Important questions to consider if you are adopting evidence base to change practice
We have sure come a long way from expert opinion based or GOBSAT way of medicine but do we really ask these questions before adopting research?
A
Aman Paul
Emergency Medicine Contributor
• 2 min read
Often times, we are told by someone that a new research is out and we then start doing things that are the recommendations and change our practice.
How often do we ask the important questions that would decide if this change should actually happen?
These are some of the critical questions worth asking:
- Patient Cohort: How many patients of what age, gender, and disease severity were a part of the study?
- Withdrawals: Did any patients withdraw from the study? If so, how many and why?
- Cure Criteria: What was the exact clinical criteria for stating someone has been cured?
- Demographics: Were there set inclusion or exclusion criteria, and did they change the demographics to make results more favorable?
- Replication: Have there been other studies similar to this, and are the results significantly different from previous trials?
- Study Design: Was it a randomized controlled trial (RCT)?
- Biostatistics: What statistical tests were used to prove the authors’ point, and were they correctly chosen?
If you are a clinician who uses evidence-based research, it becomes essential to consider these questions before advocating for a new clinical approach.