Practical Evidence-Based Physiotherapy

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