Research guides: Optometry and Vision Science Research Guide: Evidence-based Practice

	Asking and answering clinical questions (PICO)
	Critical appraisal, reading the evidence

Asking and answering clinical questions (PICO)

Critical appraisal, reading the evidence

	Filtered information, peer-reviewed
	Summaries: Point-of-care tools (CPS, UpToDate)
	Syntheses: systematic reviews
	Unfiltered information, peer-reviewed
	Studies: Clinical trials, interventional (randomized, controlled) and observational (cohort, cases)

Filtered information, peer-reviewed

Summaries: Point-of-care tools (CPS, UpToDate)

Unfiltered information, peer-reviewed

Studies: Clinical trials, interventional (randomized, controlled) and observational (cohort, cases)

What is Evidence-based practice?

Evidence-based practice "requires the integration of the best research evidence with our clinical expertise and our patient's unique values and circumstances." ¹

¹ Strauss, S. E. (2005) Evidence-based medicine : how to practice and teach EBM . 3rd ed. Edinburgh ;: Elsevier/Churchill Livingstone.

Filtered and unfiltered information

The 4s's: Studies (unfiltered information), and Syntheses, Synopses, and Summaries (filtered information)

Filtered Information

Filtered information, in this context, is pre-appraised evidence.

To get filtered or “secondary” information, evidence from our primary literature is synthesized and evaluated. Those processes of evaluation, synthesizing data, and synopses take time and a lot work.

Filtered literature will often provide a more definitive answer than individual research reports.

Sources containing filtered information
Based on analysis of synopses	Summaries and systems: Point-of-care tools
Based on analysis of syntheses	Synopses: Clinical practice guidelines, evidence-based textbooks.
Based on analysis of original research studies	Syntheses: systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and literature and scoping reviews.

Unfiltered Information

Unfiltered information includes original research studies that have not yet been synthesized or aggregated. As such, they can be more difficult to read, interpret, and apply to practice.

Unfiltered does NOT mean that the research has not been peer-reviewed. This term refers to study design, not quality.

Studies, original research
	Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs):
	Cohort studies: Prospective and retrospective cohort studies.
	Case-controlled studies: case reports and case series
	Laboratory studies: in-vitro trials

Evidence-based medicine centres

CEBM: The Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine
Oxford University's CEBM (UK) was established to promote excellence in the research and practice of evidence-based health care.
Health Evidence
McMaster University's Health Evidence initiative strives to make evidence easily accessible while developing organizational and individual capacity for evidence-informed public health decision making.
IC-EBM: The International Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine
IC-EBM (Canada) is a registered and established, national not-for-profit physician organization, dedicated to educating and informing health care providers on best patient-oriented medical practice and promoting the highest quality of patient care, using best evidence.