Step 3 - Appraise

Here is a pdf copy of the slides and notes used for the second EBP Interest Group meeting conducted in March 2014 at the University of New South Wales focusing on Critical Appraisal. If you are interested in a copy of the PowerPoint slides or want to participate in the group, please contact us at eboptometry@unsw.edu.au.

Not all single-case designs have high methodological quality. The revised Risk of Bias in N of 1 Trials (RoBiN-T) scale can be used to:

• Identify experimental versus non-experimental single-case designs
  • Experimental designs are those which use variants of the withdrawal/reversal design (e.g. ABA), multiple baseline designs, alternating treatment designs and changing criterion designs.
  • Non-experimental designs include those that use a single phase or are bi-phasic only (eg. A-B), contain pre/post data only and case descriptions.

The PEDro-P is a reliable tool to rate group comparison studies (both randomised and non-randomised control trials)

The Cochrane Eyes and Vision Group is (CEVG) is part of the Cochrane Collaboration. The CEVG is an international network of individuals dedicated to promoting EBP by working to prepare, maintain and promote access to systematic reviews of interventions to treat or prevent eye diseases or visual impairment.

This website has a range of resources that may be of interest:

• A range of completed systematic reviews for a range of eye care conditions

This Medical Statistics Tutorial is an innovative resource that helps health professionals understand statistics. There is content for people just starting out and those wanting to advance their skills. Understanding statistics is a key part of interpreting data, critically appraising articles and application of research to practice.

Topics include:

• Introduction to EBM

The Centre for Evidence-based Medicine is comprehensive and has great theoretical information and practical tips on EBP.

There is a range of EBM Tools that cover each step of the EBP Process.

Of specific interest may be:

• The CEBM's own Level of Evidence System

The How to Read a Paper series by Trish Greenhalgh and colleagues, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) are easy to read guides for critical appraisal of the evidence. There are multiple articles covering general and specific research designs (e.g. systematic reviews) and great resources for understanding statistics.

The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) is an international non-for-profit institute based in the School of Translational Science, within the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Adelaide, South Australia. The general website provides information on evidence-based practice, syntheses using systematic reviews, resources for appraising methodological quality and also has a focus on implementing evidence-based practice.

It has a wealth of resources that are certainly worth a look. A few special mentions include:

This is an excellent student developed Evidence Based Healthcare (EBH) site!! http://www.students4bestevidence.net/ It is supported by the UK Cochrane Centre. Look here for general EBP information, discussion on EBP topics and lots of useful links to other EBP resources. The site also provides information and resources for each of the 5 EBP Process steps: http://www.students4bestevidence.net/categories/.