Providing the best available evidence

Randomised controlled trials – almost the best available evidence for practice

1990). It includes random sampling, random assignment of patients to groups and testing for significant differences. It often involves testing hypotheses, it is very structured and uses numbers to present results. Research experiments are one type of quantitative research and are characterised by the researcher, systematically and rigorously studying cause-and-effect relationships between varia...

Best Available Evidence in Cochrane Reviews on Herbal Medicine?

Cochrane reviews are considered by many to be the "gold standard" or the final word in medical conversation on a topic. We explored the eleven most relevant Cochrane reviews on herbal medicine and identified that frequently herbal medicines in the included studies had not been sufficiently well characterised. If data on the effects of the plant parts are unavailable, effects of co-active ingred...

Designing Educational Content Based on Best Available Current Evidence.

This article, the fourth part of the educational design series, addresses how nursing professional development practitioners can meet educational design criterion 4 in the American Nurses Credentialing Center primary accreditation process and standards 4 and 5 in the Association for Nursing Professional Development Nursing Professional Development: Scope and Standards of Practice. J Contin Educ...

Treatment of inflammatory bowel disease in childhood: best available evidence.

The physician treating children with inflammatory bowel disease is confronted with a number of specific problems, one of them being the lack of randomized, controlled drug trials in children. In this review, the role of nutritional therapy is discussed with a focus on primary treatment, especially for children with Crohn's disease. Then, the available medical therapies are highlighted, reviewin...

The best evidence topic report: a modified CAT for summarising the available evidence in emergency medicine.