Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) 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.)

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TRIP (Turning Research Into Practice) Database Plus

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.

TRIP Database allows a limited number of free searches.


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.

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: Click on “Clinical Queries” on the left side of the screen; select “Find Systematic Reviews” and enter your search query.

Critically-Appraised Topics

Clinical Evidence

Summarizes the current state of knowledge about the prevention and treatment of clinical conditions, based on thorough searches and appraisal of the literature. It describes the best available evidence from systematic reviews, RCTs, and observational studies where appropriate, and if there is no good evidence it says so.

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.

InfoPOEMS

Clinical awareness system that highlights important new evidence via DailyPOEMs™ ("Patient-Oriented Evidence that Matters"), synopses of new, valid evidence relevant to patient care originating from critical appraisal of studies published in more than 100 journals.

There is a PDA version of this product.

PIER

Evidence-based clinical guidance designed for rapid access to clinical information at the point of care. PIER is peer-reviewed, updated continually and includes recommendations based on all levels of medical evidence. Recommendations also include strength-of-recommendation ratings based on the quality of the underlying evidence. From the American College of Physicians.

There is a PDA version of this product.

Critically-Appraised Individual Articles

The ACP Journal Club

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.

Check ejournals list for multiple subscriptions.

Bandolier

Bandolier is an independent journal about evidence-based healthcare published in the UK. It includes “information about evidence of effectiveness (or lack of it), and put[s] the results forward as simple bullet points of those things that worked and those that did not: a bandolier with bullets. Information comes from systematic reviews, meta-analyses, randomised trials, and from high quality observational studies.”

bmjupdates

Quality articles from over 110 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.

“Evidence-Based…” Journal series

(e.g., Evidence-Based Medicine, Evidence-Based Mental Health, Evidence-Based Nursing) Primary research articles within the discipline are selected for quality and clinical relevance. A structured abstract and expert commentary are provided for each study.

Check ejournals list for multiple subscriptions.


Unfiltered Resources

PubMed

To limit your PubMed search to the best evidence-producing studies: Click on "clinical queries" (on the left side of the screen). 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).

Ovid Medline

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.

EMBASE

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 ‘Limits’ icon to use ‘Clinical Queries’.

PsycINFO

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.

CINAHL

Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature

To limit your CINAHL search to the best evidence-producing studies: Click on the ‘Limits’ icon to use ‘Clinical Queries’ or limit to ‘Research’ or other ‘publication’ types (i.e., systematic review).


Background Information/Expert Opinion

Note: Evidence in these resources may vary from expert opinion to high levels of evidence.

UpToDate

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.

(Access restrictions: UpToDate is licensed for on-site use only at Dartmouth College, Dartmouth Medical School, and the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Remote access is not permitted.)

eMedicine

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.

eBooks

Full-text electronic books.

Harrison's Online

Searchable and continually updated version of Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine.

ACP Medicine

Electronic textbook of general medicine; updated continually.


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.

Evidence-Based Medicine

A selective list of additional EBM websites developed and maintained by Duke University Medical Center Library.

Netting the Evidence

From the School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR) at the University of Sheffield, UK. Includes a comprehensive list of EBM databases, journals, articles, and other information sources.

Users' Guides to Evidence-Based Practice

From the University of Alberta's Centre for Health Evidence. Includes the complete set of EBM Users' Guides originally published as a series in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).


Evidence-Based Medicine Tutorials

Introduction to Evidence-Based Medicine

From Duke University Medical Center Library and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Health Sciences Library.

SUNY Health Sciences Evidence-Based Medicine Course


Evidence-Based Medicine Resources for PDA

Evidence-Based Medicine Resources for the PDA

A list of resources from the Dartmouth Biomedical Libraries.


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