Research Utilization and Evidence-Based Practice

Evidence-based practice...quality filtering...retrieving clinically relevant studies...there are several definitions of what is meant by the term "evidence-based." One of the most frequently cited is:

"the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients." *

Only a small percentage of the published literature contains evidence that is ready for clinical application. And it is estimated that only 1 in 5000 ideas eventually makes it through all of the trials and the research stages to produce evidence with clinical outcomes.** While the best practitioners have always followed this model, evidence-based practice is a formal approach that takes advantage of the ability to search electronic databases to retrieve methodologically sound studies.

Links

Evidence-based practice: selected readings:
http://library.nyu.edu/research/rg72.html

For a comprehensive set of links to evidence-based resources used by the Ehrman Medical Library:
http://library.med.nyu.edu/library/eresources/toolkits/ebm/index.html

*Sackett, David L, William M C Rosenberg, J A Muir Gray, R Brian Haynes, and W Scott Richardson. "Evidence Based Medicine: What It Is and What It Isn't." BMJ 1996; 312: 71-72. Available: http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/312/7023/71

**McKibbon, Ann. PDQ Evidence-Based Principles and Practice. Hamilton-London-St.Louis:B.C. Decker Inc., 1999.
Bobst call number: Z699.5.M39 M34