NHM 114: Introduction to Nutrition Professionals

In a clinical environment, Evidence Based Practice (EBP) is a thoughtful integration of the best available evidence, coupled with clinical expertise.

Silagy and Haines (1998) describe evidence-based health care as an approach that 'takes account of evidence at a population level as well as encompassing interventions concerned with the organisation and delivery of health care'.

Reference:
Silagy, C & Haines, A 1998, Evidence-based practice in primary care, London, BMJ Books.

There are several different kinds of articles frequently found in the literature for medical and health sciences. 

• Case report – a description of a particular service or event, often focusing on unusual aspects of the reported situation or adverse occurrences.
• Case series – a description of more than one case.
• Case-control study – An observational study in which the cases have the issue of interest  but the controls do not.
• Cohort study – An observational study of a particular group over a period of time.
• Randomised Controlled Trial – An experimental study in which users are randomly allocated to one of two or more options, where some get the option of interest and others get another option (e.g. a standard service).
• Systematic review – An approach that involves capturing and assessing the evidence by some systematic method, where all the components of the approach and the assessment are made explicit and documented.  Some systematic reviews include a meta-analysis (see below).
• Meta-analysis - A method of synthesising the data from more than one study, in order to produce a summary statistic. 

Source:  Booth A & Brice A (2004) Evidence Based Practice for Information Professionals: A Handbook. London: Facet Publishing.

Randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses are considered to be stronger forms of evidence and will be more desirable for your final paper.

The ABC's of appraising articles

In the age of open-access publishing, it is easier than ever to have a journal article published. It isn't always clear if the article went through the peer review process, so it is important for you to take a critical look at the information you find in an article. Here are some criteria to consider applying to articles.

• Authority – what are the qualifications of the authors? Was the article published in a reputable journal? 

• Accuracy – is the information reproducible or cited by other sources? Are references cited throughout the article?

• Bias – does the author have a conflict of interest? PubMed now includes conflict of interest statements when this information is supplied by the publisher. 

• Currency – when was the article published? Is the information out of date for your purposes? 

• Comprehension – is the information written at an appropriate level for its audience? How does the information compare with other sources on this topic? Is the article relevant to your research?