Finding articles is one thing, reading them and deciding whether the evidence is strong enough is quite another. Here are a few resources that might help: Books, Web Resources (including checklists), Online Training.

Books

general titles…..includes:

• How to read a paper : the basics of evidence-based medicine / Trisha Greenhalgh.
• How to read a paper the basics of evidence-based medicine / Trisha Greenhalgh. [electronic resource]
• Searching skills toolkit : finding the evidence / by Caroline De Brún, Nicola Pearce-Smith
• The pocket guide to critical appraisal : a handbook for health care professionals / by Iain K. Crombie.
• Critical reading : making sense of research papers in life sciences and medicine / Ben Yudkin.

specific types of study…….. includes:

• Critical appraisal of epidemiological studies and clinical trials / J. Mark Elwood.

from a subject specific perspective………includes:

• Critical reading for primary care / edited by Roger Jones and Ann-Louise Kinmonth.

• Critical appraisal for psychiatry / Stephen Lawrie, Andrew M. McIntosh, Sanjay Rao.
• Nursing research : methods and critical appraisal for evidence-based practice / [edited by] Geri LoBiondo-Wood, Judith Haber.
• Essentials of nursing research : appraising evidence for nursing practice / Denise F. Polit, Cheryl Tatano Beck.

relating to medical statistics……..includes: (more titles are available around WA 950)

• Know your chances: understanding health statistics / Stephen Woloshin, Lisa M. Schwartz and H. Gilbert Welch (online resource).
• A-Z of medical statistics : a companion for critical appraisal / Filomena Pereira-Maxwell.
• Medical statistics : a guide to SPSS, data analysis and critical appraisal / Jennifer Peat, Belinda Barton.
• Oxford handbook of medical statistics / Janet L. Peacock, Philip J. Peacock.
• Statistics toolkit / Rafael Perera, Carl Heneghan, Douglas Badenoch.
• Statistics at square one. / Campbell, Michael J., PhD
• Medical statistics at a glance / Aviva Petrie, Caroline Sabin.
• 5 Tips For Avoiding P-Value Potholes / by Hilda Bastian in Evidence, Listicles, Science Communication

Web Resources & Checklists

• CASP – Critical Appraisal Skills Programme contains links to the famous CASP checklists for reading reviews, RCTs, qualitative studies etc.
• Centre for Evidence Based Medicine: tools and downloads for Critical Appraisal
• SIGN (Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network) Critical Appraisal Notes and Checklists
• Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal checklists
• AACODS checklist for appraising grey literature
• “How to read a paper” series in the BMJ online version of Trish Greenhalgh’s seminal book
• Testing Treatments – Promoting critical thinking about treatment claims
• Understanding Health Research – a tool for making sense of health studies
• Downs and Black, The feasibility of creating a checklist for the assessment of the methodological quality both of randomised and non-randomised studies of health care interventions – Includes a downloadable quality assessment tool that works for multiple types of study

Online Training

• Finding and Appraising the Evidence – by Amanda Burls and Anne Brice online training resources from HealthKnowledge
• BestBETs Critical Appraisals – test yourself by reading the same articles, and checking whether your appraisal matches theirs.
• BMJ Learning – Evidence Based Medicine: a users’ guide-After completing this module you should be able to:
  • Outline the reasons for evidence based practice
  • Begin to answer your own clinical questions
  • Understand the concept of “number needed to treat.”
• BMJ Learning – Understanding Statisitics-This learning module should help you understand:
  • That the same trial results can be presented in different ways
  • The strengths and weaknesses of using ratios and differences to describe results
  • How to calculate a number needed to treat (NNT) from published papers.
• BMJ Learning – Understanding statistics: tips for hospital doctors-This learning module should help you understand:
  • That the same trial results can be presented in different ways
  • The strengths and weaknesses of using ratios and differences to describe results
  • How to calculate a number needed to treat (NNT) from published papers.
• BMJ Learning – Understanding statistics 2: is there a significant difference?– This module should help you to:
  • Appreciate when the results of a trial are statistically significant
  • Understand the difference between P values and confidence intervals
  • Determine whether an important difference has been excluded between the treatment and control arms of a trial.

   

Please note: the BMJ Learning modules require a BMJ Learning subscription – you cannot access them via Raven or NHS Athens.