13. Evidence-based medicine and prevention
- Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is “the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients.”
- = the process of turning clinical problems into questions and then systematically locating, appraising, and using contemporaneous research findings as the basis for clinical decisions
- EBM is the gold standard of clinical practice
- Uses information gathered from randomized control trials, case controls, cohort studies, etc.
- Meta-analyses and systemic review combine the result of multiple trials into the strongest evidence
- Process of EBM
- A patient problem occurs
- A clinical or preventional question is formulated
- Evidence is searched for or produced
- The evidence is critically evaluated
- The results are integrated into clinical practice
- Some clinical practices which changed due to evidence-based medicine
- Antiarrhythmic drugs much less used
- Thalidomide contraindicated in pregnancy
- Grading of evidence shows the quality of evidence which underlies a clinical recommendation
- Grade A refers to a recommendation which is the result of many randomized clinical trials
- Grade B refers to a recommendation which is the result of one randomized trial, or multiple nonrandomized trials
- Grade C refers to a recommendation which is based on expert consensus, without good clinical trials
- Classification of evidence shows the strength of the clinical recommendation
- A class I recommendation is one where the procedure or treatment is recommended, as the evidence shows that the procedure or treatment is clearly beneficial
- A class IIa recommendation is one where the procedure or treatment should be considered, as the evidence shows that the procedure or treatment is beneficial in most cases
- A class IIb recommendation is one where the procedure or treatment may be considered, as the evidence shows that the procedure or treatment is beneficial in some cases
- A class III recommendation is one where the procedure or treatment is not recommended, as the evidence shows that the procedure or treatment is ineffective or harmful