1st Edition

Critical Appraisal from Papers to Patient A Practical Guide

    213 Pages 42 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    213 Pages
    by CRC Press

    Having an understanding of critical appraisal and evidence-based medicine is a prerequisite to being an effective clinician. However, critical appraisal is often taught by people not involved in day-to-day clinical care, meaning the clinical relevance is not always brought to the fore.

    This book takes a different approach. It is written by clinicians, for clinicians. It takes the reader step by step through the process so that any journal article can be easily read, evidence evaluated and the results - and their reliability - truly understood. By integrating this with knowledge of local skills and resources and patient preference, the reader will be able to apply the best possible care that his or her patients deserve.

    This accessible book is suitable for undergraduates and postgraduates of all medical specialties, nursing, paramedics, pharmacists and all allied health professions. It is the ideal reference for anyone needing help writing a clinical topic review, reviewing a paper in a journal club or preparing for a critical appraisal exam. But most importantly, it is essential for those who wish to practice medicine in the best possible way for their patients, using the best evidence, tailored to the individual.

    About the authors

    Foreword

    Introduction

    Section 1: Introduction to critical appraisal

    • Chapter 1: Types of papers and grades of evidence
    • Chapter 2: An approach to appraising papers

    Section 2: Basic Statistics

    • Chapter 3: Types of Data and moving from samples to populations
    • Chapter 4: P values, confidence intervals and types of Error
    • Chapter 5: Basic Probability

    Section 3: Appraising different types of papers

    • Chapter 6: Observational papers (Case series, case control, cohort, cross sectional, ecological)
    • Chapter 7: papers
    • Chapter 8: Therapeutic papers
    • Chapter 9a: Diagnostic papers / Chapter 9b: Screening papers
    • Chapter 10: Prognostic papers
    • Chapter 11: Economic Assessment Papers
    • Chapter 12: Meta-analysis

    Section 4: Applying the knowledge

    • Chapter 13: Writing a clinical topic review
    • Chapter 14; Running a journal club
    • Chapter 15: Creating a ‘best available’ evidence based clinical environment

    Section 5: Critical appraisal exams

    • Chapter 16: An approach to critical appraisal exams

    • Chapter 17: Practice papers

     

    Glossary of terms

    Biography

    Duncan Bootland, Evan Coughlan, Robert Galloway, Emily McWhirter