This is the second in a series of 34 blogs explaining 34 key concepts we need to be able to understand to think critically about treatment claims.
This blog explains that claims about the effects of a treatment may be misleading if they are based on stories about how a treatment helped individual people, or if those stories attribute improvements to treatments that have not been assessed in systematic reviews of fair comparisons.
Introducing a new series of 36 blogs from Students 4 Best Evidence. This series is based on a list of 36 ‘Key Concepts’ developed by an Informed Health Choices project team. These 36 ‘Key Concepts’ are things we need to understand to appraise treatment claims.
This blog is a critical appraisal of a randomized controlled trial which reported that noninvasive ventilation immediately after extubation improves weaning outcome after acute respiratory failure.
This blog is a critical appraisal of a randomised controlled trial comparing a tailored exercise programme with a general exercise programme for individuals with low back pain and movement control impairment.
This blog introduces the MiRoR project. It’s all about “Research on Research”: an emerging new scientific discipline that aims to reduce waste in research and increase research value.
This blog discusses fundamental issues affecting healthcare research, which could undermine the field and mean that most medical research may be wrong. Issues discussed include: 1) contradictory findings 2) the illusion of high impact factor journals 3) the reproducibility crisis 4) a lack of translation of research findings from bench to bedside 5) medical reversal 6) bias 7) statistical issues and 8) conflicts of interest and unethical practice. The author then explores possible solutions to these.
This blog is a critical appraisal of a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) investigating the influence of strength training on quality of life in ischemic stroke survivors.
This blog is a critical appraisal of the following study: Neuromuscular adaptations to long-term progressive resistance training translates to improved functional capacity for people with multiple sclerosis and is maintained at follow-up.
This blog is a critical appraisal of a systematic review exploring the benefits of early mobilisation following hip or knee replacement surgery.
This blog is a critical appraisal of a randomised controlled trial exploring the use of non-invasive ventilation as an adjunct to airway clearance treatments during an acute exacerbation of cystic fibrosis.
Since the beginning of their partnership, the media and medical research have endured a rocky relationship, with many questioning their current compatibility. But what does the future hold for these two?
‘Evidence-based practice’ is a commonly used phrase. But this blog asks the question: ‘just how much can we trust published scientific literature?’ with particular reference to the problems of publication bias and statistical approaches.
This blog discusses problems with peer review in research, and explores possible ways in which the modern peer review process could be improved.
This blog is a Portuguese translation of the blog ‘The bias of language’ by Katherine Stagg. Read the English version here. With thanks to Cochrane Brazil for the translation.
This blog discusses the issue of assessing ‘quality’ in research, both methodological and reporting quality. Jenni, the blog author, also points readers towards a paper she has co-authored: ‘Using quality assessment tools to critically appraise ageing research: a guide for clinicians’.