How to Read a Paper · the Basics of Evidence-Based Medicine by Greenhalgh, Trisha -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Title Page Copyright Dedication Foreword to the first edition by Professor Sir David Weatherall Preface to the first edition: do you need to read this book? Preface to the fifth edition Acknowledgements Chapter 1: Why read papers at all?

Chapter 2: Searching the literature

What are you looking for? Levels upon levels of evidence Synthesised sources: systems, summaries and syntheses Pre-appraised sources: synopses of systematic reviews and primary studies Specialised resources Primary studies—tackling the jungle One-stop shopping: federated search engines Asking for help and asking around Online tutorials for effective searching References

Chapter 3: Getting your bearings: what is this paper about?

The science of ‘trashing’ papers Three preliminary questions to get your bearings Randomised controlled trials Cohort studies Case–control studies Cross-sectional surveys Case reports The traditional hierarchy of evidence A note on ethical considerations References

Chapter 4: Assessing methodological quality

Was the study original? Whom is the study about? Was the design of the study sensible? Was systematic bias avoided or minimised? Was assessment ‘blind’? Were preliminary statistical questions addressed? Summing up References

Chapter 5: Statistics for the non-statistician

How can non-statisticians evaluate statistical tests? Have the authors set the scene correctly? Paired data, tails and outliers Correlation, regression and causation Probability and confidence The bottom line Summary References

Chapter 6: Papers that report trials of drug treatments and other simple interventions

‘Evidence’ and marketing Making decisions about therapy Surrogate endpoints What information to expect in a paper describing a randomised controlled trial: the CONSORT statement Getting worthwhile evidence out of a pharmaceutical representative References

Chapter 7: Papers that report trials of complex interventions

Complex interventions Ten questions to ask about a paper describing a complex intervention References

Chapter 8: Papers that report diagnostic or screening tests

Ten men in the dock Validating diagnostic tests against a gold standard Ten questions to ask about a paper that claims to validate a diagnostic or screening test Likelihood ratios Clinical prediction rules References

Chapter 9: Papers that summarise other papers (systematic reviews and meta-analyses)

When is a review systematic? Evaluating systematic reviews Meta-analysis for the non-statistician Explaining heterogeneity New approaches to systematic review References

Chapter 10: Papers that tell you what to do (guidelines)

The great guidelines debate How can we help ensure that evidence-based guidelines are followed? Ten questions to ask about a clinical guideline References

Chapter 11: Papers that tell you what things cost (economic analyses)

What is economic analysis? Measuring costs and benefits of health interventions References

Chapter 12: Papers that go beyond numbers (qualitative research)

What is qualitative research? Evaluating papers that describe qualitative research References

Chapter 13: Papers that report questionnaire research

The rise and rise of questionnaire research Ten questions to ask about a paper describing a questionnaire study References

Chapter 14: Papers that report quality improvement case studies

Chapter 15: Getting evidence into practice

Chapter 16: Applying evidence with patients

The patient perspective PROMs Shared decision-making Option grids n of 1 trials and other individualised approaches References

Chapter 17: Criticisms of evidence-based medicine

What's wrong with EBM when it's done badly? What's wrong with EBM when it's done well? Why is ‘evidence-based policymaking’ so hard to achieve? References

Appendix 1: Checklists for finding, appraising and implementing evidence

Appendix 2: Assessing the effects of an intervention

Acknowledgement

Index