HadSoc Session 2 Flashcards
Before EBP what were practises influenced too much by?
Professional opinion, clinical position, historical practice and precedent, organisational and social culture
Give two examples of ineffective/inappropriate interventions that support the use of EBP.
Prophylactic lidocaine in MI - published research found it caused harm but no one took notice until systematic review was published
MgSO4 in eclampsia seizures - cleaner benefit but only used by 2% of clinicians
What was the first Cochrane Centre?
Register of all RCTs in obs&gynae with systematic reviews and meta-analyses
What is EBP?
Integration of individual clinical experience with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research
Why is a bottom-up approach required in EBP?
Pts will have comorbidities etc not represented in the trial and pt choice must be considered
What are the benefits of systematic reviews?
Help address clinical uncertainty from poor quality/biased/subjective traditional literature reviews to highlight gaps in research, increase certainty by appraisal and integration offer authoritative and generalisable up-to-date conclusions to save clinicians time and effort
What are the advantages of systematic reviews?
May reduce delay between research discoveries and impementation, help prevent biased decisions and are relatively easily converted into guidelines and recommendations
What is the disadvantage of systematic reviews?
Drs must be able to access and appraise them to be satisfied with quality of evidence
What is CASP?
Downloadable critical appraisal tool that provides a checklist of questions for different trial types to suggest what to look for to asses quality of evidence
Give some examples of sources of reviews and other evidence.
Peer-review medical journals, EBP-specific medical journals, Cochrane collaboration, NHS centre for reviews and dissemination, NIHR health technology assessment programme
What does the Cochrane collaboration include?
Database of systematic reviews, database of abstracts of reviews and effectiveness, controlled trials register (including protocols for reviews yet to happen) and review methodology database
What are practical criticisms of EBP?
Systematic reviews may not be possible across all specialities and to disseminate, RCTs are the gold standard but not always possible, choice of outcomes is very biomedical (limits trials and those that receive funding), needs good faith of pharma companies
What are the philosophical criticisms of EBP?
Probabilistic vs deterministic causality, aggregate population outcomes don’t translate to individuals, potential to lead to unreflective rule followers, seen to legitimise rationing
How is the EBP implemented in the NHS?
It is legally obliged to follow NICE within 3 months (but individuals don’t have to)
What are the difficulties with implementing EBP?
Evidence exists but Drs don’t know, Drs know evidence but don’t use it, organisational systems cannot support innovation, comissioning decisions reflect other priorities or resources are not available to implement change
What is the argument for EBP?
Health service delivery should be based on best available evidence of effectiveness and cost-effectiveness
Why is social science research needed?
To gain a better understanding of engagement in health-related behaviours and pt engagement with HCPs
What are quantitative methods of social science research?
Beginning with an idea or hypothesis collection of numerical data allows conclusions to be drawn by deduction