Evidence Based Medicine Pop Sci

Question 1

What strengthens the case for a causal link?

Answer 1

Is more likely if a biologically plausible mechanism is likely or demonstrated

Question 2

What is evidence-based medicine?

Answer 2

Conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients

Involves integrating individual clinical expertise with best available external clinical evidence from systemic research

Question 3

What three factors make up evidence-based medicine?

Answer 3

Clinical judgement

Relevant scientific evidence

Patients’ values and preferences

Question 4

What is the hierarchy of evidence for clinical epidemiology?

Answer 4

Bottom-> up:

Background info/ expert opinion

Unfiltered info:
Case- controlled studies
case series/ reports

Cohort studies

Randomised controlled trials

Filtered info:
Critically appraised individual articles (article synopses)

Critically-appraised topics (evidence syntheses)

Systemic reviews

~Quality improves as you get higher

Question 5

What does ‘scientifically proven’ mean?

Answer 5

You are more likely to benefit than not e.g. majority ppl receiving this treatment are cured
- absolute risk NOT ALWAYS

But ALwAYS:
‘It is better than the other treatment’ e.g. more ppl reviving this treatment are cured than those on the other
- relative risk