Last update:
   16-Sep-2004
 

Arch Hellen Med, 18(2), March-April 2001, 192-203

CONTINUING MEDICAL EDUCATION

Principles of critical appraisal in evidence-based medicine

P.A. SKAPINAKIS,1 N. STIMPSON,1 H.V. THOMAS,1 F. DUNSTAN,2 R. ARAYA,1 G. LEWIS1
1Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Wales, College of Medicine, UK,
2Department of Medical Computing and Statistics, University of Wales, College of Medicine, UK

The term critical appraisal of the literature, as used in the context of evidence-based medicine (EBM), refers to the application of predefined rules of evidence to a study to assess its methodological quality and the clinical usefulness of its results. Critical appraisal represents the most "technical" step in the process of EBM and can be quite demanding for the practitioner. The aim of this paper is to provide the reader with the theoretical skills necessary to understand the principles behind critical appraisal of the literature. These include: (a) the description of the main types of study design used in epidemiological research, (b) the basic statistical procedures used in data analysis, (c) the principles of causal inference and (d) the description of the types of health outcome and measures of effect. These issues are discussed in the present paper and illustrated with several examples from the relevant literature.

Key words: EQ-5D, EuroQol, Quality of life, Translation, Validation.

© Archives of Hellenic Medicine