Evidence-based practice has become a central part of physiotherapy today, but it is still an area which is constantly expanding and being updated. Written by an international team of experts, this second edition continues to outline the basic definitions of evidence-based practice and clinical reasoning, while detailing how to find and critically appraise evidence and clinical practice guidelines and the steps to follow in the implementation and evaluation of evidence.
For those struggling to understand both the concepts and how to implement them, this book will prove to be an invaluable and practical guide.
New to this edition
- Chapter asking the question: When and how should new therapies be introduced into clinical practice?
- Search strategies
- Evaluating quality of interventions
- Placebo effects
- Meta-regression
Key Features
- Considers how both quantitative and qualitative research can be used to answer clinical questions
- Written for readers with different levels of expertise
- Highlighted critical points and text box summaries (basic)
- Detailed explanations in text (intermediate)
- Footnotes (advanced)
- Presents detailed strategies for searching physiotherapy-relevant databases
- Extensive consideration of clinical practice guidelines
Author Information
By Robert Herbert, BAppSc, MAppSc, PhD, Senior Principal Research Fellow, Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, Australia; Gro Jamtvedt, PT, PRH, Director, Department of Knowledge Support, Norwegian Directorate for Health and Social Affairs, Oslo, Norway; Kåre Birger Hagen, PT, PhD, Director, Department of Knowledge Support, Norwegian Directorate for Health and Social Affairs, Oslo, Norway; Judy Mead, MCSP, Head of Clinical Effectiveness, The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, London, UK and Sir Iain Chalmers, Editor
Foreword by Sir Iain Chalmers
Preface to the first edition
Preface to the second edition
Chapter 1 Evidence-based physiotherapy: what, why and how?
What is ‘evidence-based physiotherapy?
Why is evidence-based physiotherapy important?
History of evidence-based health care
How will this book help you to practise evidence-based physiotherapy?
Chapter 2 What do I need to know?
Relevant clinical questions
Refining your question
Chapter 3 What constitutes evidence?
What constitutes evidence about effects of interventions?
What constitutes evidence about experiences?
What constitutes evidence about prognosis?
What constitutes evidence about the accuracy of diagnostic and screening tests?
Chapter 4 Finding the evidence
Search strategies
Finding evidence of effects of interventions
Finding evidence of prognosis and diagnostic tests
Finding evidence of experiences
Getting full text
Finding evidence of advances in clinical practice (browsing)
Chapter 5 Can I trust this evidence?
A process for critical appraisal of evidence
Critical appraisal of evidence about the effects of intervention
Critical appraisal of evidence about experiences
Critical appraisal of evidence about prognosis
Critical appraisal of evidence about diagnostic tests
Chapter 6 What does this evidence mean for my practice?
What does this randomized trial mean for my practice?
What does this systematic review of effects of intervention mean for my practice?
What does this study of experiences mean for my practice?
What does this study of prognosis mean for my practice?
What does this study of the accuracy of a diagnostic test mean for my practice?
Chapter 7 Clinical guidelines as a resource for evidence-based physiotherapy
What are clinical guidelines?
History of clinical guidelines and why they are important
Where can I find clinical guidelines?
How do I know if I can trust the recommendations in a clinical guideline?
Chapter 8 When and how should new therapies be introduced into clinical practice?
The life cycle of a medical innovation
A case study
Proposal for a protocol for introduction of new therapies
Anticipation of some objections
Chapter 9 Making it happen
What do we mean by ‘making it happen?
Changing is hard
Evidence-based implementation
Evidence-based physiotherapy in the context of continuous quality improvement
Chapter 10 Am I on the right track?
Assessing patient outcomes: clinical measurement
Assessing the process of care: audit
Concluding comment
Index
"This textbook offers a succinct and well organised introduction to what ia evidence-based practice, how to recognise it in the research cohort, how to search for it in the many research databases available and how to use evidence to guide clinical practice. The book is specifically aimed towards musculo-skeletal practice. This should not put off others with an interest in evidence-based practice and research as, at its core, the information can be applied across the field of all clinical practice."
Posture and Mobility, January 2013
