Managing evidence-based knowledge: the need for reliable, relevant and readable resources

Sharon Straus,R. Bryan Haynes
Canadian Medical Association CMAJ • April 28, 2009; 180 (9).
http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/reprint/180/9/942
“……Nowadays few would argue against the need to base clinical decisions on the best available evidence. In practice, however, clinicians face serious challenges when they seek such evidence.
Research-based evidence is generated at an exponential rate, yet it is not readily available to clinicians. When it is available, it is applied infrequently. A systematic review 1 of studies examining the information-seeking behaviour of physicians found that the information resource most often consulted by physicians is textbooks, followed by advice from colleagues. The textbooks we consult are frequently out of date, 2 and the advice we receive from colleagues is often inaccurate. 3 Also, nurses and other health care professionals refer only infrequently to evidence from systematic reviews in clinical decision-making.”  [posted on PAHO/WHO Equity Listserv]

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