal checklists for epidemiology study designs
CONSORT - Randomised Control Trials STROBE - Observational Studies STARD - diagnostic accuracy studies MOOSE/PRIMSA - systematic reviews COREQ/RATS - qualitative research
what is cox regression
Considers whether the effect of a treatment under study has a multiplicative effect on the subject’s hazard rate
what is hazard ratio
the effect of an explanatory variable on the risk of an event
what is 95% confidence interval
The range of values within which, 95% of the time, the true value would fall
