Finding the evidence: resources and skills for locating information on clinical effectiveness

SR Bidwell
Correspondence: Susan Bidwell, susan.bidwell@chmeds.ac.nz

ABSTRACT
Limited time and lack of knowledge about where and how to search for information often present barriers to practitioners who want to locate current best evidence for treating their patients. There is as yet no single place they can go to get an answer to all their questions. High quality clinical studies are difficult to filter out from the mass of information on large databases, and secondary resources of evaluated information are dispersed over hundreds of Internet sites worldwide. This overview presents a practical guide for the busy practitioner who searches only occasionally and needs to maximise the time spent. Major collections of secondary resources are identified and their individual features described briefly. Following this, several services using PubMed are outlined that automatically apply filters for studies with high quality research design. Further sources of information and assistance are listed for those who wish to learn more.

Keywords: evidence-based medicine, databases, information storage and retrieval, technology assessment
Singapore Med J 2004; 45(12): 567-573