Applying research evidence to individual patients

BMJ 1998;316:1621-1622 ( 30 May )

Editorials

Applying research evidence to individual patients

Evidence based case reports will help

Clinical review p 1660

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

At the heart of clinical medicine is an unresolved conflict $---$ between the essentially case based nature of clinical practiceand the mainly population based nature of the research evidence.While clinicians are exhorted to use up to date research evidenceto give patients the best possible care, actually doing so inindividual patients is difficult. The reasons are well known.¹The research literature is poorly organised,² largely of poorquality and irrelevant to clinical practice,³ often conflicting,and often not there at all.⁴ The most valid and, at first sight,relevant information may be based on highly selected groups ofpatients bearing little resemblance to the patient in front ofyou. And statistical probabilities may mean little to you or yourpatient. Steering your way through the evidence jungle takes time,skill, and perseverance.

To help readers develop the increasingly necessary art of using research evidence in practice, the BMJ . . . [Full text of this article]

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