Importance of Appraisal
Once you figure out what to look for and where to look, you still have to worry about the quality of the material you find. A poorly done systematic review is not better than a well done randomized controlled trial. On this page, you will find some resources to help you with appraising the material you find.
Guides to Appraising Literature
- JAMAevidence This link opens in a new windowIncludes text of two books (Users' guides to the medical literature : a manual for evidence-based clinical practice and The rational clinical examination : evidence-based clinical diagnosis), education guides, glossary, calculators, worksheets, question wizards, weekly RSS feed of featured JAMA articles, compiled clinical scenarios, podcasts, and user-level customization features.
Users' Guides to the Medical Literature: a Manual for Evidence-Based Clinical Practice, 3E by ISBN: 0071790713Publication Date: 2014-12-30The leading guide to the principles and clinical applications of evidence-based medicine. Revised and updated to reflect the latest in medical research and evidence-based resources.
The Rational Clinical Examination by ISBN: 9780071590303Publication Date: 2008-09-15The ultimate guide to the evidence-based clinical encounter. Completely updated with new literature analyses, here is a uniquely practical, clinically relevant approach to the use of evidence in the content of physical examination.
More Guides for Critical Appraisal
- Evidence Based Medicine ToolkitFrom the University of Alberta, this resources provides tools for identifying, assessing, and applying relevant evidence to make better health care decisions.
- AFP Journal Club ToolkitThis resource from American Family Physician provides tips on critical appraisal collected from AFP's Journal Club series.
- Interpreting and Understanding Meta-analysis Graphs--A Practical GuideRied, Karin. Australian Family Physician 35, no. 8 (2006): 635-8. This article provides help for appraising forest plots in meta-analyses.
How to Read a Paper Series
- How to Read a Paper: Papers that Report Diagnostic or Screening TestsBritish Medical Journal
CMAJ Evidence-Based Medicine Series
The following series of articles from the Canadian Medical Association Journal, published between 2004 and 2005, include tips for learners of EBM and overcoming challenges for instructors of EBM.
Calculators
- EBM CalculatorsThese calculators were developed by the Evidence-Based Centre in Toronto. They include calculators for statistics and Odds Ratio to NNT Converter. Links for Palm OS EBM Calculators and Pocket PC EBM Calculators are also included.
- Diagnostic Test CalculatorThis was developed by the University of Illinois at Chicago.
- MDCalcThis is a site for medical professionals to help us do calculations and process algorithms and scores. To make patients better. Faster. You can access the full list through the navigation bars, or, preferably, through the search menu.
Understanding Statistics
- Encyclopedia of Biostatistics This link opens in a new windowOffers the definitive reference to support the development and use of statistical methods for addressing the problems and critical issues that confront scientists, practitioners and policy makers engaged in the life and medical sciences.