PubMed Tutorial
Welcome to the PubMed Tutorial. This course is designed for new and experienced users of PubMed®, the National Library of Medicine (NLM®) journal literature search system.
By the end of this course, you should be able to:
- Understand PubMed’s scope and content.
- Understand how the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) are used to describe and retrieve citations.
- Build a search using MeSH and PubMed search tools (Details, Filters, History, Search Builder, etc.)
- Manage your results using display, sort, the Clipboard, save, print, e-mail and order features and My NCBI filters.
- Save your search strategies.
- Link to full-text articles and other resources.
- Use special queries and other PubMed/NCBI tools.
- Source: nih.gov
- Pharmacy Resource: Tutorial
- Register to Access Content: No
Evidence-Based Answers to Clinical Questions for Busy Clinicians
This workbook aims to help you to find the best available evidence to answer your clinical questions, in the shortest possible time. It will introduce the principles of evidence-based practice and provide a foundation of understanding and skills in:
- Developing questions that are answerable from the literature
- Searching for and identifying evidence to answer your question
- Appraising the evidence identified for quality, reliability, accuracy and relevance
- Source: monashhealth.org
- Pharmacy Resource: Workbook
- Register to Access Content: No
How to read a paper
Getting your bearings (deciding what the paper is about)
Assessing the methodological quality of published papers
Statistics for the non-statistician. I: Different types of data need different statistical tests
Statistics for the non-statistician. II: “Significant” relations and their pitfalls
Papers that report drug trials
Papers that report diagnostic or screening tests
Papers that tell you what things cost (economic analyses)
Papers that summarise other papers (systematic reviews and meta-analyses)
Papers that go beyond numbers (qualitative research)
- Source: europepmc.org
- Pharmacy Resource: Journal Articles
- Register to Access Content: No
Some students had asked for guidance on what’s the best way to read papers. I’m sure there are many ways. This is just one. We’ll use a classic paper which demonizes coffee as an example.
The second video on how to read a paper.
- Source: youtube.com
- Pharmacy Resource: Videos
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Evidence-Based Practice: An Interprofessional Tutorial
The advanced tutorial is a more comprehensive, in-depth lesson on evidence-based practice, and contains case descriptions for dentistry, nursing, medicine, occupational therapy, pharmacy, physical therapy, public health, and veterinary medicine.
At the end of this tutorial, you will be able to:
- Identify the five steps of Evidence-Based Practice.
- Formulate a well-built question using the four components of PICO.
- Describe and use relevant evidence-based resources.
- Critically appraise information and apply evidence related to questions.
- Re-evaluate the evidence for effectiveness and efficacy as related to your patient.
- Source: umn.edu
- Pharmacy Resource: Tutorial
- Register to Access Content: No
Evidence Based Medicine Toolkit
“This is a collection of tools for identifying, assessing and applying relevant evidence for better health care decision-making. The appraisal tools are adapted from the Users’ Guides series prepared by the Evidence Based Medicine Working Group and originally published in JAMA”
- Source: ualberta.ca
- Pharmacy Resource: Toolkit
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Smart Health Choices
Making sense of health advice
Professor Les Irwig, Judy Irwig, Dr Lyndal Trevena and Melissa Sweet
This book will help you to evaluate the potential benefits and
harms of various therapies, whether they are part of western
medicine or a traditional or complementary practice. When making
smart health choices, you should bear in mind what we don’t know
as well as what we do know about the pros and cons associated with
use.
This book aims to help consumers and practitioners develop the
skills to assess health advice – and hopefully to make decisions that
will improve the quality of their care.
The book is based on the philosophy that consumers have a
right to develop a health partnership with their practitioner, so that
all decisions take account of their personal preferences, as well as
being based on accurate information about the beneficial and
harmful effects of interventions.
- Source: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Pharmacy Resource: Book
- Register to Access Content: No
Introduction to Evidence-Based Practice
This tutorial is intended for any health care practitioner or student who needs a basic introduction to the principles of Evidence-Based Practice. Upon completion of this self-paced tutorial, you will be able to:
- define Evidence-Based Practice (EBP)
- identify the parts of a well-built clinical question
- identify searching strategies that could improve PubMed searching
- identify key critical appraisal issues that help determine the validity of a study
- Source: duke.edu
- Pharmacy Resource: Tutorial
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Finding and Appraising the Evidence
These modules take you through the process of how to find the evidence and then how to assess the validity and reliability of the published research in order to provide effective and efficient healthcare. The course is made up of 6 modules:
- Overall introduction to critical appraisal
- Finding the evidence
- Randomised controlled trials
- Systematic reviews
- Economic evaluations
- Making sense of results
- Source: healthknowledge.org.uk
- Pharmacy Resource: Modules
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Evidence-Based Medicine in Pharmacy Practice
Pharmacists should be well versed in EBM, so they may answer clinical questions with accuracy. EBM also allows the pharmacist to better scrutinize physician orders so as to identify a more suitable medication or a less expensive alternative.
- Source: uspharmacist.com
- Pharmacy Resource: Journal Article
- Register to Access Content: No
Series on Finding Evidence and Putting It into Practice
Keeping Up with the Medical Literature: How to Set Up a System
The best way to keep up with the medical literature is to set up a system that delivers valid, relevant information while filtering out extraneous information. Useful information is patient-oriented, practical, and innovative. Good information systems are available that are inexpensive and easy to use.
How to Find Answers to Clinical Questions
Many barriers exist to finding answers to physicians’ clinical questions. Lack of time, resources, and computer skills, as well as physicians’ environment and attitudes about problem solving, all contribute to unanswered questions. Making use of computer-based information resources can give physicians a framework for answering questions and keeping their practice consistent with the best available evidence.
Diagnosis: Making the Best Use of Medical Data
To take the best possible care of patients, physicians must understand the basic principles of diagnostic test interpretation. Pretest probability is an important factor in interpreting test results. Some tests are useful for ruling in disease when positive or ruling out disease when negative, but not necessarily both. Many tests are of little value for diagnosing disease, and tests should be ordered only when the results are likely to lead to improved patient-oriented outcomes.
Evaluating and Understanding Articles About Treatment
Each year physicians must decide which of the thousands of newly published articles they will take time to read. To determine which articles are the most clinically useful, physicians should assess their relevance, validity, and clinical importance. Using these criteria can drastically decrease the number of articles physicians need to read.
Finding High-Quality Review Articles
A wide array of resources summarizing medical information are available, and physicians must carefully choose the most trustworthy sources. Treatment decisions should be based on the best available evidence, which should be carefully critiqued for both relevance and validity. Paying particular attention to sources that use the Strength of Recommendation Taxonomy can help guide busy physicians to the most useful information sources.
Identifying and Using Good Practice Guidelines
Performance measurement and payment are increasingly linked to goals established by practice guidelines. The best guidelines are based on systematic reviews and patient-oriented evidence, use an evidence-rating system such as the Strength of Recommendation Taxonomy, and are prospectively validated. The guidelines also should have a transparent development process, identify potential conflicts of interest, and offer flexibility in various clinical situations.
- Source: aafp.org
- Pharmacy Resource: Journal Articles
- Register to Access Content: No
Understanding trials and meta-analyses
Calculations and statistical stuff
Guidelines
Health economics
- Source: bandolier.org.uk
- Pharmacy Resource: Various
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EBM Glossary
On this page are links to definitions for the jargon words often used in medicine and the numbers and statistics used to describe it. The glossary includes terms used in epidemiology, in clinical trials, in diagnosis, in statistics, and in health economics.
For many of these terms, a simple description is all that is needed, but for others, a wider discussion may be necessary. In that case, there will be a further link to a page with that wider description and/or definition.
- Source: bandolier.org.uk
- Pharmacy Resource: Glossary
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Evidence-Based Medicine Definitions
Following are some basic definitions of important Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) concepts that will help you develop your understanding of the language and methodology of EBM.
- Source: nyu.edu
- Pharmacy Resource: Definitions
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EBM Tutorial: Number Needed to Treat (NNT) and Number Needed to Harm (NNH)
In this introductory tutorial from iForumRx.org, we explain number needed to treat (NNT) and number needed to harm (NNH) – two simple statistical tools to improve clinical decision making.
- Source: iForumRx.org
- Pharmacy Resource: Video
- Register to Access Content: No
Case-Control Studies
A tutorial regarding case-control study designs. These studies are used to evaluate the risk of disease or relatively rare adverse events.
- Source: iForumRx.org
- Pharmacy Resource: Video
- Register to Access Content: No
Epidemiological Studies – made easy!
This video gives a simple overview of the most common types of epidemiological studies, their advantages and disadvantages. These include ecological, case-series, case control, cohort and interventional studies. It also looks at systematic reviews and meta-analysis.
- Source: youtube.com
- Pharmacy Resource: Video
- Register to Access Content: No
Jargon in Research
This article is designed to save time and give a basic introduction to terms commonly used in research papers.
- Source: ncor.org.uk
- Pharmacy Resource: Article
- Register to Access Content: No
Making Sense of Statistics
This guide is not a lesson in statistics. It provides the questions to ask and identifies the pitfalls to avoid to help us get behind news stories that use statistics.
- Source: senseaboutscience.org
- Pharmacy Resource: Publication
- Register to Access Content: No
Beyond critical appraisal
A key foundation of evidence-based medicine (EBM) is that clinicians with appropriate training can critically appraise research papers. Techniques of critical appraisal are taught to students and have been explained in several publications.
- Source: nps.org.au
- Pharmacy Resource: Journal Article
- Register to Access Content: No
EBM Tools
EBM tools for the five stages of Evidence-Based Medicine
Asking Focused Questions
Finding the Evidence
Critical Appraisal tools
Making a Decision
Study Designs
Number Needed to Treat (NNT)
Likelihood Ratios
- Source: cebm.net
- Pharmacy Resource: Tools
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Critical Appraisal Checklists
This set of eight critical appraisal tools are designed to be used when reading research, these include tools for Systematic Reviews, Randomised Controlled Trials, Cohort Studies, Case Control Studies, Economic Evaluations, Diagnostic Studies, Qualitative studies and Clinical Prediction Rule.
- Source: casp-uk.net
- Pharmacy Resource: Checklists
- Register to Access Content: No
Critical appraisal of a journal article
Critical appraisal is the process of carefully and systematically examining research to judge its trustworthiness, and its value and relevance in a particular context.
- Source: ucl.ac.uk
- Pharmacy Resource: Guide / Leaflet
- Register to Access Content: No
EBM Primers
Apply the theory and understanding of Evidence-Based Medicine into effective clinical practice through the use of these brief primers.
- Source: umassmed.edu
- Pharmacy Resource: Brief Primers
- Register to Access Content: No
Evidence Based Drug Therapy – What Do the Numbers Mean?
- Source: ti.ubc.ca
- Pharmacy Resource: Evidence Based Therapeutics Letter
- Register to Access Content: No
The University of Nottingham
Subject Resources: EBP
Listed below are Reusable Learning Objects (RLOs) developed by the School of Nursing in the subject area of EBP.
RLOs are small, ‘bite-sized’ chunks of e-learning focussing on a particular narrow topic, containing typically 15-30 minutes of learning material.
EBP RLOs
Asking the right question
Cohort and case-controlled studies
Confidence intervals
Descriptive statistics for interval and ratio scale data
Determining the clinical importance of trial results
How to conduct a literature search
Levels of Measurement
Levels of Measurement: what you can and can’t do arithmetically
Meta-analysis
Numbers needed to treat and numbers needed to harm
Positive and negative predictive value of diagnostic tests
Presenting and interpreting meta-analyses
Probability associated with inferential statistics
Qualitative and quantitative research
Qualitative Data Analysis
Referencing Books using Harvard
Referencing Journals using Harvard
Relative risk reduction and absolute risk reduction
Search strategy for locating Randomised Controlled Trials
Sensitivity and Specificity
SI Units and calculating unit changes
Steps in conducting a systematic review
Surrogate Outcomes
Types of qualitative research
Using databases to find journal articles
What are Journals?
What is a randomised controlled trial?
What is Evidence Based Practice?
Why critique research?
- Source: nottingham.ac.uk
- Pharmacy Resource: CE / CPD / Learning
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Statistical methods for practitioners
Welcome to our course on medical statistics. This course will cover basic statistical methods.
Learning objectives: This course will cover:
- Summarising binary data
- Summarising quantitative data
- Standard errors & confidence intervals
- Significance testing & type I and type II errors
- Displaying data
- Source: healthknowledge.org.uk
- Pharmacy Resource: Course
- Register to Access Content: No
Statistical methods for specialists
Welcome to our course on medical statistics, which will cover advanced statistical methods.
Learning objectives: This course will cover:
- Diagnostic tests
- Regression analysis and correlation
- Logistic regression
- Survival analysis
- Source: healthknowledge.org.uk
- Pharmacy Resource: Course
- Register to Access Content: No
The interpretation of clinical trials
Clinical trials are the foundations of evidence-based treatments. Trials must be critically appraised to confirm the validity of conclusions. Further analysis is required to show if the results from the trial, where patients are carefully selected and followed up in detail, can be extrapolated to other patients and different settings. Data from additional sources including other trials, meta-analyses, practice guidelines, trusted opinions and clinical experiences modify prescribing practices.
- Source: nps.org.au
- Pharmacy Resource: Journal Article
- Register to Access Content: No
Meta-analysis, collaborative overview, systematic review: what does it all mean?
Bringing together the evidence from randomised controlled trials is increasingly common. Depending on the techniques used, the process might be called a systematic review, meta-analysis or collaborative overview. All relevant trials are identified and those of a satisfactory standard are reviewed. In a meta-analysis, each trial is assessed separately and the summary statistics are then combined to give an overall result. Neither meta-analyses nor systematic reviews are a substitute for prospective clinical trials, rather, they are a complement to them.
- Source: nps.org.au
- Pharmacy Resource: Journal Article
- Register to Access Content: No
Making Informed Decisions: Assessing the Strengths and Weaknesses of Study Designs and Analytic Methods for Comparative Effectiveness Research
The purpose of this document is to provide brief descriptions of both experimental and nonexperimental study designs and methods that may be used to address CER study questions. Each design or analytic topic is described, along with the strengths and limitations associated with the approach. Examples are provided to demonstrate the use of the described methods in the literature.
This document is organized into four sections: experimental study designs; experimental methods; nonexperimental study designs; and nonexperimental methods.
- Source: npcnow.org
- Pharmacy Resource: Publication
- Register to Access Content: No
PRISMA
PRISMA is an evidence-based minimum set of items for reporting in systematic reviews and meta-analyses. PRISMA focuses on the reporting of reviews evaluating randomized trials, but can also be used as a basis for reporting systematic reviews of other types of research, particularly evaluations of interventions.
- Source: prisma-statement.org
- Pharmacy Resource: Statement and Checklist
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The CONSORT Statement
CONSORT stands for Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials and encompasses various initiatives developed by the CONSORT Group to alleviate the problems arising from inadequate reporting of randomized controlled trials.
The checklist includes the 25 items selected because empirical evidence indicates that not reporting the information is associated with biased estimates of treatment effect, or because the information is essential to judge the reliability or relevance of the findings.
- Source: consort-statement.org
- Pharmacy Resource: Statement and Checklist
- Register to Access Content: No
Risk and How to use a Risk Matrix
In this video we will take a look at what risk is and how to use a simple risk matrix.
- Source: youtube.com
- Pharmacy Resource: Journal Article
- Register to Access Content: No
Interpreting risks and ratios in therapy trials
To appreciate the significance of clinical trial results, clinicians need to understand the mathematical language used to describe treatment effects.
- Source: nps.org.au
- Pharmacy Resource: Journal Article
- Register to Access Content: No
What’s the difference between risks and odds?
Odds are… different from risks! To understand odds ratios, we first need to tease out what is meant by odds (for those who are not already familiar with placing bets at the race track).
To recap from last month, risks measure the number of events as a proportion of the total – if ten out of total 100 suffer a bad event the risk is 1/10 – while odds compare the number of events to the number free from an event, so would be 10/90 or 1/9.
- Source: nntonline.net
- Pharmacy Resource: Articles
- Register to Access Content: No
P-Values: What Are They?
P-values are commonly included in the results sections of randomised controlled trials (RCTs), but what is a p-value and how should it be interpreted?
- Source: bjpcn-respiratory.com
- Pharmacy Resource: Journal Article
- Register to Access Content: Yes – registration is FREE
Meta-analysis: Its strengths and limitations
This article introduces the basic concepts of meta-analysis and discusses its caveats, with the aim of helping clinicians assess the merits of the results. We will use several recent meta-analyses to illustrate the issues, including a controversial one with potentially far-reaching consequences.
- Source: ccjm.org
- Pharmacy Resource: Journal Article
- Register to Access Content: Yes – registration is FREE
Evidence-informed decision-making
Supporting healthcare individuals
EIDM1 – Overview
EIDM2 – Dealing with information overload
EIDM3 – How individuals make decisions
EIDM4 – Shared decision making with patients
- Source: webarchive.org.uk
- Pharmacy Resource: e-Learning
- Register to Access Content: No
Tips and tricks in performing a systematic review
Why do, and what to do when starting a systematic review
Preliminary evidence gathering: snowballing and reverse snowballing
Reference management and identifying search terms and keywords
Building a PICO search strategy
- Source: nih.gov
- Pharmacy Resource: Journal Articles
- Register to Access Content: No
Publication Bias: A Brief Review for Clinicians
In this review we define publication bias, how it affects the results of systematic reviews, how it can be detected and minimized, and how it can be prevented.
- Source: mayoclinicproceedings.org
- Pharmacy Resource: Journal Article
- Register to Access Content: No
Bias is Bad
In this Sketchy EBM episode we look at the definition of bias. Two examples are used.
- Source: youtube.com
- Pharmacy Resource: Video
- Register to Access Content: No
Pharmacy Resources Last Checked: 28/09/2021