It's all about the evidence, the research and the patient.
Evidence-based practice (EBP) is used widely by allied health professionals and is the conscientious use of current best evidence in making decisions about patient care (Sackett & Rosenberg 1996). It uses clinical decision‐making that combines research evidence, clinical expertise, and patient preferences and characteristics.
Evidence-based medicine (EBM) considers the patients views and integrates the best research evidence and clinical expertise when making a decision. (Guyatt G, et al 1992).
Evidence‐based practice stems from evidence-based medicine (EBM), however, it's interdisciplinary and used in the fields of allied health, education, psychology and others.
You will come across both EBP and EBM throughout your studies or research in Medicine and Health. Below are databases that are entirely about EBP and EBM.
| Systematic Review | Literature Review | |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | High-level overview of primary research on a focused question that identifies, selects, synthesises, and appraises all high quality research evidence relevant to that question | Qualitatively summarises evidence on a topic using informal or subjective methods to collect and interpret studies |
| Goals | Answer a focused, clinical question Eliminate bias |
Provide summary or overview of topic |
| Question | Clearly defined and answerable clinical question Recommend using PICO as a guide |
Can be a general topic or a specific question |
| Components | Pre-specified eligibility criteria Systematic search strategy Assessment of the validity of findings Interpretation and presentation of results Reference list |
Introduction Methods Discussion Conclusion Reference list |
| Number of Authors | Three or more | One or more |
| Timeline | Months to years Average eighteen months |
Weeks to months |
| Requirements | Thorough knowledge of topic Perform searches of all relevant databases Statistical analysis resources (for meta-analysis) |
Understanding of topic Perform searches of one or more databases |
| Value | Connects practicing clinicians to high quality evidence Supports evidence-based practice |
Provides summary of literature on a topic |
Kysh, Lynn (2013): Difference between a systematic review and a literature review. [figshare]. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.766364
Search and keep track of the evidence for your systematic literature review using these resources:
PRISMA is an evidence-based minimum set of items for reporting in systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
Use a framework like PICO when developing a good clinical research question:
| PICO framework | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| P | I | C | O |
| Patient or Problem | Intervention | Comparison Intervention | Outcome |
| Describe as accurately as possible the patient or group of patients of interest. | What is the main intervention or therapy you wish to consider? | Is there an alternative treatment to compare? | What is the clinical outcome? |
PROSPERO is an international register for prospective systematic literature reviews.