DUMC Library - Evidence Based Medicine (EBM)

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Evidence Based Medicine (EBM)

Contents

EBM

Building Questions

Searching Literature

Appraising Evidence

EBM at Duke

Internet Resources

DUMCL Online

The well-built clinical question: a key to evidence-based decisions Richardson, WS. et al. ACP Journal Club, v123:A12, Nov-Dec, 1995. Formulating Answerable Clinical Questions University of Toronto Educational Prescription Duke University
CLINICAL CASE/SCENARIO: Briefly describe the case.
PATIENT OR PROBLEM How would you describe a group of patients similar to you? What are the most important characteristics of the patient?
INTERVENTION, EXPOSURE, PROGNOSTIC FACTOR What main intervention are you considering? What do you want to do with this patient?
COMPARISON What is the main alternative being considered, if any?
OUTCOME What are you trying to accomplish, measure, improve or affect?
The well-built clinical question is:

Type of question being asked: Therapy Diagnosis Harm Prognosis Other Types of questions Background vs. Foreground questions	Type of study needed: Meta-analysis/Systematic review RCT Cohort Case Series Case Control Other Types of studies Study designs

Use this PICO table to search PubMed	Print PDF version