Evidence-Based Practice Tools   Tags: ebm, ebp, ebp pyramid, evidence based practice, evidence-based medicine  

pyramid modified from: Navigating the Maze, University of Virginia, Health Sciences Library

Cochrane Systematic Reviews

• Cochrane Library www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/mrwhome/106568753/HOME
  The Cochrane Collaboration. Oxford: Update Software; 1996-. Updated quarterly.

• Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (Cochrane Reviews)

  • 'Gold Standard' for high-quality systematic reviews

  • Full-text included in Cochrane Library

  • Cochrane Reviews includes complete reviews and protocols (reviews that are still in progress)

  • Cochrane Reviews abstracts are in PubMed

• Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (Other Reviews - DARE)

  • prepared by the National Health Service Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, University of York, England

  • Complements the Cochrane Reviews by offering a selection of quality assessed reviews in those subjects where there is currently no Cochrane review

  • Brief critical appraisals of previously published reviews of the effects of health care

  • Structured abstracts, not full-text

  • DARE not indexed in PubMed, but original research articles may be

  • Also available at no charge on the web from University of York | www.crd.york.ac.uk/crdweb/

Other Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses

• PubMed MEDLINE - Systematic Reviews | www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query/static/clinical.shtml

  • access: part of PubMed's Clinical Queries (linked on PubMed Home and Advanced Search pages)
    UW access for more full-text links

  • Identifies systematic reviews and other similar types of studies found in biomedical journals included in PubMed database

  • No evaluation of comparative quality of different reviews on a topic

  • Abstracts supplied by authors/journals. No separate evaluation of quality of research

  • Identify systematic reviews in the biomedical area - gathers together much larger collection than other evidence-based practice resources

Evidence Guidelines/Summaries

• BMJ Clinical Evidence | www.clinicalevidence.com/

  • Compendium of evidence on the effects of clinical interventions

  • Summarizes the current state of knowledge, including knowns and unknowns, based on thorough search

  • Categorizes interventions as beneficial, likely beneficial, no known benefit, harmful ...

• DynaMed | www.ebscohost.com/dynamed

  • Best available evidence summaries for nearly 2000 topics

  • Clinical reference tool developed for use at the 'point-of-care'

  • Outline format to quickly identify key conclusions

  • Updated daily

• Other Resources

  • USPSTF Guidelines | www.ahrq.gov/clinic/prevenix.htm
  • AHRQ Evidence Reports | www.ahrq.gov/clinic/epcix.htm
  • FPIN Clinical Inquiries included in Journal of Family Practice | www.jfponline.com and American Family Physician | www.aafp.org/afp/

RCTs, Case Cohorts, Control Studies

• PubMed | www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?myncbishare=uwonline  (pubmed.gov if you are not a UW faculty, staff, or student)

  • note: Filtered by publication type, but not quality

  • Clinical Queries - Uses preconfigured search strategies to retrieve research-based citations on clinical topics in the areas of therapy, diagnosis, etiology, or diagnosis

  • Use Limits to search by specific publication type (e.g. meta-analysis, randomized controlled trial, review)

• Cochrane Library | www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/mrwhome/106568753/HOME
  The Cochrane Collaboration. Oxford: Update Software; 1996-. Updated quarterly.

  • Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Clinical Trials)

    • Bibliography of controlled trials as part of an international effort to hand search the world's journals

    • Includes reports published in conference proceedings and in many other sources not in PubMed or other bibliographic databases

• Other Resources

  • Check HSL Databases for other databases that may be appropriate.

Clinical Research Critiques

Reviews of patient care relevant studies.

• ACP Journal Club | www.acpjc.org

  • American College of Physicians - American Society of Internal Medicine (ACP-ASIM)

  • Internal medicine focus

  • Abstracts to journal articles selected according to explicit criteria from major peer-reviewed medical journals

  • Available in print

• POEMS (Patient Oriented Evidence that Matters) | www.essentialevidenceplus.com/inforetriever/results.cfm?resource=E

  • Structured abstracts by Journal of Family Practice editors

  • Reviews over 90 journals monthly; identifies eight articles to abstract

  • Focus on the patient

  • Subset available in Journal of Family Practice

  • All POEMS included in Essential Evidence Plus

Other Reviews of the Literature

• Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database | www.naturaldatabase.com

  • Subject-specific database of evidence-based information.

  • Compiled by publishers of Pharmacist's Letter and Prescriber's Letter

  • Herbal medicines, and dietary supplements used in the western world

  • Assesses available evidence; check references for quality of source

• Check HSL Databases for other subjects.

Case Reports, Case Series, Other Articles, Practice Guidelines, etc.

• PubMed | www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?myncbishare=uwonline

  • Use Limits to search by specific publication type(s)

• National Guideline Clearinghouse | www.guideline.gov/

  • Initiative of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)

  • Available at no charge

  • Updated weekly with new and changed guidelines

  • Comprehensive database of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and related documents. Voluntary participation

Clinical Reference Texts

• Care Provider Toolkit | http://hsl.uw.edu/toolkits/care-provider

• Use HSL website Search for individual title

Meta-Search Engines

• TRIP (Turning Research Into Practice) | www.tripdatabase.com

  • Meta-search from the UK

  • Searches over 55 sites of evidence-based information

  • Includes links to peer-reviewed journals and other publications

• SUMSearch | sumsearch.org

  • Produced by University of Texas Health Sciences Center, San Antonio

  • Simultaneously searches few free-access sources - PubMed Cochrane Systematic Reviews (within PubMed), National Guideline Clearinghouse and Merck Index

  • Results grouped by reviews, practice guidelines, systematic reviews and research-based articles

Additional Resources

• HSL LibGuide: Evidence-Based Practice | libguides.hsl.washington.edu/ebp

• PubMed at the UW for search tips

• Evidence-Based Resources Help

  • Techniques for Locating Evidence-Based Practice Resources

  • Evidence-Based Resources on the Net - Resource Information

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Updated 20Jul2011 (lsa)