Doctors: Library Resources & Services: Critical Appraisal

Do you want to know what a parametric test is and when not to perform one? Do you get confused between odds ratios and relative risks? Want to understand the difference between sensitivity and specificity? Would like to find out what the fuss is about Bayes' theorem? Then this book is for you! Physicians need to understand the principles behind medical statistics. They don't need to learn the formula. The software knows it already! This book explains the fundamental concepts of medical statistics so that the learner will become confident in performing the most commonly used statistical tests. Each chapter is rich in anecdotes, illustrations, questions, and answers. Not enough? There is more material online with links to free statistical software, webpages, multimedia content, a practice dataset to get hands-on with data analysis, and a Single Best Answer questionnaire for the exam.

Required reading in many medical and healthcare institutions, How to Read a Paper is a clear and wide-ranging introduction to evidence-based medicine and healthcare, helping readers to understand its central principles, critically evaluate published data, and implement the results in practical settings. Author Trisha Greenhalgh guides readers through each fundamental step of inquiry, from searching the literature to assessing methodological quality and appraising statistics. How to Read a Paper addresses the common criticisms of evidence-based healthcare, dispelling many of its myths and misconceptions, while providing a pragmatic framework for testing the validity of healthcare literature. Now in its sixth edition, this informative text includes new and expanded discussions of study bias, political interference in published reports, medical statistics, big data and more. Offers user-friendly guidance on evidence-based healthcare that is applicable to both experienced and novice readers Authored by an internationally recognised practitioner and researcher in evidence-based healthcare and primary care Includes updated references, additional figures, improved checklists and more How to Read a Paper is an ideal resource for healthcare students, practitioners and anyone seeking an accessible introduction to evidence-based healthcare.

This second edition of the popular guide to critical appraisal is a fully updated revision of the previous edition. Written in the same easily accessible style, The Pocket Guide to Critical Appraisal now provides annotated checklists of the most common research designs. Consistent with recent developments in evidence-based medicine, these checklists distinguish between the risk of bias in the conduct of published studies and the value of the findings for healthcare delivery. Five new chapters have been added and the original chapters have been rewritten, making the new edition a complete and concise guide for the evaluation of research quality. In addition to the checklists, the book also: describes how to quickly identify the information needed for the critical appraisal provides simple explanations of statistical significance and the interpretation of confidence intervals reviews the major sources of bias and their impact on research findings explains how to summarise the risk of bias outlines the concept of certainty of evidence and how to calculate it identifies the challenges in assessing the value of research findings The Pocket Guide to Critical Appraisal is an essential guide for all health professions and students who read research papers and use their findings.

Having an understanding of critical appraisal and evidence-based medicine is a prerequisite to being an effective clinician. However, critical appraisal is often taught by people not involved in day-to-day clinical care, meaning the clinical relevance is not always brought to the fore. This book takes a different approach. It is written by clinicians, for clinicians. It takes the reader step by step through the process so that any journal article can be easily read, evidence evaluated and the results - and their reliability - truly understood. By integrating this with knowledge of local skills and resources and patient preference, the reader will be able to apply the best possible care that his or her patients deserve. This accessible book is suitable for undergraduates and postgraduates of all medical specialties, nursing, paramedics, pharmacists and all allied health professions. It is the ideal reference for anyone needing help writing a clinical topic review, reviewing a paper in a journal club or preparing for a critical appraisal exam. But most importantly, it is essential for those who wish to practice medicine in the best possible way for their patients, using the best evidence, tailored to the individual.