Evidence based vet med Flashcards
What is evidence based medicine?
The process of systematically reviewing, appraising and using clinical research findings to aid the delivery of optimum clinical care to patients
What are the 5 steps in an approach to EBM?
- ask a specific question
- search for the best information
- critically appraise the information
- apply it to a clinical situation
- review and update as required
What comes at the top of the hierarchy of scientific evidence?
Meta-analysis and systematic reviews
Put the following in order from weakest to strongest in the hierarchy of scientific evidence:
- case controlled studies
- case reports
- animal trials
- cohort studies
- randomised control trials
- cross sectional studies
- case reports
- animal trials
- cross sectional studies
- case controlled studies
- cohort studies
- randomised controlled trials
What are the main features of a case control study?
- compare cases with a group of controls
- usually retrospective
- not blinded or randomised
What are the main features of a cohort study?
Follow cases to see what happens to them
Can assess different treatments
Not blinded or randomised
What is a randomised control trial and its main features
Compare a treatment to a control Can be a placebo or another treatment Always prospective Randomised Often blinded
Define prospective and retrospective
Prospective = individuals are followed over time and data about them is collected as their characteristics or circumstances change Retrospective = individuals are sampled and information is collected about their past
Compare a systematic review and a meta-analysis
Systematic:
- Review of all published research in a field
- Critical appraisal
- Quality of evidence
Meta:
- Also a systematic review
- uses stats to integrate the results of different studies
What is publication bias?
Trials are more likely to be published if they have positive findings
