Evidence based medicine is "the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients."
Source: David Sackett, William Rosenberg, Muir Gray, Brian Haynes & Scott Richardson. Evidence based medicine: what it is and what it isn’t [internet]. BMJ; 13 January 1996 [cited 23 May 2013]. Available from: http://www.bmj.com/content/312/7023/71
Levels of evidence by study type
Level I - Evidence from a systematic review or meta-analysis of all relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs)
Level II - Evidence obtained from well-designed RCTs
Level III - Evidence obtained from well-designed controlled trials without randomization
Level IV - Evidence from well-designed case-control and cohort studies
Level V - Evidence from systematic reviews of descriptive and qualitative studies
Level VI - Evidence from single descriptive or qualitative studies
Level VII - Evidence from the opinion of authorities and/or reports of expert committees
Source: Melnyk BM. Implementing the Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) Competencies in Healthcare : A Practical Guide to Improving Quality, Safety, and Outcomes. ; 2016. (Table 1.1, p. 11)
Article types explained
Empirical study (or primary article):
- Aims to gain new knowledge on a topic through direct or indirect observation and research.
- Include quantitative or qualitative data and analysis.
- In science, an empirical article will often include the following sections: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion.
Review article:
- Provides a synthesis of existing research on a particular topic.
- Useful when you want to get an idea of a body of research that you are not yet familiar with.
- Differs from a systematic review in that it does not aim to capture ALL of the research on a particular topic.
Systematic review:
- A methodical and thorough literature review focused on a particular research question.
- Aims to identify and synthesize all of the scholarly research on a particular topic in an unbiased, reproducible way to provide evidence for practice and policy-making.
- May involve a meta-analysis (see below).
Meta-analysis:
- A type of research study that combines or contrasts data from different independent studies in a new analysis in order to strengthen the understanding of a particular topic.
- There are many methods, some complex, applied to performing this type of analysis.
Study design resources and reporting requirements
- Study Designs 101: a tutorial from Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library at George Washington University
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CONSORT Statement is an evidence-based, minimum set of recommendations for reporting randomized trials. It offers a standard way for authors to prepare reports of trial findings, facilitating their complete and transparent reporting, and aiding their critical appraisal and interpretation.
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The PRISMA Checklist is list of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-analyses
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STROBE checklists aim to STrengthen the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology
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