caa a22 4500 39749873X CHVBK 20180308164527.0 cr unu---uuuuu 161202e199503 xx s 000 0 eng 10.1093/fampra/12.1.98 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)oxford-10.1093/fampra/12.1.98 MacAuley Domhnall Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, The Queen's University of Belfast, Mulhouse Building, Royal Victoria Hospital, Grosvenor Road, Belfast BT12, UK Critical appraisal of medical literature: an aid to rational decision making [Elektronische Daten] [Domhnall MacAuley] Clinical decisions should be based on evidence. This paper explores the skills necessary to read critically and evaluate medical literature, and in particular discusses how to appraise a study from a general practice perspective. It outlines the different types of study used in medical literature and the weight that should be attributed to each. The anatomy of a research paper is described indicating the important features to be found in each section of a study; the Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion and Conclusion (IMRAD) and the essential components, possible problems, and sources of bias that may be found in each section. The need for close examination of the methodology is emphasised, as this determines the quality of the study, with sufficient detail provided in the methods section that the study could be replicated. Sampling and bias are explored in detail and the important features of a measuring instrument are described. Response rates, confounding factors and the use of statistics are also highlighted. The study upon which the research paper is based is usually the best that was possible within resource limitations and, while the evidence should be appraised objectively, the quality of the study should be seen within the context of these limitations. © Oxford University Press Research matters nationallicence Family Practice Oxford University Press 12/1(1995-03), 98-103 0263-2136 12:1<98 1995 12 famprj https://doi.org/10.1093/fampra/12.1.98 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1093/fampra/12.1.98 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 100 1- MacAuley Domhnall Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, The Queen's University of Belfast, Mulhouse Building, Royal Victoria Hospital, Grosvenor Road, Belfast BT12, UK NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Family Practice Oxford University Press 12/1(1995-03), 98-103 0263-2136 12:1<98 1995 12 famprj Metadata rights reserved CC BY-NC-4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0 nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-oxford