Users' guides to the medical literature : a manual for evidence-based clinical practice

The #1 guide to the principles and clinical applications of evidence-based medicine has just gotten better!

A Doody's Core Title ESSENTIAL PURCHASE for 2011!

No other resource helps you to put key evidence-based medicine protocols into daily clinical practice better than Users' Guides to the Medical Literature .

An instant classic in its first edition, this detailed, yet highly readable reference demystifies the statistical, analytical, and clinical principles of evidence-based medicine, giving you a hands-on, practical resource that no other text can match.

Here, you'll learn how to distinguish solid medical evidence from poor medical evidence, devise the best search strategies for each clinical question, critically appraise the medical literature, and optimally tailor evidence-based medicine for each patient. The new second edition of this landmark resource is now completely revised and refreshed throughout, with expanded coverage of both basic and advanced issues in using evidence-based medicine in clinical practice.

FEATURES:

Completely revised and updated to reflect the enormous expansion in medical research and evidence-based resources since the first edition Innovative organization guides you from the fundamentals of using the medical literature to the more advanced strategies and skills for use in every day patient care situations Abundant and current real-world examples drawn from the medical literature are woven throughout, and include important related principles and pitfalls in using medical literature in patient care decisions Practical focus on the key issues in evidence-based practice: What are the results? Are the results valid? How to I apply to results to the care of my patients? More than 60 internationally recognized editors and contributors from the U.S., Canada, South America, Europe, and Asia -- the best of the best in the discipline NEW coverage on how to:
--Avoid being misled by biased presentations of research findings
--Interpret the significance of clinical trials that are discontinued early
--Influence clinician behavior to improve patient care
--Apply key strategies for teaching evidence-based medicine Also look for JAMAevidence.com, a new interactive database for the best practice of evidence based medicine.

• Contributors p. xi
• Foreword p. xvii
• Preface p. xxi
• Part A The Foundations
• 1 How to Use the Medical Literature-and This Book-to Improve Your Patient Care p. 3
• 2 The Philosophy of Evidence-Based Medicine p. 9
• 3 What Is the Question? p. 17
• 4 Finding the Evidence p. 29
• 5 Why Study Results Mislead: Bias and Random Error p. 59
• Part B Therapy
• 6 Therapy (Randomized Trials) p. 67
• 7 Does Treatment Lower Risk? Understanding the Results p. 87
• 8 Confidence Intervals p. 99
• 9 Advanced Topics in the Validity of Therapy Trials
• 9.1 An Illustration of Bias and Random Error p. 109
• 9.2 Surprising Results of Randomized Trials p. 113
• 9.3 Randomized Trials Stopped Early for Benefit p. 153
• 9.4 The Principle of Intention to Treat p. 167
• 9.5 N-of-1 Randomized Controlled Trials p. 179
• 9.6 Clinical Decision Support Systems p. 193
• 10 Advanced Topics in the Results of Therapy Trials
• 10.1 Hypothesis Testing p. 209
• 10.2 Understanding the Results: More About Odds Ratios p. 221
• 10.3 What Determines the Width of the Confidence Interval? p. 231
• 10.4 Composite Endpoints p. 237
• 10.5 Measuring Patients' Experience p. 249
• 11 Advanced Topics in Applying the Results of Therapy Trials
• 11.1 Applying Results to Individual Patients p. 273
• 11.2 Example Numbers Needed to Treat p. 291
• 11.3 Dealing With Misleading Presentations of Clinical Trial Results p. 301
• 11.4 Surrogate Outcomes p. 317
• 11.5 Qualitative Research p. 341
• Part C Harm (Observational Studies)
• 12 Harm (Observational Studies) p. 363
• 13 Advanced Topics in Harm: Correlation and Regression p. 383
• Part D Diagnosis
• 14 The Process of Diagnosis p. 399
• 15 Differential Diagnosis p. 407
• 16 Diagnostic Tests p. 419
• 17 Advanced Topics in Diagnosis
• 17.1 Spectrum Bias p. 439
• 17.2 Examples of Likelihood Ratios p. 449
• 17.3 Measuring Agreement Beyond Chance p. 481
• 17.4 Clinical Prediction Rules p. 491
• Part E Prognosis
• 18 Prognosis p. 509
• Part F Summarizing the Evidence
• 19 Summarizing the Evidence p. 523
• 20 Advanced Topics in Systematic Reviews
• 20.1 Reporting Bias p. 543
• 20.2 Fixed-Effects and Random-Effects Models p. 555
• 20.3 Making Sense of Variability in Study Results p. 563
• 20.4 When to Believe a Subgroup Analysis p. 571
• Part G Moving From Evidence to Action
• 21 How to Use a Patient Management Recommendation p. 597
• 22 Advanced Topics in Moving From Evidence to Action
• 22.1 Economic Analysis p. 619
• 22.2 Decision Making and the Patient p. 643
• 22.3 Moving From Evidence to Action: Recommendations About Screening p. 663
• 22.4 Grading Recommendations p. 679
• 22.5 Drug Class Effects p. 703
• 22.6 Parallel but Separate Goals: Evidence-Based Practitioners and Evidence-Based Care p. 717
• 22.7 Changing Behavior to Apply Best Evidence in Practice p. 721
• 22.8 Teachers' Guides to the Users' Guides p. 743
• Glossary p. 769
• Index p. 809