A review on evidence-based medicine

Physicians’ daily need for valid information about diseases, their limited time for finding this information, the inadequacy of traditional sources (E.g. textbooks) to address this matter, the disparity between physicians diagnostic skills and clinical judgment (Which increase with experience) and their up to date knowledge and clinical performance (Which decline by time), as well as dramatic development in the field of information technology that provides easy access to an uncountable number of data resources, all have resulted in the consideration of evidence-based medicine (EBM) as an appropriate approach to solve these problems. EBM is defined as: “The conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making clinical decisions about the care of individual patients”. The full-blown practice of EBM comprises five steps: Step 1) Asking a well-built clinical question; step 2) Tracking down the best evidence which answer that question; step 3) Critically appraising that evidence for its validity, importance, and applicability; step 4) Integrating the critical appraisal with the clinical expertise and with the patients unique values and circumstances; and step 5) Evaluating our effectiveness and efficiency in executing steps 1-4 and seeking ways to improve them for next time.