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Resource Guide for Evidence-Based Practice

Contents:

 

Finding Books and Reports:

When looking for books or reports about Evidence-Based Practice, search by subject or keyword in the NEOS Libraries' Catalogue. If you know of a particular title or author you would like to find, search by that specific field in the catalogue.

Examples of relevant subject headings include:

  • Evidence-based medicine
  • Systematic reviews

Relevant keyword searches include:

  • evidence AND [ topic], for example:.
    • evidence AND nursing
    • evidence AND cancer

To retrieve systematic reviews or health technology assessments, try the following keyword search:

  • health technology assessment and [topic], for example
    • health technology assessment and prostate
  • systematic review and [topic], for example
    • systematic review and cancer

 

 

Key Textbooks and Manuals

 Finding Journal Articles:

To locate journal articles you need to search in a subject database (online index) for the journal literature in your field. Once in the database, enter the key concepts that you are looking for, and combine terms you would like to find in the same article. Online search help and user guides accompany most databases. For assistance with searching, please ask reference desk staff. Key databases for articles on evidence-based practice include:

CINAHL (1982 to the present) covers the major English language journals in the areas of nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy and other allied health fields such as respiratory technology, x-ray technology, etc. Topics covered by this database include patient care, health promotion, professional issues for health care workers, patient education, rehabilitation, and other related subjects. To retrieve articles about evidence-based practice use the subject headings: nursing practice, evidence-based or evidence-based medicine. See below for information on how to retrieve articles containing strong research evidence.

EMBASE (1988 to the present) is a health sciences database which covers a wide range of journals in the biomedical and health sciences. There is some overlap between EMBASE and MEDLINE, but EMBASE is particularly useful for location drug information, as it indexes many drug journals not covered by MEDLINE. It is also useful for retrieving non-North American journals not covered by Medline. To retrieve articles about evidence-based practice use the subject heading: evidence-based medicine. See below for information on how to retrieve articles containing strong research evidence.

HealthStar (1975 to the present) covers an international range of journals, books, book chapters and technical reports in the areas of health services and hospital administration, and health technology assessment. Topics covered include: health economics; financial and personnel administration in the health sector; quality assurance and assessment; material management in health institutions; health policy; health services planning; evaluation of patient outcomes; effectiveness of procedures, programs, products and processes. The coverage is international (including Canadian material), but the U.S. literature is given the most coverage. To retrieve articles about evidence-based practice use the subject heading: evidence-based medicine. See below for information on how to retrieve articles containing strong research evidence.

MEDLINE (1966 to the present) covers the world's biomedical and health sciences journal literature. The type of information contained in MEDLINE ranges from the basic biomedical sciences like anatomy, physiology, biochemistry to clinical information outlining the nature and course of disease or injury, as well as its treatment. Other aspects of medicine covered by the database are: public health, health promotion, bioethics, medical education, legal aspects of medical practice, the nature of health science professions, etc. MEDLINE also contains a nursing subset and a dentistry subset, each of which indexes the major journals in these areas. To retrieve articles about evidence-based practice use the subject heading: evidence-based medicine. See below for information on how to retrieve articles containing strong research evidence.

 

PubMed (1966 to present). PubMed includes: all data in the Medline database and all journal citations from HealthStar. PubMed is particularly noted for the currency of its information as well as the links to full-text electronic journal links.  To retrieve articles about evidence-based practice use the subject heading: evidence-based medicine. See below for information on how to retrieve articles containing strong research evidence.

LILACS (1982 to present).  LILACS is edited by BIREME (the Latin American and Caribbean Health Science Information Center) and contains citations to research originating in Latin America and the Caribbean including citations to publications in Spanish, Portuguese and English.  Of the 670 journals indexed by this database only 41 overlap with journals covered by MEDLINE and EMBASE, hence those wishing to do a comprehensive search of the medical literature should include this database in the list of search resources consulted.  In fact, some Cochrane Review Groups require that the LILACS database be searched as a part of the systematic review literature search.  For tips on searching LILACS see How to search for clinical trials on the LILACs database using the internet. 

Search Strategies for Retrieving Evidence-Based Health Information from Periodical Databases

Strategies will vary depending upon the database you search and your purposes. If you are conducting a systematic review, preparing a health technology assessment report or otherwise are required to conduct a complete search of the literature on a particular topic, see the following links for information on constructing a comprehensive search strategy. 

You should also consider making an appointment with one of the librarians at the John W. Scott Health Sciences Library who can assist you with formulating an effective comprehensive strategy for retrieving articles containing strong clinical evidence.  Call the Reference Desk at 492-7947 for more information or see the list of John W. Scott Health Sciences Library Liaison Librarians for a  list of contacts by subject area.

If you do not have to be comprehensive but would like to retrieve strong clinical information, please see the following guidelines. These guidelines apply to MEDLINE and HealthStar. For EMBASE and CINAHL, use the same guidelines except as noted.

For THERAPY information:

  • Conduct a subject search, then search (randomized controlled trial or meta analysis or double blind$).pt. or double blind$.mp. and combine this with your subject search
  • Or, use the Ovid "limit" feature to allow you to limit your search set to the publication types randomized controlled trials or meta analysis
  • NOTE:
    • In CINAHL, search (clinical trial or systematic review).pt. or double blind$.mp. and combine with subject set or limit set to publication type clinical trial or systematic review instead of randomized controlled trial or meta analysis
    • In EMBASE search exp randomized controlled trial/ or exp meta analysis/ or double blind$.mp. and combine with subject search

For DIAGNOSIS information:

  • Conduct a subject search, then search exp "sensitivity and specificity"/ and combine this with your subject search

For ETIOLOGY/HARM information:

  • Conduct a subject search, then search case control studies/ or cohort studies/ and combine this with your subject search
  • If you are specifically interested in harm, search harm$.tw. [The $ is a truncation symbol and will retrieve harm, harmful, etc; .tw. results in a textword search of the database, i.e. the title and abstracts will be searched for any occurence of this term.]
  • NOTE:
    • In EMBASE, search case control study/ or cohort analysis/ instead of case control studies/ or cohort studies/
    • In CINAHL, search prospective study/ instead of cohort studies/

For PROGNOSIS information:

  • Conduct a subject search, then search prognosis/ and combine this with your subject search
  • If this above does not retrieve enough information, try using any of the following additional terms as applicable: disease progression, mortality and survival analysis.
  • NOTE:
    • In EMBASE, search disease course/ instead of disease progression/; use survival/ instead of survival analysis/

Evidence-Based Practice Journals

  • Bandolier: Evidence-Based Health Care
    The online version of the print journal of the same name, a monthly journal containing "bullet points (hence Bandolier) of evidence-based medicine". Full-text available, February 1994 to the present. The site also provides full-text access to other Bandolier Internet Publications.
  • Canadian Family Physician: Critical Appraisals
    Provides reviews of important articles in the area of family practice and assesses them for the strength of the study as well as "the 'bottom line' clinical importance for family practice".
  • Effective Health Care Bulletins
    Produced by the NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, the "bulletins  are based on a systematic review and synthesis of research on the clinical effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and acceptability of health service interventions. This is carried out by a research team using established methodological guidelines, with advice from expert consultants for each topic. The bulletins are subject to extensive and rigorous peer review."
  • Evidence-Based Dentistry
    Provides access to evidence-based reviews as well as articles discussing issues relevant to evidence-based dentistry. The print version of this journal (1998-present) is available in the John W. Scott Health Sciences Library.

 

  • Evidence-Based Medicine
    Published by the BMJ Publishing Group. Available online at as part of the Best Evidence database. Access at above link is licensed to University of Alberta affiliates only.

 

  • Evidence-Based Mental Health
    Published by the BMJ Publishing Group. Tables of contents only are provided for this journal. Also available on the site is information on subscribing to the journal and instructions to authors. This journal is currently on order at the John W. Scott Health Sciences Library. The print version of this journal (1998-present) is available in the John W. Scott Health Sciences Library.

 

  • Evidence-Based Nursing
    Published by the BMJ Publishing Group. Access at above link is licensed to University of Alberta affiliates only.

 

  • Health Evidence Bulletins - Wales Evidence reports produced under the auspices of the Health Authorities of Wales and the Department of Information Services, University of Wales College of Medicine. 

  •  

    Therapeutics Letter 
    "...a bi-monthly letter targeting identified problematic therapeutic issues (brief, simple, practical messages). The process involves a literature review and development of the message by different working groups of the Therapeutics Initiative. A draft of the letter is reviewed by specialists who are expert in the particular therapeutic area and members of the Scientific Information and Education Committee before the letter is disseminated. The Therapeutics Initiative is a member of the International Society of Drug Bulletins."

 

  • Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing.
    This journal is produced by Sigma Theta Tau International and publishes "critical reviews of research literature to guide nursing practice and research". This journal is licensed for University of Alberta affiliates only.

     

Evidence-Based Practice Websites

  • The Canadian Centres for Health Evidence (CCHE)
    The CCHE website provides information about the activities undertaken by the Centres and provides access to information about how to apply the principles of evidence-based practice.

  • The Cochrane Collaboration
    Describes the objectives of the Cochrane Collaboration (see under "General Information"); provides access to the Cochrane Handbook which outlines procedures for undertaking a Cochrane review; describes the Cochrane Library (the information resource that contains, among other things, the completed reviews, as well as descriptions of reviews in progess) and provides subscription information for it; and provides links to all other Cochrane websites, as well as to relevant non-Cochrane sites.
  • Centre for Evidence-Based Dentistry
    Provides information about the Centre and its activities, as well as information and links to sites of particular interest to dentists.

     

  • The Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (Mount Sinai Hospital/University Health Network of Toronto)
    Provides educational materials on evidence-based practice including steps for practicing EBM, a glossary of terms, a multidisciplinary syllabi, teaching tips, and an EBM Toolbox that includes a CATmaker, critical appraisal worksheets, a stat calculator, Numbers Needed to Treat (NNT) tables,  Likelihood Ratio (LR) tables and Sensitivity/Specificity (SpPin/SnNOut) tables.  The site is produced by the Mount Sinai Hospital and the University Health Network of Toronto.

 

 

 

 

Evidence-Based Literature: Sources for Systematic Reviews, Meta-analyses, Clinical Practice Guidelines, etc.

Resources Restricted to University of Alberta Affiliates

  • ACP Journal Club
    Contains critical commentaries of important clinical articles published in the ACP Journal Club (a publication of the American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine.
  • Clinical Evidence An international source of the best available evidence on the effects of common clinical interventions. Clinical Evidence summarises the current state of knowledge and uncertainty about the prevention and treatment of clinical conditions, based on thorough searches and appraisal of the literature. Clinical Clinical Evidence aims to cover common or important clinical conditions seen in primary and hospital care, and as such, topics are based upon clinical questions.
  • The Cochrane Library
    The Cochrane Library includes: The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (regularly updated reviews of the effects of health care);  The Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness (DARE) (critical assessments and structured abstracts of good systematic reviews published elsewhere); The Cochrane Controlled Trials Register (bibliographic information on controlled trials); The Health Technology Assessment Database (critical abstracts of health technology assessments carried out by major health organizations); and The NHS Economic Evaluation Database (critical abstracts of economic evaluations of health care interventions) . In addition, there are links to the Cochrane Collaboration and detailed resources essential to the preparation of systematic reviews, to a critical understanding of clinical literature, and to understanding the concepts behind evidence-based health care.

 

  • MDConsult (Clinical Practice Guidelines)
    MDConsult is an electronic compendium of clinical medical information. Besides providing fulltext access to 45+ clinical journals, 35+ core medical textbooks, patient education information and drug information, MD Consult also provides access to over 600 clinical practice guidelines.

Unrestricted Resources

 

Resources for Critically Appraising and Interpreting Health Care Literature

 

  • BMJ's "How to Read a Paper" series by author Trisha Greenhalgh
    1. How to read a paper. The Medline database. BMJ 315(7101): 180-3, Jul 19, 1997.
    2. How to read a paper. Getting your bearings (deciding what the paper is about). BMJ 315(7102): 243-6, Jul 26,1997.
    3. How to read a paper: Assessing the methodological quality of published papers. BMJ 315(7103: 305-308, Aug 2, 1997.
    4. How to read a paper. Statistics for the non-statistician. I: Different types of data need different statistical tests. BMJ 315(7104): 364-6, Aug 9, 1997.
    5. How to read a paper. Statistics for the non-statistician. II: "Significant" relations and their pitfalls. BMJ 315(7105): 422-5, Aug 16, 1997.
    6. How to read a paper. Papers that report drug trials. BMJ 315(7106): 480-3, Aug 23, 1997.
    7. How to read a paper: Papers that report diagnostic or screening tests BMJ 315(7107): 540-3, Aug 30, 1997.
    8. How to read a paper. Papers that tell you what things cost (economic analyses). BMJ 315(7108): 596-9, Sep 6, 1997.
    9. How to read a paper. Papers that summarise other papers (systematic reviews and meta-analyses) BMJ 315(7109): 672-675, Sep 13, 1997.
    10. How to read a paper: Papers that go beyond numbers (qualitative research) BMJ 315(7110): 740-743, Sep 20, 1997. Co-authored by Trisha Greenhalgh and Rod Taylor.

    Canadian Journal of Surgery's "Users' Guides to the Surgical Literature" series

    1. Users' Guides to the Surgical Literature:  How to use an article about a diagnostic test  Canadian Journal of Surgery 44(1), Feb 2001.  Authors: S. Archibald, M. Bhandari, A. Thoma, for the Evidence-Based Surgery Working Group.

    2. Users' guides to evidence-based surgery: how to use an article evaluating surgical interventions  Canadian Journal of Surgery 44(3), Apr 2001.  Authors: J.D. Urschel, C.H. Goldsmith, V.R. Tandan, J.D. Miller, for the Evidence-Based Surgery Working Group.

    3. Users' guide to the surgical literature: how to use an article on economic analysis  Canadian Journal of Surgery 44(5), Oct 2001. Authors:  A. Thoma, S. Sprague, V. Tandan; for the Evidence-Based Surgery Working Group

    4. Users' guide to the surgical literature: how to use an article reporting population-based volume-outcome relationships in surgery   Canadian Journal of Surgery 44(3), Apr 2002.  Authors:  D. Hong, V.R. Tandan, C.H. Goldsmith, M. Simunovic; for the Evidence-Based Surgery Working Group.

    Evidence-Based Nursing's "EBN Notebook/Users' Guide" Series

    1. The GATE frame: critical appraisal with pictures.   Evidence-Based Nursing 9(3): 68-71, 2006.  Authors:  Rod Jackson, Shanthi Ameratunga, Joanna Broad, Jennie Connor, Anne Lethaby, Gill Robb, Sue Wells, Paul Glasziou, and Carl Heneghan.
    2. Reporting of weighted event rates in Evidence-Based Nursing abstracts of systematic reviews.  Evidence-Based Nursing 9(2):36-37, 2006.  Authors:  Stephen R Werre, Cindy Walker-Dilks, and Andrew Jull. 
    3. Evidence-based nursing: how far have we come? What�s next?  Evidence-Based Nursing 9(2):38-40, 2006.  Authors: Donna Ciliska.
    4. Helping practitioners understand the contribution of qualitative research to evidence-based practice.  Evidence-Based Nursing 9(1):4-7, 2006.  Authors:  Mark Newman, Carl Thompson, and Anthony P Roberts.
    5. Reflections on "Helping practitioners understand the contribution of qualitative research to evidence-based practice". Evidence-Based Nursing 9(1): 7-8.  Author: Sally Thorne.
    6. Teaching evidence-based practice on foot.  Evidence-Based Nursing 8(4): 100-103, 2005.  Authors: W Scott Richardson and Dawn Dowding. 
    7. Evaluation and adaptation of clinical practice guidelines.  Evidence-Based Nursing 8(3): 68-72, 2005.  Authors:  Ian D Graham and Margaret B Harrison.
    8. The paths from research to improved health outcomes.  Evidence-Based Nursing 8(2): 36-38, 2005.  Authors: Paul Glasziou and Brian Haynes. 
    9. Of studies, summaries, synopses, and systems: the "4S" evolution of services for finding current best evidence.  Evidence-Based Nursing 8(2): 4-6, 2005.  R. Brian Haynes.
    10. Nurses, information use, and clinical decision making?the real world potential for evidence-based decisions in nursing.  Evidence-Based Nursing 7(3): 68-72. Authors:  Carl Thompson, Nicky Cullum, Dorothy McCaughan, Trevor Sheldon, and Pauline Raynor.
    11. Evaluation of studies of causation (aetiology).  Evidence-Based Nursing 7(2): 36-40, 2004.  Author:  Joy Adamson.
    12. Evaluation of studies of prognosis.  Evidence-Based Nursing 7(1):4-8, 2004.  Authors:  Ellen Fineout-Overholt and Bernadette Mazurek Melnyk.
    13. Evaluation of qualitative research studies.  Evidence-Based Nursing 6(2): 36-40, 2003.  Authors:  Cynthia K. Russell and David M. Gregory.
    14. Evaluation of studies of health economics.  Evidence-Based Nursing 5(4): 100-104, 2002.  Authors:  Patricia W. Stone, Suzanne Bakken, Christine R. Curran and Patricia H. Walker.
    15. Evaluation of studies of assessment and screening tools, and diagnostic tests.  Evidence-Based Nursing 5(3): 68-72, 2002.  Authors:  Andrew Jull.
    16. "Double blind, you are the weakest link ? goodbye!"   Evidence-Based Nursing 5(2): 36-37, 2002.  Authors:  PJ Devereaux, Mohit Bhandari, Victor M Montori, Braden J Manns, William A Ghali, and Gordon H Guyatt.
    17. Evidence-Based Nursing: 4 years down the road.  Evidence-Based Nursing  5(1): 4-5, 2002.  Authors:  Alba Dicenso, Nicky Cullum, and Donna Ciliska.
    18. Evaluation of systematic reviews of treatment or prevention interventions.  Evidence-Based Nursing 4(4): 100-104, 2001.  Authors:  Donna Ciliska, Nicky Cullum, and Susan Marks.
    19. Florence Nightingale and the early origins of evidence-based nursing.  Evidence-Based Nursing  4(3):  68-69, 2001.  Authors:  Lynn McDonald. 
    20. Clinically useful measures of the effects of treatment.   Evidence-Based Nursing  4(2): 36-39, 2001.  Author:  Alba DiCenso.
    21. Assessing allocation concealment and blinding in randomised controlled trials: why bother?  Evidence-Based Nursing  4(1): 4-6, 2001.  Author:  Kenneth F. Schulz.
    22. Evaluation of studies of treatment or prevention interventions.   Evidence-Based Nursing  3(4): 100-102.  Author:  Nicky Cullum.
    23. Data analysis in qualitative research.  Evidence-Based Nursing  3(3): 68-70, 2000.   Author:  Sally Thorne.
    24. Estimating treatment effects: real or the result of chance?  Evidence-Based Nursing  3(2): 36-39, 2000.  Author:  Trevor A. Sheldon.
    25. Statistics for evidence-based nursing.  Evidence-Based Nursing  3(1):  4-6, 2000.  Author:  Trevor A. Sheldon.
    26. The fundamentals of quantitative measurement.   Evidence-Based Nursing  2(4): 100-101, 1999.  Authors:  Donna Ciliska, Nicky Cullum, and Alba Dicenso.
    27. If you could just provide me with a sample: examining sampling in qualitative and quantitative research papers.  Evidence-Based Nursing 2(3): 68-70, 1999.  Author:  Carl Thompson. 
    28. Identifying the best research design to fit the question. Part 1: quantitative designs.   Evidence-Based Nursing  2(1): 4-6, 1999. Authors: Jackie Roberts and Alba Dicenso.
    29. Identifying the best research design to fit the question. Part 2: qualitative designs.   Evidence-Based Nursing  2(2): 36-37, 1999.  Author:  Jenny Ploeg.
    30. Searching for the best evidence. Part 1: where to look.   Evidence-Based Nursing  1(3): 68-70, 1999.  Authors:  K Ann McKibbon and Susan Marks  
    31. Searching for the best evidence. Part 2: searching CINAHL and Medline.  Evidence-Based Nursing 1(4): 105-107, 1998.  Authors:  K. Ann Mckibbon and Susan Marks. 
    32. Asking answerable questions.  Evidence-Based Nursing  1(2): 36-37, 1998.  Author:  Kate Flemming.
    33. Nursing, research, and the evidence.  Evidence-Based Nursing  1(2): 4-6, 1998.  Author: Anne Mulhall.

    And on the lighter side:

    1. How to read clinical journals:  XII. How you too can profit from pharmaceutical advertisements.  CMAJ 2004; 171(12): 1455-1456.  Co-authored by Steven L. Shumak and Donald A. Redelmeier.
    2. How to read clinical journals: XI.  Everything you always wanted to know about editorials (but were afraid to ask).  CMAJ 2003; 169(12): 1323-1326.  Co-authored by Donald A. Redelmeier and Steven L. Shumak.
    3. How to read clinical journals: X.  How to react when your colleagues haven't read a thing. CMAJ 2000; 163(2): 1570-2.  Co-authored by Steven L.  Shumak and Donald A. Redelmeier.
    4. How to read clinical journals: IX. Sounding like you've read the literature when you haven't read a thing.  CMAJ 1998; 159:  1488-9.  Co-authored by Donald A. Redelmeier, Miram Schuchman and Steven L. Shumak.

    This guide provides selected resources about available through the Internet or at the University of Alberta. Any questions, comments or suggestions about Evidence-Based Practice resources should be directed to: Linda Slater email: linda.slater@ualberta.ca or phone: (780) 492-7948.

    Date of Last Update: 

      Dec 5, 2007

     

     

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