EBP and research

Question 1

Research and search strategy

Answer 1

A systematic, creative process by which professionals challenge their everyday practice - how we access information

Question 2

Importance of PT research

Answer 2

• helps to establish an objective body of knowledge for PT - helps to determine the efficacy of phyisical therapy assessments and treatments - helps to guide clinical decision making in physical therapy

Question 3

evidence based practice / medicine

Answer 3

The successful integration of clinical expertise with the best available research - one of 3 pillars of decision-making

Question 4

Three pillars of decision making

Answer 4

Evidence Patient concerns Clinical expertise (Recommendation in the middle)

Question 5

Levels of evidence

Answer 5

Question 6

Research question

Answer 6

• researchers typically address questions that contribute to scientific knowledge - be specific - concise and pertinent

Question 7

PICO

Answer 7

• P: patient, population, or problem - I: intervention, prognostic factor, or exposure - C: comparison or intervention (if appropriate) - O: outcome you would like to measure or achieve - T: what type of question are you asking - S: type of study you want to find

Question 8

Hypothesis

Answer 8

• a statement of the expected relationship between variables - the research hypothesis states the researcher’s true expectations of results

Question 9

Validity

Answer 9

• the degree to which an instrument measures what it is intended to measure - were patients randomized? - were the patient’s in the different groups similar? - were the subjects and researchers blinded? - for how long were to the subjects followed? - were the subjects like my patient?

Question 10

Reliability

Answer 10

Intrarater vs interrater - intrarater reliability: the degree to which one rather can obtain the same rating on multiple occasions of measuring the same variable - interrater reliability: the degree to which two or more rafters can obtain the same ratings for a given variable

Question 11

Specificity and sensitivity

Answer 11

Tests are enerally good at one or the other, but not both! - a test with high sensitivity rules a condition out (snout) - a test with high specificity rules in a condition (spin)

Question 12

Statistical significance

Answer 12

• what makes a research statistically significant? - assessing the importance of statistical results - p-value and confidence interval

Question 13

Evaluating a research article

Answer 13

• what problems are the researchers solving? - what did they do? - what is the contributions of their work? - what were the results? - do all of the pieces fit together logically?

Question 14

Elements of research study

Answer 14

Title and abstract Introduction Methods Results Discussion and conclusion

Question 15

Title and abstract

Answer 15

• title should be informative - if the reader is interested in the topic, he or she reads the abstract - abstracts must contain specific information about the type of research, purpose, method, results, and major conclusions - information in the abstract must be consistent with the information reported in the article

Question 16

Introduction

Answer 16

• acquaints the reader with the rationale behind the work - enables the reader to understand and appreciate the objectives - allows the reader to distinguish between previous research and the current study (how doe this research add to the body of knowledge)

Question 17

Methods

Answer 17

• contains informations to evaluate the validity of the study - includes information about the subjects, the study design, equipment used, and a description about how the data was analyzed - gives the reader a clear picture of what was done during each step of the study - details such as inclusion and exclusion criteria will be included here

Question 18

Results

Answer 18

• presents and illustrates the research findings - findings should be presented objectively without interpretation or commentary - may be in the form of charts, graphs, or photos

Question 19

Discussion and conclusion

Answer 19

• provides an interpretation of the study’s results and supports the conclusions using evidence from the experiment and from generally accepted knowledge - the reader should be able to agree with the conclusions drawn from the data, examine if the conclusions were over generalized, and look for factors that could have influenced the results