BIO 114M: EBP

There are many different types of publications in journals and databases besides research articles. And there are many different types of research methodologies. 

• Case study
  A publication that describes a single person, group, situation, or event.
• Review article
  Article or publication which provides an overview or summary of a specific topic by examining the published literature on the topic. See the Literature Reviews LibGuide for different styles and types of reviews.
• Critical appraisal
  A short summary of a specific topic from the literature, created to answer a specific clinical question.
• Cohort study
  Study in which a defined population is followed over a long period of time to compare one or more variables' correlation to the outcome of interest. An example would be to look at ISU college freshmen and follow them over time, looking at specific variables or interventions and their resulting effect.
• Case-control study
  Study which compares a group of research subjects with the outcome of interest to an appropriate control group without the outcome of interest. The proportion of each group having a history of one or more particular attributes or variables of interest is then compared. A case-control study looks at a population now and then examines its history to look at the presence (or not) of variables of interest by comparing to the control group.
• Guideline
  Practice guidelines are statements or other indications of policy or procedure for standards of care or practice based upon the best available level of evidence. Health fields often refer to "clinical practice guidelines." Guidelines are often created by an expert consensus group based on rigorous analysis of existing evidence.
• Integrative Review
  An integrative review is a summary that draws conclusions from many research studies. Another term for an evidence summary. See The integrative review: updated methodology.
• Randomized controlled clinical trial (RCT) 
  Study in which the research subjects are randomly divided into an experimental and a control group. The experimental group is exposed to the variable of interest and the control group is not. The results are compared.
• Review
  Summary or overview of a topic that does not necessarily include all research studies and does not necessarily use a systematic method to collect the research studies.
• Systematic Review
  A study which uses rigorous, standardized methods for selecting and assessing all relevant research studies on a specific topic.  A systematic review does not include a quantitative summary of the results.
• Meta-analysis
  A systematic study which uses rigorous, standardized methods to identify and evaluate all relevant prior studies on a specified topic according to a predetermined and explicit method. A statistical aggregation and analysis is then performed to combine the results of these studies to determine whether significant trends can be found. A meta-analysis includes a quantitative summary of the results.
• Qualitative Meta-Synthesis
  A review of studies that combines a number of qualitative studies based on a preestablished set of selection criteria and systematic appraisal of study quality.

What do healthcare professionals do when confronted by various experts who all proclaim different recommendations for best health? They rely on levels of evidence as defined by evidence-based practice (EBP) or evidence-based medicine (EBM). Some types of research provide better evidence for what is true than other types. With Level 1 being the best evidence, the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine sets the various levels below.

Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine : Levels of Evidence

Level 1     Systematic reviews or meta-analyses
Level 2     Randomized controlled trials
Level 3     a. Cohort studies (with control group)
                  b. Case-controlled 
                  c. Observational studies (without control group)
Level 4     Expert opinion, physiology bench research, or consensus

Adopted from EBM Pyramid and EBM Page Generator, copyright 2006 Trustees of Dartmouth College and Yale University. All Rights Reserved. 
Produced by Jan Glover, David Izzo, Karen Odato and Lei Wang.   

Finding research articles in CINAHL. 

1. For general research articles, after searching for your topic...
2. Click "Search options" on the left side of the screen.
3. In the "Publication Type" box, select "Research"
4. Click Search.

Finding quantitative research articles in CINAHL.      

1. Click "CINAHL Headings" at the top of the screen. 
2. Type: QUANTITATIVE. 
3. Click Browse.
4. Check box in front of "Quantitative Studies."
5. Click "Search Database."

Finding qualitative research articles in CINAHL.      

1. Click: “CINAHL Headings” at the top of the screen 
2. Type: QUALITATIVE. 
3. Click Browse.
4. Click the words "Qualitative Studies". A new webpage opens showing the Subjects Hierarchy.
5. Check box in front of "Qualitative Studies". Also check the box under Explode.
6. Click "Search Database" on the right.

Below are some strategies to find specific types of EBP publications within the health science databases.

DO ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING, AS APPROPRIATE
Check the box beside Evidence-Based Practice.
Select the Special Interest Group of Evidence-Based Practice.
Select a Publication Type of Systematic Review.
Select a Publication Type of Meta-Analysis.
Select a Publication Type of Meta-Synthesis.
Select a Publication Type of Practice Guidelines.
Select a Publication Type of Randomized Controlled Trials.

DO ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING, AS APPROPRIATE
Check the box beside EBM Reviews.
Select the Subject Subset of Systematic Reviews.
Select a Publication Type of Guideline.
Select a Publication Type of Meta-Analysis.
Select a Publication Type of Practice Guideline.
Select a Publication Type of Randomized Controlled Trial.