Critical appraisal (or quality assessment) in
evidence based medicine, is the use of explicit, transparent methods to assess the data in published research, applying the rules of evidence to factors such as
internal validity
Internal validity is the extent to which a piece of evidence supports a claim about cause and effect, within the context of a particular study. It is one of the most important properties of scientific studies and is an important concept in reason ...
, adherence to reporting standards, conclusions,
generalizability and risk-of-bias. Critical appraisal methods form a central part of the
systematic review
A systematic review is a scholarly synthesis of the evidence on a clearly presented topic using critical methods to identify, define and assess research on the topic. A systematic review extracts and interprets data from published studies on ...
process. They are used in
evidence synthesis to assist clinical decision-making, and are increasingly used in evidence-based social care and education provision.
Critical appraisal checklists help to appraise the quality of the study design and (for quantitative studies) the risk of bias. Critical appraisal tools for cross-sectional studies are the AXIS, JBI,
Nested Knowledge
tools; for randomised controlled trials are Nested Knowledge,
Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool, JBI tool
and CASP tools. Additionally, supplementary critical appraisal tools such as Naicker's Critically Appraising for Antiracism Tool and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Quality Appraisal Tool
may be used in conjunction with tools for specific study designs to assess additional biases or ethics practices. Critical appraisal may also be an integral part of formalized approaches to turn evidence into recommendations for practice such as
GRADE.
See also
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Evidence-based medicine
Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is "the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. It means integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available exte ...
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Systematic review
A systematic review is a scholarly synthesis of the evidence on a clearly presented topic using critical methods to identify, define and assess research on the topic. A systematic review extracts and interprets data from published studies on ...
*
Meta-analysis
Meta-analysis is a method of synthesis of quantitative data from multiple independent studies addressing a common research question. An important part of this method involves computing a combined effect size across all of the studies. As such, th ...
References
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External links
Cochrane Collaboration HandbookCritical appraisal tools available from the Centre for Evidence-based Medicine
Evidence-based practices
Systematic review
Meta-analysis