EBM Resource Pyramid:
Evidence-Based Medicince Resources
Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) Resources
Evidence-Based Medicine is the integration of best research evidence with clinical expertise and patient values. (Sackett DL, Straus SE, Richardson WS, et al. Evidence-based medicine: how to practice and teach EBM. 2nd ed. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone, 2000.)
TRIP (Turning Research Into Practice) Database Plus (free version)
Simultaneously searches evidence-based sources of systematic reviews, practice guidelines, and critically-appraised topics and articles -- including most of those listed above and many more. Also searches MEDLINE’s Clinical Queries, medical image databases, e-textbooks, and patient information leaflets.
Filtered Resources
Systematic Reviews / Meta-Analyses
The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
Consists of detailed, structured topic reviews of hundreds of articles. Teams of experts complete comprehensive literature reviews, evaluate the literature, and present summaries of the findings of the best studies. Published by the International Cochrane Collaboration.
The Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effect (DARE)
Full-text database containing structured abstracts of systematic reviews from a variety of medical journals. DARE is produced by the National Health Services' Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (NHS CRD) at the University of York. DARE records cover topics such as diagnosis, prevention, rehabilitation, screening, and treatment.
Specializes in reviews of clinical effectiveness research, with easy-to-read summaries for consumers as well as full technical reports.
Systematic Reviews are also searchable in MEDLINE:
- Ovid MEDLINE: Enter your search query. Click on the “Limits” icon; select “Systematic Reviews” under “Subject Subsets.”
- PubMed: Do a PubMed search and limit to the subset "Systematic Review."
Critically-Appraised Topics
EPC Reports- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
"This search provides complete released evidence reports, comparative effectiveness reviews, technical briefs, Technology Assessment Program reports, and U.S. Preventive Services Task Force evidence syntheses. EPC reports and assessments may include meta-analyses and cost analyses."
National Guideline Clearinghouse
A comprehensive database of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and related documents produced by the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality, in partnership with the American Medical Association and the American Association of Health Plans. Updated weekly.
Note: Guideline evidence varies from expert opinion to high levels of evidence.
JAMA Rational Clinical Exam Series
Articles examining the validity and quality of evidence of findings on physical exam.
U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF)
Experts in primary care and prevention systematically review the evidence of effectiveness and develops recommendations for clinical preventive services.
Critically-Appraised Individual Articles
The editors of this journal screen the top 100+ clinical journals and identify studies that are methodologically sound and clinically relevant. An enhanced abstract, with conclusions clearly stated, and a commentary are provided for each selected article. Published by the American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine.
Quality articles from over 160 clinical journals are selected by research staff, and then rated for clinical relevance and interest by an international group of physicians. Includes a searchable database of the best evidence from the medical literature and an email alerting system. From BMJ Publishing Group and McMaster University's Health Information Research Unit.
Editors scan over 50 journals, select and identify articles that warrant immediate attention by nurses. These articles are summarized in "value added " abstracts and commented on by clinical experts.
Unfiltered Resources
PubMed which includes MEDLINE
To limit your PubMed search to the locate evidence-producing studies: Click on "Clinical Queries" (under PubMed Tools). This specialized search is intended for clinicians and has built-in search "filters." Four study categories--therapy, diagnosis, etiology, prognosis--are provided, and you may indicate whether you wish your search to be more sensitive (i.e., include most relevant articles but probably including some less relevant ones) or more specific (i.e., including mostly relevant articles but probably omit a few).
To limit your Ovid MEDLINE search to the best evidence-producing studies: Clinical Queries (See PubMed) is searchable in Ovid; click on the "Limits" icon.
Major biomedical and pharmaceutical database covering drug research, pharmacology, pharmaceutics, toxicology, clinical and experimental human medicine, health policy and management, public health, occupational health, environmental health, drug dependence and abuse, psychiatry, forensic medicine, and biomedical engineering/instrumentation. Produced by Excerpta Medica and updated weekly.
To limit your EMBASE search to the best evidence-producing studies: Click on the ‘Advanced Search’ then click on 'More Limits' then select any of the 'Evidence Based Medicine' limits.
International coverage of the professional and academic literature in psychology, medicine, psychiatry, nursing, sociology, education, pharmacology, physiology, linguistics, and other areas.
To limit your PsycINFO search to the best evidence-producing studies: Click on the ‘Limits’ icon to use ‘Clinical Queries’ or limit to ‘methodology’ types.
Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature
To limit your CINAHL search to the best evidence-producing studies: Use ‘Clinical Queries’ or use "Publication Types" to limit to ‘Research’ or 'Systematic review", etc.).
Cochrane CENTRAL Register of Controlled Trials
CENTRAL contains randomized controlled trial and controlled clinical trial from all Cochrane Review Groups' Specialised Registers. These registries include records from MEDLINE and EMBASE, as well as records from their handsearch results registries. Note: To use CENTRAL, select Trials from "Search Limits" feature on the Cochrane search screen.
PubMed Health Services Research (HSR) Queries
Use research methodology filters to locate evidence based studies on appropriateness, process assessment, outcome assessment, costs and economics as well as qualitative studies related to health care services, quality and costs.
Background Information/Expert Opinion
Note: Evidence in these resources may vary from expert opinion to high levels of evidence.
Physician authors and editors contribute to the eMedicine Clinical Knowledge Base, which contains articles on 7,000 diseases and disorders. The evidence-based content provides the latest practice guidelines in 62 medical specialties. eMedicine's professional content undergoes multiple levels of physician peer review.
Search from one convenient location and use document clustering to locate full text book content from HSLS’s electronic clinical books of STAT!Ref, MD Consult, AccessMedicine, AccessSurgery, Books@Ovid, and Wiley.
Searchable and continually updated version of Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine.
Electronic textbook of surgery; updated continually from the American College of Surgeons.
A clinical information resource, which offers up-to-date, fully referenced expert answers to patient-care, diagnosis, and treatment questions. Topic reviews are written by recognized authorities who review the topic, synthesize the evidence, summarize key findings, and provide specific recommendations.
Evidence-Based Medicine Information Sites
Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (Oxford University)
The Centre promotes evidence-based health care and provide support and resources to anyone who wants to make use of them. Includes the EBM Toolbox, an assortment of materials which are very useful for practitioners of EBM, and EBM Teaching Materials, including PowerPoint presentations.
Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (Toronto)
Includes many resources for practicing and teaching EBM.
An extensive LibGuide from Duke University Medical Center Library & Archives.
Users' Guides to the Medical Literature
This JAMA series from the Evidence-Based Medicine Working Group provides detailed guidance on how to critically appraise studies and other types of research articles and how to apply their clinical findings to specific patients.
Evidence-Based Medicine Tutorials
Introduction to Evidence Practice
From Duke University Medical Center Library and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Health Sciences Library.
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Produced by Jan Glover, David Izzo, Karen Odato and Lei Wang.