Topic 9 (i) Introduction to Evidence Based Practice & Judging Evidence

Topic 9 (i) Introduction to Evidence Based Practice & Judging Evidence

1. LO

   • •recognise the significance of evidence-based practice (EBP)
   • •describe the process of critical appraisal in the context of validity and reliability
   • •ask appropriate questions to assist in the critical appraisal of literature
   • •access the resources to critically appraise both quantitative and qualitative research at an introductory level.

2. Level of evidence

   • very important that we do not use the concept of levels of evidence to mean that one type of study is better than another.
     • level of evidence alone should not be used to grade the quality of the evidence from a specific study.
       • must not make value judgements when we discuss the results from various types of research designs by using the concept of levels of evidence.
         • most important issue you must address is to know what type study design is most appropriate for the research question being asked or the clinical problem you are faced with in your practice.

3. Different types of clinical or research questions require different types of evidence which will arise from a variety of study designs – depending on the research question being asked.

   • Hierachy evidence
     • does not represent the overall strength of the evidence because the study design is only one aspect to consider.
       • i.e poor conducted small RCT is not better than provide better evidence than a number of large, well-conducted cohort studies
     • provides a convenient way of thinking about study designs according to their generally perceived capacity to minimise or eliminate bias

4. need to apply the procedure of critical appraisal to evaluate the quality of research.

   • uses systematic structured questions to assist the reader with identifying the quality of the research paper
     • Given the different philosophical underpinnings of quantitative and qualitative research,
       • different sets of questions are used to assess the quality of a research paper.
       • Aim of critical research
         • judge the quality of research literature so that you can select high(er) quality evidence
         • decide the extent of reliability on the findings to your clinical situation.